Ballard Designs
Reviews and Complaints

As a potential customer interested in Ballard Designs, it's important to consider the mixed experiences shared by other customers. While some customers have expressed satisfaction with the products and customer service, there are notable concerns raised by others. Issues such as delivery delays, damaged products, and challenges with returns have been highlighted. It's crucial to weigh these factors before making a decision to purchase from Ballard Designs. Remember to conduct thorough research and consider all aspects before finalizing your order.

LOUIS XVI ARMOIRE W/ MIRRORED DOORS 2
This past March 2021 I order 2 Armoire. Beginning on July they finally came. But they were the wrong color after all that wait. So I had the option of waiting for who knows how long for the right ones. So I decided to except them with a discount. And I thought that was great! But as they were unloading them one of them one was very heavily damaged. (Mine you these are by husband and I closet's.) So we have one. It looks nice but the bar inside is not strong. It's not completely full either. But I can't figure out what is happening to the other one? We paid for? We need it! It needs to match. I go on line because I got a order return email. I use the item # to track it and it says that I'm not putting in a item number. I really do need the other one. So are closets will match. My Husband can fix the flimsy bar when he has time! I rarely give a bad review but I need people to know that at this store you my not get what you paid for and you my not get it at all! If o get this resolved I will be sure to let y'all know how it went! By the way Ballard's sent me a email saying they were both delivered. But only one delivered!

I love Ballard designs decor. It is beautiful. Quality is pretty good and while it is pricey I will splurge at times. I purchased a hanging light fixture back in March and had it shipped to the store. Unfortunately their stores shut down about the same day my item arrived at the local store. I was told it was there and I could get it once they reopened. Fast forward to August 1. I finally found out they had opened again. I called to confirm the item was at the store and it was. I arrived today at 12:30 pm( they open at 12) to pick up my item. What I saw was a line of about 10 people to get into the store. No big deal because many other stores are functioning the same way. BUT After 30 minutes only 3 people had entered the store. After 45 min only 4 people had entered the store and I was still 5th in line. They let one person in for every person who came out. Again this is fine BUT... the store is very large. I saw at least 6 employees wandering around but only saw about three customers and I was looking!. Why do you have so many employees if you aren't letting anywhere near that number of customers in the store? Several people got in line but walked away after they realized the line wasn't budging at all. They did let the Chik -fil-A guy right in with the employees lunch order though...
After an hour wait I gave up. I had another scheduled task and was going to be late.
I respect we have pandemic going on. I will wear my face mask, keep 6 foot distance and clean my hands to protect others. What makes no sense is to have so few customers in a large store( less than the number of employees) and large areas of the store completely devoid of a single person.
I just want my light fixture that I ordered 6 months ago. I won't be shopping at Ballard for awhile at least in person. Most of the other people in line with me were just as frustrated and puzzled by the ratio of employees to customer as I was.

I will be arriving before the store opens tomorrow to get in line so I can retrieve my item. After that it may be quite awhile before I go back.

Ordered tv stand from them, expensive one, almost $900. Came relatively quick, box looked like it's been on road for 365 days. Dents, scratches, stains, tape like it's been opened and resealed. Well,? It looked pretty depressing. I opened small part to see right away crack and didn't bother to check any further. I contacted them and complained. The customer service lady right away set up UPS pick up next day and reorder new item. It was on back order but whatever, I was in no rush. Next box arrives, looking worse than the first one. Ups guy tell me: "I remember picking up your return, this box doesn't look good either, if it's damaged maybe you should not order from them." I was very suspicious opening the box. Everything inside looked broken and ripped. I almost stopped but gave it a chance. Surprisingly the stand had no damage, and what I liked the most it was already put together. I didn't have to assemble, just attach the shelf. The quality turned out to be good too. I am satisfied with the product.

I think Ballard does it right! When you call there is no wait and a friendly human answers the phone. Customer service is excellent if there is an issue.
Their upholstery is made in the USA, I think, because the quality is so much better than what many catalogs offer which is usually made in India.
Their regional shippers are courteous and I've never had a problem with damage.
Ballard does an exceptional job with packaging!
I highly recommend Ballard's, especially for case goods and lighting.

