Is it mahogany, or is it fiberboard?

Ah, the Rhys Coffee table. Compact, stylish, and a pretty good bargain at $699 for a mahogany piece. But wait...

In the overview:


"Our Rhys Coffee Table is built from richly grained mahogany..."

But clicking over the the product info tab:

"veneered-MDF (medium density fiberboard)... is known for its strength and stability..."

Hey, not only is it not made of mahogany (meranti is not actually mahogany), it's not even all wood! In fact, the tabletop and shelves are made mostly of glue and wood fibers. As Esbee notes, MDF is known for its cheapness and the almost superhero quickness with which it warps when the slightest bit of moisture hits it. Classy.

Tracey writes:

I have purchased many things from Pottery Barn and several items have broken after about a year. The look is wonderful. The quality is poor -- especially for the price. At this point I'd rather save a while longer and go with Restoration Hardware, whose quality is excellent. Or, Crate and Barrel which we've always had good luck with both in terms of quality and price.

I'm sure it's equally comfortable as a beach towel.

Recall Alert: Pottery Barn Hammocks

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a recall for approximately 30,000 Wooden Hammock Stands made by Pottery Barn. The two pole hammock stands were sold from 2003 until 2008!

So what's wrong with the stands? It seems that the wood in the hammock stands deteriorate over time spent outdoors causing cracks and breaks. Obviously this is not good because you can fall! So much for peaceful relaxation on your hammock!

If you bought one of these hammock stands you should remove the two side brackets and toss the remaining portion of the stand.

Pottery Barn Delivers 2/3 Of Your Couch, Then Gives You 2/3 Of Your Refund

From The Consumerist:

Here's a situation that sucks. Reader Joshua ordered a slip-covered sectional couch from Pottery Barn. It arrived with only one slipcover. When he called Pottery Barn to ask for the rest of his order, they told him that they'd run out of that fabric and asked if he would he like another color. He agreed and picked a color. They sent another slip-cover section. Not three sections. One section. Joshua called them back. They said they were sorry, but they'd run out of that color...

Read more here.

sassas1 writes:

I ordered some bedding for my daughter several months ago. I assumed it was quality, put it away and found later that they had sent an item that was not even pictured in the catalog. I called Cust. Service and asked to speak to a supervisor. I was told that I would have to pay an additional $21 to have the correct item shipped - for bedding!!!!

The Customer Service at Pottery Barn is terribly lacking. They have kids answering the phones, and on weekends, there is no one on duty that is older than 20. It is hard to get a reasonable person to answer a simple question.

Shame on them for their lack of customer service. They charge enough that they should offer top-of-the-line customer service, especially on weekends. My kids love their items, but I despise shopping with Pottery Barn. It is totally frustrating and dissatisfying.

I have tosay that I don't think I will be shopping for any Pottery Barn items any time soon. Too expensive for such lousy service, and the quality has seen a decline, I think.

They are too full of themselves to notice people are not liking the lack fo customer service.

Bender writes:

I purchased a sofa from Pottery Barn in June of this year. It arrived in July with the wrong slip cover. I was told that the correct slip cover would arrive in about 3 weeks that never happened. It is almost September and still no slip cover. I call the design studio every two days and I have spoken with fifteen different customer service rep. They do very little to help me get the correct slip cover. All the say to me is to just wait. I asked for a tracking number and they would not give it to me. Every time I call I get a different answer about the slip cover. I will never purchase anything from Pottery Barn again, they can not deliver what the customer purchased or even care if the order is correct.

