Williams-Sonoma

I went to exchange (an inexpensive) Christmas gift for something else but had no gift receipt. After waiting at the cash register for 15 minutes while the employees tried to figure out if I could exchange the items only to learn that I couldn’t. I was quite angry as this is a common practice in other upscale stores, particularly since I wasn’t asking for a cash refund — plus the item, little santas and tapers were in boxes marked ‘Williams Sonoma”! When I asked why they wouldn’t exchange as it was their product, I was told that it could have been stolen!
Unbelievable. I suggest they use Nordstrom’s customer service model. It’s the best!
That’s my last time in WS. Sur la Table works for me.

I’ve always had great service when I’ve stopped by! Unfortunately they will be closing down mid January 2015. Lots of stuff on sale … get it before it’s gone. All sales final.

I’m often ignored here but today took the salted Carmel cake. After standing at an empty counter for a few I walked over to a sales person and asked if she could ring me up. She replied yeah. When I am done here. Nasty tone. She was putting the hard sell on some dude over a coffeemaker and she never came over, tho it would have taken her about 30 seconds to ring me up. Instead she waited for someone else to come out of the back and told her to do it after I waited for several minutes. And it was early am, not at all busy. It was as if she wouldn’t come over because I dared to interrupt her. I’ll be buying my overpriced kitchen items at Sur la Table from now on. I honestly don’t understand why anyone would shop here.

The worst customer service I’ve ever experienced at a WS store. Despite having 3 people behind the counter they were unwilling to help me with a simple registry return and exchange. I had to drive into SF just to complete the transaction because of the incompetency of the staff at this store. Needless to say, SF was willing and able to assist me immediately. Either this staff needs additional training or they simply don’t care about their customers but, either way, this is not a store worth visiting.

We walked in yesterday and this man behind the counter totally ignored us. Not a welcome or hello. And he was not even busy, just cutting some stinky bread which he was going to give as free samples. With this kind of attitude, these people are sure not doing much in sales!

At 7:44pm on a Monday, I tried to go here to spend almost $ 400 on the new fancy Nespresso machine for my new place. The sign says they close at 8, and two employees are standing at the cash reg, and don’t even look up as we try the door.
Guess I’m buying it at Sur la Table!

Nothing like hanging around in a store with a brief question only to be ignored. I could have been a very quick sale, but I’ll take my business elsewhere.

I received this from a Unilocaler today.
What a lovely review, and what a fun (yet practical!) partner you had. I’ve never cried at a Unilocal review before.
Best,
Adriana

I have shopped at this store over 10 times and have normally had great service and a positive shopping experience. I tried to purchase a Global Sai knife $ 199, the employee went to the back to get the knife and the blade was wrapped in cardboard and stapled. These knifes always come in a nice box, I noticed a scratch on the handle and asked the employee to take knife out of cardboard. When he did there was a huge chip in the blade. No sale, they where selling me a very defective item ($ 199) for 1 knife that had a chip in it? I’m not sure that the employee knew this, but with some training, management could instruct staff to only sell items that come in original packaging, unless discounted.

I had to return a salad spinner to this store and the manager was very nice and helpful. She took my info and brought out a replacement for me. This is a great store and I would definitely go back again.

Pricey but very high quality stuff. Staff helpful if not as knowledgeable as I would have wished.

We have not returned to this store in years. Why? Because when I return a $ 200 hand mixer that does not live up to its promises (ill take my Vitamix, bought via Whole Foods, any day!!), I do not want to be made to feel like a criminal by your staff. Graciously accepting the return would have led me to return. But now, I brave nightmare parking to go to Sur La Table in Berkeley for my high end cookware needs.
Tough noogies. I spend a lot there.

The ladies who work here are WONDERFUL! I came in to get my Dad a Father’s Day gift and they were SO helpful… walked me around the store to show me all the various BBQ tools and listed their favorites, but without being pushy. I got to taste all the BBQ sauces and spice rubs on bread/​croutons (yum), and they made me a virgin lime margarita! I felt like they fed me lunch. :)
After picking out some great stuff, they did an amazing gift wrap job and sent me on my way with a smile. I will definitely come back here soon.

Even though Williams-​Sonoma is pretty high end, some of the deals you find in this store are comparable to what you might find at Costco. A couple of weeks ago they had a great selection of slow juicers that are normally $ 500+ for the $ 300 range. The staff is very knowledgable and polite — meaning, they’ll acknowledge you and say hello, but they won’t be pushy; if you ask them a question, they always go out of their way to get the answer you need and more. It’s always so fun to visit this store!

This is not somewhere I go for my staple kitchen items. Instead it’s a fun place to shop for all the things I love but don’t really need. Gadgets I don’t know how to use, fancy knives, star wars cookie decorating kits, snow white cupcake holders, baking mixes, and gourmet pasta sauce. I especially love the cookbook section. It ranges from ones written by famous chefs, to books catered to teach technical skills, to books on certain cuisines. There’s a really cute cookbook called bride and groom with recipes for 2 people to cook together.
There are free cooking demos in store and you can also check out their calendar for classes and book signings.

