Design Within Reach

One of the best retail experience I have had. I’m not an off the rack size they worked hard and patiently to get me fit beautiful clothes impeccable service

BEWARE!!! The rug we ordered turned out to be too light and a tad too small, so we had to pay a 10% restocking fee AND return shipping. So, it cost us $ 108 to find out that the $ 600 rug won’t work! I can understanding one or the other – a restocking fee OR a delivery fee – but charging both?! That’s a mighty F-​you! My advice: shop elsewhere, or be absolutely sure there’s no chance you’re gonna return what you buy.

After my complaint, my concerns were fully addressed and I was promised a full credit. A manager called me to assist. This was a positive and good ending.

Questionable return crediting system. We returned a Nelson lamp to the Cambridge store in early September, and we were told that the credit, minus a restocking fee and shipping fee, would be posted to the credit card we used to purchase the item. No credit appeared during the next TWO months. When I called our sales associate, he said he would get back to me with an answer within the next few hours. After I did not hear from him for 24 hrs, I called again. He responded that they had a new system integration that had affected credits. They would issue a credit within 5 – 7 days. Reason for 2 stars instead of 1: when I asked them to waive their restocking fee because of their failure, they said they would, and that I would get full credit for the item. I will update my post if this does not happen… I am posting this because if there was a ‘new system integration glitch’, it is possible that my credit ‘glitch’ was not the only one, and it does not seem that they are doing anything about finding those customers who were not credited… a warning to DWR shoppers: make sure your returns are credited!

What a disappointing experience I had at Design Within Reach. Our salesman was Scott Burns, who is the «New York Area Sales Manager» so I thought we were in good hands. We spent about $ 35,000 on various items for our new home, and all was well (except for the fact that we were charged $ 1000 for shipping, and I felt an order this size should have had free shipping), until a few small items arrived broken, or needed to be returned. Scott suddenly became hard to reach, and would ignore our emails. Especially those about credits going back to my credit card. He would literally ignore 3 or 4 emails in a row, and I have had to spend many hours going through my credit card statement, calling my credit card company and trying to track down Scott to get DWR to give me credit for items which were returned to them over a month ago.
But here’s where it gets worse…
The ONE item I custom ordered (on Sep 4) — The Bantam Club Sofa and Ottoman (roughly $ 4,000) — which Scott said would take 6 – 8 weeks, which we didn’t want to order as our baby was due to be born 8 weeks, but Scott assured us would be to our home «likely in 6 weeks» so «we shouldn’t worry», still has not arrived. We reached out to Scott to cancel the order 4 weeks later, as we found another one we liked at a different store, and did not want to risk not having a couch in our bedroom by the time the baby arrives (Nov 3 due date), and he told us not to worry, we’d have the couch by October 31. On Nov 3, I email Scott to ask the status of the couch, and his response was «I received word that the sofa has been delayed and did not ship out on Friday. It is expected to ship 2 weeks from Friday on, 11÷21». The word «apology» or «sorry» were not in this email, shocking and insulting. So now it is Nov 5, baby coming any day, and we have to spend our final days of pregnancy worrying about finding a couch, all because of this extremely selfish salesman. The worst part is I have had a roughly $ 4000 hold on my credit card for the last 2 months because of this couch, and of course, my emails to Scott asking about when this hold will be released have been ignored.
Apparently DWR is all sales/​commission based. I should’ve known Scott was a bit shady, as we had initially went in to a different DWR store, and dealt with a very nice lady named Michelle Goldmunz, and, although we didn’t realize it at the time, we were technically her customer. We went into the Soho store (only 2 blocks from our home) simply to look at a chair we were going to tell Michelle to order, which is where we met Scott. He convinced us to place our entire order with him, which seemed easy as the store was so close and this was a large order, but he insisted that we put the order in my wife’s name instead of mine. Seemed strange, at the time, but now I realize it’s because Michelle had already entered my name into the system, and Scott wanted to screw her out of her commission.
A very disappointing experience, which I am still dealing with. I will say, however, that we are quite happy with the items we did receive.

I purchased a few items for my client and they were so helpful. Unfortunately my client could not install the ceiling lamp and they made the return of this item so easy. Thank you so much!

DWR has been a favorite of mine for as long as it has been around, and I still mourn the closure of the Philadelphia store. In any case, the Mister and I were roaming around Soho (after leaving Kirne Zabete) and decided to do some exploratory furniture shopping. We were simultaneously drawn to the beautiful case goods by Nathan Yong. We circled, we manhandled the beautiful wood, and we peppered the sales associate with questions. We both left smitten with Yong’s pieces, and we were thrilled to discover that we shared an affection for mid-​century design.
When we decided to redecorate, our first acquisition was a Nathan Yong piece. It is a centerpiece of the living room and simply gorgeous. Among its many charms is the fact that the back is finished in the same quality wood as the balance of the piece. No crappy pressboard here.

