The complaint has been investigated and
resolved to the customer's satisfactionResolved Ballard Designs — Do not order from them
resolved to the customer's satisfaction
This was by far the worst online shopping experience I have ever had. I recommend never orderning from Ballard Designs . Nothing they have is worth the hassle I went through. I was shipped the wrong order twice by the vendor and weeks later I still do not have a comforter for my bed. One of the customer service reps I talked to was extremely rude and I still have the wrong comforter in my closet as I am waiting for the vendor to issue a UPS label so I can drive it across town to be returned yet again. I finally cancelled my order because Ballard Designs was not able to confirm an item # with their vendor one week later after I received the wrong item for the second time. Even if they were able to confirm the item # today, which they could not guarantee, I would still have to wait a potential 4 - 6 weeks LONGER to get the correct comforter. I was never offered any extra discounts, coupons or anything other than an "I am sorry" for my inconvience. I was repeatedly told it was the vendor's fault - well Ballard Designs is the company responsible for the vendors they use and responsible to the customers who order from their website, right?
a verified customer
I sent this message to the email of the president of Ballard Designs. Am I surprised it was undeliverable? Not after the experiences I’ve had with their company over the last month. I even got the email address of their website...
Mr. McKelvey,
I’m sure you are not the one reading this email at first, if at all. I came across your email while searching for a place to vent to the public about the hours I have spent over the last month trying to clear up several issues that have occurred on one order. On a scale of 1-10 I would give your company a negative 10. Over the last 4 weeks I have spent many, many hours on the phone over a $3000 bench. I was just on hold as I am writing this and once again hung up on while waiting on hold!!! This was after being on the phone for over 45 minutes.
I have admired your catalog for years and for the last few years admired your custom banquette seating. I finally made the decision to order this as a gift to myself. I decided to open a credit card since there was a double rewards program at that time. I signed up for the card and called in my order. The same day, [protected]. This process seemed to go well. I was told that I should expect the order to arrive early September. Okay, I thought I’ve waited this long a bit longer shouldn’t be an issue. Then to my surprise around mid-June I got a call to deliver my order! Wow was I excited to get this early. I was told I was getting 3 packages. I mentioned I ordered 4 pieces and they said they had 3 boxes. So I thought well maybe they put the two corner benches together into one box. I scheduled the delivery (but never got the 2 hour window I was promised) and the 3 boxes arrive. There were only three pieces in the delivery. I was missing a corner. I looked at the packing list and they hand wrote 1 corner 1 30 and 1 72 So at that point I was sure it was missing.
This is now where the absolute nightmare begins, never...ever, have I experienced worse customer service over and over again! I called and was on the phone with 3 different people over at least an hour call. I was told that they would look further into it and call me back in 2-3 day. I never got a return call and decided to call in again. I had to repeat the issue again to two other people they told me it delivered I had to explain to them where to look to show it did not and I was again told I would hear back in a few days. Guess what? No call back! I called again spoke to multiple people, explained everything again, was this time told that the warehouse/delivery company needed to do a dock search and I would hear back in a few days. I asked how many days, told a few and I said I would call back if I don’t hear from anyone... Can you believe I did not hear from anyone??? What is going n with this company?? Again I called back. Apparently no one ordered the dock search and due to my frustration the customer service person said she contacted a manager/supervisor to make sure this was ordered. I was asked to give them a week. Of course I did not hear from your company so once again I needed to call, speak to multiple people explaining myself over and over again. I honestly don’t think the dock search was done. I was told they were calling to check and then told they could not find anything and it needed re-ordered. I work with that person to put the new order in and was told that I would not get my final piece for another 3 months. Of course my concerns now are will this match the piece I have. Well I could only wait and see.
To my surprise I got a call a bit later (this is the first return call I had ever received during this whole process) to tell me they could not complete my order since their was not enough fabric and I needed to choose another. I then had to explain that the whole order then needs to be redone. I can’t have one corner in a different fabric! The woman I spoke with suggested to get some swatches and I almost did but my fear then became what if the fabric I thought I like would no longer be available. I’m just going to order what I like, plus if I called back, it would be another hour explaining.
Well I placed the new order, was told that the amount due would be less because I would not be charged freight and the order will deliver October. That the pick up would be scheduled for time of delivery so we had a place to sit while we wait for the corrected order. This will all be fine if I find this ends up being the case. I will have to follow this to make sure.
