Wednesday, May 25, 2011

"Looking to VENT" with J.Crew

This is the weekly "Looking to VENT with J.Crew" post, a place to share our not-so-stellar experiences with J.Crew.

If you have recently experienced a frustrating situation with J.Crew, maybe you might be willing to share that information with us in this post.

Please feel free to share your story on almost any topic— including poor experiences with purchases & orders, promotions/ offers, in-store visits, transactions with store associates, etc.

21 comments:

  1. Sick of the lame sale roll-outs with no new products or new reductions. If I didn't want the ripple stripe pencil skirt a month ago for $70, I don't want it now!

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  2. I've never posted here before but I wanted to ask if anyone else has experienced this: on my last two returns (by mail), I received an email stating, "We’re sending you a gift card for the value of the items you returned as your return was received after 60 days." BUT both times the returns were made within days of receiving the order -- so maybe ten days at most after placing the order. So I have no idea where they're getting this "60 days" business from. The first time it happened, I sent an email asking what the deal was, and I got an apologetic email back and they canceled the gift card and refunded my CC instead, but it just happened again. It's really weird and annoying.

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  3. Elisa, that's really disturbing. I think they are rolling the dice to see how many gift cards stick vs. how many customers complain. I do my returns in the stores and I don't delay either. I know right away if something is going to stay or go.

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  4. I'm venting on myself today because I got strawberry juice on my new canvas schoolboy blazer, and of course I don't have a Tide pen here at school :)

    I'm venting on J.Crew because I'm so tired of these pricing games. It's one of the reasons I've started shopping more at Anthro lately. Sure, I have to pay shipping charges more often and they rarely have extra % off promos, but I know for sure that the price online is the actual price of the item. I actually don't really mind paying a little more because I don't have to second guess any purchase. Plus, their sale schedule is consistent--every Tuesday! Keeping up with j.crew prices and promos is simply exhausting!

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  5. Why oh why does JC continue to make shoes with manmade linings and soles? I love the new Isla platforms in Gauguin Orange, but I can not abide the non leather alternative, I do not even care if they were made by the Swiss Guards.

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  6. Just got the dreaded "we wish we made enough" email for an order I placed at 4:30 am on Monday. Very disappointed and hope I don't get any more of the nastygrams before my order FINALLY ships.

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  7. AppGal,

    So sorry to hear about your juicy jacket. Bummer when that happens at work. I bet you keep a Tide pen in your desk drawer from now on. Maybe a student has one? When I taught it seems students would come through for me in mini crisis situations.

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  8. Elisa,

    Thanks for the post. I have to make some online returns through the mail in the next week so I will make sure this doesn't happen to me. It is good to be informed of J.Crew's games.

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  9. I vent about the price differences between store and online too. When I hear something is cheaper in the store, then I just don't order it online at all.

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  10. @pathos: it's especially frustrating given that I live in Canada and don't have the B&M option (and returns aren't free). So when I hear that I have to pay an extra $20 or $30 AND duties of an extra $20 or $30 AND can't return for free...it's frustrating. I try not to dwell on it haha.

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  11. Regarding mail returns, I've never had a problem but here's what I do: I take that sliver of mailing label that has the tracking number on it (just before the part you put on the package), and I stick it to the part of the receipt that I keep. I also write on there what day UPS took the package. I've never had to track a return but at least I've got the tracking number available and can prove that my return made it back in time.

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  12. Just so you know.... When they ask you are you buying the jewelry for yourself or someone else, say someone else. I thought I was asked because they wanted to give me a gift box. Instead, it was so they could rip off the tag to prevent returns. I didn't realize this till I got home. Luckily, I like the piece, but what if I didn't?

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  13. Savvy shopper, seriously?? That is SO not cool! What if you were buying something to match a particular outfit and it didn't and you needed to return. Are they going to start taking the tags off the clothese too now?

    Totally ridiculous! And I now know to say for a friend . . thanks for the heads up!

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  14. Ya know, twice I've returned Factory items by mail (b/c you can't return those in store) and they sent me a GC! I thought I had no option but to accept it, but I kept wondering why it was happening b/c I don't recall seeing anything on my receipt. Now, I'm going to complain if it happens again! Thanks for pointing that out and making me think about that, Elisa!

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  15. Took some returns back to the store tonight, and the sunburst tank I bought online was $15 cheaper in store! Also, tried on the Jenny dress and loved it, until I noticed the armholes were two different sizes (i.e., fit on one side, was obviously cut lower and 'gaped' on the other) :/ Final straw: saw the swoop tee in person (that I ordered online this morning) for $20 less than I paid, and it looks like complete junk (much like a lot of the sale stuff in my store--could have been in Target :(). The end--thanks for letting me vent :)

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  16. I bought the Nolita Denim jacket in S and then M (I'm in between sizes and wanted to try both on to decide). For the small I paid about $40 by a gift card and the rest by CC, and I just paid CC for the medium.
    I ended up returning the small by their SmartLabel method and was distressed that it didn't seem to get back to J. Crew for about two weeks, upon which I was told by email I had been issued a gift card for the balance when I had wanted a refund. I assumed that it was because it arrived after the 60 days, which upset me because if I had known SmartLabel took so long I would have sent it faster. I called and the rep I spoke with told me there was nothing I could do because it had got back after the 60 days. I asked to talk to someone else who told me that I had been refunded by gift card because part of my payment had been with a gift card. (But why didn't the email say that I had been issued a gift card AND refunded the rest of the amount to my CC?)
    She then very nicely offered to instead credit the gift card to the medium jacket that I had bought and kept, and refund my credit card by that amount, which I happily took her up on. But yesterday I got an email saying my gift card had been shipped. Argh! I'm dreading calling back to try to sort it out.

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