I received an email from Ballard Designs that said "Email Exclusive - just for you. 30% offfull price items - take an extra 40%off all clearance when you shop through this email. Offer ends 6/27. Exclusions apply". I've attached a copy of that email. I noticed there was an after the word "off" so I read the small print which said, "Additional 40% off clearance offer valid through 11:59 PM EAST, 6/27/19. Discount reflected at checkout when you shop through email or after entering code. Offer not valid with any other offer, unless specified. Cannot be applied to previous orders or gift certificates." It said it didn't include shipping charges, had no cash value and was void where prohibited.
There were 3 items I intended to purchase as a result of this: one at regular price and two that were on clearance. Accessing Ballard Designs online through their email as directed, I placed the three items in my cart. As expected, a 30% price reduction was taken off the one item with a regular price. However, the "take an extra 40% off all clearance" was an ABSOLUTE FALSE STATEMENT. In the example below, you see the Due North Wall Decor was listed on clearance for $83.99 but when you go to order it, it is listed as $71.99 rather than $50.40 which is an extra 40% off the clearance price. This was also encountered for the second clearance item I had in my shopping cart. When I called their customer service, a polite woman placed me on hold and went to check on the situation. She returned and informed me that rather than using the currently listed online clearance price, they were taking 40% off the last crossed-off amount listed. In the photos below, you will see that was $119.99 rather than the $83.99 as it was listed. That does NOT meet the definition of "take AN EXTRA 40% off all clearance". There was a total of $83.98 at issue in my order and I left both a concern about this misleading advertisement as well as my contact information for a promised follow up call. At this point, the offer has expired and no one called. My order was for $1500 and I'm so glad I didn't place it! It doesn't matter that they send very attractive catalogs listing desirable items - they are going straight to the trash in my house and I blocked them as junk mail in my email.

If you want the middle finger & the worlds biggest heap of frustration, order from BallardDesigns.com! I've never experienced such incompetence in my life. I literally have no words. But to understand the severity. I will start from the beginning. It starts with me falling in love with Ballard Designs in my early 20's, scanning pages, circling, dreaming one day... That day came to realization several months back, I'm in my mid-30's, now married with a home to furnish. Little did I realize what nightmare I was about to unleash into my life! It all started with a few gift cards. After placing an online order at ballarddesigns.com of $10k, I went to check my order status, after about a month passed (since it usually takes anywhere from weeks-months to ship). Only in my horror to discover my order had simply been canceled. No call, no email, no form of ANY notification or courtesy. This then began the now endless charade of ineptitude, backwards thinking, no thinking, miscommunication from the left hand to the right, from the bottom right up to the top. An endless game of *never endingphone calls, hours upon hours of OUR constant follow up, emails, more phone calls, fighting with BD, being forced to deal w/misc/multiple/other reps & of course no one leaves notes or communicates, (& being specifically not allowed to deal with the single competent person in the whole company- Sandy Hoffman), forced 2 go back & forth between the GC co, fingers pointing back@ each other, checking & rechecking countless GCs to verify balances as they disappeared/reappeared, balances wiped out by what they "say" was fraud, & by Ballard(!), yet not applied to our order(!), having to check, re-check, keep track of thousands of #'s, data, order details, orders randomly being cancelled by BD without cause, wrong amounts being charged to CC's & *without ANY authorization(!), being lied to repeatedly, hearing so many stories of BS made up on the fly just to get rid of us, being told they cannot accept any GCs, then at the same time, refunding monies back to gift cards, leaving countless balanced on misc GCs w/o any rhyme or reason & always w/o my knowledge or any courtesy of advisement. Then to complicate it all further if that was possible, but oh yes, they find a way(!)- BD refuses to accept the GCs they themselves put money back on(!). Beyond this, they take a simple single item #, like a dining set, & somehow mangle it into 7 separate items(!). Therefore turning a normal order into 60 items(!) then tell me I ordered too many items! I had to open a separate account just to try to keep things straight after they literally destroyed my online account with this madness. The 1st excuse out of countless for reasons multiple orders over months were cancelled w/o cause/notice, we were told "we" broke their system resulting from ordering too many items! Their entire system is broken & set up fail! & further to not only permit but *encourage fraud*! & due to the gaping wide gateway opened, the honest, super cooperative, money spending, desirable customer is penalized- & then we're accused of fraud! They don't care about their customers. They don't care about anything but getting rid of the problem, not solving it! They don't want to fix their broken system. They don't want to even prevent further fraud, they just want anyone like me to go away so they don't have to deal w/it. They simply DO NOT CARE about their customers. They've committed so many violations of federal & state law, aside from being completely unethical. Oh lord, if there were *anywayI could have simply ordered my merchandise w/o all this trouble, w/o the worlds largest cluster... If I could have only avoided using GCs, after the 1st horricoster ride, I would have(!), but they put a gun to my head & forced my hand by! & if the system (& human) does not accept processing of them, then DO NOT sell them. But they wager their bet people that won't use them! That's what they'd prefer. You know. Even when we recently got to a higher up manager, Robert Epps, it was like speaking to a simpleminded robot, if a robot could be a complete d*%k! Siri can do a better job understanding my words & solving my problems. Further, Mr. Epps unequivocally refused to give his supervisor's name, after being utterly incapable of solving any form of customer issue (they created) after being directly requested over a dozen times! It literally is mind blowing. I think I developed an aneurism from this to add further emotional/physical destress to my list of damages. They undoubtedly proved they just don't care on so many maddening levels. Even more so, it's beyond incomprehensible the level of RUDENESS & utter lack of any desire to figure out a solution for their customer. It's so sad. It's frustrating. It's heartbreaking! 15 years I waited to furnish my home in Ballard. Now if the rest of my furniture ever actually makes it here, quite frankly I want to set it all on fire(!). It all will be a constant reminder of the endless months of total incompetence & frustration.