High price, low quality, bad customer service.
We purchased a large bantam sofa from DWR about 6 years ago. The cushion was sagging and misshapen within 2 years. I called to ask if this was a common problem in this sofa line, b/​c we wanted to buy another one. The rude & unhelpful rep said (not surprisingly) that it wasn’t common, and that if we bought another sofa, it would not happen to that one too. Foolish me, I believed him, and now we have 2 bantam sofas with lumpy, junk-​looking cushions. This might be acceptable if we’d bought from IKEA, but for the absurd cost of these things, it’s outrageous.
Save your money, and the frustration of feeling like a sucker, by shopping elsewhere.

I was completely shocked by the negative reviews of DwR. I purchased a pair of Marcel Wanders chairs and we are very happy. It does appear that customer service has died at 110 Greene Street. It is extremely upsetting to me that people bust their hump and choose to spend what they worked hard for here and appear to be getting tricked and swindled.

This is a five-​star review for sales representative Roberto Fantauzzi at the DWR store in SoHo. Roberto ordered a Moller chair for me, but when it arrived the slats in the back were a different color from the rest of the wood in the chair. I thought I might have trouble returning it. But I sent Roberto a photo, and he immediately arranged to exchange the chair. He took a photo of the store sample he had originally shown me and sent that to the warehouse to show them what I was looking for. Meantime the chairs had gone on sale, so I ordered an additional one. They arrived and they both look great. I appreciate the service and the integrity that DWR showed in backing Roberto up. But Roberto in particular was so professional, helpful, and patient that I especially want to commend him.

Bought a dining table but it started to fall apart after a few months. Used the customer service number and they told me to send photos with an email and they never got back to me. I even called back and the person still didn’t call me back. I went to the store and a sales person told me that the customer service dept is awful and he wasn’t surprised. My issue still isn’t resolved… feel like I wasted a lot of $$$ here for a poor quality piece of furniture.

Please do not purchase anything from DWR, as the customer service is absolutely terrible. About a year ago, I purchased a sofa from the annex store in Secaucus which has now sunken in on one side.
After calling the store, I was told that since my purchase was from the annex there was no warranty and I would have to pay for all of the repair costs. After having a $ 3000 couch for a year, it should not be sunken in on one side.
I am never purchasing anything from this brand and can never recommend them to any of my friends.
AGAIN, PLEASE DO NOT PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM DWR. Extremely disappointed with the quality and the level of service.

I am truly disappointed in DWR. Their furniture is so beautiful and their customer service just stinks. We purchased a Bantam sofa 3 ½ years ago and the bottom seat cushion just looks terrible. The foam has broken down completely. I called customer service and was told how sorry they were and they would sell me a new seat cushion insert for $ 300 plus shipping. They said it would arrive in 2 to 4 weeks and closer to 2 weeks. Fine… I thought that was a little high but I wanted to make sure it fit my sofa correctly and as it was early October… the house would be ready for the holidays. Here is it… seven weeks later and NO ONE at DWR can tell me when I might see this piece of foam.

We will NEVER do business with DWR again. The owner of this business better take a good hard look at what he’s wrought here. Oh, yes, the furniture is absolutely top notch, high end with prices to match. Fine. We can deal with that. However, the delivery arrangements are so outrageous as to make me say, in no uncertain terms, that we will NEVER buy another piece from them.
Other furniture stores in NYC have movers. NOT DWR. They contract out to Ukay Furniture Delivery of Carteret, NJ. Want your furniture delivered to your apartment like you might expect? No, no. Ukay delivers to the lobby for $ 100. Want the furniture delivered to your apartment door? That will cost you another $ 100. Want the crate and shipping materials removed and have the piece of furniture set up in the room where it will reside? That will be another, whopping, $ 350. $ 550 total to deliver one, relatively small piece of furniture? Are you totally out of your mind?
Let’s not stop there. We paid for the standard delivery charge of $ 100 to the lobby of our building. Ukay called on their way over. They asked if we would like them to bring the piece upstairs. Sure, we’d like that. Unintelligible deal-​making proceeded on the phone and we can see they won’t do this for less than $ 30 cash that Ukay will never see or know about. The piece is now delivered to our apartment door. The delivery man wants to know if we would like him to uncrate it. Sure, how much will that cost us? $ 80, also in cash to the deliverymen who will pocket the money and not report it. Now we are enraged over the whole transaction. My husband offers the deliveryman a $ 5 bill rather than haul off and punch him. They decline angrily and leave.
Last month, we had two, far larger pieces of furniture delivered from ABC Carpet and Home for a total $ 175 fee. The pieces came uncrated, delivered with utmost care, with the proper insurance certificate filed with our co-​op, and placed precisely in the room they were destined for. That’s exactly what one should expect from a high-​end furniture store like DWR.
Fortunately, unlike other people who have reviewed this awful delivery situation, our piece of furniture arrived in good condition. What if it had not? And how would you know the condition if the packaging remains on the furniture until after the delivery service departs?
Most establishments thrive on repeat business. They provide the customer service to ensure they continue to deserve your loyalty. Apparently DWR has no need to do this. Bye, bye.

