west elm

Our $3,200 couch has cushions ripping at the seams and we haven’t owned it a year yet. When my wife and I went to the store, the general manager Elda was not friendly or helpful. Instead she tossed it up to the excuses of we didn’t buy the premium fabric, and we didn’t get the all state protection plan. She would not even acknowledge that one of west elms couches shouldn’t be tearing at the seams in less than a year. We also found out we couldn’t buy replacement cushions or covers even if we wanted to pay entirely out of pocket. We don’t recommend anyone shop at west elm.

Last September, my husband and I were thrilled at the thought of purchasing our first piece of West Elm furniture- a couch. We had researched and shopped at several different stores until we arrived at the Summit location, sat on a particular sofa, and called the couch ours. We worked with a designer in store, got the order placed early September, and were eagerly awaiting its promised delivery the beginning of October. It did not arrive until the week before Thanksgiving and the delivery day itself was an absolute nightmare. But that’s another review in and of itself. Now the couch, which is touted online to be from a company whose slogan is “built-to-last”, is falling apart. We are not rough on furniture. I had an old ikea sofa that I used for upwards of seven years that still looks and feels brand new, yet here is a several-thousand-dollar couch ripping at the seams. We took pictures and went back to the Summit store after seeing online that there is a warranty on most furniture for general wear and tear, and we hoped to get a new cover for the bench seat cushion that is ruined. We spoke with Elda Fitts, a general manager, and provided her with the timeline, proof of purchase, and picture evidence of the pitiful quality. There was no apology, no “let’s try to make this right”, just a “you didn’t purchase the protection plan or the deluxe fabric option”. Sorry, in my mind a $3,200 couch shouldn’t need upgraded fabric or a protection plan to last a year. She additionally informed us that there was no way for US to purchase any sort of replacement cover for the cushion either. So, lesson learned. We will never recommend West Elm to anyone and we will never purchase from them again.

I don’t normally like salespeople but working with Kathy to make sure we were exploring all the options and choosing the best one for our needs was a great experience. Very helpful and no pressure. Helped us with decision fatigue by providing good logical insights.

Warning, the installation team is basically delivery guys tasked with assembling your very expensive furniture. On my last delivery, they left screws out. They left washers out. They put washers on the wrong screws. They assembled pieces in the wrong order and had to take them back out because they refused to look at the directions. Your paying super high delivery costs, but not going to get your moneys worth from it.

I had the worst first time experience buying from this store. The assistant manager was rude. I would have been better off buying online. The only reason I didn’t cancel my order was because I called online customer service and they were very kind. When I received the furniture—two nightstands from the order were damaged. They were supposed to be real wood but they were crumbling on the face of the drawers like particle board. I’m frustrated with myself for not canceling. After reading other reviews I know I’m not alone in my experience of the Birmingham-Summit Store. It looks like the only happy customers are white.

Had a very pleasant experience in store with Debbie who was able to offer a ton of assistance in picking out the perfect sofa to add to my home. She was very kind, knowledgeable, and helpful throughout the entire process.

The smaller purchases I've made at West Elm for things like hand towels or candleholders, I have been completely pleased. However, the more expensive purchases I've made, maybe four, I have not been satisfied with those purchases. For example, I bought a bedskirt which I believe was overpriced. When I received it in the mail because they don't sell these in the store, the fabric is extremely hard to get the wrinkles out. I had to send it out for dry cleaning. Even with it hung on the hanger from the dry cleaners, it still had a lot of wrinkles that seem to not want to come out. It looks decent on the bed I have it on but wrinkled. I also bought a sheet set for my queen bed, same as the skirt. It wrinkles so badly that even ironing it a couple times on both sides, I was not able to get the wrinkles out. I don't normally iron my sheets, you have to iron these because they are THAT wrinkled when coming out of the dryer. Third, I had bought a duvet cover there a while back, which I completely loved. It's great quality but the measurements for it are not correct to the down comforters out there so that it fits it correctly. The queen duvet measures 92x88; queen down comforters measure at 92x96 and 92x98. Fourth, the last purchase I made was the simple white bed frame. It took a month for it to come in the mail. When I received it, one of the parts were damaged. When I called the Summit Birmingham store to tell them about it, they asked if the piece I received could still function. When I told her yes, she made it sound like I needed to deal with it. I was not satisfied with the response at all. I purchased a whole and new bed frame, not a broken one. I called the home office, and they quickly sent me the parts I needed to replace the damaged parts. However, one of the bed rails was already chipping on the inside of it before assembled, so NOT the best quality! Not sure I would ever buy anything-bedding from this store again. Expensive purchases have been a regret.