Ballard Designs is a flim·flam store. They send you promotion codes that don't work! If they offer free shipping, and you have a promotion code that might work, then they take back the free shipping. They advertise free shipping, but charge $20 for special handling. I was going to order a small accent cabinet, until I learned the shipping wa $114.50. Customer Service is not helpful in getting anything resolved.

I bought a number of items from Ballard in the beginning of July. I have had problems with several pieces but Ballard resolved most of them. Part of the order included two swivel chairs in the beginning of July 2021. At the time I was told that the chairs would be delivered in November, later I got a notification that they would be delivered in December. I subsequently received a notification that the chairs would be delivered at the end of January. I received an email saying I could cancel the order but when I called to cancel the order I was told I could not because it was a custom order. In the beginning of December I contacted Ballard on several occasions to notify them that I wanted to cancel the order and was willing to eat the cost of the fabric but did not want to pursue the purchase any longer. It had been too long. First I contacted customer service directly. Initially, I was told that their vendor would not cancel the order. I was nto looking for a vendor decision but a Ballard decision. Then I was told to contact the store manager of King of Prussia. The designer I worked with shared my emails and then I have followed up twice without any response from the store manager. I have been very clear that I wanted to cancel the order. This evening I received a notice that I was charged for the chairs and the chairs are going to be delivered in January. It seems like they are playing games and they went out of their way to now rush the order rather than honor my request to cancel. To date I have never received any communication from the King of Prussia store manager. I am very disappointed with the experience and would not recommend Ballard to anyone.

I made several custom orders. First order - 2 dining chairs. Product quality is cheap. Not laid out as pictured on computer. Distressed look wood finish doesn't resemble showroom sample and is flaking off. When shipped the chairs were not packed well and one box was badly damaged. Luckily chair was ok. Remembering shipping cost was $130.00. Second order - custom bed skirt using my fabric. Associate called wanting to know where my fabric was because the factory could not find it. She did not remember sending in with order. She also said she would call me to let me know fabric was found. No follow up call. Bedskirt did not arrive on promised delivery date. Called customer service to check on status. Rep said according to original contract delivery date would be in October. I told her I was looking at the original contract and delivery date was scheduled for September a full month earlier that October delivery date. I then asked if my order was in progress and if fabric had been found. She was suppose to get back with me. No return email or phone call. I also requested extra yardage(I sent double)be sent to me because of the delay of promised delivery date. I needed fabric to finish the bedroom project. No follow up. Then I called store rep. She did return call but I still do not have a straight answer. I still do not have my extra yardage and I don't know if my project is in progress. I sure hope finished project is worth this anguish. I will NEVER do business with Ballard's again and I recommend you do not as well. Extremely disappointed in product quality, shipping and lack of customer service.

