Pottery Barn

Here’s how to lose customers.
We visited Pottery Barn in Portland intending to buy 3 Kilim rugs and 3 pads. We found the rugs we wanted, on sale and on display.
Then… we’re told 2 of the rugs we want are not in stock. Can we buy the rugs on display at the same price? No.
Why? We just can’t.
I call another Pottery Barn, they have one of the rugs we want in stock, at TWICE the price, oh and also on sale.
Why a higher price? Dunno, maybe the manager marked the rug you’re looking at down.
You mean the one they won’t sell me?
Bottom line, Pottery Barn could have sold 3 rugs and 3 premium pads in about a ten minute span.
Instead they convinced 2 customers to take their business elsewhere.
Good job guys!

Conveniently located directly across the street from Restoration Hardware (don’t let the name fool you it to is mostly a furniture store now) for comparison shopping. Pottery Barn tends towards modern, comfortable looking furniture… why am I saying this? Pottery Barn’s are all over and they all have the same kind of look and have for years mostly it seems it is just the colors that change.
That can be a good thing though, I really like their style and the quality is very good. They have really nice looking things, not just furniture but other things for the home including dishes and decorative pieces. This branch is on two floors and looks and feels nice, The employees are always nice even if I am just buying a small sale piece.
In summery it is a nice store full of things I would be happy to live with day to day.

Staff at this store really off their game today. Linda especially abrupt and obviously not interested in dealing with us (we had dealt with another staff member yesterday — maybe no commission for Linda?). Other staff members also not very gracious or friendly. Greg F, with whom we dealt on Saturday was very good. However, we will probably go to a different PB if we decide to purchase from them.

This is a review of Pottery Barn online. The only reason I gave 2 stars is for my 20 year experience with the merchandise which is generally good quality. Two weeks ago I went to the website to purchase a Christmas gift for my daughter, who is a PB regular. I was offered the 15% off for signing up and free shipping. I had to jump through hoops for 2 days to get the 15% and then, of course, the offered free shipping did not apply. I had called customer service during this process and waited 28 mins to get a rep. Order placed and paid for. Then I find when I go to track that one item is out of stock… not pre purchase so I could choose another. After 9 days I go to track…“we can’t find your order” …their tracking #. Another 30 minute wait. One item is due to arrive and the other is January. Was to be matched items for the gift. Totally screwed up. The worst online buying experience ever. Makes me not want to go in the stores either.

Today I went to browse Pottery Barn during my lunch break. I was getting ideas and deciding whether I would register at the store for my upcoming wedding. I explored the entire store and was shocked that after browsing for nearly 20 minutes I was never acknowledged by a single employee.
It’s not that all the employees were busy. I am 22 and was probably the youngest adult in the store and I listened and observed the shoppers older than myself being greeted and approached. Had I been with my mother or another person older than myself, I know I wouldn’t have been ignored.
Although I’m 22, I’m completely capable of shopping in the store, but I will NOT be registering here.

I went in here to purchase some items for my new house. They have some really neat things– mind you total garbage as everything is made in China– but my wife likes the look and unfortunately most items are not easy to find elsewhere. The people that work in this store are some of the rudest I have ever seen. I guess we didn’t look rich enough to shop here because we couldn’t get anyone to even look in our direction and the store was practically empty! My advice– order this overpriced crap online and avoid the hassle of going to the store!

In my many years as a PB customer. I’m beginning to think the decline in service and product availability is a sure sign of a business soon to be non existent. I’ve furnished my home and have utilized their design services with my home. I loved the look and the quality. However on three separate occasions recently, I’ve gone into the NW location and have been given the less satisfaction that price calls for. I’m treated as if my time is a hassle, I’m told they don’t carry certain products yet as I hunt for the item in the store. I find it. I’m told that when I’m looking for certain lighting that «obviously, if you had read the site we don’t carry that item in the store.» my answer to her is… How am I supposed to know the quality of the item if you can’t make out the pictures online? Surely you’d have a tangible product to see and feel. Ordering a couch, told 8 – 10 weeks for delivery. 4 months later and numerous phone calls… The item was shipped to a different state and I would need to wait another 4 weeks to get it. I’m sold a large floor lamp for the living room that’s an on the floor display, they tried to charge a higher price than the online price… After mentioning the online price… I’m told. Well that’s just how it is. I go to pick up the light and put it in my SUV. They load it send me on my way. I get home. Guess what is not the right item and they used duct tape on the polished brass. (any idea what tape glue and brass looks like?)
Sadly I bid farewell.

