I normally just promise myself I'll never shop there again and be done with it. Though I have used my cable company's "Contact Us" email link at least 3 times to write a scathing letter, and even though it's a nationwide company and that email went to some center in who-knows-where, it has gotten me results fast every time.

Like sashasmommy, I usually get some kind of decent result using a company's "contact us" link. I lost a major battle with Toyota when our Camry had an unintended acceleration, but in my experience most companies give some kind of response.

Another way to get good results these days is to write something on the wall of RH's facebook page. THere is someone monitoring the page and alomst always responds and gets the individual what they were promised. They may say please send an email to such and such a person so this can be worked out but they seem to be very respondent to those posts- especially b/c the public can see them! Just an idea..

I'm sorry you had that experience. Unforutunately, it does seem to be the norm these days! :(

Good luck!

I call, and I escalate the call to the supervisor, the supervisor's supervisor, and so on.

RH is a total nightmare to deal with!! We have had several issues with them over the years - our most recent involved a DR table and chairs - each time there was an issue with the order, DH got on the phone and asked them to give him a discount on the order - he ended up getting us $750 back on the order over the entire process. Each time I say I will never order from them again, then I find something there that I really love... (sigh)

So, if you want to keep the drapes call and ask for a discount (the customer service reps are very nice and it can't hurt. They will offer a RH gift certificate toward a future purchase at first, but don't accept that, ask for more)

If you want to return them, call, explain the situation, and ask them to send you a postage paid label for return shipping.

Good luck - what a huge disappointment to not be happy with everything after all that work. :(

"Would you take the time and effort to write a letter?" - Yes!

"Or is just what one should expect anymore???" - If we don't take the time, then we should expect nothing more than poor service. And worse, inferior products.

I had a similar experience with Macy's over the holidays. Three items never came, called Macy's and they said they were delivered and to call UPS, called them and they said to contact the shipper co. which was in Ct. Called them and they said to go back to Macy's. Dealt with Macy's 3 more times, no one ever responded when they said they would. The upshot is that I got a supervisor and told her I needed to speak to her manager. She called me back with a 3 way connection and I spoke to both of them. They returned my $ and also gave me a $50 gift certificate to make me happy so don't settle, go to the top.

A letter's useless. Call one of the appropriate VPs and let them know what's wrong.

Corporate office # +1.415.924.1005
15 Koch Rd Ste J Corte Madera, CA, 94925-1231

Here is a link that might be useful: RH Business Contacts

It depends on how bad the experience is. I would definitely do something about your RH experience. Call first. Sure doesn't make me want to shop there. I find it even more ridiculous for this behavior when things are on the expensive side, even though price shouldn't effect customer service.

I just had a world of problems with Nell Hill's, for those following my many threads, there were more things that took place that I didn't even mention. I wrote a long letter and had to keep revising it as things were changing. I had every intention of mailing but I wanted to wait until the backorder fabric came in. So as I was sitting on the letter, I ended up talking to someone on the phone about one of the larger issues and things got fixed in a very fair way.

I'll admit, I'm always a little hesitant with stuff like this. You hear of cases where people said bad (but true) things about a company, on FB or YouTube, and got in trouble. I try to keep it to the facts and not get too nasty.

Thanks for the feedback everyone, and the address, ideefixe. I'm going to write. I'm extra riled up now, because they didn't ever credit me for the initial shipping charge. So they basically charged me to ship me something I didn't order. Nuts!!!

I'm so sorry! I hate this kind of thing because you did nothing wrong, and yet you are having to expend so much energy, time and in the end, money to correct their error. Grr!

So I had a similar issue with ... Restoration Hardware (ha ha!) in the fall of 2009. I first called CS, got nowhere and thought "eff it!" (You know what I mean.) So instead I went straight to corporate where I spoke with the head of, hmm, I can't remember now but I want to say customer relations or customer service. Something like that.

This lady was v. nice and was interested in what I had to say, and she never once made me feel as if she was placing it back on me, you know that whole "I'm sorry *you* feel that way. I'm sorry *you* misunderstood." I really hate that passive-aggressive crap.

She sent me $100 in gift certs as a "make up."

But truthfully, I don't know if it was worth it. What I mean is, it ended up costing me so much in stress and then time (on the phone), that I wonder if it wouldn't have been better for me to eat a bar of chocolate and meditate on sending them the finger? Or better for my mental health, meditate on my own peace of mind. (I REALLY need that!)

