The Lighting Design Center

This store has a decent-​to-​good selection of unique items at competitive prices, but customer service was appalling.
First instance: John agreed to call back w/​more info about a (nice) metal lampshade we wanted to buy, then claimed he never got our phone # when we were in the store. We eventually bought the shade w/Rebecca’s kind help.
Second instance, a common oval fluorescent one sees at other North Bay stores took more than two weeks to arrive at the store yet my credit card was charged shortly after purchase. Saw the box was badly smashed on top, but (I think it was) Lisa gave the box a said nothing about until I insisted she open it. The foam packing was smashed and the retaining rim was wrecked. No one argued when I demanded a refund. Lamps Plus home-​delivered same item for same price in3 days.

Good customer service; great products and pleasant experience. Really pleased with my new LED floor lamp.
Highly recommend.

This is an upscale lighting and design store. If you can’t get down to San Rafael to Lamp’s Plus (my personal favorite) then go here. They have very helpful staff and a good selection of in store items. I see they also now have a design center as well.

What a wonderful surprise to find such a lovely lighting store in Santa Rosa, with beautiful high end lighting. Our lighting consultant, Woka Nunyakpe, was incredibly knowledgeable and helpful when guiding us to solutions for our specific rooms. We have a few more rooms to do and will only be too happy to return to see Woka and take advantage of his knowledge.

Lighting Design Center (LDS) tried to pawn off a scratched and damaged fixture as new. But read on. It is even worse than it sounds. This purchase was not a discount or sale. We were told that our order would take a few weeks to arrive. Two days later LDS called to say the fixture was in. Weird, a few weeks changed to two days. We picked it up the next weekend, wrapped up with tape in a box. When we got home and opened the box, what a nasty surprise. No one could have mistaken the fixture we picked up for new. To make matters worse, we live one hour away, which we made clear to the salesman. Two round trips and now we had to make a third trip — six hours. When I called to complain I asked that they order a new one and that when the new fixture came in I would return the damaged one so that I only had to make one more trip. LDS would not accommodate me in this way. AND they only accepted returns Monday through Friday until 4 PM. Read other reviews. LIGHTING DESIGN CENTER DOES NOT DELIVER CUSTOMER SERVICE. I took a little time off work and arrived at 4:45 to make the return. The same salesman waited on me. When asked how this could happen he would not respond but wanted to order us a new one. He would not ship it to our home and he would not discount the item at all. He made it clear that he was in a big hurry and that the store was closing. What a fool I was wanting to shop when I could have saved money and time ordering on line. So that is what I did. I suggest you do the same.

Good luck with returns.
«I don’t care about customer service,» said their manager.
We bought a beautiful lamp here. Not the first time we shop here. A few bucks shy of $ 500. They sold us the floor model… We get home and it’s broken. We tried to install it anyhow. Hardware it came with didn’t hold the weight.
I called. Got no call back. So I go to the store the very next day. Took insults and threats. I was threaten like an unruly teen faced by a mean yard-​duty. Was told I’d need to pay for an exchange. Way to pinch pennies. I’d only recommend this place if you like low quality service, rude people, and dealing in legal problems.
«I should’ve gone to Friedman’s” — me, 2÷11÷16.
I wish so badly I was getting paid for this message.

We just completed a significant remodel and addition to our home. We worked with Sharon Turke, the owner of the Lighting Design Center for all of our lighting and decorating needs. Sharon was absolutely amazing! She was an incredible resource and worked tirelessly with our contractor, electrician and various subcontractors. Her breathe of knowledge ensured the ultimate success of our project. She ensured all code requirements were met and provided the best selection around in terms of decorative lighting, furnishings, décor and window coverings. The finished product is unmatched and we are so happy with everything we received. Sharon’s pricing was also competitive. Lastly, everything was delivered on time, and labeled by location. I can’t say enough about our positive experience with Sharon and her team at the Lighting Design Center. All of our family and friends who come into our ‘new” home have commented on how beautiful our lighting and decorating is and ask if we hired a professional designer. I always say, «YES!»

Our 20 year old house is seriously in need of exterior light replacement and we really did not know where to start. We first visited a showroom in San Francisco where they just directed us to the wall of catalogs and we were expected to fend for ourselves. Needless to say, we were clueless and overwhelmed.
We are not in the trade and needed a lot more help. On a whim, we visited The Lighting Design Center in Santa Rosa. Woka immediately greeted us, listened to what we were looking for, and took us through our options. We could have been any window shoppers off the street, but he still spent a lot of time with us. After consulting with him, we decided that Hubbardton Forge would be perfect for our house because we could choose the style, finish and glass.
I then researched HB on the internet, got prices, then called Woka. The price he quoted for me was $ 100 less per fixture than anything I saw on the internet. How can I say no to this deal?
The fixtures came in on time, and we are so excited about having these installed — just waiting for the rains to stop! We plan to add more lighting and when we do, we will definitely return to The Lighting Design Center.