My wife and I love Pottery Barn and have furnished most of our house with Pottery barn things. We have always had excellent service from Abbey and Sarah from the Washington Square location.
But.this last weekend is making us reconsider ever giving Pottery Barn anymore of our money!
We went to Washington Square on a Saturday, browsed and had good conversation and fun with the people who work there. We bought a duvet cover and a couple shams for a new house project for our daughter. The color was wrong on the shams and so, it shouldn’t be a porblem to return these items, right? We were in NW Portland by 23^rd, and figured it would save us the drive so we decided to return the shams there. As my wife was browsing through the other selections, Roche, approached her and while scowling asked if my wife needed any help. She politely declined the help, and as she turned to continue to browse Roche kept on following her very closely and kept repeating her original request of offering help. She would not let us out of her sight. We are middle aged people, and dress conservatively, we fit all the profiles of a shoplifter. After we had had enough, we went to the counter to return the shams (in the Pottery Barn bag, with the reciept and the Pottery Barn credit card they were purchased on) Roche closely examined the two items, asked for personal ID, and then called a «code» into the manager. Roche claimed the computer couldn’t find the items. she spoke in private to the manager Mike, and he nervously fumbled around and then claimed his computers were too dumb to process a return and that we should just go back to Washington Square to do it.
Really? why not just call us thieves to our face! Unacceptable, Embarrassing and Humiliating experience. No apologies just scowls and see you later. We were shocked. We left, cooled off, and came back in. We spoke with Nicole who listened and knew right away who we were talking about and promised a manager would call us to make it right. No phone call!
I called the online number, wnet through this whole story with a very helpful man on the phone, he called the NW Portland location and spoke with Nicole. She denied that we needed to return anything and that Roche is one of their best employees.
Are you serious??? first you treat us like thieves, then accuse us of being liars!
WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER! Even Walmart is better.
I will not be returning.

One of the best customer service experiences I’ve had at a retail store. I’ve been in at least half a dozen times, all pleasant, but they recently helped me out of a jam, and so I thought they deserved a review.
I purchased a faux fur throw blanket last Christmas (which is the softest thing EVER, just btw), and it quickly became my favorite household item. However, when my apartment became home to a lovely family of hobo spiders, they fell in love with the blanket, and my bedroom in general… after the exterminator came to spray the moldings, I needed to cleanse (rightfully so I think) and took my blanket to the dry cleaners (as the tag recommended).
When I got the blanket back, it wasn’t soft anymore. It sort of felt like it had been coated in hair gel that dried and then been dusted with baby powder. Yuck. I had the dry cleaner redo it, but to no avail. The thing was ruined, and I was very sad.
I called pottery barn, and they told me I would have to speak with the store, since I had purchased it at a good olé brick and mortar. I called the 23^rd ave location, and they were SO understanding. They didn’t accuse the dry cleaners of messing up or question the story at all. They just put a note on my account and said as soon as they were back in stock (they’re a seasonal item), I could come in an exchange it. Literally NO bitchyness. And a few months later I came by, prepared to defend myself, icky blanket in hand as proof, and there was the note. Despite the original purchase being over a year ago, it wasn’t a problem at all. They didn’t have my color in stock, but let me take home a different one to try, and when that didn’t work they took that one back and gave me a gift card I could use to order online. BASICALLY they were super accommodating and friendly, and I am the proud owner of a brand new blankie, free shipping and all :)
Ps…don’t ever, EVER, dry clean faux fur.