I LOVE the idea of posting on their FB page. That is genius!

I'm glad you shared your story here with us. Clearly we're all on your side!

Happy new year.

What trouble can you possibly get into by complaining about bad service? And once again-- don't write, call. Writing a snail mail letter means that the company can delay, and pass the buck, etc. Calling a VP of customer service's office means that his/ her assistant will have to listen to you and get the problwm handled. Corporations don't hear from their customers often enough.

What trouble can you possibly get into by complaining about bad service to that company? That's absurd. And once again-- don't write, call. Writing a snail mail letter means that the company can delay, and pass the buck, etc. Calling a VP of customer service's office means that his/ her assistant will have to listen to you and get the problwm handled. Corporations don't hear from their customers often enough.
The FB page is a good idea, but that just means that the person doing their social media ( could be out of house consultant) has to tell someone with actual power to fix the problem. Why not just go right to that power?

i will always send an email and that usually is tended to right away...if not, then i will call and stick with it until resolved to my satisfaction. i NEVER just let it go!

You've never heard the stories of people getting in trouble by bad mouthing about their experience online?

We had a problem with wal-mart - the lines were always way too long. They have a special section for emailing corporate and each store for problems. I did that and someone called within a few days.

Contact them and be polite and often the problem will be dealt with.

To your question--yes, I do take time to send a letter for bad service!

I took it a step further last week when I went to my cable/internet/wireless/landline store whom I have fought with for three years about various problems. I wore a sign pinned to the front of my shirt with big letters: WARNING: I do not like Verizonsize>
I don't know which was the worst day of my life, when I bought a condo in Palm Beach County or when I switched to Verizon.

Then I listed all the issues under each product.

Yes, I looked like a fool but the frustration level has been so high at times that I would be sapped of energy as I sat on the phone with Mumbai for hours at a time.

Good luck with your issues. I hope you get satisfaction.

Don't hesitate to call when you have an issue for cryin' out loud!! And there is nothing wrong with posting on the web either. But writing a letter and documenting your experience is a something that DOES raise eyebrows and if you name names, dates, and details then a bad CR can often be taken from service and a problem with a warehouse/location/process can often be remedied while your own personal problem is being resolved.

Define "in trouble". If you're complaining to a corporation in your own blog or on their website, what can they do? Sue you for slander? In this case, truth is an absolute defense. She's stating what happened, not claiming the CEO is a child molester. Don't be a wuss.

RH can be great or awful. I found that if you call around to the stores and try to get to a manager in a store they will escalate things for you to someone higher up in customer service. Works much better than trying to enter through online or telephone CS.

Well, after spending an hour last night composing an entertaining (to me anyways) and probably overly-dramatic letter, the credit finally posted to my credit card. And, whether by accident or purpose, they ended up just charging me $10 more per panel than the original sale price, and didn't re-charge me shipping again. Which, since this is what I was so annoyed about, I guess I don't have anything else to complain about. (except for the wasted time and effort). I do appreciate all this support though :) and if anything, I did feel like I was back in English 101, trying to compose a persuasive argument-type essay (even quoted the new president from the forward of their new catalog).

I'm so glad you got it worked out...

Reference the question of getting in trouble for posting something bad about a company -- there have been numerous news stories about this happening. I specifically remember a girl twittering (tweeting?) something about her apartment having mold, and the company sued her (even though mold was a problem that she had been trying to get them to fix for a long time.) Also there was another one about someone posting a bad review of a hotel on Trip Advisor and getting sued for it.

"Define "in trouble".......... Don't be a wuss."

Ha, WOW. I stated what I would do. I never said she was in the wrong. People HAVE been sued. Look it up.

To answer the question: YES! I write, call, email customer service. If that doesn't get the proper response, I have called the Attorney General's Office Consumer Protection Office and have filed a formal complaint (did that against Bloomingdale's) and have gotten the desired outcome.

OTOH, I frequently write letters or emails for good service. Just did that this week.

Never be afraid to voice your concern. You are the consumer. Ultimately, you will most likely never shop there again. Take your $$$ and walk.

"Would you take the time and effort to write a letter?" -
Most certainly~ and I do the opposite too...write when I like something, also.

>> and I do the opposite too...write when I like something, also.

Did you know that you can send letters of "great job" to the BBB? I have done that in the past if a company exceeded my expectations. (Service related, usually)

I absolutely write a letter praising services or products! And it has paid off numerous times with coupons or sample products. I once got a CASE of the product after praising it.