Lillian August

After reading several reviews on Unilocal I was hesitant to purchase items here, but I walk past the store often and they have beautiful furniture in the windows and I was looking for a higher quality sofa than PB or Crate and Barrel.
I was warmly greeted by more than one designer/​sales associate and even offered a refreshment and doughnut holes from their next door neighbor, famous NYC Dough. I definitely didn’t feel ignored or in an uncomfortable high sales environment. After browsing the two floors one of the designers followed up to see if I had any questions and was able to set up a «work area» so we could look at fabrics and go over my floor plans. I was told that the sofa I was interested in was not in stock but would take 8 – 12 weeks to order (which is STANDARD for anyone not used to shopping at Ikea!!). My designer was able to email me pricing with my selected fabric the next afternoon and I placed my sofa order.
I received a call from the delivery department after 10 weeks and I was able to have my sofa delivered the next week. I can honestly say that from from my first visit to the showroom I was given excellent service and I will definitely be returning for more furniture when we decide to redo our Master bedroom and den!

Pleasant store with a ton of modern and mid-​century style furniture and accents. Service was friendly, although I question their knowledge of style and decorating. Prices are high, but you already know that if you come here. It’s a large store, so you’re sure to find what you need if this is your style. We bought some throw pillows for our condo; beautiful and high quality. Overall, a solid four star design store.

Beautiful items and great design options, but the service is less than desirable.
For a high end furnishing store, the customer service is pretty poor. I came into look at accent pillows and inquired about fabrics and fills. The design consultant assigned to that section didn’t seem like she could be bothered with. I asked for help repeatedly and she said she was busy filling another order for a customer who wasn’t even there. Instead of asking for backup help, she made me wait. When she did come over, she was not helpful at all, telling me I was looking at the wrong set of fabrics. And that custom pillow would be the «high» end, without putting real parameters or numbers around «high» to help me understand what that meant. Then she said she had to return to filling an order. Leaving me alone. I had a babysitter watching my kid so I didn’t have all the time I the world. I said I would return when she had more availability. But not sure I’ll be returning because I don’t have all this time!
I bought a sofa from this store a couple years ago and the delivery went awry. They screwed up the delivery schedule and ended up waiving my delivery fee as well as giving me a gift card to compensate for their mistakes. I should have learned then that service was not likely to improve.

I wish I could give negative stars. This store is full of disingenuous and dishonest people and I caution anyone who does business with them. I ordered a chair and paid a 50% deposit. They promised 6 – 8 weeks delivery in writing. After 14 weeks still no chair and no returned phone calls or emails. I emailed that I wanted to cancel the order and bought another chair. I called my credit card to revert the charge on the deposit since I couldnt get anyone to call me back. Two weeks later they called and said, «Great news, your chair is here!». This was over 2 months after the date it had been promised. They then went to my credit card provider and provided all sorts of misstatements and lies about what happened. THey claimed that the delay had been only 3 weeks (complete lie), they claimed that they had attempted to deliver it (complete lie). They had some hidden fine print at the bottom of the invoice saying that they are not responsible for delays and are trying to stick it to me. This despite the fact that the delay was months and that I couldnt get anyone to even call me in the whole time period. I am still fighting with them and my credit card company almost a year later. THe most horrible company I have ever done business with. My advice is to simply stay away!

Just moved here from California and want to furnish my whole apartment from this store. Everything is unique and tasteful and the staff was super friendly. As soon as I find an apartment I’m coming back!

I have to agree with those who say that the customer service is horrible! I spent 2 hours in the store last week «working» with a «designer» and made an appointment for her to come to my home today at 11:00 am. After I changed around my work schedule, Kathleen Cassidy never showed up, never called to cancel, and when I called the store, she apologized and said that she «forgot». Maybe the reasons the prices on some of the furniture are «reasonable» is because the company spends no money on quality or training staff.
Marcia
I am writing an update on my review of Liilian August and on the designer Kathleen Cassidy. After this review that I posted, I immediately got a call from the new store manager, Rod, who apologized profusely, offered to have her come immediately for another time today, and offered a discount on whatever piece of furniture I buy from there. Seemed very reasonable. In addition Kathleen Cassidy came to my apartment yesterday, was knowledgable and helpful and also apologized profusely. Their customer service response was good.

Last December I went to Lillian August as a recommendation from an interior designer and I purchased a couch. My boyfriend and I had a long afternoon with Andrew, who works in the showroom, and he helped us decorate our new apartment in the West Village. After leaving the store, with a receipt confirming our couch’s arrival in 8 – 10 weeks, we talked frequently about going back in and purchasing more furniture. It has now been A YEAR and we have yet to receive our couch. Three months rolled around without any word from the store about our couches delivery and after numerous attempts to speak to someone, we were finally informed that our couch was «experiencing delays». After a long phone conversation, Andrew offered to send us a temporary couch until ours was ready. We proceeded to call and email store employees for updates on our piece and in June we were told the fabric had been discontinued and our order cancelled. We were absolutely shocked and appalled by all of this — no one at Lillian August let us know anything! Andrew told us that we would have to come in and pick out a new couch fabric and start the process over again, which we did. A new order was placed in August and were told it would be 8 – 10 week delivery timeframe. It has yet to arrive. After a phone call with customer service (where she also talked on her cell phone to her daughter during our conversation) we were told that December will be a likely delivery date but they cannot promise anything. Today we talked to Ron, the manager of the NYC store again and he told us that he thinks we may have missed the delivery date and things are likely to be pushed back. It is nearly a year and we do not have a couch. This place is absolutely atrocious and the people that work there are horrible. They could care less about us, or anything, and are just looking to make the initial sale. Do not buy anything from here if you want your furniture to arrive with 6 months of ordering it– and certainly do not work with Andrew.

