Container Store

Years ago, I worked at a Container Store and the company had an incredible return policy. Customer service was amazing, and if something went wrong with your purchase, they'd make it right by fixing the product, exchanging it, or refunding your money. Everything was (and still is) obscenely overpriced, but I'd justify it to myself as if I were buying an insurance policy, because what could possibly go wrong that CS wouldn't fix?

Well, welcome to 2019, because they've changed their policies. The guarantee that used to be for the lifetime of the product is now for four months. Yup. You'd better hope that your purchase doesn't break or fall apart in more than 120 days. That was the exact wording from their customer service department when I tried to return the junky steel shopping cart, which completely FELL APART at about 6 months of age. "We guarantee our products for 120 days. Sorry." Well, I guarantee I'll never shop there again--not at these prices. Farewell, Container Store. Very sad to see you go the way of LLBean and other companies who've decided that the bottom line is more important than customers.

I like the Container Store, but they MUST get up to speed on delivery. Their online ordering is a disaster. The customer spends 30 mins digging through the website, filling the shopping cart, only to find "Delivery Not Available." It's happened to me 3x. Won't be going back for more of that!

If CS can't get their tech team, supply chain, and delivery channels figured out, then CUT A DEAL WITH INSTACART for cryin' out loud!

Doesn't matter if you order for pickup or delivery or if you just want to make sure the item is in stock before you head to the store. Doesn't matter which location either. I'm in LA so there are 3 stores within about 10 miles from home. Same story every time. If I order online for pickup I get confirmation then get to the store it's15 minutes waiting for the bumbling fools "in the back" to bring it out. There were a couple of times they couldn't even find the item because it was actually sold out despite confirming my order.

Other times, I've checked stock online first just to make sure they actually have what I want before heading to the store. Get there and it's not on the shelf. So then 15 minutes wasted trying to get someone to go "to the back" and find it. Sometimes they find it and sometimes it's actually out of stock. Sometimes they don't even know what I'm talking about. Can't pull up the website and show them because zero cell service in 2 of my 3 stores. Gotta step outside for reception. What's up with that?

Once I ordered 4 of same item for delivery and received each one packed separately in 4 different boxes, each box stuffed with packing materials despite each box was large enough to easily hold everything together. Other items in same order were also shipped separately in huge boxes with way too much packaging and received a week beyond the estimated delivery date.

Their cashiers are either rude or incompetent as often as not.

I've dropped a lot of money on their overpriced products. I'm over it. Same or similar products are easily available at Target or Amazon...usally for less money and always without all the hassle.

Worst place to shop and I buy everything online. I ordered items and waited 4 weeks. When my items didn't arrive and no contact from Container Store, I ordered some of the items from another company. I called Container Store to cancel part of my order and waited on hold for over 30 minutes but was disconnected. I contacted them through their website but still haven't heard anything. After 6 weeks, I started receiving the items I ordered, including the items I canceled. I again tried to call (got disconnected after a ridiculous amount of hold time) and emailed through their site and still have heard nothing from them. The last part of my shipment came and the largest box is full of shattered glass. I have called and emailed them 4 separate times and have never heard a word. Go check BBB and other complaint sites online. I wish I had BEFORE I ordered anything from container store. Their reputation for treating people as poorly as they've treated me is on every complaint site I find. How are they still in business?

I have been a long time customer and The Container Store has many wonderful products, in store shopping is a good experience and employees are helpful.
But they have missed an opportunity during the COVID 19 stay at home. Like thousands of other households I am some long overdue cleaning of storage spaces at home. The company is overwhelmed with the volume of online orders. I have multiple orders that have been on backorder for weeks, the wait time to speak someone in customer service is ridiculously long, almost an hour. Many items are on backorder and they were very slow to ship partial orders and I practically had to beg to get a partial order when only 1 or 2 items were holding things up. Good luck if you have a large project and you need to get a number of items at one time. Now I find that they have instructed their stores NOT TO ACCEPT RETURNS, Even though their website says merchandise can be returned to any store location. There doesn't appear to be any process in place to for customers to ship product back. The (lovely and cordial) employees at the stores have no idea when returns will be accepted (seriously?) Target figured this out weeks ago and Amazon returns can be dropped off at any UPS location. There are a lot of other retailers of plastic storage bins and containers that have their online/in store strategy figured out for returns during COVID like Home Depot, Ace Hardware. The Container Store is a great brand with a loyal following. I expected better.

Customer service associates are rude and unhelpful. If you order online it will be weeks before they even ship your item. Dont bother shopping here.

I must say that the Container Store has one of the most unfriendly online stores I have ever used. That being said, after placing my order, I was informed that my items were "backordered" with no definite time period to be in stock. Immediately, I requested a refund and I was told that half the order was actually in stock and I would be receiving the items. Well, I only received the few items that they DID say were in stock and the website lookup on the order continued to state "Backordered". The customer rep, via email assured she would refund some of the items but that the few items she has previously said were coming were indeed still on the way. I finally after a few weeks, did receive those items and have been waiting for the refund on the remaining items they said they were able to cancel. ONE MONTH LATER, still no refund and I just received 2 of the back ordered items! I don't want them now, She told me she cancelled the and I found replacements and her reply was to carry the giant storage boxes back to the store to get a refund, in the meantime, no packing slip was in the boxes and now I have to drive 45 minutes to retunr this and still no refund on the remaining items! They will not refund you your money. This is the WORST customer service I have ever experienced and I will never shop at this store again, BUYER BEWARE!

We decided to call the Container Store and try their design services which are free. A time was scheduled for a digital meeting and we received an email with instructions on how to connect. Prior to the meeting we were instructed as to how to measure the space and where to send the measurements which we wrote on a form provided by the Container Store. At the appointed time we clicked on the link and waited a short time before Natalie connected and introduced herself. The session began with Natalie asking questions as to the scope of the work which entailed the design for elements to be installed in small "His" and "Her" walk-in closets. After the face to face discussion the screen changed to a graphic design tool and we were able to watch as Natalie began the process by placing various elements in the first closet based on our discussion. She was obviously well trained as a customer consultant and also had a thorough knowledge of the use of the design software. The elements being placed were shoe draws, short and long hanging spaces, ventilated shelving and ventilated drawers. It was very helpful to play "what if" by trying various elements in different spaces. It took Natalie about 3 to 4 seconds to make any change we wanted to try. After completing the first closet we repeated the process for the second closet. After about an hour we were satisfied with the design and decided to move forward with an order. The total price was $5000 less than the Home Depot bid. All of our elements were delivered over a three week period and we received deliveries from FedX and USPS every two or three days. After the final delivery we opened all boxes and inventoried items based on package slips and the original bill and every thing was there. I was satisfied with the quality. The bottom of one draw had been crushed. I called customer service and the hold time was less than 45 seconds. The new drawer was delivered in four days. I installed the elements myself and found the instructions clear and straight forward. During the installation process I discovered that three standards were five inches too long due to my error in measuring. I decided to cut them down to size. After cutting the first standard I noticed that I cut the excess off the wrong end which rendered this standard unusable. I called customer service again and the hold time was less than 20 seconds. The agent informed me that "these things happen" and said he would send, at no charge, a new standard cut to the correct length. I would order from the Container store again and I will also recommend The Container Store to my family and friends.