I am so sorry I did not check the reviews here before purchasing a table and chairs. The in store experience mirrored others poor reviews- under staffed, unhelpful, lengthly and inefficient. But the kicker was that one of the 6 kitchen chairs that arrived unassembled could not be assembled due to structural defects. I called the store over a 4 day period more than 6 times. I was told a Janine would call me back- but she did not. One time a got another person on the line who told me he knew of my case and had located a replacement chair. After he checked my delivery address he realized he had a different customer in mind who had the same chair problem and told me he had to pass my case back to the elusive Janine. Still no call back. Then I spoke to another manager who assured me he would help- still waiting for a call back. How can a business function with such terrible service? I just hope that once I manage to get a replacement chair the furniture will hold up. I don't intend to patronize such a poorly run store again- they are an epitome in how not to run a business. What is so difficult about returning a customer's call? Arranging a replacement for a defective item? Something is terribly wrong. read more

Great styles at a reasonable price. The store was understaffed, but the staff were so nice and focused on the customers - Lydia was so helpful!!! read more

I like the furniture here a lot. It's not as expensive as some of the other big box stores around (like Crate and Barrel or Pottery Barn) but the furniture is stylish, functional and seems to be of higher quality than Ikea. My only gripe about this store is that the customer service was pretty awful. The salespeople were friendly and chatty (almost too chatty), but everything took FOREVER. We waited and waited for a stock check and then they didn't bring our boxes down to the delivery area. Twice. read more

I recently had the worst experience dealing with their on line service, they are nicely disrespectful and do not deliver the service they offer , I thought they might be racially insensitive but I see from reading the other reviews that the store has no respect for their customers, nice stuff but the fact that they can't deliver the entire customer appreciation that you deserve , I rather spend more and get a piece of mind read more

Just had a great customer service experience over the phone. I wanted to know the color of a yellow lamp and the staff member was more than happy to get out the paint fan deck and make a match for me. Way to go!! read more

I just had one of the most impressive customer care experiences in recent memory, care of Fiona Ye, a manager at the West Elm store in Boston. A year ago, I had purchased from the store a dining table that was made out of restored, Indian railroad tracks. It's a gorgeous modern table (with industrial steel legs). However, the material used to fill in some of the natural gaps in the wood has been peeling away from the surface of the table for the past 6-9 months. I contacted Fiona Ye of West Elm and explained the issue, offering photos and my original receipt. Without delay, Fiona escalated the matter to the table vendor and promptly got back to me with my options. The store was willing to replace the table at no cost to me, or else offer a refund. I was delighted! I continued to have a good experience with Fiona through the scheduling of the table pick-up from my apartment and her willingness (at my request) to UPS me a merchandise credit. Her efficiency and accommodation for the deficient merchandise made this an outstanding customer service experience for me. Aside from the very positive experience I had with this store manager, I applaud West Elm for maintaining this presence in Boston! While merchandise is on the pricey side, it is the only affordable *modern* furniture store that I know of in town. I have enjoyed being a loyal customer and frequent walk-in. read more

West Elm has been in the neighborhood for a while now, but I didn't step into it until a rain delayed red sox game one day. I was lucky enough to be visiting when they were having a pretty big sale, mostly on little accent pieces and decorations. Still, the store has a lot of nice things. I like also how it's arranged in a bunch of sections that give you great ideas on how you can decorate various rooms. They have a LOT of cool pillows. The staff member I worked with was great. I'd go back, and certainly if I had a new place to decorate =) read more

Terrible customer service and ordering process. I ordered a rug to be shipped to store, and when I call to check the status of my order, they start by "usually we call the person...", well if they had called me I wouldn't be calling to check on it! Why does it have to take 2 weeks for something that is in their warehouse to be shipped to store? Crate and Barrel has similar ship-to-store option and it takes less than a week! read more