Never ever buy anything from them! I ordered a banquette set in may 2018. I paid in full when I ordered. Three of the four items was delivered but not the main bench. It was delayed for 8 weeks! When it was delivered it had a huge hole in it! I refused delivery. When I contacted them they told me I would have to pay another approximately $1000 for it to be re-shipped to me or I could wait 3 weeks for it to be returned to them before I would get a refund; still with no bench. They were going to get back to me on monday the following week and never did I had to call again and try to get resolved with someone else then I get an email telling me the same thing. Service was rude and items quality not guaranteed.

I have been shopping online for new office furniture. I saw a piece I liked at Ballard's, but then found out I had to pay a fortune for shipping. Then the item went on sale and I got an email from them saying here is an extra 20% off discount anything over $150... SO I put the item in the cart and they now charge me the original price! What a bait and switch! An item on sale has never been a promotion- this is a marketing scam!

If something goes wrong don't think they will help you.
They shipped the wrong order to me and of course, I was infuriated by this. First of all, I was waiting for too long, approximately 2 months, and second, after such a long waiting I got something I have never ordered. You would be angry too if you were in my shoes. So I immediately called them and asked what I had to do to refund. I didn't want to replace or exchange, it would mean I had to wait for other 2 months or more.
The person I talked to was arrogant and unprofessional. None of the advice he gave me fit my situation. So at the end of the conversation he said there as nothing he could do and I should write a letter with pretensions.
I will surely write, and I will also leave tons of bad reviews against you and how you resolve/don't resolve issues and we will see who will be right.

Ive been trying to deal with customer service for 2 months now. I had $200 Ballard Designs Gift Card. I used it to purchase items online. After 3 weeks I called to ask what happened with my order. Customer Service said my order was cancelled - but no worries "we can process it over the phone" ..but they needed my credit card info along with my gift card number. Big Mistake. 2 weeks later I noticed they charged my credit card the entire amount of purchase without my consent! They did not use my gift card for any of the purchase. I've been battling it out with customer service and 2 supervisors. They refuse to refund my credit card...and though they agree my gift card is valid. ..they just don't know how to process it. This is stealing. Criminal activity.

I ordered $3000 worth of furniture that was in stock in February, 2017. It is June now! They are giving me a ship date of August! I have received delay emails 3 times. I have spoken to customer service several times. They can't explain the delay. They tell me they will look into it and then I never receive a call back. They offer no discount or credit.
I am now cancelling my order.
Terrible, terrible customer service. More than disappointed in this company. I would not recommend them to anyone.

Where do I begin.

Here's the short story: Ballard customer service is a joke, as is their 'anticipated ship times, ' which have never been correct. They blame everything on their manufacturers.

Long story: I've placed several orders with Ballard and each of them were delayed significantly, so much so that I actually received a package to my old address after moving out of the state. The latest nightmare began when I ordered a bed and some other items mid-January with a shipping date of mid-February. I selected a 'Select' fabric for the bed specifically for the quick shipping, but this was still a custom order. Lo and behold, the delayed merchandise emails came flooding in, not only for one item in my order but ALL of them, the most pressing for us being the bed. Finally, after receiving an email that our bed would be more than 4 weeks delayed I decided to call to see if I could swap out fabric on the bed since it was going to be eons before I received it anyway. I called to see if it would be possible, was told someone would call me back. I got a voicemail later that day saying that they had CANCELED my order and to call to reorder in different fabric. In a panic (no way did I want this to be another three month ordeal), I called and was informed that my order HADN'T been canceled but that I could do that and switch the fabric for an up charge. They quoted me a fairly quick ship date so I thought, why not. Might as well get a different fabric that I actually wanted. I asked if I could use the initial discount I had used and I again was told someone would call me in a couple days to discuss. I wait. No phone call. I call back and am told I CAN use the discount and we proceed with switching the fabric and creating a new order. This was Saturday. I spoke to my husband on Sunday and at this point he is fed up and wants a darn bed to sleep in, so I call on Monday to say I need to cancel the whole thing because we just need a bed at this point. I'm informed that I can't cancel the order because of the new fabric I chose. What? I was never informed of this over the phone when I placed the order. The rep in the voicemail made it sound like this would be an easy quick thing to do. Apparently THIS was a custom order, when the last one I canceled was too! They said they'd already shipped the fabric to the manufacturer so I asked if they could just return the fabric. Or if I could pay for the fabric. Again I'm told someone will call me back in 2-3 days. What? I have to wait AGAIN for someone to answer my question?

