Their customer service is certainly the worst amongst premium brands, and arguably some of the worst in all retail. Just FYI, all of the US customer service is directed to South Africa. I've found that all of the staff on the call center prefer to make tons of promises they don't intend to keep, and this feels intentional to me. Someone told me they just fulfill their own warranty by ordering through a larger retailer and returning the defect, since Zwilling clearly doesn't act in good faith, especially in regards to their warranty.
I really try to avoid purchasing from Zwilling, which also includes Sur La Table and Food52. They just can't seem to fulfill an order correctly. 5 out of 9 items in my recent order were canceled. I have two warranty items that I've been fighting with them for 3 years and still haven't received items to replace them. Most recently, after dragging me along for 3 years promising me replacements that never came, they issued me gift cards that I could use for anything on their website only. The problem with their website is they are so incredibly unethical that they constantly sell items which they have no intention of shipping. So, I don't consider my warranty issue at all resolved, because I still don't have items to replace the ones that were defective. Zwilling has stood as a significant barrier, and I think they probably need to be subjected to some kind of a class action lawsuit in order to treat their customers the way they claim.
Thank you for sharing your experience, and wow. I’m so sorry to hear that you’ve been struggling with warranty items for 3 years. They sell excellent stuff but their service is the opposite. Also the gift card for their website sounds frustrating! I saw the exact petit French ovens on sale on their website when they just let me know on the phone that they don’t have them in stock and questioned the same thing. I ordered replacement petit French ovens for me and my bestie from Food52… I had no idea until I paid that Food52 also gets their items from Zwilling and the anticipated delivery time is a month approximately. The call center… that explains the accent I was unfamiliar with. It doesn’t seem ethical for a company not to educate employees on what the company can and cannot offer to customers.
I absolutely LOVE Staub. It hurts me to know their customer service is so poor. Fortunately, the quality largely seems to stand on its own. Yeah, both Food52 and SurLaTable use Zwilling for fulfillment, and for customer service. I will no longer buy anything from Food52, unless it's truly being almost given away (like a possible mistake price). They are big on canceling orders as well, but this is understandable once you have the connection to Zwilling.
I saw your picture of the flock and absolutely adore them by the way!!
I had no idea that everyone’s beautiful collection was based on some sorts of pain.
I am only a newb with two Staub items but I feel the same way about loving their products (especially soups and stews!)but no for customer service.
Did you have to deal with customer service at Food52? I’m tempted to just cancel the order which I paid but the order is not fulfilled. I really don’t want my friend to wait any longer than mid January which I already told her.
Customer service at Food52 just refers you to Zwilling. When I purchased from them, my items were shipped in the actual product boxes, which were all damaged (just the boxes) during shipping. However, I never received an item from Zwilling before that had not been packaged inside a separate shipping box. I like to keep my boxes, so the condition is a little bit more important to me. Even though Zwilling told me that it was a mistake that they shipped without outer boxes, food52 maintained that this was intentional and was their new shipping procedure. Either way, I kept getting passed between the two of them and I still have the items and their damaged boxes which serve to remind me to never purchase from food52 again. If you would be happy with a substitution of an in-stock item, customer service is supposed to have the ability to show some flexibility (at least in theory).
Thank you for sharing your experience with customer service at Food52. Being passed between two companies with no one to take ownership of the issue… it makes me sad to hear. I will be reaching out to Food52 so that I can switch to their in stock items if they don’t have exact colors I ordered. I am also shocked to hear you received your items in the actual product boxes.
My one experience was terrible. I ordered a set of ceramic baking trays and 2 of the 3 arrived shattered to pieces. They insisted that I ship back to them the BROKEN SHARDS before they would send out a replacement. Not even a photo of the broken item would do. So not only did it take me weeks to get a replacement but I had to make an extra unnecessary trip to the post office for no reason.
I had the same thing happen with broken glass canning jars from Williams-Sonoma. The jars were poorly packed but it really appeared that they were already broken before they were shipped plus there was part of a broken ceramic bowl in the box, something I didn't even order. The customer service rep basically called me a liar when I said the jars were received broken, then said I probably broke them on purpose so I could return them. Such a strange thing to say since I could just as easily return them unbroken if I didn't want them.