This place has totally lost its way.
I always buy Knoll and Herman Miller pieces from these guys because I know that the sales people earn commission and I try to support the neighborhood as much as possible,
I went in the other day to get an additional Eames Eiffel Chair for my kitchen and was immediately accosted by some ridiculous greeter standing near the entrance with a stack of catalogs and some generic bottled water which he tried to physically place in my hand despite my polite refusal. I told him I was in a hurry and just needed to order an additional chair, but did not remember the name of the color. Instead of helping me he told me that he would love to give me a «tour» of the new showroom. I told him that I did not have time and just needed to order quickly. Again he started up about the new catalog and some sale. Finally, he agreed to help and began slowly walking to a computer to place my order. On the way he made sure to talk endlessly about new fabrics and some sort of sale promotion and the CEO and pretty much any other contrived sales pitch he could remember. We sat down at a desk and instead of ordering my chair he started up again. Promotions, free shipping, something about new artwork, etc, etc. I reminded him that I was in a hurry, but he didn’t seem phased and continued on. It took him at least 15 minutes to navigate whatever maze he had going on his computer and wander off to get a receipt. While he was doing all of this I had time to check out the new showroom he was so anxiously trying to show me. Oh my goodness, what an exercise in poor taste. This place now looks like a cross between Crate and Barrel and a MoMa Store from the early 90’s. What happened?
I did finally get the chair several weeks later and it is the same great Herman Miller as always!
I will not be returning to this Design Within Reach again. I will order directly from Herman Miller or Knoll or even Hive Modern as the price and shipping is always less. Knoll and Herman Miller both have elegant public showrooms in NYC that are staffed by members of the design community, instead of ‘Sales Associates’. This place was once a design resource for our neighborhood, now it is just another chain store with sales associates reading a corporate script. No, thanks.

Way overpriced not great quality for the price and design Is a a bit stale. I have seen a lot of bored rich housewives hanging out in this place with their interior designers…

The main thing that sucks about DWR is being deprived of the immediate gratification of leaving the store holding the thing you just bought. They don’t carry any stock in the store — so everything you buy, even the little tiniest thing that you could fit in your backpack, has to be shipped to you. So you never walk out with anything but a receipt. So, if you’re planning of getting someone a gift, you have to wait days until the item is shipped. On one hand, this is good for large items (like furniture) but they don’t even have the little Eames elephants in stock or the Girard dolls, etc. It’s really just a show room.

Price Point — Moderate, in comparison to Kartell or Restoration Hardware, but it’s not IKEA Prices for sure!
Why shop here:
— Quality Modern/​Classic furniture, and lighting
— Excellent & Knowledge-​able Customer Service
— Vast selection of modern furniture, so you are sure to find something for your home

I just recently purchased several items from DWR (the pool coffee table, navy barstools, bottega dining chairs, and large Piana table) and was impressed with the quality of the furniture as well as the service we received.
Sanjay, at the Soho store, helped us pick out everything, negotiate prices, and quickly followed up with us after each delivery to make sure we were happy. He was great to work with. If you go to the soho store, make sure to ask for him. No doubt he will be thoughtful in helping you choose and will do his best to make sure you are pleased with your selections and experience with DWR.
The one drawback to DWR is the shipping expenses. They charge astronomical prices, on top of their already-​hefty furniture prices, for delivery. This is because DWR doesn’t have their own shipping service; they use an outside contractor for delivery. So, the men delivering don’t have a clue about what they are delivering. The «white glove» service is certainly not worth the prices they charge. However, when you pay upwards of $ 3,000 for a table it is difficult not to pay for them to put it together for fear of damaging it yourself and having no recourse for return. Truly, when you buy nice furniture, assembly should be included. Also, the «white glove» service damaged our dining room table when assembling and left the apartment messy after each delivery.
However… after the dining room table was slightly damaged by the shipping company, DWR insisted on replacing the imperfect parts so that we would be completely happy.
If they could improve their shipping services, DWR would get 5 stars from me.
While several people have complained about the prices at DWR, the pieces are all of high quality and often the look they create is one that just can’t be found in lower price points. However, as a tip, Room & Board has several items that are similar to some of DWR’s — at lower prices (e.g., the wassily chairs). Plus, Room & Board has great service and quality too.

Shopping at DWR is sort of like taking a Rwandan refuge into a Gristede’s and telling them that a pack of crackers for 6 bucks is a good deal. How would they know? They’ve not been across the street to the bodega where the same crackers are sold for half the price.
Such is the DWR brand. And because it’s so badly raped it’s naïve clientele — most of whom have been blown out by layoffs and contracted credit lines — it looks like its days are numbered. I chuckle every time I receive one of their catalogs in the mail, each with an increasingly desperate sales pitch and a marketing shtick that’s oh-​so 2007.
Management is clearly in denial.