-
May 2024 by Sherri Z
Best customer service from Lori Murphy!
One of my door handle was broken that it couldn't be simply fixed by tightening the screw. I contacted the store. Lori helped me greatly by communicating between the customer service of the manufacturer and me. Eventually, the broken parts were mailed to me and I was able to fix the problem successfully.
-
February 2024 by Timothy Lau
I loved my experience working with Chown, where we bought our home's cabinet pulls and knobs. While you could browse for these things online, to truly know the product, you have to go into a physical store to feel the shape and weight of pull, look at the color in different lights, and compare items side by side.
My experience with both the sales and delivery/will call folks were quite pleasant. In particular, I worked with Kirsten, who was very knowledgeable about all of the different pulls, styles, and how to put together a complete and cohesive "look" for my home. When it came time to purchase, she was even willing to match the prices that I found online, which made it very easy to support this local family-owned business.
Then, during the delivery process, everything was very smooth - I received the package delivery dates upfront, with some coming within 1-2 business days when they had it in stock in their Portland warehouse and others taking a week to ship directly from the manufacturer. Upon inspecting the hardware in person, I was helped by Matt in the will call department, who inspected every piece of hardware with great detail, as if he were shopping for his own home. We had found several with knicks and scratches, and Kirsten was more than happy to order replacement hardware free of charge. I got replacements twice, showing that Chown won't rest until you're happy with your purchase.
Overall, I had a great experience that can't be replicated with online shops - the selection, the expertise, the personal touches, the willingness to replace items at their own freight expense until you're happy simply can't be beat :)
Thank you Kirsten, Matt, and the Bellevue Chown family.
-
January 2024 by Kerry Smith
I've been to this place twice in the past 4 months. Each time, they were completely empty. My husband and I walked around for quite a while and no one asked to help us. When we finally asked a question about the differences between certain fixtures and are there other ones available that aren't on the showroom, one person (without getting up from their desk) replied that they only have what's out...which is totally wrong because they only had a handful of each type of fixture. We asked if someone could hlep us and again (without getting up) they said they could help if we had specific questions. No one offered to show us around or tell us about the products. Their behavior is completely bizarre for people in customer service. I wonder how they stay in business.
-
July 2023 by Penelope C
Not impressed with any of it. From the displays to the staff. I'm just going to shop on-line. I can avoid the undertrained and snobby attitudes at a lower price.
-
June 2023 by Laura B-witz
Visited on 6/16/23, we walked around the store for over 20 minutes without ever being spoken to, not even a, "welcome in." We had questions about a shower diverter and got completely ignored by the female employee. We went to Rosen Plumbing Supply instead and got fabulous customer service. Chown is resting on their laurels and going down hill fast. I suggest going anywhere but here.
-
March 2023 by Paul Schmidt
Was the only person in the store but I got ignored for a good 6-8 minutes. Finally a rude employee came and informed me that they're a "higher end" store and I needed to make an appointment. I successfully navigated the noses in the air and got out of there ASAP.
-
January 2023 by Leah Smith
Located in a dirty strip mall with trash littered outside the front door, not in the nicest part of Bellevue and not great smelling inside. Rude, unhelpful staff, plus some bizarre behavior mixed into our unpleasant experience from the washed up, disengaged, sad, small salesperson sitting at the rear desk in the showroom.With the advent of the internet and just about any product and hardware selection widely available for purchase elsewhere, the showroom hardware and fixture business model is precarious at best. The weird miserable staff members at the dumpy showroom of Chown in Bellevue seem intent on making sure it collapses sooner rather than later. Remarkably, we were the only people in there and they still managed to make us uncomfortable enough to decide to leave. There are numerous other reviews of rude discourteous staff at Chown in Bellevue on Google Reviews and on Yelp for anyone to read. I find it sad and a little humorous that it is well documented on other Google and Yelp reviews that shoppers and customers are treated poorly based on appearance. In the Seattle area people with money to spend aren't wearing three piece suits and gold watches, everyone except Chown knows this. I regret not taking a picture of the empty starbucks containers we had to step over to get inside to share here.Our experience in the showroom mixed with the numerous reviews, to be read by anyone on Google and Yelp, about Chown regularly being on the struggle bus in terms of delivering products to contractors on time in order to complete projects, we walked out without making purchases and headed on over to the Ferguson showroom which was a great experience.Referencing past business success as an excuse for current poor staff behavior and unhelpfulness is not a good business practice. Efforts should be made to look into issues and improve, rather than deny the problems.
-
December 2022 by Leah S.
