West Elm Reviews 1,472

I have bought from West Elm over the years and never had any major complaints. However, over the last year, there have been two situations that have changed my perspective.

First, I bought an area rug for my mother a year ago. It was a 6' x 9' rug that was made out of wool. The thing shed constantly...it was as if my mother's house had tumbleweed. There were tufts of wool fluff coming off the rug and tumbling down her hallways for the entirety of the last year...it never stopped. She is an 82 year old woman, so constantly vacuuming fluff was not practical. West Elm did return the rug for store credit, which just meant that we had to get another shedding rug from them. The replacement is having the same issue. Note that I wouldn't recommend buying their wool rugs.

The second issue was a recent purchase on May 2nd, 2025 of an outdoor patio table. This was for me. It was apparently on clearance, although I didn't understand that when I bought it. It arrived on May 27th, and I had paid $159 for it to be assembled by West Elm when it arrived. Unfortunately, the table was delivered without any hardware, so there was no way to put it together. The drivers were very professional and said they would find the hardware upon returning to the warehouse and would come back out to install it. The next day, I received word that they found the hardware and would deliver it the next week (June 3rd). I let them know I wasn't going to be home but that they could leave it at the door and I'd put the table together myself. When I did get home, there was no hardware; they hadn't delivered it. I placed five phone calls to Customer Service over the next 6 weeks. They always told me they'd look into it, but I never got resolution...until today. I received word today that they now couldn't find the hardware and that I could either take a 15% discount to go buy my own hardware or process a full refund upon returning the pieces of the table that are here. I asked them to check again as they had the hardware on June 3rd, so, where is it? They didn't bother to do that. They also wouldn't provide me a list of the hardware that was missing (how many pieces?) so that I could look online to see if I could find replacements and how much that would cost. And 15%? I paid $159 for assembly which the 15% wouldn't have covered by even half, much less for my time to resolve this situation. So just crappy customer service all the way around. I guess I have no choice other than to return it or sue them; I'll make that decision once I hear back from my last email to them.

So, no more West Elm for me. Would recommend you make the same decision.

Subject: Beyond Disappointing - A Customer Service Nightmare
I am writing this review out of disappointment with West Elm's customer service. My experience has been marred by rude representatives, a rigid "no price match" policy, and a complete lack of engagement from supervisors.
As soon as we received our order 351762317557, we noticed a price drop by 80$ for the bench. I called customer service to ask for price match. I spent many hours on hold, only to be met with unhelpful or seemingly indifferent customer service representatives. Worse, some interactions were outrageously rude with one of the representative laughing at my request. Nicole was the only one who tried to help. I was told I needed to return the bench and order a new one (which with shipping would cost more than price drop). This is unbelievable and I am reviewing widely your store policy

AVOID WEST ELM if you expect to receive what you ordered and paid for - and want to be treated as a valued customer. We ordered a headboard for our bed, but without the frame to surround the bed. They acknowledge that that was the order. We waited months to have it delivered, since it was made to order. When we received it, the headboard had four visible holes for screws used to attach it to a frame. But since there is no frame, we have four visible and unsightly holes on both sides of the bed. To make a long story short, after repeated attempts to get them to resolve the issue, they refused to fix the problem. They acknowledged making the mistake, but because it was custom-made, they refused to fix the problem. We went with West Elm thinking they were a reputable organization and were disappointed to find that they were anything but. We are in the process of deciding whether to sue them or trying to cover the holes ourselves in a way that blends in with the fabric. The latter may be easier, even if nor ideal, but we at least want to warn potential unsuspecting customers. We will not be returning to West Elm. We're sure there are other companies that stand behind their merchandise, and value and respect their customers.

Significant shipping delays receiving product into Canada. Customer service was not interested in hearing my reason for calling. Product has not been scanned for tracking for over two weeks. One agent told me it was clear the products were lost at the border and to call back in 48 hours when they will have an update. When I called back, the next agent told me they won’t even inquire about a lost package until 21 business days after shipment. I don’t have faith my products will arrive and they have denied my request for a refund.

If you’re thinking of ordering from West Elm, run. I was proactively solicited to join their B2B program and promised dedicated support, in-stock items, and fast delivery for a major project. Before placing my order, I made it crystal clear that I was only purchasing based on immediate availability and exact sizing needs. They assured me everything was ready to ship.

