&*@&^%$!!!@W^%$&!
I am enormously fucking annoyed right now. And I must be profane. Sorry if that offends, but, crap, I've just had to deal with the suckfest of annoyance that is the Williams Sonoma company (and, particularly their furniture branches).
OK, first, I am not an enormous consumer. The last piece of furniture I bought (before my annoyance saga begins) was two years ago, and that was a futon. Then a year before that, I bought a little wicker table and two chairs. Then probably five years before that, a sofa bed.
And although I do have plenty of clothes, I admit, a very high percentage of them come from Target. And virtually everything else (and even, most often, the Target stuff, too) I bought on sale. I do have a fair collection of kitchen implements, but I actually add to that very slowly. I buy far fewer books than I used to, now that I live in a place with a good public library. Although I went through a DVD buying phase, I don't do that too often any more. I did splurge on an iPod last year, and that I don't regret at all, because it's fantastic and improves my life.
So what I'm saying is, I'm not a huge buyer (oh, wait, except recently of yarn, but that not only supplies clothing or gifts, but is a hobby, too). I buy deliberately, more often than not.
Earlier this summer, I saw a bed (that is, a headboard/footboard) for sale in the Pottery Barn catalog that I liked, and was (being on sale) reasonably priced. Since I'd been sort of thinking of getting a bed for a while, I ordered it.
Now, when you order furniture, you get a little "your order has shipped" notice, even though it might take weeks for it to actually get to you. But once that little "your order has shipped" notice gets published on line, that's as far as web-based customer service will get you... it never changes.
So I was initially pleasantly surprised when I got a call from a Denver delivery company in mid-late July to set up a time for a home delivery. And the day of the delivery, I stripped the bed, and washed the bed skirt, and moved the mattress and boxspring out of the bedroom to make room, and folded up the cheapo frame that came with the mattress 9 years ago and stuck it in my shed.
And then, towards the end of my four hour delivery window, the truck shows up, and the guys bring in... a frame. A long, thin box. That's it.
What?
So I call the delivery company and they confirm that that's all they have. And I call Pottery Barn and they say, oh, gosh, the bed was actually on back order, so it'll still be a few weeks.
The hell?
I complained about having to stay home for a delivery twice for one bed (and, granted, I can and often do work at home, but I don't always want to do so, and often when I can't leave is exactly when I want to), and they offered to reimburse me for delivery charges. Fair enough.
Shortly thereafter, I saw a file cabinet in the West Elm (another Williams Sonoma company) catalog that I quite liked, and was nice looking and reasonable. Again, I've been thinking of getting one for a while now (I've actually currently got a couple of hanging file folder frames just sitting on the floor), so I ordered it. Same thing with the web notification.
Now, while waiting for that, I started to wonder what was up with the bed, since time kept passing and I kept not getting the bed.
Oh, and did I mention that they charged me for it back in early July???
So I emailed their customer service team, since I had no desire to sit on hold, and the website told me nothing. And they said they'd forward the message to the furniture delivery people who would contact me.
No one contacted me.
After a couple more weeks, I sent another, more annoyed email, noting that the fact that they'd had my money for months, while I still had no bed, was yet more annoying, and the fact that they had an email service option that didn't do shit was downright pissing me off. So the offered to refund the money until the bed comes (when? who the fuck knows, really... I'd just cancel the whole thing, except that now I've got this frame sitting on the floor of my spare room). OK, not ideal, but there you go.
So then this week I get a call from the same Denver delivery company to schedule yet another delivery, this time of the file cabinet. First, they give you a day for the delivery a few days ahead of time, and then a four hour window the day before. Sort of annoying to begin with.
I was initially set up for a Wednesday delivery, 1:30-5:30. Wednesday morning, I get a call telling me they just can't make it that day, and can I accept delivery on Friday.
(Man, I'm thinking, what if I had an office job???)
So, yeah, whatever, OK. Initially, I was told I'd get my delivery between 11-3. Then at 10:40 or so, I got a call telling me they were running late, and it'd actually be between 12-4. Aggravation was mounting.
The truck pulls up before 4, yes, it's true.
AND IT'S THE WRONG FUCKING THING. Not a file cabinet, but an entertainment system cabinet, or something.
OH MY GOD.
I refused delivery, called the Denver company, who insisted that it wasn't their fault. Called West Elm, who offered no explanation, and instead wanted to know if I wanted a replacement "expedited" to me. "What does 'expedited' mean?" I asked. Sent in a week or so, with the same delivery people.
No. NO. NOOOOOO.
Yeah, I'm writing a serious long letter of complaint to the president of Williams Sonoma. Chuck, I think his name is. I'm sure he's a nice man, and he's obviously got good taste. But at this moment, I can't stand his company.