Referencing {FAQ}

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

"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.

31 comments:

  1. I don't know how often this happens to people, but I've had 5 things which I've been waitlisted for be cancelled on me. The most recent item was the Tillary Tote in Blue Sea :( What annoyed me the most was that someone had called and left me a msg and when I called back, another sales person checked my file and said she didn't know what was going on, since I was still on the waitlist. Then she offered to do a "We'll find it for your service", which yielded nada. Then, I find out from a friend, who also inquired about the Tote, that it was sold out 2 weeks earlier. I just really didn't like having to jump through hoops to find out the information. I also don't like placing orders, and then having them cancelled. What kind of business are you running, Jenna Lyons?

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  2. Prices at the outlet are very high. Over $100 for a copy of the lace popover from last year...
    Is the strategy that every garment is on a %off pricing cycle?

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  3. Reilly, I agree on the waiting lists, nobody seems to know what's going on. I had ordered the Wintress puffer before Xmas with the 30% off promo and it was due February 7th. Due date passes and no puffer. What upsets me is that they don't send you a notification when a date is pushed back with a new date. I call and nada, it looks like it is still wait listed but nobody could tell me when I could expect to receive it. Then on day day magically it shows up at my door (ok, I received the notification email), but end of February is kind of late in the season for a winter coat that in the meanwhile had gone on sale (I called to have a price adjustment since technically I had just bought it and I was in the 7 days window but I had to sweat it.) I kept it because I really needed it and I like this year version more than previous years but I would have returned on the principle

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  4. Reilly and Ema, the waiting lists have finally gotten to me! I've been stalking an item, let's call it the "Chalice," for months. It allegedly sold out within minutes of appearance. I have learned, of course, that this means nothing. Sure enough during the recent 20% off promotion, it popped back in all sizes. I ordered it, with a few ride-alongs. Got a confirmation email. Got a shipping email, the ride-alongs were coming, not the Chalice. Checked account, the Chalice was now waitlisted until mid-April. Checked site, Chalice has vanished. A week later, Chalice pops back in my size at FP. Check account, date has vanished from waitlist notation on order. Never one to disregard an omen, I order the popback and figure I'll deal with the PA later. Sure enough, a few days after the confirmation, order 2 is "releasable" and the popback is waitlisted, with no date. Yesterday the Chalice appeared in the morning with the hypocritical statement about wishing they'd made enough. No change to my 2 orders. In the afternoon, a popback appears, my size, FP, so of course I order it. This too is wait listed, almost immediately, but until a date certain in April. Does anyone really believe that any of the 3 will arrive? Other than possibly Parsival, that is.

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    1. WFF. That's simply epic. Glad to see you retained your sense of humor about it. Fodder for the blogosphere, I guess.

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    2. WFF: Awesome.

      I think that my "chalice" item would have to be the non - Thomas Mason version of the White Boyshirt. I kept trying to buy it in my size until it disappeared from the website and I canceled my order. Otherwise, I usually just pay full price to the Lady of the Lake so that I can take Excalibur and be on my way ;)

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  5. What?! My shopping cart which functions as my pseudo wish-list got dumped!! I had a lot of items in it that I was trying to keep an eye on. Oh well, their loss, I guess. But still irritating.

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  6. I tried to get a price adj. two days after purchase....was told no...Maybe I should have tried again but I returned it in a huff.
    OT---Vancouver J CREW to open end of April...I can at least now try things on for sizing. Carolyn from Vancouver.

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  7. This was already mentioned a few weeks ago, but it's still annoying me, so I'm bringing it up again. The buttons on some of my newer Jackies disintegrated in the wash. The old Jackies are still fine, after numerous trips through the wash and I notice that the buttons are different. WTF? How cheap do buttons have to be to fall apart in the wash? I should have returned them on principle, but I tossed them in the trash enmasse and vowed to never, ever buy another one.

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    1. Re: Jackies. You may want to check out LandsEnd Canvas for cardigans. I had great luck with the fantastic Heritage Cardigan . The new Cafe Cardigan looks great, but I have not placed an order for a cafe one yet.

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    2. I agree with you on the LEC heritage cardigans. I have a huge stack of them and I love them. Genuine shell buttons that don't fall apart! No more Jackies for me!

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  8. I think 200+ dollars price points for simple cotton dresses and 100+ dollars for cotton skirts is ridiculous. Jcrew is having an identity crisis, price are being jacked up while quality is falling across the board. If anthropologie's design team wasn't so lackluster, I wouldn't be shopping at Jcrew at all.

