A big "thanks!" to Debby (in this post) who shared the following news about J.Crew's student/ educator discount:I was just told over the phone that as of Sept. 12 they will no longer apply the student/teacher discount over the phone so it will be in store only. Bummer!!This is disappointing. :( I hate to see benefits and perks keep getting reduced. With that said, I am still very thankful for the educator and student discounts at J.Crew– and I hope they do not remove it altogether.
What are your thoughts on this latest change? Did you know about this change? Will this have an impact on your future orders?
Use MUSTHAVE for an extra 30% off final sale
ReplyDeleteUse MUSTHAVE for an extra 30% off final sale + free shipping on a net subtotal of $150 or more thru Thursday, 9/9.
ReplyDeletethank you so much! Even without spending $150 and having to pay shipping, I saved a lot more than I would have with the last promo.
ReplyDeleteToo bad about the discount. No love for the catalog customers :-(
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame about the educator discount but I never had much luck with getting it rebated when purchasing online. I hope they keep it for in-store purchases and don't phase it out.
ReplyDeleteClub Monaco recently started offering an educator discount too--it's 20% and is valid on sale purchases.
That is how I get most of my shopping done, since a lot of the items I like are not offered in either of the stores close to my house. I'll be spending a lot less money at J Crew now.
ReplyDeleteJust out of curiosity, do you think I could order the items, return them to the store, and then buy the again, in-store, with the student discount? There is got to be a loophole somewhere right?
Go to the store and have an associate order your items on the red phone. The associate in the store can verify your student or teacher ID and ask it to be applied. You can order anything you'd normally order online, but if you get even one full price item you always get free shipping.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a student or teacher (nor do I have children yet) but I always thought that was a nice perk for teachers, especially since we live in the days of budget cuts and furloughs. I'm disappointed for those who could have enjoyed the discount...
ReplyDeleteAmber Dawn, love your suggestion for those who can take advantage of it!
Another way to discourage shoppers. Jcrew should stop promos altogether and just continue to stock their shelves with stuff that make me cringe. Death to preppy and death to incentives.
ReplyDeleteThat is a shame to hear they are discontinuing part of that promotion! On the subject of red phone orders, I've had mixed experiences getting both the store and phone associates to accept my student discount. Some are really nice about it, others are extremely snippy and will only apply the discount "as a one time courtesy" on red phone orders.
ReplyDeleteI do 90% of my JCrew shopping online. The stores are not close to me and they are ALWAYS out of my size when I do go. Also the stores are both small and don't carry many items.
ReplyDeleteNow I will shop JCrew even less. With no online discount-they just lost me.
They used to combine educators discount with other promos too and when they stopped that I literally cut back about a thousand dollars per month shopping there to only about $200. Now I can see it go to almost nothing!
Really sad. I won't buy final sale b/c I cannot try on first and the eductor's discount is for when I do buy full price.
So sad. All good things must come to an end.
This move makes no sense to me when some items are catalog/website only. I'm neither a student nor an educator so I don't get to take advantage of the discount, but it seems to me you shouldn't have to jump through hoops to use it.
ReplyDeleteIt looks to me like one more indication that J.Crew is embarrassed that it started like as a catalog company and is trying to act like it is a snooty boutique. Too late, JC, that ship sailed when you opened mall stores and went public. Oh, and snooty boutiques do not carry merch that self-destructs after one wear. If they do, they don't last.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone else remember Cissy Spacek as Loretta Lynn opening the Sears Roebuck package? That starry-eyed girl child lives in all of us, whether your mountains are breath-taking gifts of nature or concrete towers. And she wants to shop.
I actually heard about this in my B&M about 2 weeks ago. A woman was trying to buy some boxers for her son and use his student discount (I know, I know, weird anyway) and she got ALL kinds of haughty when the SA said her son had to be there in person for her to get the discount.
ReplyDeleteFWIW, I have never understood why ppl in this situation go off on the sales associate. She really flipped out and started going on and on about how much money she spends at the store. I just wanted to get away from her. It was embarrassing! Blah.
Elaine -- certainly not the way to be offered a one-time courtesy.
ReplyDeleteElaine,
ReplyDeleteThat is why stores tend to revoke and take back discounts...when people try to take advantage of them/use them inappropriately!
I mean I would never ask my hubby to buy be something at JCrew using my discount! He buys a gift for me and pays full price. He is not the ecucator!
Some people......
This is SO annoying. I wear a size 14 in J. Crew pencil skirts; they rarely have size 14s in skirts in-store. So, I have to order via the red phone. Now, I can't get my teacher discount because J. Crew refuses to stock their stores with a full size run? Really, J.Crew?