This review is an attempt to assuage my dissatisfaction with Pottery Barn, and to let every «customer service» agent know that I have not experienced the service that Pottery Barn perhaps imagines itself to be providing.
On January 24, 2014, I ordered a PB Basic Performance Tweed Sofa. The scheduled delivery date was estimated to be April 1, 2014, to my weekend cabin in Redmond, Oregon. I was delighted to learn that the sofa arrived in the Portland warehouse early and that I would be contacted to schedule a delivery.
I returned the call twice from the delivery company, MDX, I believe is what they call themselves. I was promised calls back, but it took over a week to connect and schedule the delivery for Wednesday, March 26, 2014. Meanwhile, I ordered a U Haul truck so that I could take my old couch back to Portland to put in a storage unit. The day before delivery, after the time was confirmed by MDX (they were to have been here between 10:00 am and 12:00 pm), my husband and I picked up the U Haul, loaded the very heavy old couch into the U Haul, and prepared for delivery of the new Pottery Barn sofa this morning. At 9:30 am I received a call saying that since I was the first delivery on the route, they waited to put the sofa on the truck last, and found that there was no room to load the truck. I was asked to reschedule the delivery to next Wednesday.
I was not planning to be in Redmond next Wednesday, April 2. I live in Portland 175 miles away. In order to accommodate this schedule, I would have to unload the old couch and return to the living room, return the U Haul truck and pay whatever fee they would charge me for having picked up the truck and kept it for a few hours, and made plans to drive the 175 miles back to Redmond from Portland next week, which I had not planned to do.
I was very angry and upset, so I called the Northwest Portland Pottery Barn store and asked them to assist me in solving this problem. The person who spoke with me there said, «there is nothing I can do. Call the customer service number.» I bought a $ 2,000 couch from the store in Portland, and there is nothing they can do.
My anger and frustration is mounting. I call the customer service number. I tell my story to a very sympathetic customer service agent, and she assures me that they want to continue receiving my business, as I am a good PB customer over the years, and they do not want me to return the couch. She agreed to credit my account with 20% of the price, and I am now feeling better. Then, Sharon says that she is going to call the delivery service, make sure they understand the problem, and assure her that my couch will be delivered next Wednesday, April 2. She put me on hold so that I could talk directly to the delivery service after she completed her conversation with them. We get disconnected while I am on hold. I thought, of course, she will call me back. She did not.
So, I try to call her back and I cannot find her again, nor do any of the other CA agents seem to be able to connect with her. I am connected with her voice mail box, but it’s too full to leave messages. I am finally routed after two calls back to «someone in Furniture». I tell my story, AGAIN, and he connects me with MDX. Not the Portland hub, but the national customer service (again, with the customer service) agent who tells me that they cannot schedule deliver before April 16.
I am almost in tears by this point. I say no, no, no. The local dispatcher in Portland told me I could have delivery Wednesday, April 2, and she is to call that dispatcher and tell him to call me and confirm this right away. She agrees.
Then, I get a call from another MDX customer service agent telling me that the soonest my couch can be delivered is April 16.
If I ever buy anything from Pottery Barn again, my husband has permission to shoot me and put me out of my misery.
I have no idea if I will ever see that couch.

I had a pretty good shopping experience in that the staff helped me pick out chairs and a table. They were prompt and efficient and pretty darned pleasant. But when it came to delivery they were completely absent.
I told them from the start we had no vehicle large enough to carry everything. They suggested I make multiple trips… which wouldn’t help because the table is toooooo big for either of our little cars.
They gave us the number of a past employee who they utilize for deliveries. I left him a message and he didn’t return the call. I called the store and asked what kind of delivery options they had and they gave me another phone number for a different delivery service.
And I guess I should have asked them at this point whether or not they have ever actually managed a delivery because it seemed like an utterly foreign concept to them.
Anyhow, I called the other company. They brought the table and chairs to me within 3 hours and charged me $ 40. I think that company was called Direct Transport and I’d give them 5 stars if I could find them on Unilocal.
Interestingly enough, that courier was confused about the whole transaction because he said normally Pottery Barn coordinates the delivery and they even have paperwork to go with the merch. He didn’t even know what to charge me.
But now I’m left with a mountain of styrofoam and cardboard which no like. Next time I’ll just order on-​line.

