apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I am a wisteria addict. I think it is the only catalog I LOVE receiving. For Christmas my mother gave me the Yuruba Crown (www.wisteria.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=W300) and it sits beautifully in my apartment. I adore it. The company packaged it safely and it arrived exactly when they said it would. As none of the "crowns" are the same, I felt Wisteria did a good job of describing and photographing what the item bought WOULD look like. I am in love. In fact, there will be a few more things purchased from the catalog as soon as I move into a larger home (up from a 1000 sq. ft. apartment).

I just ordered their birch chair and am waiting for it to arrive. I'll let you know what it's like. (my friend predicted it would have nails sticking out all over and would tear clothes to shreds, but I think it will be rather amusing.)

martha

I like the Wisteria catalog a lot; it's the anti-West Elm, sort of. One of their tables is a contender for my new nightstand (www.wisteria.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=W966) although I think I may have found the answer in my basement.

I LOVE that Birch chair!! I could totally see two of them in an otherwise sleek space...

That would look great. In my place it will just be the funkiest point on the continuum. But I think it will sort of rhyme with a rattan tub-type chair I have, and if it doesn't work out I can exile it to the deck. What did you think of that boxy chair (the one with the open rectangular back, kind of mr. machine looking?) I was torn between that and the birch chair, finally went with cheaper.

martha

The 20th-Century Art Chair? I think that is pretty cool, too. Wow, you ARE eclectic!

I recently ordered the bone inlaid mirror (flower pattern) from Wisteria. Although the mirror looks OK, it's third-rate (third-world)hanging system leaves much to be desired. The hardware (if you could call it that -- two large metal rings with a piece of cotton rope strung between the two rings) is faulty. I hung the mirror over a console table and after hanging for two days, one ring came off and the entire mirror crashed to the floor during the night. As it slid down the wall, it caused numerous deep gouges on the wall, console table, baseboard moulding, and wood floor, as well as leaving black paint marks all down the wall. My $299 purchase is going to run me at least twice that amount in repair costs. Unfortunately, Wisteria was only willing to reimburse me 20% of the original cost for the damage their faulty merchandise caused. I'm disappointed. I've purchased lovely items from them in the past and the owner's friendly, chatty narrative in their catalog would lead you to believe that they'd stand behind what they sell. NOT TRUE!

Wisteria and its "Almost Famous 15 Minute Sale" has me checking the site daily. I love the uniqueness of its products, and the prices....ahh..what's not to love? I have had problems with shipments in the past, but they go out of their way to help me. I am a satisfied, loyal customer, my only complain is they don't have enough sales thorughtout the year! :)

Hello..Last week I placed an order through you.
I placed an order for my mom & friend. I love looking through your magazine and decided to order
a 'pig with wings' & one of the 'magic lanterns'.
I heard back from my mom & friend and they loved
the pig but could not tell what the second item
they received was...candle holder..planter? I called your 800 # today to find out what exactly
had been shipped and the phone person told me she
could not tell what had been shipped???? I am a person who puts alot of thought into what I send as gifts. I am very easy to get along with ;-)
BUT, when I got the phone calls about what was
received and they couldn't tell what they received
I was totally caught off guard....color my face RED :-0 Thanks for listening.

I was interested to read about the bone mirror, and related problems. I have wanted to order the shell one for some time, but don't know anyone who has ordered from Wisteria. I've become very careful about buying hard-to-return items from catalog companies after receiving poor-quality items too many times.

What many people do not know about ordering by credit card is that most cards offer a guarantee. If you receive an item that is not what you ordered (worse quality than depicted or described, or just too different), and the company won't work with you to remedy the problem, you might not be responsible for the charge. Call your credit card company to see. I have forced companies to pay for the return shipping of poor-quality or damaged merchandise.

Teresa Jurado packed the doormat for me and it arrived safely, without incident. She did a great job.
I love the catalogue and the care that Wisteria takes to insure customer satisfaction. Well done!
Ruth

I love Wisteria.