I regret that I have experienced the same rudeness from the staff as have others. I was completely ignored at the front desk by the older man who was thumbing through a catalog and never once made eye contact, although he answered the phone while I stood there and managed to never look my way. I was completely invisible to this individual. When I interjected to inform him that I was there to pick up an order, it was clearly a huge inconvenience to find someone to help me. Next the long haired man who eventually helped me returned with the order and lost control of the box flipping it through the air. I will be returning with the item today as there is at least one broken crystal on the fixture. I certainly turned down the offer to carry the box to my car. I will file another review if there is difficulty returning this not inexpensive item. I will never shop here again after this experience and I had used them several years ago without incident.

I am a contractor and The LDC had been my preferred vendor for lighting since 2005. After my last experience I will not be going back.
In 2014 and found out that Linda and Marie no longer worked at LDC and moved forward with a design-​build kitchen overhaul with a rep who lacked the knowledge of the previous reps. I was sold the highest end lighting and devices that were all wrong for the project. He designed the lighting package and did not take into account access, ceiling height or line/​load placement, all information he was provided. His ignorance was almost forgivable but his lack of accountability wasn’t. On at least two occasions I believe this rep was under the influence and that contributed to both the problem and to my frustration. Once I met him after lunch I smelled alcohol on his breath and the second time I had a phone conversation where he had me pull two banks of devices apart and give him model numbers from the 6 devices he ordered wrong. Not only did he not have the numbers I gave him on file when I followed up a couple weeks later but he had no recollection of the conversation. I was going to let it go when he agreed to order me the correct devices but when I arrived to pick them up he wanted to charge me for them stating that we never discussed line/​load placement. Even if we had not discussed this as he claimed, which we did, this high end lighting rep was then telling me that he just guessed at which devices were line side and which ones were load. I will never go to LDC again and not only will I not recommend them, I will discourage anyone from buying from this company which was until now my one stop shop for high end lighting.

I have purchased many wonderful items from this store, but recently had the same weird customer service experience that others have noted. The two salesmen (one older, one long-​haired) were each engaged with other customers, but neither acknowledged me although both made eye contact with me. The kicker was when the long-​haired salesman finished with his client just as the phone rang. He took the call and spent over 10 minutes answering that client’s questions while I continued to stand there. Finally the older guy looked up and said, we’ll be with you but it’s going to be awhile. I said never mind and left.

Service was attentive with great design ideas plus ADA code knowledge. Showroom Gallery was well presented with many available options. I was reluctant to stop at The Lighting Design because of the negative reviews from a few about customer service. I was glad that I changed my mind and within ½ of my wonderful experience I was walking out the door with the two selections I had been looking for. I was happy they had my items in stock. And service completed with the sales rep loading my car. If that’s not going beyond then I don’t know what is.

Horrible service! Staff was outright rude and when I brought it to their attention, they blamed me! I ordered lights with antigue bulbs that were promised in 2 weeks. 5 weeks later and numerous phone calls later they called me to advise me that they were finally in. Once home, no bulbs were with the order and I was forced to use a big box store to complete the job. Shame on you! Get a customer service coach for your staff. And just be honest with your clients, there’s a difference between rude and professional. Your staff is just rude.

I recently went in for one light fixture and with Wokas help ended up with new entryway lights new fan and master bathroom and bedroom lights he was so helpful and knowledgeable and easy to work with… even my husband loves everything
Highly recommend
Great prices too

Worst experience ever! We walked around for a while and nobody greeted us or even acknowledge us and they were not even busy. This place is way over priced. Saw the Same lighting in San Rafael for waaaaayyyy less!!! Would never go back!

This is an upscale retail store for all makes and models of lighting treatments. They have many scores of catalogs, and just about any lamp, fixture, recessed, hanging, free standing, indoor, outdoor, modest, or ultra expensive — The Lighting Design Center has it or can order it.
I’ve been going to them for many, many years. I have replaced every single lighting component in my house and wired many new outlets for lighting treatments. I bought all the products for these projects from The Lighting Design Center.
Also, they sell every light bulb imaginable there. Still waiting for the LED products to become more reliable and cheaper before I replace all my incandescent bulbs. I do have some CFLs, but I do not want the mercury and toxic gases in CFL bulbs polluting our environment.
I have always been treated great by their associates and they have never let me down. They are basically lighting consultants who can serve as designers to assist in any lighting project, in any phase, of your home construction, remodel, or upgrade.
I even bought my bathroom fan from Panasonic from them.
Nice to have an upscale source of anything in Sonoma County! Count The Lighting Design Center among these sources.
Review 0058

This place is awesome! They have a very nice selection of interior and exterior lighting. The best part about it is the service. Right when we walked in the door we were greeted and asked what we needed help with. The sales person who greeted us walked us through finding everything that we needed. She was not condescending at all and did a great job. I would HIGHLY recommend this place. We went to all the lighting places in Santa Rosa and this one is definitely the best!