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I discovered Unica when googling for Alessi Mami pots - I thought they were good prices and then I realized that Michael Fina in NYC actually has lower prices.

I try to support local retailers whenever possible.

I have discovered Unica Home while searching for a Magino Stool(Acrylic stool/ magazine rack). The stool showed up as $200 in Google but at $250 in the Unica website. If that's not false advertising then someone needs to make a correction.
The moral of this e-mail is that you need to shop around.

I tried to purchase Marimekko sheets through the website and never received any kind of confirmation. Eight weeks (!) later the sheets arrived, and Unica has not been able to produce any kind of sales confirmation but still has refused to refund my money. Terrible service and surly staff. By the way, the sheets were vastly overpriced compared to other retailers.

I purchased the "my brothers frame" by designer Harry Allen from Unica home and it arrived broken. So I called customer service and the woman who handles these things is surly, rude and unhelpful. She never called me back with an update on when a new frame would arrive and everytime I called she was annoyed with me. They are the ones who shipped me a broken product and I was the one who was inconvenienced, not her.

To boot, if Harry Allen stopped making frames all she was going to give me was a "store credit" not a full refund. SHOP ELSEWHERE.

I ordered a Benson bookshelf to be delivered at the end of August. Still no bookshelf at the end of Sept. over a month late. Additionally, we were promised "white glove delivery" meaning professional movers who would deliver the bookshelf and assemble it. Instead we got "American Relocation" company. They just drop it off at the door, no assembly. To boot, they are rude, incompetent, inflexible, and have still not shown up (they are over an hour late). When confronted, the owner of Unica started screaming about how none of this is her fault and that they had had an employee who was lying to customers about prices, delivery, etc. That employee has been fired since, but we are still missing a $2000 bookshelf! I wish I had read these negative reviews before shopping here.

TERRIBLE!!!! CROOKS!!! FRAUD!!!! DON'T SHOP HERE!!

I purchased a few small Alessi items from Unica (I do not make huge expensive purschases on-line). Yes, they have a HUGE selection of items. My problem with this company is that you have no way to track your purchase like other sites. You have no idea where it is or when it is going to be delivered UNTIL you find the box on your doorstep. This is a big problem if you are ordering a gift or need an item within a certain time limit. Your credit card is automatically charged even if the shipment comes 4 weeks later. Also prices are full retail. I will not be purchasing from them again.

The reason why many stores have higher retail prices than online sites or larger corporate store is because they cannot buy in bulk, and therefore demand lower prices. That is why WalMart is such a great place to shop, because they can offer prices no one can because of their purchasing power.
If, however, you appreciate that some small retailers are trying to bring you unique and interesting goods that would not be available at your average corporate retailer, say crate and barrell, then you should show your appreciation by not squabbling over 20 dollars. Maybe you'll feel good about contributing to paying some hardworking person's rent, even if it was just a little bit more expensive.

Using this site has been the worst experience I've ever had with an online store. Sadly, they have been entrusted to sell some pretty cool stuff, but outside of that the people running the store have zero redeeming qualities. Bad service, bad attitude, bad everything. I hope at least one person reads this and goes somewhere else. I'm going to do my absolute best to publish something negative about them on every site I can. Horrible! Horrible! Horrible!

Agree, Unica has HORRIBLE customer service. Stay away from this company. When I called to check up on an order made 6 weeks ago, they told me they cancelled the order until I put 50% down and then needed to wait another 5-10 weeks to *maybe* get my order. What?! The woman was rude, hostile and essentially blamed me for ordering something on their website that was not in stock. I asked to speak to her manager and was informed that he was out but would call me back...big surprise, I never got called back.

i have also had TERRIBLE experiences with unica's customer service. even after spending a large chunk of money on an order, i found them rude and inflexible when dealing with a problem that was caused by them in the first place, and that would've taken very little money for them to fix. it's amazing that they seem to care very little about customer satisfaction. i will never order from them again, and i would steer all from patronizing them.

Just adding to this thread. I, too, placed an order through Unica home. Same deal, 3 months passed and no item, each time I'd check in (not that often, definitely not enough to be annoying) I was treated horribly like I was a nuisance. I eventually got the item but it was a very bad experience and would urge others to steer clear.

Worst company ever, they are such a nightmare. Horror to work with - they do not take responsibilty for their products, and they refuse to call you back when something shows up damaged and are very lazy in getting it fixed. Unacceptable. This is one of the worst managed companies I have ever dealt with, and please, for a Starck chair, you can go anywhere, so do you research and buy from a better vendor. BTW- no interior designer would ever order from them because the word is out that they are unacceptable to work with.

just adding to the comment list about horrible service. they charged my friends who purchased a gift for us from our wedding registry that we set up with them (huge mistake) prior to mailing it. this is a strange policy compared to other vendors. but the clincher was, that the item was back ordered and that they gave me such a hard time about choosing something different. I believe that they expected us to wait, and it had already been 4 months. this by the way, was a braun coffee grinder that was readily in stock at bed bath and beyond. I agree, they come across with very shaky store policies that depending on who you deal with, interprets it differently. I would only use there site as a initial source to see products, but stay clear of purchasing anything there. it isnt worth the headache.

Don't do refunds. Unica credits good for one year.

I should have read the reviews here. I ordered an Alessi product and was told it would be 4-6 weeks out. Email said I could cancel without issue and that they would notify me when it was ready to ship. So I canceled a couple of weeks later after hearing nothing and then boom - I immediately heard back form their customer service that apparently my item was shipped the week before. Later that day I received an automated response that the item in fact shipped the same day they notified me it shipped the week before. They would not accept the cancellation notice and they will only give a store credit. Load of crap. There are other stores that sell the same product with much superior customer service and customer appreciation. I would not re-order again.