What I got instead: endless delays, conflicting excuses, missing items, and months of chaos. Every time I asked for an update, I got a new story—and after I escalated my concerns about their complete inability to fulfill the order, they revoked my B2B pricing and effectively kicked me out of the program.

I also handed over extensive personal and business information just to join, only to be abandoned once I demanded accountability. Meanwhile, I’m stuck paying hotel bills because I can’t move into the space I furnished with thousands of dollars in West Elm orders that never arrived.

If you search, you’ll see thousands of reviews with the same horror stories: backorders stretching for months or years, orders arriving incomplete or not at all, and zero customer support. West Elm and their parent company, Williams-Sonoma, have a long documented history of deceptive practices.

Save yourself the heartbreak, frustration, and financial pain—don’t make the same mistake I did.

Horrible customer service I would never order a thing from them again. It’s been 2 months since I placed a very large order, I haven’t received a single item. It was all supposed to be delivered 1 week after ordering.

I naively ordered from West Elm in India thinking that the horrible reviews might just be US related. Sadly no. I ordered a 40k INR light. Never turned up! You can only contact customer service by a ticket - nobody replies. Only managed to ‘speak’ to someone by claiming I wanted their design service! Turns out my order is being cancelled because the item is out of stock! The same item was on sale, it went out of stock and then came back into stock at the original non sale price. I liked it enough to pay full price. Complete scam! Avoid at all costs!

God this company is so trash

A lamp that I recommended to a client started to fail at 18 months. It is a $500 lamp, called Cirrus Pendant. At this point, the shade of the Lamp started to disintegrate. The client contacted W.E. and made no progress. I followed up, and my report (photos, receipts, history) was referred to W.E. B2B. Nothing. Bad design. Bad fabrication. No Customer Service.

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I had an extremely disappointing experience with this company. They pushed me into buying a display furniture piece—clearly just trying to unload it—and falsely assured me that because of its light color, it would never stain. That was a lie. The piece stained almost immediately, and when they sent someone to fix it, they couldn’t do anything. This company is dishonest and does not stand behind what they sell. Do not trust this store or its sales tactics

I waited over two months for a standard desk to become available—only to cancel it before delivery was even scheduled. West Elm confirmed I’d be fully refunded: part to my credit card, part to merchandise credit. The credit card portion I’m still waiting for. The merchandise credit? $200 short. No explanation. No policy. Just gone.

This isn’t the first time. Last year, I ordered a custom couch from Pottery Barn (same company). After three months of waiting, it arrived wrong—part slipcover, part upholstered. I had to decline delivery. The couch was refunded, but I was stuck with the matching armchair I could no longer use, and they refused to cancel it. That’s what led to the merchandise credit—which I’ve now tried to use, only to be shorted without warning.

I’m done with the entire Williams-Sonoma chain. Their return policy is awful, their delivery windows are absurd, and their customer service exists to wear you down. Who in 2025 has the time—or patience—to wait months for furniture, fight for refunds, and be hung up on for trying?

Until this company burns through every last repeat customer, they’ll keep doing it. But I won’t be one of them.

I hesitated to buy from West Elm because of bad reviews for years but decided to pull the trigger this year from the fear of tariff price increase. Their customer service are bad as I read. I live in Hawaii so I called to ship to freight forwarder company in LA. First CS person said they’ll refund ‘white grove delivery fee’ but second person I spoke with said there’s no such a thing they’ll charge me for white grove delivery fee no matter what. I asked to make sure to not to open the boxes upon delivery since they have to be on ocean freight. They delivered what seems to be the floor model without any protection and refused to resend, I had to pay freight company to wrap them for protection. Delivered and inspected and found some damage so called West Elm CS who said I need to email the claims. It has been two weeks and no response from West Elm. Probably never buy from them again. Too bad that I like their product but it’s a nightmare to deal with customer service. You may want to buy anything if they have it in stock, you can inspect items and haul yourself.

DO NOT SHOP HERE – Worst Customer Service Experience Ever

I spent over $400 on a mirror that was delivered damaged, with a broken frame. I reached out immediately and was told a replacement would be sent, and the broken mirror would be picked up. When the pickup team showed up, they said they were only there to take the broken mirror, and the new one would arrive later.

Thankfully, my husband told me not to hand over the broken one until the new one arrived — because it never did.

