It is not often that I leave a review, but when I do it is typically customer service related that is 2-3 standard deviations from the expected norm - in either direction. Of note, I have a new Yelp account as my email changed since moving to Florida (so this is only my second review from this account).This afternoon I visited the RH in Winter Park - located 1/2 mile from my highly priced-per-square foot new construction home. I went with the specific intent to view their options for heavy Belgium Linen drapery fabric for custom drapes for a primary bedroom multi-window wall that is substantial in length and will be on a motorized track. I had some general measurements to consider. My boyfriend and I were greeted upon entry. This was a plus given that several past reviewers provided feedback on being ignored, especially if causally dressed. We certainly fit that category. Of importance in my opinion, we are African American. I mention this given my lived experiences as a woman of color and many experiences with consumer racial profiling. The greeter, who did not introduce herself but was pleasant enough, escorted us to the back of the store where the drapery was located. She pointed out several linen options, including Belgium linens, but claimed that the store did not have swatches of the material, nor could she provide any estimates of cost until someone came to my home to measure. After questioning this, particularly given the price point, she said "that would be about $5,000". I asked her how she knew that number and she responded "based on my years as a designer". When I pressed the swatch issue, she then replied "we may have a swatch for the ivory color". Minutes later she brought 8 separate swatches with a variety of colors for different fabrics and then walked away. At this point, another person (who I assumed to be a manager or more experienced person) came back with her to explain that the swatch options are limited and they have been unable to obtain more perhaps based on a change at the corporate level. This second person (who I later found out was the design assistant Tiffany) then asked for the sizing I thought I would need and the initial person (who I later found out was an actual store designer named Gabby) plugged in my dimensions and the computer spit out a price just over $3,000. I then compared the swatches provided with the actual drapes that were displayed. The designed tried to convince me that the one swatch that clearly did not match the Belgium Linen was actually correct. It was the design assistant who agreed with me that they were not the same and subsequently removed the wrong label on the hanging drapery. At this point, it was clearly time for me to leave. I had experienced enough micro-aggressions for one afternoon.
Gabby, as someone who has unfortunately experienced bias in shopping at high priced stores, please don't underestimate the spending power of someone based on their appearance. Certainly don't misrepresent facts about the inability to provide swatches (even if to a limited degree) or take the time to look something up. Customers should not have to prove they can afford to shop at RH, or any store for that matter. Not only were you dismissive, you insulted my intelligence. I gave 2 stars instead of 1 star because I found Tiffany to be knowledgeable, polite, friendly, and helpful. I may have added another star to bring things up to 3 had Gabby apologized for providing false information about swatches, an erroneous pricing quote "based on her years as a designer", and her initial unwillingness to provide pricing estimates.
I chose to be very detailed in this review because in order to improve your services - which based on other reviews should be an enhanced focus for your WP store- you need to know where you fell short. Certainly RH, you can and should do much better. read more