Ugh. I have gone to this location a couple times in the past few weeks to look at furniture. The stuff they have is really cute and the prices are fair, but they have the WORST customer service. Every time I have gone there, nobody asks if I need help. Finally when I am ready to buy something I cannot find anyone to help me. I walk up to the checkout area and tell the girl that I am interested in purchasing the Elton Settee. She looks at me blankly. I literally have to say to her so... can I order here or should I go online? She says, oh, I'll have to see if we can order it for you. She calls some guy, it takes forever, I wander around the store for 20min, she comes back and says I can order it. She's not friendly or helpful and everything is painfully slow even though this is midday on a Tuesday and the store is empty. I should have just ordered online. Finally, I leave the store, receipt in hand. Yay! Now the delivery day has arrived. The delivery company calls me the night before to let me know that they will arrive sometime between 10am and 1pm. Okay, I will be there. I wait until 12:30 and then I call the number they gave me to make sure they are on their way and to get an ETA. A guy answers, asks for my name, and tells me they are on their way but that he can call me back with an exact ETA. I say, great! Thanks! And wait for his call. 40min go by and no call, and no sign of the delivery people. I call the number back, its the same guy. He's not apologetic for not calling me back, but he tells me they will be another hour. It's already past 1pm! I've been waiting 3hrs! I have to go to work and I don't have the kind of job where I can just say sorry I'm going to be late today. I cannot wait another hour or however long for them to show up. I tell the guy on the phone that that is not acceptable and that I cannot continue to wait for them. Crickets... nothing. Sheepishly, so what do you want to do? Should I call the West Elm store? I say, and what will West Elm do? He says, I don't know. Okay, then. Call West Elm. West Elm calls me. The lady immediately starts with, "Well I can't go back in time, and you need to be there when they deliver your couch." Well, duh, you can't go back in time, and I need to be at work! I've already waited HOURS. She asks if we can arrange delivery for another day. I say yes, but you will have to guarantee that I will be the first person they deliver to. I don't have time to wait through another 3hr window in the middle of the weekday, just for them to show up over an hour past the window. She can't do that. Ugh. Forget it. I don't have time for this and I definitely don't want to spend money at a store that has such terrible customer service. I told her to cancel the order and return the couch. It's truly such a shame because I was really excited to get this couch as well as order other furniture from West Elm (they really have the cutest things), but alas I will be looking elsewhere. read more

Son moving into a college apartment in Boston. So I ordered a bed, desk and end table. I ordered them in late July with a delivery date of 8/30. The desk and end table arrived 8/19, when no one was there to accept. They sat in the lobby of the building for a week, unattended, and miraculously weren't stolen. I had called West Elm when I ordered to warn them we wouldn't be there until 8/30, they said no problem. When I called to complain they said they had no control over delivery. Next the bed. Received an email it was coming and that driver would call before delivery. Never received a call, but got an email, so we were there for delivery, but it wasn't in the window they gave us. We got the white glove service, where its brought up to the apartment and set up. They did, but it was just the headboard and side rail. Called and West Elm rep apologized for only sending half the bed, and said the other half could come a week later. We had not purchased a box spring, because the missing base of the bed was to provide that. So my son was left with no bed, just a mattress in the floor. When my husband some to the rep, she said the other half of the bed was on backorder. WE never contacted us about 1/2 bed being back ordered prior to our delivery day. This put us in a very stressful situation. We refused the order and found what we needed at Sleep's on Boyleston in Boston. WE has terrible costumer service!! I won't depend on them again. Very unhappy with West Elm!!! read more

After spending $5,000 in the West Elm I have had enough of their bad service and poor quality furniture. Their website and catalogue look great but it's all show and no substance. I have bought better quality furniture from Ikea for a fraction of the price. Once my Henry sofa eventually shows up (it keeps being delayed despite paying $180 for delivery for a $1,000 purchase) I am cutting up my store card and sticking to Crate and Barrel and CB2. read more