I came here with 10 mins to spare in hopes of wrapping up some last minute gift shopping. I knew I wanted a high quality set of bath towels and put my last hopes on this place.
I was greeted immediately upon my arrival and my request for direction was welcomed. I was shown a few options fitting the description of what I wanted and upon deciding was ushered right to a cash register.
When I told the courteous associate that it was a gift, she offered to wrap it for me at no cost. It turned out beautifully and I couldn’t be happier with the presentation.
I was out the door with a minute to spare and a gift in my hand that would surely bring tears.
My dad loves a good bath rug. what can I say?
I’m the favorite son now…
at least for a few days.

Worst service in Portland? I mean, I know NW is the «money» part of the city, but seriously — if you don’t fit the mold of the passive-​aggressive salesladies’ «preferred» shopper, expect to be utterly ignored. It has happened to me several times and stopped me from making a purchase.

I love Pottery Barn. I would love it better if I had a bigger budget for decorating. This location is much better than the location closer to me. This location has a small upstairs section and there is plenty of merchandise to look at.
The people here were nice and not too pushy. They also did not act super snobby like some people that work at nicer stores can be.
It is in a great part of town with tons of other stores near it. I liked being able to compare things at each store before making a purchase.
I don’t come to this part of town often, but I do plan on returning.

Pottery Barn is like gambling, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose! More often than not, I lose at the NW location, often encountering a lack of items advertised in store or online (The online situation being the worst! More on that later.) and aloof sales people that seem bothered by my inquiries regarding availability, alternate ideas, or even getting a box for a second choice item purchased. I’ve generally received better service at Washington Square with more attentive staff and more ability to locate items.
Regarding online services… long story short… a plethora of catalogs, each attempt to order met with out of stock/​discontinued and/​or back ordered months ahead messages. Yes, I did mean discontinued AND back ordered upon the day the catalog arrived.
I love a lot of the products and think that PB does a great job merchandising but there is a lot of room to improve.

I give them four stars, because I love it here!
I’ve been to this location multiple times and feel their customer service far out shines the service at Washington square. I love walking around this multi-​floored location. Everything I buy here is top classic and top quality.

We could not be happier with this place! They seem to be working hard to avoid becomming a kitchy cultural icon. Their products are high quality and their sales people have been wonderful, especially Sue! We’ve been to their classes and they’re wonderful. Naturally they present their products but they are also realists in this economy. We had one problem with an item that was shipped to us but they were more than generous in their adjustment. Until they give us a reason to go elsewhere we’ll probably be sticking with them for our ‘first glances’.

You can never fault the happy, go lucky people who work here. You can almost see their pride haloing above their heads. It’s nice to come to a place where people are excited about where they work and what they do. It’s refreshing.
This two story store is very pretty, but a little overly crowded with as much things as possible. I miss the old PB, where products were displayed to enhance the place; now they simply cramp as much as possible. It gives me an image of overstocked. I’m sure there are so much they want to sell but so little room.
There’s only so much entertaining pieces you can buy and eventually it becomes diluted. I must be at the diluted stage because i can’t justify spending any more money on these entertaining pieces. Plus, it’s repetitive. I guess if you have a formula that works, why change.
Unfortunately for me, the consumer, my preference and style has changed. Perhaps, PB should evolve with their buyers. Just a thought.
It’s still a nice store to walk through to get ideas and always fun to window shop.

Giant corporate houseware stores are supposed to make you get sick to your stomach and renounce capitalism, but at least they’re also supposed to be models of Mussolinian proto-​fascist efficiency, right?
Not so much in Pottery Barn’s case. Its staff’s inability or unwillingness to know where anything was would have bordered on comical if it weren’t matched by a general rudeness on the part of several staff members.
Throw in the store’s use of plastic artichokes to ridiculous effect in accenting everything from table settings to giant flower vases, and you’ve got yourself one annoying shopping experience. Read on for a more detailed retelling.

Despite the overly perky sales woman, there was only one overly perky one, everyone else was just great, this Pottery Barn Home store was pretty good.
They had the usual mellow furniture, and somewhat affordable prices, and of course, if you’re like me, you’ll appreciate that the SALE section seems to be throughout the store, so it seems as if any option is available to you at a decent cost.
The store was pretty dead when I was there, at around 1pm, however it doesn’t seem to be an equation for success, when there are so many more interesting, and decidedly more hip places to shop for your home in Portland’s version of «Nob Hill.»