From Tim P.
Morris Lare
3/11/19-Writing a second review of this furniture store in Ankeny as I wanted to see if they could redeem themselves after the last trip back in August 2018.
I will still keep spending my money at By Design in Clive as there designer's are nice and treat you with respect and learn your name.
I had reached out to one of the "designers" Ryan Inks through a website and asked him if the furniture store sold area rugs and a certain size I was looking for. The response I received was Yes, we can order you any type of rug and size that you would like.
On January 11, 2019, I entered the store and all of the employees were standing around up by the front counter, no one in the store greeted me with a Hello until roughly 2 to 3 minutes later.
Some middle aged lady came over and asked if she could help me. I stated that I was looking for an area rug under my kitchen table. After walking around the store, it clearly showed that she didn't know much about the products and what they were made of.
After a few minutes of conversation with this employee, she stated that I could speak with one of the "designers". She could either schedule time for me to meet with one of the two "designers" at a later time or I could talk to them while I was at the store.
Ryan Inks and another girl pulled out three books that had area rugs and had me go through them. Both of the "designers" came out with a couple area rug samples for me to review. Ryan Inks sat at the table and looked through one of the books, but doesn't ask me questions on what I was looking for in a rug. I suggested to both designers that I was looking for a 5x7x6.
After Ryan went through one of the three books, he takes the book back to the backroom without me looking through it. Ryan pointed out an area rug within the showroom and I stated that the style was not what I was looking for. After that comment, he disappeared and never came back leaving me with the other "designer." Very poor customer service.
I took four fabric samples home with me and the "designer" who I was left with didn't take down my name. I brought the fabric samples back on January 14 as the colors didn't work well with my carpet. Once in the store, a gentleman was behind the counter, he took the rug samples and wanted to know if I was working with anyone or if the "designers" had my name.
The gentleman goes to the backroom and comes back. I asked if they had my name and his comment was, they know who you are, you are the rug guy.
I returned on January 17, 2019, the same middle aged lady who I first met noticed me and said, you are the rug guy! Again, where is the customer service with this store. I found an area rug up by the counter and after looking at it, I asked her if it was hard to clean and what it was made out of. During my return, both "designers" were in the back room like usual and I was stuck with an employee who didn't know much. This lady asked me, what do you think this rug is made out of. I specifically told her that it looked like wool but was not 100% sure. After she looked at the backside of the rug, she determined that is was made out of wool.
The lady went to the backroom and spoke to the girl "designer" and said that she would be ordering sample fabric from the rug. This time, the lady took my name and phone number and a week past and I received a call that the samples were in. I revisited the store on January 26, 2019, to pick up the sample fabrics and after determining that the fabric material and colors would not work, I immediately returned the samples.
Not one "designer" from The Elements ever called me to see if they could assist me. The store is a disaster with horrible customer service. If you want to spend thousands of dollars, then they will wait on you hand and foot. I will take my money like I have in the past to By Design in Clive where I am greeted as a loyal customer and they appreciate my business.