I discovered this store a few months ago. I have purchased a L-shaped leather sofa from them. But, had to have it replaced after only 2 weeks, because a seam unraveled on the arm of the sofa. I must say, the delivery and set-up guys were great!! I apparently did not learn my lesson after buying this overpriced, poor quality couch. Because, a few weeks ago, I attempted to purchase another item with my WestElm credit card. For some reason there was a problem; the problem has yet to be stated to me, as I have not been able to get in touch with a customer service rep from the credit card company, after multiple- 3 day attempts. I am currently on hold with my 4th (yes, my 4th "customer service" rep. tonight).....13 minutes later.... I was finally able to speak to a West Elm "customer service" manager (he was nice), who just transferred me to Order Processing. I was just told my credit card was closed because I haven't used it in awhile. That is weird, because I just opened it last month?????? How frequently do I need to use it??? Back on hold.....8 minutes later. Sent to another person...Back on hold....6 minutes....I was just told they suspected fraudulent activity so they closed the account. Never attempted to call me, and let me know this?? Worst customer service experience ever!! There appears to be a huge disconnect with the whole system. I will think twice before purchasing from them in the future. read more

So my shipment came earlier than expected, and I am very pleased. Plus I got a 4 gift cards. Yay!!

Love the west elm at Fenway. Staff incredibly helpful and friendly. Went out of their way to make it a great experience. Jennifer and Marcia, thank you for helping me choose a sofa, rug, and coffee table. Can't wait to receive. read more

I shop at West Elm fairly regularly because I like some of their decorative accessories but what I find is that unless I deal with one of the managers, the service is pretty poor. There are currently some really unexceptional people working at the store I frequent and it almost makes me not want to go in. Sometimes it's just easier to order by phone or online. I recently returned a few items and the cashier was really pretty rude. When I pointed out an error on the return he argued with me and when he realized he was wrong he sort of rolled his eyes and acted like it was my fault! read more

I have to say that I love everything in the store and I want it all in my house. I love West Elm's style. I just moved and I am looking for all new furniture, and I was prepared to make major purchases- dining table, bed frame, couch- I am talking about spending big money here. And when I inquired about all the furniture with my credit card and wallet in hand, I was really disappointed to find that NONE of the furniture I was interested in was in stock and only one of the items I was interested in was in some storage facility out of Boston and needed to be shipped to the store. Otherwise, I would have to buy them all online. So I bought the bedframe which needed to be shipped to the store and then delivered to my apartment. The person selling me the frame told me it would take 5-7 days to get to the store and then they would call me to schedule a delivery. It has now been 10 days, and the item is not in the store and can take up to 3 weeks to get there- there seems to be some disagreement amongst the staff about how long things take to ship to the store. Overall, not super happy although I may be happier once I get the piece of furniture I spent a lot of money on. read more

pretty furniture, awful customer service.

Oof. Love West Elm's products, but will never, ever shop in this store again. First of all, the whole store concept is totally useless if you're looking for something specific. Everything is set up in these "tableaus" -- little scenes from dining rooms, living rooms etc. It's nice to see what stuff looks like in a room and all, but if I came in for cocktail glasses, I just want to be able to go to a section that has ALL of your cocktail glasses in one place, rather than having to wander around the store looking for all the different scenes they might possibly be in. It took me a solid 15-20 minutes to find the specific glasses I'd come in for. And if you're going to insist on setting your store up like this, you at least better have damn good customer service. This store has anything but. There were a lot of employees working the day I was there, and I was in the store for a good 30 minutes, and not a single one greeted me or even seemed to recognize that there were customers in the store. Finally, I managed to flag down a (very snooty) guy to help me look for a lamp I wanted in a particular color, and he was totally disengaged and literally walked away from me mid-sentence. Plus, they all wear these stupid headsets that make them seem really snooty and mean that half the time they're chatting away on the headsets, looking like they're talking to themselves, instead of helping customers. . What's so wrong about a person on the sales floor walking back to the stock area to check for a product instead of having to call on a little headset and then stand around staring blankly at you for 5 minutes while some mysterious person searches for it in the back? From now on, if I need anything from West Elm, I'll be ordering it online. read more

