Customer Feedback

 As a customer, I am over TPW, in the past 18months I have ordered 4 items, 3 of them did not match the photo or the colours in the product description.

• Product image bright jade green, turned up dark bottle green
• Light fitting, had no photo of ceiling rose, description said black, turned up silver
• Light fitting, image in browns, description says multi coloured, box turns up with colour grey printed on it and yep, the product does not match the image.

In the past, to return the items I had to push for a refund including the postage, despite the product not matching the website description/image. I was told repeatedly, it’s not their fault as the computer screens will have a colour variance. (Yep, totally get that, my partner is a photographer, and my computer screen is calibrated.) I also checked the images across various devices, it’s not a 20-30% colour variation which would be acceptable.  It’s an easy way to deflect the return back onto the customer, for those who don’t push back.

To receive a refund for change of mind you need to pay an extra surcharge, otherwise it is a store credit. Return postage is to be paid both ways which is fair enough for a change of mind, but the cost adds up and makes this option prohibitive for large items. My recent light fitting was $30 postage one way, so the return is $63 ($3 return surcharge) on a $200 light.

By the way, if you return the items you are unable to review the product, which by default means you only see positive reviews.

On a positive note, my sister recently received a couch from TPW, she was happy with it, but it was a cheap couch for the kids’ room, so it fitted her expectations.

Branding and Marketing

I think there is a disconnect with the TPW brand and the operating model. Customers assume the product is coming from Temple and Webster, but the dropshipping model means they are promoting product from a vast number of suppliers. The quality of the images/product supplied therefore varies and I believe limits their control. In the customers mind the products are from TPW.  It’s not like Amazon where we know the product quality can be variable and is from many suppliers, therefore we don’t blame Amazon when the product does not live up to expectations. In TPW case, we blame TPW.

In the beginning, their ranging and product quality from was good, as they have grown this has diminished in my opinion.

I also had a look at the Build by Temple and Webster, I struggled to see the differentiation between the 2 brands, the website is a direct copy rebranded and the product/price I looked at was the same. 

As a side note, the Brosa showroom option is an elegant solution to big furniture online purchases, you make a special trip to check it out, and then buy online. Of course, this is only feasible with a tighter product range and would not work with the TPW ranging, too large and disconnected. I did note however, BTI recently wrote down its Brosa investment, so perhaps all is not well in online furniture land.

So today my fun will be getting TPW to agree, again, that their product description does not match what I received and getting a refund processed…… This is the last time I will purchase from TPW.