I use to really like this store. They are a little pricey, but I like how they gift wrap and they have some unique products. I use shop from them particularly during the holidays. However, this last holiday season, I had a very poor experience with them, which has made me rethink my fondness for this store. First of all there stores were all out of main seasonal gift items by the second week of December. The lines were horrendous and the staff was no helpful. They were worn our and no one had smile or said "happy holidays". I tried ordering online and the deliveries missed the expected delivery dates. When I called there customer services several times, they could not help and could not cancel the order because the packages were somewhere in there warehouse getting ready to leave. I received my deliveries after Christmas and they were pointless. Now I'm still dreading returning the items at the store.
I'm sorry you had such a bad experience with them. It's a shame when a store you love seems to take a turn for the worse. I enjoy walking around William Sonoma when we're wasting time at the mall, but it's been awhile since I've actually made a purchase there. I've found their prices to bit higher than other stores for the same merchandise. If I'm buying a big ticket item that I can get for less at Target, I'm not going to buy it from Williams Sonoma just to say I bought something there.
I bought a plastic set of mixing bowls from there. Within the first year, one of the bowls cracked, and they all became scratched and discolored (like from jello dyes, etc). They were the same sort of junk you could buy anywhere else for 1/2 the price. Then I bought a calphalon stove top baking griddle, a large flat griddle that covers 2 burners for a large cooking space. There was a groove along the edge to catch oil. Well, it caught oil so well, that I couldn't keep the pan greased, because the oil would immediately drain off into the well! Kind of like the pan was a hair too convex. So two very expensive purchases that both turned out to both be junk. I feel that store is just a lot of hype.