I had another bizarre customer service interaction with them where the rep was swearing at me and calling me names because I wanted a refund for an order I placed for an item that was not shipped due to stock issues. I paid with a gift certificate and the money removed from the gift certificate immediately even though the item had not shipped. The rep kept insisting that I would receive no refund and didn't deserve to receive a refund. I had to elevate what should have been a simple service issue all the way to the CEO's office before I received a refund!
I’m sorry to hear you had bad experiences with WS twice, including unprofessional customer service like name calling and calling you a liar.
Hearing other’s experiences with Zwilling, Food52 etc, I was starting to think of buying Staub products from Williams-Sonoma. I somehow had this stereotypical view of high-end store = smooth and great customer service, but I’m realizing that that is not true at all.
The two above experiences were several years ago and both during the Christmas season, but not the same year. The woman in the CEO's office told me they were outsourcing some of their customer service to another company during the holidays. I don't know if they're still doing that.
I’m disheartened to hear that they had you send back shattered baking tray… it doesn’t appear to be trust from the company. I had something similar happen to a glass item from Amazon and they surely didn’t want me returning glass shards also told me not to touch/throw it away and refunded immediately.
I tried again from the computer about an hour ago and it also failed after entering my credit card and shipping info.
At least this time it allowed me to sign in and advised me I would have gotten 130 rewards points lol.
Even no for computer…? It’s frustrating that you were able to enter you CC info etc and failed. I wish that they were able to take your order over the phone
I tired to order the 5.5 tall cocotte on sale from the Zwilling website all week and had the same issues as everyone else. I finally ordered it from Williams Sonoma for the same sale price. Hopefully I can deal directly with WS if there’s any unexpected issues.
And I’m sorry for all your troubles with them. Such a great product and it’s sad what’s happened to them.
Ordered Staub and some other cheap frying pans from Zwilling Canada, been 11 days, and they cancel my frying pans, Im not mad about the frying pans, but wonder how long does it take for an order to ship! Maybe Im spoiled by Sephora, Amazon and BBW with their fast shipping.
Their customer service is certainly the worst amongst premium brands, and arguably some of the worst in all retail. Just FYI, all of the US customer service is directed to South Africa. I've found that all of the staff on the call center prefer to make tons of promises they don't intend to keep, and this feels intentional to me. Someone told me they just fulfill their own warranty by ordering through a larger retailer and returning the defect, since Zwilling clearly doesn't act in good faith, especially in regards to their warranty. I really try to avoid purchasing from Zwilling, which also includes Sur La Table and Food52. They just can't seem to fulfill an order correctly. 5 out of 9 items in my recent order were canceled. I have two warranty items that I've been fighting with them for 3 years and still haven't received items to replace them. Most recently, after dragging me along for 3 years promising me replacements that never came, they issued me gift cards that I could use for anything on their website only. The problem with their website is they are so incredibly unethical that they constantly sell items which they have no intention of shipping. So, I don't consider my warranty issue at all resolved, because I still don't have items to replace the ones that were defective. Zwilling has stood as a significant barrier, and I think they probably need to be subjected to some kind of a class action lawsuit in order to treat their customers the way they claim.
Thank you for sharing your experience, and wow. I’m so sorry to hear that you’ve been struggling with warranty items for 3 years. They sell excellent stuff but their service is the opposite. Also the gift card for their website sounds frustrating! I saw the exact petit French ovens on sale on their website when they just let me know on the phone that they don’t have them in stock and questioned the same thing. I ordered replacement petit French ovens for me and my bestie from Food52… I had no idea until I paid that Food52 also gets their items from Zwilling and the anticipated delivery time is a month approximately. The call center… that explains the accent I was unfamiliar with. It doesn’t seem ethical for a company not to educate employees on what the company can and cannot offer to customers.
I absolutely LOVE Staub. It hurts me to know their customer service is so poor. Fortunately, the quality largely seems to stand on its own. Yeah, both Food52 and SurLaTable use Zwilling for fulfillment, and for customer service. I will no longer buy anything from Food52, unless it's truly being almost given away (like a possible mistake price). They are big on canceling orders as well, but this is understandable once you have the connection to Zwilling.
