dear pottery barn

This is the letter I just wrote to Pottery Barn. I even used capital letters. It's that serious.

Good evening,

As I've found no way of leaving feedback on your website, I hope that this is an effective form of communication.

I have been a fan of Pottery Barn for a long time. I highly regard it's quality, integrity, and design. As a designer, I've recommended it to friends, family, and clients alike. I'm even currently helping my mom pick out a sofa. 

However, I've found the customer service at the Eastern Shore Center in Alabama to be extremely disappointing--something I've never experienced or expected from Pottery Barn.

I just relocated to Fairhope, Alabama for my husband's job. We are a younger couple, and let's just say that we have some time to go before we can afford Pottery Barn to outfit our entire house. Even so, I know it's quality and decided that I wanted (without a doubt) the Cameron drapes for my breakfast area. So into the Pottery Barn at Eastern Shore I went.

Two older women walked in the store right before me. They were instantly greeted and assisted. I walked in with a baby on my hip and received not even a hello. The particular drapery panels I wanted were not on display so I wandered around for a while and could find no one to help me. Eventually I had to stand in line at the check-out counter and wait for two people to check out in front of me before I was able to ask for help. 

After some assistance, I took home two different panels to see which one looked better. When I came in the store, the panels had 15% off sale signs up, and the associate who helped me (Maryann) told me to make sure and come back before closing to make my final purchase because it was the last day of the sale.

So I went home, hung up the two different panels, made a choice, came back to the store, and after being tossed around between associates, finally landed up front with the manager, Jeremy, who executed the return of my unwanted panel. Only someone did not relay the full intent of my visit, I suppose, because he just stood there after the one panel was returned, ignoring the fact that I was still standing there. Finally, I piped in that I needed 3 more panels. His mannerisms up until this point were less than friendly. But I gave him the benefit of the doubt. It was, after all, the end of the day. 

He then informed me that the panels were not on sale, against what Maryann had previously told me and was indicated by the signs. His only reasoning for this was "oh well I guess we took down the signs late this morning." With all due respect, that is not my fault. That's false advertising, and should not fall on the disadvantage of the customer. If anything (because it was only 15% and I really didn't care all that much), he should have at least apologized for the false information, and that I drove all the way back to the store on the same day (with a baby, which I can assure you is no easy task) for nothing. 

There were other exchanges between Jeremy and I that I thought he handled in a very poor fashion, but this is already turning into somewhat of novel, so I'll briefly say after I left that I wondered how he came into a position of management.

Back to these curtains--I had to order them (because they were out of stock) and they came in this week. Today, after a long day, I went in to pick them up. Surprisingly, I was greeted by the woman behind the desk, and I walked up and began to tell her that I was there to pick up some curtains I ordered. Here's what frustrated me the most so far about my treatment by the Pottery Barn staff: she cut me off mid-sentence, and in a less-than-friendly tone told me she'd be with me momentarily. 

Let me say that before I worked as a designer, I worked in several positions where customer service was key. Interior design in itself is not only a field of design and human science, but also it is in a great deal customer service. I don't take that lightly. And if you are behind a desk, you are automatically the "manager of first impressions." You are there to assist, no matter how you became to be standing behind the desk. I wasn't on the phone with her, and she was not with another customer (at least there was no one else around). It is absolutely unacceptable to cut-off a customer mid-sentence. 

I have never once played the designer card while shopping in home decor stores. I don't pass off a "I know more than you" attitude, and I love to bounce ideas off the staff of places like Pottery Barn because I know they have an eye for design as well. I look younger than I am, I dress simply, and yes, I came in with a baby on my hip (and in both our defenses I do not take her in stores if she is ill-mannered, she was nothing but pleasant the entire time; in fact, she received more attention than I did). I can see how to a Pottery Barn employee in wealthy Baldwin County, Alabama would not see me as a prime target for dropping thousands of dollars in-store. And they would be right. But I was there to spend money. And even if I wasn't, there is absolutely no reason I should have been treated the way I have been treated in that store. That stands for all who come through those doors. Even if a teenager comes in wearing jeans and a t-shirt, she deserves as much respect as anyone else (as long as she is respectful in return). Because you know what? She might go to college for interior design, graduate, work for several well-known designers, branch off on her own, and then walk into a Pottery Barn with a baby on her hip as a young designer who works from home to make ends meet while spending time with her family. Impressions should never be taken lightly, because you never know upon whom your impressions are falling.

You should know--whoever you are reading this--that I have not ever once (and I've had my fair share of bad customer service, just like anyone else) written in a complaint letter to anywhere. This is my first. Because my experience was that bad. 

I brought home my Cameron 84" white pole pocket drapery panels, I will hang them up, and I will never go back into that Pottery Barn to spend money. Or likely another one for a very long time. So I don't want coupons, freebies, or even an apology. I want someone with some sort of knowledge on human decency and customer service to go into the Pottery Barn at the Eastern Shore Center in Alabama and give every one of those employees, from the manager onward, a full-course, day long lesson on how to treat customers. 

Respectfully and with sincere hope of an impact,

Dana Portillo