Sometimes you just have to indulge in the finest quality and pay the price. Some of the store’s products are overpriced if they are being compared to various competitor’s such as Sur La Table or Bed Bath and Beyond (even Target) but the quality is great. The staff at Bay Street is always pleasant and the store is always organized and in good shape. I have stocked so much of my kitchen from here and everything is great. I never regret a purchased from here, but often wish I could buy more. I wonder if anyone else ever feels like that? LOL
Been saving up to buy the Wusthof knife set for ages and upgrade some of my pots and pans to the All Clad.
If your a gormet chef (even if its just for your home) go and visit this place. You’ll find so much you never knew you needed, and so much you wont be able to live without once you see it or have it.
WS I LOVE THEE

Bed, Bath, and Beyond is normally where I shop for my kitchenware, but I stumbled upon Williams-​Sonoma and decided to check out if there was anything I didn’t need.
Sad thing is there were tons of cooking items there I DID need, but they are so freaking expensive I couldn’t convince myself to part with my credit card for a $ 200 pan. Maybe if I had any trace of skill in the kitchen it would have been a tad bit easier.
While most people complain about not being greeted or tended to, I enjoy walking around and doing my own research. I was able to find a large stainless steel vegetable steamer for $ 24 that folds up and has a pop-​up stay cool handle. I’d been looking for one for a while, but always managed to forget whenever I finally made it to the store.
At the checkout counter, I struck gold in the sale bin with a 32 oz of Rick Bayless Sangria Roja mix. It was only $ 3.50 and you just mix it with a fruity red, and maybe a little Brandy for good measure!
A pleasant woman by the name of Hope helped me get on my way quickly. She had a genuine smile and I believed her when she told me to «have a nice day.»
All in all, I had a fine experience. When I strike the lottery this will be the place I go to to stock up on all my kitchen needs.

This review is solely based on the customer service I received from this store. After going to the Pleasanton store, I went here to buy some additional items from their Annual Sale. I immediately noticed a difference in price for one of the items I had held off on purchasing. It was $ 20 higher in price here.
When I asked the lady near the front register whether different stores marked their prices down differently, she had such a rude demeanor. She mentioned that all items on all the stores were linked to a central computer and are all priced the same. She gave me the look as if I was lying. She didn’t even offer any help as to what item I was looking at or offer to look it up. I had asked her very nicely. She had responded with unnecessary attitude and an unwillingness to help. I told her I wasn’t lying, or would have no reason to. I walked out of this store, and was soo unhappy! William-​Sonoma, please do a better job of picking your staff. I didn’t deserve this attitude!
WOWW! Not only did I get a marked-​up price offered to me here, I also would be paying a premium for the awfully rude customer service!

Gayle and I came back from Portugal with an interesting collection of mementos, including a lot of Port and a few extra pounds from some pretty amazing meals. In fact, I need to write a thank you note to the owner of Taberna Tipica Quarta-​Feira in Évora for the best Lunch Gayle and I have EVER had. Other souvenirs included distinctive ceramic Portuguese roosters, a kippah and other Jewish items from the Communities in Belmonte and Tomar, a «Bless Our Home» trinket from Santiago Compestela (Spain), various tile products, and best of all a rug from Arraiolos in distinctive blue and yellow hues.
Shopping on vacation can be a little his and miss as there’s also sights to see and great meals (with wine) to be enjoyed. The Tour books (especially Rick Steeves, Karen Brown, and Frommers) help, but often what you discover on vacation turns out to be a time and circumstance sort of thing. Plus with the Euro to $ exchange rate (~1.4) and a 21% VAT, we were sometimes price sensitive.
So when I returned, I started looking around the Internet at some of the Portuguese ceramics that I missed in our too short visit to this part of the Iberian Peninsula. It looks like I missed much of what Coimbra and Nazare had to offer, although our visit to the Lisbon Tile Museum was a great grounding experience.
I was pleased to discover a nice collection of Nazare-​area bowls and serving plates for sale at Williams-​Sonoma, and decided to stop by today to take a look. I left with a nice bowl and was pleased with the familiar colourful design and the price.
The Emeryville store is nice, although this whole fake downtown area is confusing and not my favourite destination location. Store selection seemed comprehensive, employees were friendly and helpful, and the free cup of hot cider was a nice coda to this successful shopping foray.
I’m sure Gayle and I will be back to look at the other Portuguese ceramic dinner pieces that Williams-​Sonoma has to offer. Of course, buying it at the source during our honeymoon was preferable, but filling in the small blanks after our return is a good thing too.

If I win the lottery and want to knock Rachel Ray of her smug pedastal, I’m coming here (just kidding, I have nothing against Rachel Ray, probably because I’ve never watched her for more than 3 seconds).
Holiday shopping for mom’s 3^rd husband is tough. #2 liked golf and bird watching, so all I had to do was get him something golf– or bird-​related. Kind of like when I got him a parakeet but had to give it to him before Christmas because I was afraid my cat would figure out a way to open his cage and have the poor yellow bird for a snack. (It was actually kind of funny, as the bird was yellow and my cat is black and white… like Sylvester and Tweety but with less verbal sparring).
ANYHOW, as #3 is kind of a house-​husband and cooks, I figured I’d come here. I actually came here 2 days in a row, once with my friend Sarah so we could pick out what we would register for if Prop 8 finally gets destroyed, and a day later with my other friend Sarah so we could get warm. On day 1, it was raining, and they had hot chocolate and apple cider in urns for everyone… along with waffles.
Day 2 I wandered around the store in a stupor, wondering what the hell I would get the man who really has no interests besides buying stuff. I decided to make him useful and bought him 2 cans of pancake mix– chocolate chip and cinnamon graham. I think he was happy with it, although I guess it’s a lame gift as he only makes pancakes when I’m here so I essentially bought them for myself. No matter, as eventually I’ll buy him something else to go along with those… like a waffle maker.
What I like, although have never experienced, about Williams-​Sonoma is that they give cooking/​entertaining demonstrations.
I really must try them sometime… and go buy my lottery ticket.