Hilary S.
Yelp
I can say with certainty that Williams Sonoma is now responsible for the worst customer service experience I've ever had with a retailer and that the company's gift exchange policy is outdated to the point of being ludicrous and it appears to purposely designed to thwart my efforts to spend my money as I choose. Allow me to explain.
On Dec. 27, 2021, I returned a gift I had received for Christmas at the Williams Sonoma at Columbus Circle in New York City. It had been ordered online and then picked up there several days before.
Upon making the return, I was told that the only means for issuing a refund was to have a merchandise card sent to via me the U.S. Postal Service and that one would arrive in my mailbox within 14 business days, which would have been approximately Jan. 14, 2022.
This struck me as exceedingly unusual given that Williams Sonoma sells digital gift cards and given how much business the company surely does online, perhaps more than in its physical stores. The gift had been ordered online, so why could the credit not simply be applied digitally so that I could buy the item I wanted online instead?
After 14 business days, the card had not arrived. I contacted customer service and was assured by the person who answered that Williams Sonoma "understood my frustration." Nonetheless, I was not offered a refund or online credit. My only option was to have the card canceled, reissued and remailed. As that would have required potentially waiting for the new card an additional 14 business days, I chose not to do that.
At that point, I wrote to the company's customer service email address and expressed my frustration, noting that the merchandise had been returned and probably sold again.
A short time later, I received an email from a customer service representative who said the card had been shipped to me on Dec. 29. She advised that Williams Sonoma was "unable to send the gift card digitally." She did not explain why and simply repeated what I had been told over the phone. She said I should "feel free to contact us with any other questions."
Later the same day, after I had registered my concerns with customer service again via email, I received a second email from customer service. This one only added to my confusion and frustration and made me question Williams Sonoma's honesty.
This person said the company's systems showed that the card had been "invoiced" on Dec. 30 and therefore would not have gone out until Jan. 3, 2022, since that was the next business day according to this person's calculations. Why had I previously been told the card went out on Dec. 29? That was not explained.
This person gave me a new arrival date of Jan. 21, said that no tracking information was available because the card was being shipped via USPS and repeated that if the card had not arrived by then that it could be voided and reissued "to ensure you received it." Based on my experience to this point, I'm not confident that would "ensure" anything.
This person closed his note by apologizing and saying, "I understand this is a bigger hassle than you originally anticipated." He was right. This process is obviously a hassle, but I could not have anticipated how big it would be.
I replied to this person by recounting my growing frustration and noting the conflicting timelines. The response I received to that email was an incoherent attempt to explain the meaning of the term "invoiced," which was beyond beside the point.
The bottom line is that nearly three weeks after returning in good faith an item that was purchased as a gift I still have not received my credit and have no good reason to believe I will anytime soon. Williams Sonoma should not make it impossible for their customers to make exchanges. In addition to not buying anything for myself in the future, I am absolutely certain I will not be doing any gift shopping at Williams Sonoma. I would not want to put anyone I care about through a similar experience.