Ballard Designs

Terrible customer service. My order is a week late and after tracking it on their website, I see it still has not left the warehouse. I purchased expedited shipping, so that didn't happen. They don't answer the customer service line. Today, I sat on hold for 15 minutes to speak with a real person, lost the will to live and hung up. Be warned, while their products look beautiful on the website, who knows when you will receive your shipment.

I I am beyond frustrated with my experience with Ballard Designs. I placed an order for a custom stool on July 31, with an estimated delivery date between September 30 and October 4. After months of waiting, I was informed in November that the delivery would be delayed until mid-November. It is now December 1, and the order STILL has not shipped. When I requested to cancel the order due to these repeated delays, I was told that custom orders cannot be canceled and that delivery dates are merely "estimates." This policy is unreasonable—how can a company take my money, fail to deliver within a reasonable timeframe, and refuse to offer a refund? At this point, I have lost all confidence in Ballard Designs' ability to fulfill my order, let alone provide reliable service. The lack of communication, failure to meet deadlines, and rigid cancellation policy make this one of the worst customer service experiences ever. Ballard Designs, your customers deserve better than empty promises and endless delays. I will not be ordering from this company again and urge anyone considering their products to look elsewhere unless you want to risk waiting indefinitely for your items.

I’ve been a frequent Ballard Designs customer for over a decade. Yesterday their website was malfunctioning. It had been working reliably in the hours (to years) earlier. All was working on the site as it always had been, with the exception of the actual checkout page below the headers. A big road block to sales. When contacted, it was the usual runaround...even after I told them I did this, they said to clear the cache & cookies, refresh. One rep said they don’t know what was happening. Another repeated the clear cache after I already told them I did. I take that as they didn’t know as well. Another online homestore, WS, introduced technical problems like this & their sales have plummeted in recent months to the point of being downgraded. I hope this will not be BD’s case.

I've been purchasing items from BD for decades! They never disappoint. From console tables, to mirrors, chandeliers, small decor items, etc., they all arrived in perfect condition and exactly as they appear in the catalogue, if not even better. I highly recommend BD.

Would not recommend They show beautiful things on their website but DO NOT believe the shipping dates. Everyone is aware of the supply chain issues in the world today, but Ballard is borderline deceitful regarding the estimated ship dates. I ordered several thousand of dollars in early March with estimated ship dates in April...then May, then June, most recently late August!. I have called them to try and get reliable information on my order. To say their Customer Service department is unconcerned and actually rude would be too kind. They are apathetic about your business at best. My recommendation is that despite the nice things they have...STAY AWAY form Ballard Designs.

Get ready to wait - especially if you are ordering furniture that can be damaged in transit. Original order for 9 pieces August 2021; summer of 2022 the order was delivered. We LOVE the sectional - super comfortable and sharp looking. However, 2 of the 3 piece banquet showed up with broken legs. Reorder was placed. Replacements delivered in June 2023 both had broken legs again. Another round of replacements is scheduled for September (chances are it will be December) more than 2 years after the original order. Maybe this time they will figure out how to package furniture so it doesn't get damaged in transit. Seems like a basic concept for an online furniture store.

Placed an order for 6 sets of drapes, a 3 x 4 outdoor rug ($17), and the Suzanne Kasler Geneva Bookcase. The order total came to $3003.46 including $376.20 shipping and $216.00 tax. I returned 3 sets of drapes and my credit was docked $117.90 for shipping($100 to ship the 3 sets to me and $17.90 for the shipping to return them!!) Fuzzy math...I was told that the 6 sets of drapes cost $200 to ship; however, I recall that the bookcase cost $250 for white glove delivery. So my memory may not be right, but then I checked the math another way. The bookcase was delivered damaged twice. I am now waiting for a credit on that. I am told that the bookcase shipping was not $250 but was 175.40 to ship (less than the website shows now). If I paid $200 to ship the drapes, $175.40 for the bookcase (that arrived by freight - usually the most expensive method!) that means I only paid $.80 for the rug. LOL I think Ballard may not honest. It does not add up.

For the cost, the quality is poor. I had the Tuscan 3-piece bookcase delivered missing a leveling foot and a blemish to one of the shelves.

I ordered 4 custom chairs. One arrived snapped in half and the other three have small chipping of the frame all over, glue smears on the frames and globs of glue showing around the piping. These could never sell in a store for anywhere near this price because they look shoddy. There are many threads hanging out everywhere, the fabric is pulled too tight at the front corners so it doesn't lie well. There are glue smears on the wood and glue visible at the edge of the piping, especially at the corners. I am so unhappy with the result. These 6 photos are just a sample - I could upload 40 photos of different chips in the finish.

Appalling customer service. Ordered parsons chairs in September, told November 20 delivery. I called on Nov 18 and was told shipment would one Nov 19-24. On the morning of Nov 19, informed that due to supply chain disruption would be late January delivery. I insisted BD must honor cancellation despite it being a custom order. Took # phone calls for BD errors. Will NOT buy from BD again.

If you’re in need of great customer service I would suggest not working with Ballard. After many phone calls regarding an exchange, Judy Shirling who somehow was made supervisor, was unable to accommodate any request. She waiting 24-hrs supposedly finding a resolution to her unwillingness to make the exchange without cancelling the order to just tell me the exact same thing. Ultimately there was no resolution and Judy didn’t have any answers whatsoever and I had to cancel my order. Aside from just buying online and hoping for the best, you’re in for an incredibly unpleasant experience even at higher levels of service within Ballard and their sister companies.

I ordered two of the “Blake Glass Door Storage Cabinet”. They were delivered by an excel ant team of delivery gents who treated my home well. The cabinets themselves are spectacular! I desperately needed more book storage as I was starting to have stacks. I’m a bit of a book hoarder. Anyway, I’m a Comerical architect designing and building unique hotels and casinos with over 43 experience. Personally, I have a very quirky style, and a sense of my family history. “Things” are only kept for two reasons, first the have meaning to me, second they are beautiful in their own right. This means I need something that works with classic “Arts and Crafts”, Late Arte Deco, and the clean lines of today. These metal bookcases are the ideal piece! They are very well made, be certain to extend the glides before the installers leave as they are heavy! I wasn’t thrilled with the anti tip which was included so I attached them to the wall a bit more secure. They look much more expensive than they are and they are very unique! Except now all my design friends are ordering them….♂️