Located in a dirty strip mall with trash littered outside the front door, this is not in the nicest part of Bellevue, dingy, poorly lit, and not great smelling inside. Rude, unhelpful staff, plus some bizarre behavior mixed into our unpleasant experience from the washed up, disengaged, sad, small salesperson who clearly peaked in 1999, sitting at the rear desk in the showroom. He wasn't on the phone with a client, helping anyone, or doing much of anything with his time except being nasty. With the advent of the internet and just about any product and hardware selection widely available for purchase elsewhere, the showroom hardware and fixture business model is precarious at best. The weird miserable staff members at the dumpy showroom of Chown in Bellevue seem intent on making sure it collapses sooner rather than later. Remarkably, we were the only people shopping there and they still managed to make us decide to leave. We stood outside the store front chatting with our designer after we exited for a time and what do you know? The entire time we were there, the customer count was at zero. Our negative experience in the showroom mixed with the numerous reviews we read about Chown regularly struggling in terms of delivering products to contractors on time in order to complete projects, we happily walked out without making purchases for our large home renovation project and headed on over to the Ferguson showroom a mile away. Ferguson was staffed with friendly helpful folks, buzzing with clients, and it was clean and well lit. Night and day. Save yourself a trip and skip Clown Hardware.
-
June 2021 by Oksana D.
Unfortunately this company does not take good care of their clients. I usually don't leave bad reviews. I hate to do this but it's very unfortunate that this company does not put customers first. I received an email with the wrong door spec information from them, which created a problem which they blamed me for. I had every email to show them for proof which they did not want to look at. Multiple associates from this store attacked me by saying that it was my fault that they messed up on the door specs. It's frustrating also when they tell you to leave the store because the refund process will take too long, but I refused to leave until I got a receipt for my refund. Surprisingly they were able to refund me within 3 minutes! Interesting. I am sad to see businesses treat their clients like this. I hope they learn from this mistake and take up responsibility for making a mistake and not turn their clients away by telling them to leave the store without any receipt. They told me multiple times that they will contact me by phone or email. No thank you. I did not drive here in traffic for them to tell me, "we can call you later" because they were "busy". I decided to do a refund and find hardware with another company. This is why I am leaving a 1 star. If I could put no stars, I would. Disappointed with the way they treated me from the beginning to the end of our transaction.
-
April 2021 by Al I.
Another reviewer proposed to rebrand them "Clown Hardware". This moniker is apt enough. It's not that "Clown" doesn't carry good hardware. As it happens, their selection is rich and includes top-quality manufacturers (for a price). It's just that their personnel can be screamingly incompetent, borderline lazy and can exude the warmth of dead reptiles. Such an experience flies in the face of arguments against "bad" online retail giants "unfairly" competing with "good" small businesses whose dedication to attentive, personalized service cannot be matched... This is pure BS! You will get zero service from Clown. They are no more qualified to help you design your project than you are. In fact, they are LESS qualified than you. They will also mess up your order (but slowly, to prolong your agony) when they finally work on keying it in, using their ancient software relic. Here is a business idea for the manufacturers: What don't you let us directly order from you guys, so the sad Clown can peacefully "retire"?
-
January 2021 by Christina D.
Absolutely the worst customer service I've experienced-EVER. Stood in front of 3 salespersons, all sitting at computers or on cellphones. NOBODY would acknowledge me for five minutes and when they did it wasn't the woman five feet from me, it was a salesman on his computer across the room. I really got the feel that if you don't look like you have a lot of money, you're not worth their time. Too bad they have the worst customer service because their inability to help or be bothered by my presence just cost them over 50K in a home remodel. I will have my contractor purchase through another company. These people are too good for our money. Don't waste your time.
-
October 2020 by Andrew W.
Getting Cam to solve problems is like pulling teeth. It's almost like he was actively running from our business. Clown hardware much?As another yelper noted (and this was a great help) - Try Builders Hardware & Supply in Seattle. There's more in stock and they follow through completely instead of being negative. Our job is done and Chown hasn't even followed up yet. (^_^)Good luck Yelper!
-
May 2020 by Ryan R.
20 year old house with all matching hardware except for one door... Worked with Carolyn H who was able to identify it for me in 24 hours, absolutely amazing! They really are as good as they say! Thx!
-
April 2020 by Sn F.
I'm the owner of a general contracting company. First time using this company to purchase door knobs for an entire house remodel. John, the salesperson, was very helpful on making my selections. I needed them right away so I could finish my remodel on time. He accommodated my requests. I received the door knobs but when I got to the last box I noticed that the knob was worn and scratched like it was a floor model or a return that they tried to sell to me. I called and let the salesperson know of the situation and he advised me that he would order me a new one. I came to pick it up and he ordered the wrong one. So, after all of this, my project was delayed even further. The problem I have ultimately is they didn't even offer me anything for my troubles. Being a new customer, I thought that the level of mistakes made and trying to sell me a used product as a new one would constitute a better response than "sorry". I won't be using Chown in the future. I've received better service from Builders Hardware.
-
March 2020 by Rahab Kairu
I bought my lock and kept it for a couple months before installing it I did not know anything was wrong with it until it was installed. When it was installed we later realized that the rod that turns the lock on the inside was short and as a result it kept falling off where it was supposed to be thus damaging that part. I requested multiple times that they replace the damaged part but they refused, rude over the phone. They just sent a longer rod which is useless coz the other part was damaged.
