Since Corey and I currently live in a two bedroom duplex and have been living away from our parents’ homes for about 4 years now, we have pretty much everything we need when it comes to moving into the new house. We definitely don’t have enough belongings to fill up the house yet (thank goodness), but our rooms aren’t going to look sparse and unfurnished.
However, there is one (pretty essential) piece of furniture we don’t yet have – a dining room table. The only dining table we own is this one, that currently sits in our kitchen.
This table is perfectly fine for us for now – we don’t have guests over very often because most of our friends have moved out of College Station, and our little duplex doesn’t have room for anything bigger than this.
But when we move (in two and a half weeks!), we’ll have a little problem. There’s a perfect little breakfast nook in the kitchen that will fit this table nicely…
But then there’s also this wonderful invention called a dining room. And we don’t have anything to put in it.
Well, that’s technically not true. We have 8 chairs.
Yup, eight dining chairs. And no dining table. In our defense, the dining chairs aren’t refinished yet and are in need of a major overhaul before we’re ready to use them, but it has become pretty clear to us that we’re going to need to fix this situation soon, or else we’re going to end up with a room full of chairs and nothing else.
We’ve gone back and forth for a while now on what we want to do for a dining room table. We even played around with the idea of Corey building a table, but we had a hard time finding plans for something that we truly loved, and it was a lot of work to add to our list of things that needed to get done – especially when we want it as soon as we can get it.
After searching for a few weeks, I was beginning to lose hope, and then I found it. The table.
The Carroll Farm table from West Elm. Drool. Corey and I immediately knew that it was the perfect table for us – simple, clean lines, dark finish, and gorgeous chunky legs. Now, a table like this isn’t hard to find – it’s pretty simple. But the key is that this table comes in two sizes – one that seats six, and one that seats 8. This was huge for us, because we really wanted a table that seats 8, but neither of us loved the idea of having a table with leaves – we wanted a solid table, no leaves. That’s a bit harder to find.
So, this table was perfect, we loved it, and we figured we were set. Since we haven’t actually moved in yet (have I mentioned that we move in two and a half weeks??!) and the table was listed as backordered until the end of August, we figured we’d wait a little while to order it and see if maybe we could catch it on a sale or something. No rush, right?
Right.
Until yesterday morning when I got a chat message on Gmail from Corey, telling me to take a deep breath. I asked why, and he told me our table was gone.
Poof. Just like that. Removed from the website.
WHAT?
I double checked to make sure he wasn’t just going crazy, and when I realized it was actually gone I had a minor panic attack. I immediately grabbed my phone and called up customer service at West Elm, hoping I’d be able to score a table, even though it was removed from the website.
When I finally got someone on the phone, I explained to her my dilemma, and I quickly realized that this lady had no idea what she was doing.
How did I know this?
Because she kept repeating “I have no idea how to look that up.”
Seriously? Isn’t this kind of, um, your job? She seemed a bit panicky, but I finally got her to look up the table and after insisting to me for a good five minutes that the table had just disappeared from their records, she finally managed to find it in a backorder list. She couldn’t tell me if they were going to be putting it back on the website or not, but she could tell me that they had the backorders coming at the end of August.
Okay. We were making progress. I asked if she could add me to the backorder list so that I could get one when they came in on August 25th. She said that would be fine, and started to take my information. She had just told me how much my table was going to cost me and we were about to be finished when her computer deleted my order. She started to get very nervous (she was a bit high strung) and began quickly taking my information again. I calmly gave it to her…and then she told me my total.
And it was $100 more expensive than the total she had given me 45 seconds prior.
I (naturally) questioned that and tried to understand why in the world the price had jumped, and she told me that her computer was showing the table as $100 more than it was when it was on the website.
I was a little bit confused.
They took it off the website AND raised the price $100? Call me crazy, but that does not make any sense to me. I tried to explain to her that I didn’t understand, and she began panicking once again and repeatedly told me, “it’s what the computer says, all I know is what the computer says, I can’t do anything about it.”
Well, lady, I understand that but can you at least agree with me that this is a little bit strange?!
I told her that I’d have to talk it over with my husband, thanked for her time, and got off the phone feeling extremely frustrated and sad. This table was the only table I had managed to find that I really liked after weeks of searching, and it was gone! I called Corey to explain the situation, and he said he would see what he could do.
Five minutes later he text messaged me saying that he’d ordered the table at the original price.
Yeah. He’s amazing.
Apparently when we had looked at the table a few weeks ago he had added it to his cart to see what the total cost with shipping would be, and he had never taken it out. So, he was able to just complete the transaction he had already started and get the table at the lower price. Score! And cue my GIANT sigh of relief.
So, at the end of August we have our dream table coming to us. I’m so glad that we managed to snatch one up before they were completely gone, and I can’t wait to see how it looks in our house.
Have you ever had a website take something away that you were planning on buying? Or, have you ever dealt with panicky customer service people? They always make for some interesting stories!
