Williams-Sonoma Home

Although at the end of this story there was a fairly successful redemption attempt, I am still not impressed with my experiences here. Perhaps it would benefit the mgmt. to create a more organized staff with assigned areas to ensure everyone is being taken care of in the order they are in need?
I will start by saying it is my job to be efficient, accurate, and do this all on demand with a smile on my face at all times. That being said, when I go to Stanford Mall several times each week to run various errands, I feel like I am pretty down to the minute with my predictions on how long it will take to park, get what I need at each place, and be on my way. On this day? I was SO WRONG.
I walked in and directly to the area where I needed to get what I was there for. Flatware. I saw the style I needed, but there wasn’t stock out and available for me to grab and go. I immediately asked a floor person to assist me with finding the 12 sets I was there for. She told me she would check and be right back. A few minutes later she introduced me to a guy who was going to help me. He told me that all those sets were being used on the floor. He was going to go count them and package them up. This is where the train went sideways.
Turns out, that wasn’t an option. So after I had waited for several minutes he came back and handed me over to someone else (who was with another customer) and let me know she would order them for me because they couldn’t sell me floor samples. Ok great. I waited.
There were phone calls being taken and stock being checked upstairs… Then she passed me to a guy (without letting him know) who was supposed to help me order them. When he was finished with his current customer, I stepped up to the counter and started to speak to him. He shushed me away and told me that there were other people in line (pointed to a line) and that I would have to wait.
oooooooo-​k.
So I waited and NOT HAPPILY.
10 minutes of listening to him talk to people and getting scowls from other idiots in the line who assumed I was just being rude and trying to cut instead of the fact I had been there for more than 30 minutes to just order 12 sets of stupid flatware (that now I know to just do it online and spare myself the agony)…
When it was my turn!!! He got a phone call and told me that the woman on the other side would help me when she was free. You know who that woman was? The 2^nd lady I spoke to!!! Ugh.
Well she went ahead and ordered them for me. I smiled and felt exhausted as I walked out of the store.
Just before my exit, I felt a gentle touch on my arm. It was the man from the counter… He smiled and gave me a sincere apology as he explained he had no idea how long I had been waiting to be helped and he hoped I had a great rest of my day.
bleh.

Spent 10 minutes walking slowly through their empty store. Three sales people were working but none approached to ask if I needed help. There were no other customers, and each of the three, including the manager, walked by more than once. One star for customer service.

Absolutely rude sales people and store manager. I will never shop there again!

I am through with this store and I have been a customer for decades. I was treated SO RUDELY and that was the last straw. I have been in there 3 times in the past 4 days. I wanted a new high-​end jaquard table cloth for Christmas. I saw several possibilities in their catalog (which they bombard me with). When I went in the store to SEE the product, I was told by someone who actually helped me in the past that this was not available in the store and I would have to buy it through the catalog. The catalog did not say INTERNET ONLY or CATALOG ONLY, so it was hard for me to believe this and I challenged him. He insisted that it was the case. Well, I went in two days later, and there was the tablecloth I wanted (only it had a huge flaw in it). Before I asked for another one, I asked if I could see the green pine cone design one I saw in the catalog. It was not there 2 days ago, but I kind of knew they would be more stuff in before the weekend. So I gave it a try again… without asking an employee. Well, first of all they did not even know what I was referring to (like well, I do not know about it so therefore it does not exist). When they had me show them where it was in the catalog, they said I had to order it through the catalog. Again it did not say CATALOG ONLY. They then referred me to another person… Marcello or Muriello or something weird. She was all dressed up and I told her it was my third time in there trying to get a table cloth. I told her I was starting not to believe what they told me because they lied in the past. I will not mention the name of the employee. He has been there a long time. (They seem to otherwise have a very huge employee turnover.) What does THAT say?
Then I get Marcello or Murello or whatever her name was. Very sleek dresser, who started arguing with me immediately. She said I was accusing them of lying (True!) but it needed intent… well, I got sick of her fighting with me about this. I told her… ALL I WANT IS TO BUY YOUR TABLECLOTH. Are you going to help me or not? She instead wanted to argue with me about semantics. Then she told me Williams Sonoma was not any old store. They were the third top store. To which I replied… ridiculous. And she was proving just the opposite. A super store does not sit and argue with their customers! They HELP THEM. She was saying ridiculous, irrelevant things to me. I only wanted a tablecloth!
I do not know what ever happened to service. Actually they do have one employee, Tuula, who is a dear and has always bent over backward to help me. That is why I could not believe what was happening. This Murella was making me more and more angry by the moment by arguing with me over how great Williams Sonoma was. WHAT??? Anyway, I now hate this local go-​to store of mine.
Top store… my eye! PS… Williams Sonoma… stop sending me your catalogs and enticing me to buy things that are only available in Canada (the green pine cone tablecloth!). And hire some employees who like the public and want to be civil and helpful with them, not challenge them over irrelevant things. (Lie: to create a false or misleading impression… in this case, that I had to buy a tablecloth they were simply out of stock on on the internet).