I would like to warn everyone about this place. the catalog sounds great and is pretty, but their "antiques" are NOT. I ordered several things which were supposed to be antique, and upon receiving this junk I was suspicious. The "wheel of time" is recently made, (confirmed by an expert) but it doesn't take an expert to see the new wood with new chisel marks and an off center hole could NEVER have been a real wheel. Also, most of their "antiques" are reproductions recently made in china and india.
I feel like such a fool! Their return policy leaves much to be desired also. There was one shining light, though. Melissa the customer service manager was extremely helpful and kind, and after talking to several very unhelpful people I finally got to talk to her and got some REAL customer service. This was about 2 months ago, and JUST got my refund. The accounting department is in no hurry to give money back. I have learned that Melissa is no longer the manager, and one of the unhelpful reps now is. I wonder who made that decision !? This company is clueless, and I will never order from them again.

I ordered the Mad King table from Wisteria. I received a notice it was on back order until late Nov. Then I received a shipping notice with tracking number.Turns out they just shipped the glass top (50# item) and the table is out of stock until "late December". I've spoken to customer service, left a message for a supervisor and emailed the CSR Manager. I did not order separte items from Wisteria, I ordered a table that comes in two parts and of course, my CC has long ago been charged. If I don't receive an agreeable response from them to my email because customer service was useless, in a timely manner, watch for all kinds of blogs, reports to BBB, FTC Direct Mail division, etc.

Last year for Christmas my father ordered my mother 2 items from Wisteria. One a very expensive dresser the other a pricey fireplace screen. The screen arrived smashed despite the box being in perfect shape. Wisteria offered no solution, claiming it was the shipper (keep in mind the box had no damage). The dresser arrived with a leg totally missing. Again Wisteria wouldn't do anything about it. My father is not the pusy type and just settled it with his AmEx (thank goodness for a good credit card company). I kind of figured that my parents just didn't push hard enough but now I have learned my lesson myself. I placed an order 2 weeks ago for a table and chair set for my children. Online it showed in stock but when my email confirmation arrived a few minutes later it showed out of stock. I called to see when it would be in since it was a Hanukkah present. I was told they were instock and shipping that week. A few days later my account with them online still shows no update so I call again. This time I am told there was a quality issue and all the product was return but a new shipment was arriving that day to ship by Friday. So on Friday I call and I was told they were back in stock and shipping that day. Saturday I call and was told they weren't in stock. I said I just wanted to cancel the order. Now I am getting the run around about canceling. They say I can't cancel b/c my order has been processed. I am about to scream! No one nows what is going on there and getting a manager on the phone is a joke. This will be my last order with them. I order 85% of all my gifts online for birthdays and holidays and this has been the worst online/catalog shopping experience ever! Avoid Wisteria!!

I ordered the Holiday Herald from the Wisteria catalog. The description in the catalog says it is a "handcarved acadia wood" angel. It arrived with a huge crack in the head, but that is not the kicker. Because of the crack, I was able to see what it was really made from. The only part of it that is wood are the wings (acadia - who knows). The rest of this "handcarved" creation is fiberglass and plaster!!!! Oh ya - it is also hollow. So basically they are billing this mass produced item that can be found at any TJMaxx as something handcrafted - NICE. I personally will never order anything again from Wisteria, which in my opinion is a company that grossly misrepresents their products.

I am interested in the "Hampton Art Therapy"--coming soon. Is there any way that I could be notified about it when more info is available? Thank you, one way or the other. Donna

Please let me know if you have the cared animal ornaments still available
Constance

I am following up on my last comment posted 12/13/07. My damaged item was returned to Wisteria and UPS tracking shows that it was received by them on 12/20/06. As of today, 1/16/07 - I still HAVE NOT received credit back to my credit card!!!! Customer no-service tells me that their procedures have not "officially" processed the return yet and therefore cannot credit my card yet. It amazes me that it seemed no problem to put the charge on my card the day of the order, yet almost a month after they received the product back and they are not capable of reversing the charge. BEWARE OF WISTERIA - ORDER AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!

I love the Wisteria catalog. I waited too long to order the Black Moon Iron Chair. If anyone has one they can part with please leave a message at this site.

Thank you - bjohn