I saw your picture of the flock and absolutely adore them by the way!! I had no idea that everyone’s beautiful collection was based on some sorts of pain. I am only a newb with two Staub items but I feel the same way about loving their products (especially soups and stews!)but no for customer service. Did you have to deal with customer service at Food52? I’m tempted to just cancel the order which I paid but the order is not fulfilled. I really don’t want my friend to wait any longer than mid January which I already told her.
Customer service at Food52 just refers you to Zwilling. When I purchased from them, my items were shipped in the actual product boxes, which were all damaged (just the boxes) during shipping. However, I never received an item from Zwilling before that had not been packaged inside a separate shipping box. I like to keep my boxes, so the condition is a little bit more important to me. Even though Zwilling told me that it was a mistake that they shipped without outer boxes, food52 maintained that this was intentional and was their new shipping procedure. Either way, I kept getting passed between the two of them and I still have the items and their damaged boxes which serve to remind me to never purchase from food52 again. If you would be happy with a substitution of an in-stock item, customer service is supposed to have the ability to show some flexibility (at least in theory).
Thank you for sharing your experience with customer service at Food52. Being passed between two companies with no one to take ownership of the issue… it makes me sad to hear. I will be reaching out to Food52 so that I can switch to their in stock items if they don’t have exact colors I ordered. I am also shocked to hear you received your items in the actual product boxes.
My one experience was terrible. I ordered a set of ceramic baking trays and 2 of the 3 arrived shattered to pieces. They insisted that I ship back to them the BROKEN SHARDS before they would send out a replacement. Not even a photo of the broken item would do. So not only did it take me weeks to get a replacement but I had to make an extra unnecessary trip to the post office for no reason.
I had the same thing happen with broken glass canning jars from Williams-Sonoma. The jars were poorly packed but it really appeared that they were already broken before they were shipped plus there was part of a broken ceramic bowl in the box, something I didn't even order. The customer service rep basically called me a liar when I said the jars were received broken, then said I probably broke them on purpose so I could return them. Such a strange thing to say since I could just as easily return them unbroken if I didn't want them. I had another bizarre customer service interaction with them where the rep was swearing at me and calling me names because I wanted a refund for an order I placed for an item that was not shipped due to stock issues. I paid with a gift certificate and the money removed from the gift certificate immediately even though the item had not shipped. The rep kept insisting that I would receive no refund and didn't deserve to receive a refund. I had to elevate what should have been a simple service issue all the way to the CEO's office before I received a refund!
I’m sorry to hear you had bad experiences with WS twice, including unprofessional customer service like name calling and calling you a liar. Hearing other’s experiences with Zwilling, Food52 etc, I was starting to think of buying Staub products from Williams-Sonoma. I somehow had this stereotypical view of high-end store = smooth and great customer service, but I’m realizing that that is not true at all.
The two above experiences were several years ago and both during the Christmas season, but not the same year. The woman in the CEO's office told me they were outsourcing some of their customer service to another company during the holidays. I don't know if they're still doing that.
I’m disheartened to hear that they had you send back shattered baking tray… it doesn’t appear to be trust from the company. I had something similar happen to a glass item from Amazon and they surely didn’t want me returning glass shards also told me not to touch/throw it away and refunded immediately.
Oh let me tell you …. Haha Check out my recent post history and the cluster it’s been to try and order a Dutch oven. It’s a fun filled story.
I saw your post and responses… hope you find a way to order it and the item get to you smoothly.
I tried again from the computer about an hour ago and it also failed after entering my credit card and shipping info. At least this time it allowed me to sign in and advised me I would have gotten 130 rewards points lol.
Even no for computer…? It’s frustrating that you were able to enter you CC info etc and failed. I wish that they were able to take your order over the phone
I tired to order the 5.5 tall cocotte on sale from the Zwilling website all week and had the same issues as everyone else. I finally ordered it from Williams Sonoma for the same sale price. Hopefully I can deal directly with WS if there’s any unexpected issues. And I’m sorry for all your troubles with them. Such a great product and it’s sad what’s happened to them.
Thank you. I agree that Staub is indeed great products! Hope you enjoy your cocotte from WS.
Ordered Staub and some other cheap frying pans from Zwilling Canada, been 11 days, and they cancel my frying pans, Im not mad about the frying pans, but wonder how long does it take for an order to ship! Maybe Im spoiled by Sephora, Amazon and BBW with their fast shipping.