Olivia writes:

On April the 9th I purchased a Charleston style sofa for $1903 dollars. It was to be delivered by May 5 th. We started receiving letters shortly after stating that it was on backorder- no problem! We eventually stopped receiving letters and still had no sofa. I forgot to mention that we paid with a check (Big mistake)! The first week in June I called to find out why we had not received our sofa, after one hour on the phone, it was determined that the store had entered the wrong phone number into the system and our sofa was sitting in a warehouse. WHAT! My question to them was why did they not send a letter asking for the correct phone number? So the saga continues... one week later we received the sofa. I was upstairs tending to our dog, while my husband supervised the setup of the sofa. After the delivery people had left, I came downstairs and to my horror- the sofa they delivered was not only DIRTY, but MISSING the slipcover. The sofa they delivered looked like it had fallen off the back of a thift store truck. I immediatly called the design studio who promised that it would be picked up and our money refunded. We were promised a phone call to sch. a pickup by June 12th. No call! called back promised a phone call by June 14th. No call. I was told that the paperwork has been filled out by pottery barn supervisor wrong x2. The I was told that the lady that was supposed to call me on Saturday- does not work on saturdays and that the hub is closed. This is a nightmare! if I had simply put this sofa on a credit card, I could dispute the charge. The last lady a customer supervisor was rude and arrogant. I told her that it is not brain surgery to have them sch a pickup. I also told her that if I did my job the way they are that I would be FIRED. Her response was witchy- she said We can not fire a whole entire hub, and its your choice not to shop at Pottery Barn again. I bet that if it was her $1903 dollars she would feel differently. So I have an unfinished, dirty pottery barn sofa in my den and I am out ( at this point) of my money. I think they should start paying me interest!!! Any advice or suggestions I would love to know.

DisgruntldWrkr writes:

I work for this company and will testify that the quality is falls far short considering the price. The only good items are the towels (standard Turkish towels you can purchase anywhere). The furniture is complete junk.

Connie writes:

I bought my whole house of furniture from pottery barn only 2.5 years ago. The dresser I paid dearly for cracked from top to half way down (BTW, the other furniture also scratches easily). I called PB and complaint about it. Their customer service people kept repeating that it is over one year warranty and there is nothing they will do for me. For a piece of furniture to crack within 2.5 years, it is certainly a quality issue. Even the cheap furniture I got from Ikea would not do that. I hope no one else will buy furniture from PB. With that kind of money, you can certainly get better quality furniture and not PB junk which only looks good.

What do you expect from something that looks like the Holy Hand Grenade?

Pottery Barn Recalls Decorative Candles
Pottery Barn is recalling about 185,000 round and egg-shaped decorative candles

.

The candle's exterior coating can ignite, posing a fire hazard. Pottery Barn has received two reports of the gold paint on the candle exterior igniting. No injuries or property damage have been reported.

This recall involves egg-shaped and large and small round candles sold in three sizes. The candles were sold in green, red and white with gold glitter and leaf designs. The recall includes all styles of this candle, including style numbers 9444811, 9444928, 9444936, 9444944, 9444944, 9445214, 9445222, 9445222, and 9445313. The style number for the candles can be found on the price ticket under the candle.

The candles were sold at Pottery Barn stores nationwide from September 2007 through December 2007 for between $10 and $20. They were made in Hong Kong.

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled candles and return them to any Pottery Barn store for a full refund.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Pottery Barn toll-free at (888) 922-9245 between 7 a.m. and 12 a.m. ET Monday through Sunday.

Jennifer writes:

I purchased two Palampore Rugs (8 x 8 and 8 x 10) from Pottery Barn in Manhattan. I have owned these rugs for less than a year and they both smell like burning or smoldering rubber. It has taken me months to realize that this toxic smell is coming from my rugs. Over the past several months I have had severe headaches, burning throat and eyes, and have been sleeping alarmingly deeply. I now realize that the cause was my bedroom rug.

I believe that my health has been undermined by the contents of this rug. I have read online that others have had similar symptoms and experiences. I believe that these rugs should not be sold in the United States. Pottery Barn wool tufted rugs with latex backings used in the home present real health consequences. The smell is unreal. I have lost $650.00 on the rugs. Please help stop the sale of these rugs in the U.S.