A great place to do your wedding registry! They have ALL the kitchen implements and gadgets you could ever want, and you don’t have the same problem you have at lots of other places where the things you find in store aren’t available online (i.e. Pottery Barn). Plus, despite the reputation for high prices, we actually found a LOWER price for our mixer here than anywhere else we registered. (Although, we did pass on their thousand-​dollar-​blenders where the quality is measured in horsepower). They do have the best bakery equipment of any store.
Other bonuses: the knowledgeability of the store staff (Marella was SUPER helpful!) and the fresh samples they often have in their cooking demo area!

I really don’t understand all the negative reviews. I have had nothing but good or great experiences with Williams-​Sonoma in general and this store in particular. While the San Mateo store has been less service oriented this store is great and hold the same high standard as the flagship store in San Francisco (Union Square).

Shit is nice, but also really expensive. If I had a few K burning a hole in my pocket, im still not sure I’d buy from here. But it is nice to see how the 1% live eh?

Yup, thatz about right: this store is no more than a-​ok. Great selection, though uncertainty with encountering unfriendly staff is rather high. Mind you, most staff are friendly but those few of «the other kind» do spoil the overall impression.

Yeah if you want to throw alot of money at something you really, honestly really dont need then come here, lil baskets run you close to $ 50 and that is being modest, the service is ok, just come to look dont purchase you can find better deals other places
service ** more or less dont bother unless you in the age range of 40 & up
ambiance *** furniture is nice but pricey
price $$$

We had a wedding registry at Williams Sonoma. One of our items was purchased in duplicate so we went to this store to exchange the item for something else. Overall the employees were very pleasant but once our transaction got difficult (because the 10% discount wasn’t given to us and I didn’t notice it until after the transaction was complete), the experience became unpleasant. Kim was clearly unhappy with the employee for making the mistake and didn’t try to hide it at all. It was awkward and instead of jumping in to help correct the situation she let the employee continue to struggle through it until it was clear she couldn’t do it on her own. I felt bad for the employee for being disrespected in front of us and I didn’t like the unnecessary hassle for us since it was clear she could have fixed it much faster if she’d wanted to.

Buying from
has been a disappointment. The prices are high, the service is poor, and after months, the bed I ordered has been delayed even further.
Do they stock 1 of 3 items shown in their catalog? I’ve yet to find something they could deliver promptly.

