Williams-Sonoma Home Synonymous with Poor Quality, Worse Customer Service

I have an issue with Williams-Sonoma and its sister companies that you might want to hear about and please feel free to share your own experiences.  Like many of you, in the past few years I have done much of my shopping online.  Williams-Sonoma, WS Home, Pottery Barn, PB Kids are all online stores I have bought from and I have had issues with the delivery of each and every purchase of their products... from damaged merchandize, to missing parts, to wrong selections... the spectrum of their inability to provide quality has no limits.  

Of all of these, WS Home has the highest price point.  One would assume the company would be interested in providing the best product and service to their high end customers.  This has NOT been my experience. 

For Christmas 2007, I put together a home office for my husband.  I envisioned a dark room with metal tile ceilings, gorgeous leathers, layers of rugs, black crystal, a photographer's lamp, and a beautiful desk with just the right amount of reflection to pop out of its surroundings.  I was inspired by this room from Ralph Lauren Home, which for some reason I can no longer find online. I found the perfect Mason desk at WS Home. 

 
At about two grand, I thought about it twice and decided it would be perfect.  I called them, they took my credit card, and I sat and waited for my beautiful new desk.  When it arrived a few days later, I couldn't help but notice to my dismay these stress fractures...

I called them right away and explained the deffect.  They apologized and scheduled a new delivery... Weeks went by, I got another desk, WITH THE SAME DEFFECTS.  Called them back, they set up new delivery... A couple of months went by and here is the third version of the same deffect.  Another phone call followed by an email with the above pictures requesting a fix or a deep discount.  They suggested someone would stop by and PATCH IT UP.  Hello...?!  This is obviously a stress problem with the wood that no amount of patching up would fix if I had to move the desk again. 

Here is the tops:  when asked to reduce the price of the product to reflect its discount store quality, they told me that WS didn't  want a reputation of doing that.  Well, I guess they'd rather be known for poor quality and worse customer service?

They were nice enough to keep me informed via a monthly phone call that they were looking into it and trying to fix the problem.  It is now August of 2008.  They have had my money for a good 8 months.  And I had a broken desk to show for it.  Then I get a phone call:  "Sorry Mrs. Hopkins, WS has decided that we won't be doing more replacements for your desk .  Here is your money back."  It has been a while, and I never got anything in writing, but I hung up that phone thinking oh ok they couldn't fix it and are pulling the desk out.

September came along, and my son was born.  Williams-Sonoma who?  Someone came picked up the desk, I got the credit on my Amex.  All is good UNTIL I noticed the new catalogue in my pile of unread mail...  You know it.  There it was in all of its glory, the now hated mason desk.  I was too busy to do anything about it.  And what was there to do really?

But now I feel it is time.  This blog has given me a voice.  And even if it is a very soft, often unheard voice, it is here.  Black on white, or whatever color scheme I might be fancifully writing in at the moment.   I doubt I am the only one who has had this kind of experience with WS and its sister companies.  It is really a loss for me, because I do love their design.  But just like avoiding "made in China" products, I have been steadily and unwaveringly avoiding Williams-Sonoma's.  Besides, Restoration Hardware is all but a click away.