So now my issue is that I ordered during double rewards, I did not get these or the $50 reward for signing up for the card. Also that I have been billed for this order and I have not received what I have ordered. Only received something that is being returned. I am not paying for something I am not keeping and at this rate I’m not sure what will happen come October so I’m not paying the credit card bill until I have my order complete. So I emailed the credit services a few days earlier about the rewards but had not heard back so I called. I explained this situation, was put on hold and then hung up on. I called back explained again and was told they could not help and transferred me to customer service. I explained myself again and was transferred to a manager and explained again. She heard me out and listened very attentively. I was told that she would need some time to review with a few people and she would get back to me. At this point I am very skeptical and asked for information because I had not received any call back when I have been told I would and I wanted her information. She explained she would email me and I took the information below.
Theresa xxxphone
[email protected] email
Sadly again I have not heard back and it’s a week tomorrow. I emailed yesterday to be sure I didn’t miss any communication and called today and left a message. In the meantime I also got a reply from the credit card company on the initial email question about the rewards and they told me I needed to call... really, I’ve tried this already! So since I could not get through to the manager I figured I would try and call the credit company again. I called the specific number in the email and explained everything, was put on hold and after 20 minutes a sales person from Ballard Designs picks up. At this point I am beyond frustrated!! So I explained again, she tells me that I need to talk to the credit company I told her that is who I called. She put me on hold and answers one question, put me on hold again and hangs up.
Now I am here writing to you and will be very surprised if I hear back and I’m sure if I do it will not be quick.
Do I call again to have to explain over and over again or get hung up on? Do I just not pay my bill until I get product in Oct? We’ll I work very hard to keep an excellent credit rating and this would then be affected, on the rewards do I over order and not pay what I should have been given? Again affecting my credit? What do you suggest to someone in my position, who has tried for weeks, spent several hours on the phone to try and get these issues cleared? I feel I can do not go to the top to check what my next steps should be because I feel I have put forth way too much effort up until now.
I am a Vice General Manager working for a company selling millions of dollars worth of product monthly. I would never let a situation like this continue for as long as this has and the fact that I continue to not get responses tells me that this must be the norm for your company. It looks to me like someone needs to be assigned to review and evaluate the service your company provides.
a verified customer
Sadly, I am another customer who found out too late that there is no customer service or company accountability on the part of Ballard. When I tried to give an honest review of a product I received on their website, they told me they would not post it as it spoke to shipping issues and they apparently don't count or they won't deal with this failing in their organization. I ordered a product early this winter and learned within a week or so that it was backordered and would not ship until May. In April, they pushed that out to mid June alerting me with an email; yet the very next day I got snother email from Ballard stating the item just shipped and I would be contacted to arrange a delivery date from their contract shipper. When I called customer service at Ballard to let them know that a fsmily emergency took me out of town and I would not be able to be home for any delivery, I was first told, don't worry, it will take weeks for the delivery still. Yet the next day I was contacted by the shipper telling me that I needed to set the delivery date and if I did not, they would return the item to Ballard. Further calls to Ballard were fruitless and frustrating- I finally got bumped to a customer relations person who just arranged a delivery date in June with the hope I would be home to accept it. Well, the item was delivered this past Friday. The delivery company never called to confirm the delivery so when it became 1 hour from the end of the 4 hour window snd they still were not there, I tried to get in touch with both Ballard's rep and the delivery company. They confirmed it was going to be delivered; the delivery team then called and said they would be at least an hour beyond the window they promised. And that white glove service? For the $100 plus extra charged, the delivery is to your front door only. Really? Even the delivery team was embarrassed and did bring the Huge box over the threshold. I still had to unpack a box bigger than me and get the item into my home. The actual product after all this? An uncomfortable Thurston wing chair with stiff cushioning and poor quality upholstery. So my recommendation: don't buy anything from Ballard Designs and tell the company thar owns them, HSNi Cornerstone, that you won't accept this lack of quality by also refusing to buy anything fro their other vendors - Frontgate, HSN, Grandin Road, Garnet Hill and Improvements.
a verified customer
Buyers beware. Purchased a monogrammed Duvet, arrived with crooked monogram. Called and sent a picture. They said they'd get back to me. Instead they shipped a new one with no mention of returning the first. The second Duvet also had a crooked monogram but I gave up. 2 months later I get a letter threatening to charge my credit card if I don't return the first duvet in 30 days. Unbelievable - I will never buy from them again.
a verified customer
I have also had very bad experiences with Ballard Designs, despite being a long time customer. I just can't put up with them anymore.