This company is a joke. I've never had my merchandise arrive on time- not e en fabric samples or a wood shelf. You can't blame a manufacturer for 'custom order delays' on those, Ballard.

Ultimately I'm going to cancel the credit card they charged and tell them it's their choice. I bet if they know they won't get paid they'll conveniently find a way to cancel the order.

Buyer beware. They're unclear on returns over the phone, you can never have your questions answered or accomplish the purpose of your inquiry in one phone call with Ballard and you will NEVER receive your orders in time.

We ordered a Gold Sunburst Mirror(WM898) from Ballard Designs January 6th, and received an email with expected ship date of Jan. 15th. We thought, terrific! We then received an update email on Jan. 10th with a new expected ship date of Jan. 20th. Delays can be understandable, so we thought "no problem, we will look for it to ship out on the 20th".
Unfortunately, after that first delayed shipment email, we have received new expected ship date emails(13 emails total since Jan 8th as of today, Jan 29th), which move the date out another few days. The latest one received today now says the expected ship date is Feb 9th. Not sure if we will ever receive this mirror, as the expected ship date continues to move out every few days. Called customer service, but they were of little assistance other than saying they receive the dates from the manufacturer. This is extremely frustrating. Hopefully the mirror will ship out on the 9th, but I have a sneaky suspicion we will receive expected date delay emails before then.

My husband and I moved into new house and wanted to change the kitchen. We contacted the rep from Ballard Designs and provided all measurements of our kitchen. We told the material, style and approximate sum, which we were ready to pay for the design, work and installation. The sum was good, but the rep ruined everything. He took the order and payment, but after he hasn’t showed the design, but started to make this kitchen without our approval. Be careful with them.

I placed an order for an IN STOCK sofa in August. (My receipt has proof of status)After 2 weeks of silence I called for delivery status and my 60 day, 30 hour nightmare began. Customer Service Managers (I spoke to 11)misinformed me ( a polite way of saying they lied to me), didn't follow up, dropped the ball, made excuses (it was the vendors fault) until finally it was too late to pull my order and shop with someone else.After threatening a lawsuit they finally shipped my order. There was NO FOLLOW UP BY BALLARD - NO FORMAL APOLOGY - NOTHING. BEWARE shopping with this company. There are only first name faceless voices on the phone who "pass the buck" at every opportunity with cold indifference. I am apalled.

DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM BALLARD DESIGNS! EVEN IF THEY PAY YOU TO TAKE IT, DON'T!
I ordered a set of five bookshelves, when they arrived the left end bookshelf was busted. The delivery guys they sent to my house looked like criminals complete with a nail, yes an actual nail, through his ear. The delivery guy asked me for a box cutter to open the boxes! hmmm so I asked "Doesn't your company supply you with tools?" to which he replied "Oh I don't work for them, I'm just helping my buddy today!" We called Ballard to let them know the bookcase was broken, they said they would send a new one and pick up the broken one. That was July, in November I got my replacement, but the delivery guys said they weren't authorized to pick up the broken one. In December they charged my credit card for the broken one that they were supposed to pick up. THAT IS CREDIT CARD FRAUD, THEY MADE AN UNAUTHORIZED CHARGE TO MY CARD WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!
It is now March, I'm still waiting for a credit to my card AND for them to get their broken bookshelf out of my house.

I have never complained via the world wide web before, but I am so disappointed with 2 lamps (Lancaster Floor Lamp and Lancaster Desk Lamp) from Ballard Designs. www.ballarddesigns.com

These lamps from Ballard Designs are made of steel, and were gently used in our home (no kids, dogs, or lumberjacks using them roughly) for less than 2 years. Wouldn't you expect them to last a little longer than that without breaking? Combined purchase price: $200.

Most disappointing is Ballard Designs' response: "Unfortunately the product is outside our 1 year warranty and we are unable to exchange the lamps. We do apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused."

$200 out the window is more than an inconvenience; it is unacceptable. Ballard Design's message to me is clearly that they don't care that they sold me a product that didn't hold up in the way that it should have.

Ballard Designs is correct that this product is outside the warranty. But it is not outside LOGIC to expect a steel lamp to last more than 2 years and it is not outside good customer service for Ballard Designs to step up to the problem. So I now join others here on this site complaining about Ballard Designs and their unsatisfactory response to my problem.
I am warning other consumers to Buyer Beware if you gamble on dealing with Ballard Designs.