It’s been six weeks of back-and-forth with their so-called customer service, which is truly a nightmare. I’ve spent over 2–3 hours across six phone calls, getting transferred, placed on long holds, and repeatedly hung up on when I asked to speak with a supervisor. No resolution, no follow-up, no accountability.

I’m not writing this over $50 or $70. I’m someone who regularly shops with brands like Crate & Barrel and never had issues like this. This was about principle and honesty. They sent me a damaged item and are now ignoring their responsibility to fix it.

As of today, I still have a broken mirror on my wall and no replacement in sight.

Their customer service is disorganized, dismissive, and dishonest. Save yourself the stress — DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY with this company.

This is the 3rd product in last few years I purchased that is extremely poor quality! Surface level beautiful but cheap and unacceptable (especially at the prices they charge). They pretend to compete with Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel but they are Ashley with pretty showrooms. I will NEVER buy from them again. Pillow cover is disintegrating! It is decorative! No one has leaned against it or used it in any way. Thought there was lint on it and no…it’s basically a hole. I look more closely and there are multiple spots. Of course no offer to return because it is outside 30 days! West Elm Azalea Pillow Cover DO NOT SPEND $49 on this cheap piece of cloth. All the reviews are to be believed. It’s a matter of time before they file for bankruptcy after they take everyone’s money. They will claim it is the economy when it is actually mismanagement and the use of cheap suppliers. Goodbye forever West Elm.

West Elm takes your money, ships you a product you didn't order, and never returns your money once the product is picked up by them. For all of you who have had horrible experiences with West Elm come on my show to talk about it. My name is Kathy Barrett and my blog is gobehindthecurtain. I am producing a show about West Elm and their deceitful business practices, lies, and poor quality products. FYI, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission went after West Elm's parent company William Sonoma for false and misleading claims about the origin of their products in 2024 and they paid over 3 million dollars in penalty. Help me expose West Elm so that we can prevent others from being exploited by this company and their deceitful business practices.

The item I purchased does not look like what I saw on the West Elm website. The Haven Sleeper Chair that was delivered to me has unevenly-filled cushions — so much so, the top is very "puckered" and uneven at the top. I'm told that this "may" even out over time, but it's been two months and there is no change. I have reached out to customer service and they refuse to remedy the situation. Also, the delivery people could not install the legs because there were no holes to screw two of them in. This was resolved only after having to repeatedly check in.

I purchased a $1600 table that is rated for outdoor use and it started eroding within a month. I live in an area with little to no rain and it is in a semi covered and shaded area. I have not even sat at the table yet. They would not do anything about it. I could have bought a more durable outdoor table for $100 at Walmart.

Absolutely HORRIBLE experience with W.E. We will never order anything from them again. After having a positive experience in the Kansas City showroom we order a Harmony chaise sofa, and a recliner in early December 2024. We soon got notified that the sofa would be held until the recliner was delivered in May-June of 2025. After weeks of effort and cont less hours we finally got an exception to split ship the sofa before the recliner arrived. We are now well into February and the first available delivery day is sometime in March. THE DAY our sofa is scheduled to deliver the delivery contractor discovered that the chaise was made incorrectly…no sofa/chaise/recliners were delivered. We were told the chaise would be remade. April comes and the recliner arrived early so we scheduled its delivery (same contractor) and requested our sofa be delivered as well…no sofa was delivered and eventually we learned it was made wrong too. Keep in mind - every single communication between us and West Elm was initiated by us - not ONE time were they proactive. By late April or early May after weeks of pressing we found out that our fabric was discontinued and that WE WOULD NEVER GET OUR SOFA AS ORDERD. They offered us a 5% discount…total punch in the balls. We’re working on a full refund and of course still dealing with the return of the orphan chaise lounge - oh yeah they finally shipped the chaise.

Overpriced furniture company. I asked for a certificate of insurance prior to white glove delivery, and it took them over 1 week to get it to me despite me asking them for it every single day.
They send missing parts to my media console, so it couldn’t even be assembled.
They assemble the bed and one of the drawers is broken.
From poor communication to missing AND damaged parts, I’m never ordering from west elm again. Incredibly disappointed.

Worst customer experience and no locations to actually get help or return an item.

Would not suggest ordering unless you are 100% going to keep the item