ReplyDeletebuy ME (not be)
ReplyDeleteMoya, I've never had any trouble getting the educator discount online. You have to send an email from your school account with your order number on it, but it always shows up.
ReplyDeleteThis, if true, is bad news indeed. I'm quite far from stores, and the stores in my area have almost no shoes or any special items. I guess it means I won't pay full price for anything. . .
That said, when they offer free shipping, they deduct that from the teacher discount, so it's almost a wash.
Why do they bother to offer this "perk" if they are going to put 100 conditions on it. I do most of my shopping online and sometimes the red phone because my local store is small and never gets anything I want. I guess it doesn't matter much since I refuse to buy anything full price anyway so I won't be getting the discount to begin with.
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ReplyDeleteWellFedFred, ITA!
ReplyDeleteA couple of years ago I was very upset about a price discrepancy between catalog and B&M. I wrote to HQ about it and someone took the time to call me. They have a lot of reasons for treating catalog and B&M customers differently (inventory, store manager discretion blah blah), which is their right, but it is also my right as a customer to dislike it!
For example, per this conversation, customers with convenient access to a B&M can get free Red Phone shipping because JC started off as a catalog company and Red Phone was created to deal with customers who were disappointed that the store didn't carry all the catalog items.
I came to the conclusion that they see catalog and B&M as separate silos even though IMO the different marketing channels make the customer more--rather than less--likely to see the company as a whole.
This policy change doesn't affect me, as I'm not eligible for the discount. I'm only a little over an hour away from a B&M, and I
would drive there more often if the service made it worthwhile. (It's not bad, but not great either.) But once again, no love for the catalog customer.
Well, this is sad news. I won't buy final sale since the "error" was fixed and now cannot even order full priced items with my discount.
ReplyDeleteI have tried shopping the stores when new arrivals come out but they are delayed in my stores for some reason. Everyone here posts about them and I get excited... I run to my store on that day or even a day or two after and my store does not have any new items in...so I seem to always miss out and my size is gone when I go back a week or two later and new things are now mysterioulsy out and sold out. So I stopped shopping at my local store b/c of the hour+ drive for nothing.
That said that now I cannot order on the phone and get my educator's discount!!!!
Driving to the store to use the red phone wastes time and $$ as well.
My hubby and I both use this discount; I've gone back to school for career #2 and he is a professor. It's really frustrating that they are getting rid of this perk. There are often things I order through the red phone that aren't available in store. I don't understand the logic here...
ReplyDeleteI'm a teacher and I stopped using this promo when they made it for full-price items only. In fact, my overall spending at JC has decreased as a result. Banana also has a teacher discount that is only in stores, but it applies to sale items so they get more of my money these days.
ReplyDeleteJust when I became an educator!!! Drats!
ReplyDeleteI was in the store today and they said that you won't be able to use the red phone to get the educator discount either. It will only be on in store purchases. The manager speculated that maybe they were trying to cut down on discounts on higher priced merchandise, but my store doesn't have coats, cashmere, shoes or purses.
ReplyDeleteIn today's economy you'd think they would be adding enticements to purchase rather than taking them away.
I think it's a little unfair for people who need petite and/or tall sizes especially. If you carried it in store, I wouldn't be complaining. But if it's something we HAVE to order online?
ReplyDeleteDebby,
ReplyDeleteThat is just really sad that you cannot use the red phone even. JCrew is really trying to drive me away...kicking and screaming all the way...but driving me away none the less
I wonder if they'll still honor it if you email them from your school email? I've never had any problem receiving the discount that way. It is a bummer about the red phone. I can understand not allowing anyone to say over the phone that they're a student/teacher, but if an employee can verify that fact via an ID, then I don't see what the big deal is. If they're going to offer more online and in-store promos b/c sales are down, then it doesn't make sense to shut down this discount.
ReplyDeleteI seem to recall that when I was in college they only offered the student discount at special times anyway. I remember going into the store on holiday weekends and having a SA say that there was a promo of 15% off everything for students. I wonder if they are gradually just trying to retract the policy then to what it used to be.
ReplyDeleteThis is news to me, thanks JCA for keeping me informed. I only shop online as I live 2 hrs away from a shop. And I used to email my order confirmations to CS to get the discount retrograde applied. Too bad. It was such a basic service, now it got all political. :(
ReplyDeleteIt's true. My last online order, followed by a school email got an official response that the discount was now store-only. There should have been some official notice. They gave me a onetime break, but from now on, I'll have to make the 3 hour round trip to the nearest store.
ReplyDeleteDo you think I can get an educator discount if I am a school social worker? I have a school ID and work in the school all day.
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