I wish I had read these reviews before ordering from Ballard Design. I ordered a rug. Simple enough. But no, even though it was "in stock", two weeks went by before I saw that Ballard had charged my credit card. No shipping notice, nothing. I called several times. One representative basically said Ballard had no idea where the rug was but that it had "shipped." 6 weeks after ordering, they still don't know where the rug is and only yesterday credited by account. I too wonder what this company is hiding. What it's NOT hiding is truly bad customer service. I'll never order from them again. There are too many other retailers out there who value business.
Helen Weeks, the founder should be ashamed as to the poor quality of their sofas and their client service.
We purchased a Baldwin sofa and Baldwin love seat for $2, 474.93 on 9/10/10. The spring support and frame fell apart and we felt we were sitting on the floor.
After much complaining, the items were replaced in July 2012.
The same thing occurred with the replacement items this year. We have had to buy many large pillows and place them under the sofa and love seat pillows just so we were not injuring our backs sitting on them.
We complained again and asked for a refund or replacement on 4/15/14.
A Ms Tuttle said they would do neither on 5/28/14
Being over 65 years old- this company takes advantage of senior citizens.
There products are crap, and their client service is even worse!
Don't buy their products!
Stu Williams in Florida
I totally agree. Ballard Designs is the worst retailer I've ever dealt with. I purchased two sets of wicker dining room chairs with covers. After one and a half years my wife decided to wash the cushions that were lightly soiled. The seams came completely apart. Since it was past their one year store warranty they would only give a $40 gift card towards replacement cushions. Only problem is that they don't sell the same cushions and they are so unique they would have to be custom made. They would not even give us any information on the manufacturer. Since I purchased them with my Visa card I filed a claim with Visa only to find out that Ballard Designs refused to provide Visa any information on the manufacturer quoting that it was confidential and all they could find out is that they were manufactured in India. Since they do not have a USA backed manufacturer warranty Visa denied the claim. What is Ballard Designs hiding.
I spent a lot of money on some table bases that we're not delivered. The customer service reps tried to tell me I had the date and time wrong. Then they refused to transfer me to a supervisor, claiming they were busy catching up from the holidays and not accepting calls. I was disconnected twice; called a total if 9 times trying to find out why the scheduled delivery did not happen. I was finally told that the driver (you mean there's only ONE to make deliveries?????!!) called in sick. Yet no one called customers to reschedule. My delivery was rescheduled for Saturday by the freight company again, whose rep guaranteed me it would be done in the afternoon, so I made arrangements again to have someone available to receive the items. No show and no call - again. I cancelled my order and wrote to the leadership at Ballard in Ohio (headquarters) detailing the horrible experience - and demanded the return if my money. NEVER order from this company! I wish I had found the customer service and delivery reviews before purchasing from them. NEVER AGAIN!!! BEWARE.
I can also attest to Ballard Designs poor level of customer service. I initially tried to purchase an item online however the checkout system was not applying the appropriate sales discount. The product listing indicated a 15% discount would be applied at the register but upon checkout it was applying only 10%. I called the 800 # to obtain some help, needless to say the expectation of knowledgeable and courteous service was far from reach. Lynn H. was the Rep who instead of gathering all the facts from the onset only obtained a portion of my info and immediately placed me on hold - to then make a statement that I was mistaken as the company was only offering a 10% discount. I had to walk her thru the website to show her the product listing and their sale notation which clearly posted 15% - even then she could not assist me with the purchase, she said she needed supervisory approval. I was placed on hold for the 4th time (30 min call) she came back to tell me they sold out of the product. What a scam. The item is still on the web available for purchase, which clearly contradicts the rep. Avoid this company as there are too many other better choices out there.
I am still waiting for an item that I ordered over 5 weeks ago. Their website says that the order would ship in 4-5 weeks which is already unreasonable compared to other companies. I called yesterday (5 weeks later), the customer service rep was unbelievably rude and said it would ship in 3 more weeks. Similar to your experience, she also blamed it on the vendor. I thought I was ordering from Ballard Designs, not a vendor! This is a gift and I am so embarrassed by how late it will be. They offered me nothing to make up for this inconvenience, barely an apology. I'm writing to their CEO and I will probably dispute the charge on my credit card if it isn't received within the next week. I can't believe that a company thinks they can do business like this. Good luck with your order!