Lillian August has beautiful stuff, and relative to competitors it seems to have reasonable pricing as well. My major issue is the customer service, of which there basically is none. I am furnishing a new apartment, and bought a bench and special ordered 2 side tables from here. The bench was in their warehouse in CT, and they advised it would arrive the following week and they’d call me when it arrived on Wednesday. Of course, Wednesday came and went and I got no call. I called Thursday, only to discover that the bench hadn’t made it onto their weekly truck and would come the following week. Pretty annoying, not to mention I think someone should have called me to pass along this info! The following week I went to pick up the bench about 15 minutes before their scheduled closing time and the doors to the store were already locked. I called, and someone came to unlock the doors for me (weird?). No apologies for the week delay on the bench.
What is really prompting me to write this negative review is that the two special order tables I ordered back in February (at a price of over $ 2K) were supposed to be here last week and I have no update. I called them this week to ask, and they said they’d have to get back to me but if I hadn’t heard that I should «call back in a few days». It blows my mind that as someone waiting for something that should have already been delivered that the onus is on me to call back. Lillian August should provide customer service that matches the luxury items it sells!

Beautiful things for sale but honestly some of the consistently WORST customer service I’ve ever experienced in New York. I’ve been in this store three times — each time was a bad experience. The first time, I browsed the store and eventually told a staff member (middle aged female) I wanted to buy a $ 400 tagged chandelier hanging in the center of the room. She was sitting in a lounge chair when I said this. She didn’t get up, and she said she would need to get a ladder to get it for me, but that she didn’t want to do it that day. There were four or five other women working there as well, most behind the desk chatting, and nobody else helped me. I left. The second time I went in, I wanted to buy a large framed print I had seen the first time I went in. I remembered it was around $ 1500. I asked a staff member if it was still available (as it was no longer on the wall I first saw it) and she said she didn’t know. I asked if there was anywhere else it could have been moved to, and she said «downstairs,» but then told me I couldn’t go down there and she wouldn’t look for me. I left once again without buying anything. The third time I went in was recently, giving it one more try. The store was closing in 30 minutes. I walked in with my friend and looked around for a couple minutes. Two staff members saw us and asked if we needed help. I said no thank you, and was pleasantly surprised to be treated well. I was looking at a tiered shelf about $ 1800 with the intent to buy for my studio, but then — 20 full minutes before closing time — they turned the lights off in the entire store. Like — very dark. I said «excuse me!» loudly and the staff member who had turned off the lights said «oops!» and then began locking the doors. Didn’t turn the lights back on! Rushed us out of the store. I finally gave them a piece of my mind and told them they were consistently incredibly unprofessional. They didn’t care, of course. I will NEVER return. That was the last straw, and I was very patient. They’ve literally refused my business 3 times out of 3, refusing thousands of my dollars. I’m sure the higher ups would not be pleased to know about this.

There does not seem to be a shortage in variety of styles in this store. It is very large, two levels, and each level is fairly expansive. The designs of the furniture are all lovely, and I am pretty picky! The quality seemed to be pretty good as well, but the prices seemed pretty high The staff seemed friendly as well. I did not actually purchase anything, so I cannot speak for the sale/​delivery service, just my in store experience. It was my first time in this store, but I would d

THE WORST EXPERIENCE I’VE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE! I beg that if someone from Lillian August is reading this, that they contact me because the customer service I received from this store is almost criminal. I ordered a piece of furniture on November 18^th and was promised delivery within two weeks of November 28^th. I have all this on email and it’s January 2^nd and they still don’t have an anwer for me. This is the worst worst worst experience I’ve ever had. I work in PR for a fashion brand and I know what is honest and respectful behavior. I am shocked and extremely disappointed at the way I was treated and the runaround I am getting.

I stumbled upon this store on the way to an appointment, I have to say I am not sure how long it would have taken me to find this store if I had no business on this block, it is not one the most heavily traveled streets. I spoke to one of the sales staff and she informed me that the store opened 7 months ago. Needless to say I was happy to find it. What a beautiful store filled with glamorous interiors with a large selection of furniture and accessories, the fabric library downstairs is a must see. If I could live in this place I would.
Although I am not in a position to purchase furniture right now, I was inspired walking through the store, so maybe I’ll go home and move some pictures around because that’s about all I can afford to do today. I do plan on making a purchase here whether it be furniture or accessories. Some of the pieces are pricey but the quality looks good. I was happy to see a few upholstered headboards in the shapes that I have been actively seeking out.