Beware-- horrible customer service experience! I have been a loyal customer for several years buying furniture ranging from sofas to curtains at this location. I just recently had an incredibly frustrating experience at this store. I bought several hundred dollars worth of merchandise at the store, and items that weren't available at this store needed to be shipped from the Burlington store (so I did not get a printed receipt for those items). Setting up this seemingly simple transaction seriously took about an hour at the register! After waiting 1 week for the shipment, I called the Burlington store, and they were rude on the phone telling me that shipments take 10 business days. So after the second week I inquired again, only to talk to several clueless employees having no idea what order I am talking about. West Elm-- your staff treats your customers like crap! So I went to the Fenway store with a statement of my West Elm credit card clearly showing that I have been charged for something that I have never received. After patiently waiting yet another 40 minutes at the register, witnessing the totally incompetent phone conversations between employees trying to retrieve my order, they still were not able to help me. They said they will call me later this day after doing more "research". Then they offered me to repurchase the curtains, and once they found the receipt in their system, they would refund. First I thought they were kidding and asked... "seriously"? I told them to jus stop this madness, and that at this point I just want my money back ASAP. They let me walk out of there, with complete disregard for my past loyalty, not caring at all how much of my time they wasted. Absolutely maddening. They finally did call 2 days later telling me they found the receipt and refunded me... without the slightest effort in making up for their mistake, and trying to keep me as a customer. Just a "sorry-- we found your order and refunded you" is all I got in return for about a total of 3 completely wasted hours. Buy at Crate&Barrel if you can... they have absolutely amazing customer service compared to this. West Elm (at least the Fenway and Burlington stores) does not care about its loyal customers. Really sad. read more

We recently had the pleasure of working with Corina on a living room redesign. She was very friendly and knew all of the West Elm products very well. She went above and beyond her responsibilities to visit us at our home for a consultation on her day off and even answered questions after hours. When we met with Corina at West Elm we were provided excellent, personalized care. She was patient, respectful, and understanding of what we were trying to accomplish with the redesign. We also felt that she was genuinely invested in helping us make the best decisions. It felt more like we were discussing ideas with a friend than interacting with a salesperson, which was important to us in being able to trust her throughout the process. We went shopping with our 8-week old infant and three-year-old son. Our three-year-old had some trouble containing his excitement at times, but everyone in the store was very nice and understanding. For instance, when my son messed up the pillows on a sofa and left things in disarray, a sales associate just patiently waited until we had left the area before tidying up and making everything look perfect again. They did this repeatedly over the course of nearly two hours while we made our selection of furniture, fabrics, etc.. No one ever expressed any frustration or made us feel like we should leave. In fact, several associates told us not to worry about anything and seemed to appreciate how difficult it can be to shop with a rambunctious three-year-old. One of the West Elm team members even tried to find my son crayons so he could color while we finalized our purchase. They took care us. We also dealt with the store manager Chris who was equally helpful and friendly. It really made for a nice overall experience and I would be happy to purchase products from that store again in the future. read more

I have been shopping at WE for 2+ years and am a big fan of their products. I've furnished two homes and have purchased everything from kitchen glasses to throw pillows to lamps and nightstands to custom couches and dressers, and I've been extremely satisfied with everything. Nothing has needed to be returned and everything still shows the quality of the product. That's what keeps bringing me back - in part. It's also the great customer service I get from Micki and the team at the Fenway store that keeps me as a customer. I could order online, but they are always so nice and go above and beyond to accommodate my shopping needs. And if they can't get you what you're looking for, they suggest other options which are sometimes better than my original solution. It's also nice to go into the store and see the great displays they've put together. I get some great decorating tips. Sadly, I've have had several, miserable customer service experiences at another WE store (hello San Diego), but not at Fenway - they get it! read more