What kind of sham is this place. I can’t imagine having a worse experience. I live in San Francisco, but made the journey south to visit, since they’ve bombarded me with so many catalogs, I thought perhaps they might have something worth seeing in person. When I arrived at the store, the entire place was dead, as a door nail. I was immediately accosted by a woman named Kim, who literally promised me the world and guaranteed the product.
I did need two new chairs, so I chose some fabrics and placed the order. Much to my surprise, when the chairs finally arrived… and they did take forever, they arrived in a totally different color than the swatch they gave me. Immediately, I called Kim at the store, but she was apparently too busy to talk. I waited for her to return my call, but it never came. I called again, and again and again. when I asked to speak to a furniture manager, they told me I would need to speak to Kim. Hmmm.
Finally after almost a week of this, I went to the store… all the way back down in Palo Alto. When I finally had a chance to speak to this woman, she very sarcastically told me that «everyone know’s» color swatches are not accurate and I shouldn’t complain about the color of my chairs. I was amazed at her attitude, so offensive and rude. I asked her why they even bothered to give swatches to people, because they are useless.
I insisted that she do something about the problem because the colors weren’t even close. She said once again, she’d get back to me. That was months ago. I’ve tried to call her over and over again, but to no avail. I think she maybe lost interest in my business. I finally put the things on craigslist and re-​couped a portion of my money.
All I can say is I would never waste my money on William Sonoma again! Buyers. beware!

Don’t know why they keep this store open… everytime I come in hear everyone is just touching the stuff but never buying anything… Hmmm maybe because everything they have is designed for old people… Since when did the Ralph Lauren look come back in style? Only affected Shallow Altans would be fooled into buying the overpriced crap. This chain will make the rest of the Pottery Barn chain sink… into the retail abyss

Great merchandise, lousy after-​sale service.
I bought a couch and a side table here after my bad experience getting served at Restoration Hardware. The designer who helped us with the sale was very solicitous and willing to spend time working through our fabric options; she would also have come out to the house for a design consultation. So, up till this point, very happy.
However, the delivery company showed up with just the side table on my delivery day (after being the customary delivery guy half hour late for my delivery window.) I called the delivery company and they said they’d see if they could get back out the next day, but it’s unlikely. Given that my current couch was out on the back patio and we were headed into a holiday weekend, I wasn’t happy with this no couch for 5 days scenario.
I called the store to see if they could exercise a little influence with the delivery company. Explained the situation. I was told I needed to talk with the Operations Manager, but she was out running an errand. OK. I called a while later. Still out. Finally, five hours later, I called again. Too late at that point for her to really help. I asked for credit for the delivery charges, due to the screwup, and she gave me a whopping $ 75, which was a fraction of the delivery charges for the two items. Very disappointing for a place that’s supposedly selling a premium experience; at the very least I expected the manager to call me back!

Ahh… I can only dream when I walk through Williams Sonoma Home. I love how I live fairly close by to one of the 8 stores they have. The quality of the furniture here is amazing and the prices that go along with it are jaw dropping. I love the different textiles and finishes. Ahhhh… all I can say is thank god for the Williams Sonoma discount; even with it, I’m still sooo hesitant to buy anything here!
The service here was very outstanding. The staff was extremely patient when we had to take some time out to figure out which color throw to purchase. While we were deciding, a lady came through and bought 2K worth of new linens and zebra printed pillows… Wow… it’s a whole other level of shoppers here in comparison to Pottery Barn!

This is apparently the higher-​end line ot the retailer’s Pottery Barn concept. It’s aesthetic reminds me a bit of Restoration Hardware. The shop is really nice — I found myself picturing the store as my own home — kinda depressing actually. Some of it is really expensive but they had some items that I’ve been searching for for a long time.
The only problem is that the staff, albeit friendly, is a little slow. It seems alot of their items don’t have price tags and it took about 10 minutes of trying to look up the items in their computer before they finally just went upstairs to look for the same items with tags on them. I noticed they did the same with a prior customer too. Additionally, I wanted to purchase a lamp but they didnt have any in stock except for the floor model. They offerred to order it but I didn’t think I should have to pay shipping for an item they didn’t have at the store. And when I said I would take the floor sample, so that I could at least take it home and make sure it would work out before I decided to pay the shipping, they told me I wouldn’t be able to return it. Why? If you’re not giving me an additional discount for taking the floor model, then why shouldn’t I be able to return it? And with home furnishings, you kind of want to see how it looks in your home — so I passed. That was $ 400 they could have made, but their silly policy prohibited that. That said, I still ended up with some cool pilows and bath accessories…