Ana says
Can you share the dining chairs that got to match/go with this Carroll Farm dining table. I love it & have been thinking of buying it. But note sure what kind of dining chairs would go well with it.
Amanda says
I don’t know what the “official” chairs are – the ones we have are from Craigslist. 🙂
Chantal says
We just received the Carroll dining table a week ago and I love the look of it, but it already had scuff marks on the top and after setting a glass on it for dinner it left a discolored ring on it, have you had any problems with your finish? It seems like I need to put some kind of sealant on it or a table cloth which seems absurd to me. I would appreciate any feedback you could give, thanks.
Amanda says
Did you get the lighter color or the darker? We haven’t really had any problems with it yet, but I know I read several reviews that mentioned problems with the finish, especially the dark color (we noticed a LOT of really noticeable scratches on the dark one in the store). We’ve been pretty careful to use placemats at trivets when we’re setting stuff on the table, so we don’t have any marks on it, but part of the reason we chose this particular table is because we actually think some imperfections will add character! I don’t have any great tips, but I know I’ve seen lots of advice around the internet on how to get rid of stuff like that in wood tables, so a little Googling should turn something helpful up! 🙂
Morgan says
Love that table, I’m so glad you guys were able to get it! But man, remind me to never try calling their customer service, yikes!
Jessica T says
You got lucky! That table is gorgeous, can’t wait to see it in your house. 😀
kelsey says
Phew!! What a relief. Sounds like West Elm needs new customer service reps!
penga says
love the table you picked, it’s gorgeous! and i would have gone into hysterics on the phone, seriously! good thing it worked out – here’s hoping it gets to you quickly, safe and sound with no more hiccups!
CTS says
That table is fantastic! I’m so glad that Corey was able to pull through and get it for you. Can’t wait to see it with your updated chairs!
http://ctinteriors.blogspot.com/
serena @bigapplenosh says
Phew, I’m glad there’s a happy ending! Hooray for Corey saving the day! 🙂
JeeYoung says
I LOVE YOUR CURRENT KITCHEN TABLE! SO CUTE 🙂
We lucked out with our formal dining room set. ILs had a brand new dark cherry wood set that they’d NEVER used so they gave it to us. FOR FREE. It came with the china cabinet and the buffet table. And we LOVE the room so much that we’ve hosted Thanksgiving the past two years.
Smart thinking by Corey! I’m so happy you got the table of your dreams! 🙂
Katie says
I’ve dealt with a backorder situation from West Elm also — I ordered a duvet and shams on backorder until August. Buuut didn’t actually receive my bedding until late October. Luckily we weren’t in urgent need of it — it was just annoying. Hopefully they’ll be more timely with your table!
Mandy says
Ahhh! SO glad it worked out in the end, how lucky!! I absolutely adore the table and can’t wait to see what it looks like in the space!
Jennifer says
Just two days ago I found the PERFECT bamboo tray table online and placed my order only to receive back to back e-mails from the company. E-mail #1 – confirming my order. E-mail #2 – cancelling my order because they aren’t selling the item anymore. EFFF!!!! Of course, I can’t find anything even remotely similar in my price range. I might have impulsively drove to TJ Maxx for some retail therapy in the form of an unnecessary (but too cute to pass up) ottoman and a pair of lamps for the console table. Not sure how that helps my quandry of needing a side table, but it sure did make me feel better.
Abby says
That is a gorgeous dining room table! I’m jealous, because I’ve been wanting a solid one-piece table (without a leaf) for awhile now but I haven’t been able to find one. Sorry you had to deal with such crappy customer service, but hopefully you’ll have your new table at the end of August and all will be right. 🙂
Melissa says
This happens to me all the time. I like to think things over and often end up losing out. That’s so awesome that corey was able to get it! 🙂
I’ve ordered stuff from West Elm on back order in the past and they soemtiems take awhile, but it’s worth the wait.
p.s. I love your breakfast table!
Brooke says
I had that very same IKEA table set, spray painted chrome. I love that little set! It’s going to be the perfect breakfast table for you. There’s just so much possibility with it, and it’s so cheap that you never feel bad experimenting with it
Bree C says
Have you ever tried to deal with Best Buy customer service? Those people can literally only read what is on their screens and have no way of transferring you to anyone else that might be able to help. You can call back as many times as you want, receive 10 different people, and they will all read you exactly the same thing.
Not a good thing when your package is missing and all they can say is, “well it looks like it shipped, but we can’t know for sure.”
And I’m glad you snagged the table at the correct price.
Lindsay says
Hey! I just started reading your blog (followed you from Weddingbee) and wanted to say that I love it! I also wanted to say DONT FREAK OUT, but I had ordered a desk from West Elm that was on backorder and then it got removed from the website and they canceled my order! They said it was out of stock and they weren’t re-stocking them. Since the “helpful” customer service representative told you that they were filling the backorders at the end of August hopefully the same thing wont happen to you!
Amanda says
Ahh! Thanks for the warning – I’ll definitely keep an eye out on that. I’ll probably throw a hissy fit if they try to do that to me! 🙂