Kartell

My husband and I are architects. We are working on a project in another state and have shown our clients some of the furniture. Since we were in So. cal. visiting family for the holidays, we decided to drive to L.A. to stop in the store and try out the furniture.
Having read the previous Unilocal reviews I expected a bad time. We had our two young children with us and we fully expected horrible customer service, or at best, to be completely ignored while trying to keep the kids from touching anything and simultaneously rushing to try out the furniture. We were wrong! The two female sales associates were very friendly and helpful, making us all feel welcome in the store. One associate even took the time to show the kids how different pieces work, and let them test drive various chairs (the Madameselle was their favorite).
When I’m back in LA, we will definitely visit the Kartell store. It was a positive experience.

I am a developer and don’t have a lot of time for reviews, but the service was so bad that I had to. Not surprised to find other bad reviews. My lights arrived missing important parts. The response was to go to a hardware store. They also said they don’t stock replacement parts but they would do me a favor and check with Italy. Learn to handle your business or get out of it.

ok, so here’s an edited review:
I’ve never encountered such rude service in my entire life and let me say, I’m a shopper who’s on quite a few SA’s phone lists.
The woman at the store is so unhelpful and acts so bored when you asks questions about items. Is it so wrong to spend maybe 5 minutes with a person who’s willing to spend money to furnish a home? A simple question about a light is met with an eye roll which is quite pathetique. I don’t know, buying one item from a store from one person who can answer a very simple question (or if she doesn’t know, can actually be honest and say so) results in years of loyalty from this girl with deep pockets.
I guess the other reviewers were right and I should have listened since they all say stay away. Perhaps a refresher course in customer service would be ideal for this store.

This used to be a company with great service. Not any more. A few years back I would order from Kartell SF (before they shut down) and their warehouse in NJ would ship the same day. One time out of ten I received a chair that was a different shade from one I had ordered a year earlier. The color code was the same but I guess being plastic they vary from one prod run to another. The NY office of Katell put me in touch with their warehouse and through a jpeg they opened whatever they needed to to get me a match. From ²⁰¹⁰⁄₂₀₁₁ on the service went downhill. As if we shouldn’t receive impeccable service buying 2,000.oo plastic furniture. I think they changed their operations as when I started getting wrong items I contacted the number I had been given before and was told Kartell changed warehouse and shipping operations. Way to go Kartell. It seems this bad service is a disease running from warehouse to showroom to corporate office. Never give these people your business.

DO NOT SHOP HERE!!! WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER!!! As a matter of fact I signed up for Unilocal just to write a review for how HORRIBLE this store is. I don’t even want to give them 1 star.
I purchased 2 lights for a client of mine at the store and had them shipped to San Francisco. When you purchase something new for $ 320 a pop you think that they are going to arrive brand new too — but no, WRONG! One was clearly a floor model because it was scratched and chipped. And I mean really obviously scratched and chipped. The other one was in perfect condition.
So because I was out of town and my client’s housekeeper received the package, I did not see that it was damaged until I was back in town (2 weeks after delivery) and then I immediately contacted the store. The first thing they did was complain that I did not contact them sooner rather than apologize for sending me a damaged lamp to begin with. As a matter of fact, they never apologized for that. Then they proceeded to blame it on UPS. The thing is that it was packed PERFECTLY and there was absolutely no way it could have been damaged during the shipping. I told the store manager that but he then told me that they were going to put a claim in with UPS anyway. Yeah cool have another company pay for your mistakes and then tell your customers about it, good thinking.
Want to know what’s funny? UPS denied their claim and even though I made it clear over and over that only one light was damaged, he accidentally sent me two lamps which just goes to show that he’s not a listener — at all. AND he wasted money on shipping sending me a second lamp that I didn’t even need. And he guilt tripped me by aggressively insinuating that it was my fault that they had to pay to re-​ship the items to me!!! What I first thought to be a simple mix up turned into a total and utter debacle. And guess what, that was in July. It’s now OCTOBER and I STILL do NOT have a replacement! LOL!
Who owns this store? You need to fire your store manager immediately cause he sux. I’m spreading the word to every Kartell fan I know to just buy online and to not bother with shopping here. Oh yeah oh yeah and the sales associates were all really rude too! And I’m going to share this on Facebook. How’s that for advertising?
UPDATE:
In response to below…
July? August? Who really cares when it was, it doesn’t change the fact that your customer service is beyond BEYOND horrible. Read all of the other bad reviews you have, it’s not just me that has a problem with your staff/​management.
I’m a lifestyle consultant. I shop for people and travel to do that. I have things shipped to houses I do not own. So when packages are delivered, I’m not always in town to be the person that receives them. When I first spoke to the manager about receiving the damaged lamp, I was on my way out of town for work and I sent the pictures they requested to the manager as soon as I arrived back to San Francisco. He was fully aware that I would not be sending pictures back until then. And I was very very clear that I only needed one lamp. Not to mention the two «new» lamps he finally sent as a replacement were both damaged as well. I made the UPS guy wait for me to open both boxes and had him inspect the items with me and he even agreed that I should refuse delivery and send them back. We taped them both back up and he took them with him right away.
This whole experience with this store was total b.s. I have never, thru and thru, had such an outright awful experience with a retailer and I shop a lot. They sent me a damaged lamp and then insinuated that I’m the one who damaged it. HELLO, I PAID FOR A NEW LAMP! YOU SENT A DAMAGED ONE! TAKE CARE OF YOUR MISTAKES AND ADMIT TO THEM! That’s all. I feel like you are still making excuses for yourself. Shame.

I was elated to find this Kartell store after experiencing a lot of frustration (and delays) trying to purchase a few Kartell pieces from an «online» vendor that specializes in modern furniture.
I was fortunate enough to have John at Kartell Los Angeles assist me in locating the pieces I needed and also arrange to have them shipped directly to me in Northern California. He was very responsive, courteous and the items shipped fast.

Wow! Can’t much worse customer service than this. Stopped by with a few questions about a Kartell piece I was interested in buying but the sales associate was so checked out that I’m going to order from one of the big modern online shops instead. I’m all about buying from local showrooms if I can but the sales guy was so rude that I’d prefer to give my business to a big modern online furniture shop.*
*As I write this I’m an eight month pregnant lady – most sales people see the big belly and at least offer a hello and a place to sit down. Neither were given in this case!

The other side of Alessi. It’s just so «LA» that I can’t get over it. Everything is plastic, brightly colored, and crazy expensive. I found one clear plastic chair, that while very cool looking, was hard plastic, unwieldy, and $ 2300.
I can’t comment on the customer service because, well, nobody bothered talking to me in the morning when I stopped in… or in the afternoon when (randomly) my friend wanted to pop in so I went back.
0-​for-​2… and I’m done. Not that I was gonna buy a $ 2300 plastic chair anyway, but still…