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  9. My Talitha blouse literally unraveled after coming back from the dry cleaner's. I don't believe it was the cleaner's fault though, since the instructions say to have it dry cleaned! Then my order for a pop back arrived, and instead of the long sweater coat it was a tiny tee. Does no one read the labels on the items before shipping?! CS was of no help for either situation either. They offered to re-order the Talitha blouse but I don't really want to purchase something if I already know it's going to get damaged each time it is cleaned. How are other JCAs cleaning yours? Thanks in advance!

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  10. Argh...I placed an order late Saturday night, and realized Sunday morning that the colour was totally not what I expected (gingham shirt in bright dahlia- I wanted mauve-ish, like the dahlia pencil skirt and as it appears online, but it looks extremely pink in the catalogue and a couple of reviews). They couldn't change my order, since it was already in process but here we are WEDNESDAY and it still hasn't shipped!

    (though they have kindly waived return shipping if I don't want it)

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  11. I returned something the other day (wrong item sent to me) and the SA said, 'Noooo, can't believe THAT happened...' and rolled her eyes. LMAO! When even the associates are confounded by some of the things that get mistakenly sent out from the warehouse, you know you have a problem!

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    1. This just happened to me (wrong item sent, item I ordered and paid for was not in the box, had to reorder but was waitlisted, etc.) How did you handle the return of the wrong item? Part of me wants to return it for store credit- it is their fault they messed up my order!!

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  12. WFF, that story is for the JC record books.

    There are so many things I've looked at on backorder right now--normally I would be annoyed, but since I've burned through my spring clothing budget, I'm actually pleased.

    However, what is this doing to their business? Stuff is backordered until April or May . . . makes more sense to look elsewhere, doesn't it?

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  13. There's inconsistancy with the "Ask Erica" reps and being able to track down items in the store that are no longer available on the website. Some reps will not track down a sale item, others are all to happy to find you anything you want.
    Niki
    www.fashionatforty.blogspot.com

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    1. Recently I have had an experience like that. My regular PS was away and her replacement only searched for full priced items. I figured I can hunt for those myself. LOL

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  14. @Amy, has anyone figured out the difference - as a practical matter, that is - between backordered and waitlisted?

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  15. I'm sharing a tiny rant -- that I had to order the Sterling Skirt instead of the No. 2 Pencil skirt in order to get the Heather Acorn skirt I've been wanting for so long! I'm also mad that I had to pay shipping on it AND that it popped back during a time when there was no extra % off sale. GRRRRRRRRRRRR. I hope it's worth what I paid for it. I really didn't want an A-line silhouette, but I despair of ever finding my size in the No. 2 pencil.

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  16. Disappointed to see that after stalking the Excursion Vest for a popback in my size & color it is now no longer on clearance and at a higher price than it was originally...it was originally $98, then on clearance for $59.99, and now up to $110.

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  17. Buttons falling off my fiesta peacoat that is less than six months old that I don't even button all the time! The first one that came off was one of the collar buttons - THE FIRST TIME I USED IT! Now one of the main buttons came off, the one that was dangling when I received the coat. Luckily it came off in the car and I heard it drop because at this rate the spares they provided aren't going to come near how many I might need. I really would expect an over $200 coat to have the buttons last more than one use. These quality issues are seriously getting bad. I am so close to being DONE with it, J Crew!!

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  18. J Crew, what's up with the sleeves on the lace necklace tee (67637)? Online it says they're elbow length, but in the photos and on the model they're 3/4 length. The actual tees have awkward short sleeves that end just above the elbow.

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  19. I am re-venting about the Waitlist. I ordered a couple of the double serge wool pencil skirts in November. My invoice said "in stock" when I placed the order. Two weeks later, the online invoice said "waitlisted". I called in early December to inquire, and was told that they would ship by Christmas. Christmas came and went, I called again, and was guaranteed they'd ship within the week. Called mid-January, was told that these were all going out February 1st. I've given up on calling to inquire, because it is now well into March, and these are still waitlisted. Maybe I'll have them in time for next Christmas?

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    1. I hear your pain, Reese. It's so odd what's available and for whom. I just ordered a couple during the sale last week and they just arrived. Indulge me if you will, I just found out that some people on the Tillary Tote waitlist did end up getting their orders! Chaos!

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  20. both of the front buttons on my hacking jacket in the double-serge wool fell off the first time i wore the jacket. thankfully they both fell off on tile floor and i was able to find them, but for a piece i am supposed to wear for "seasons to come", c'mon.

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  21. I bought the polka dot blouson dress a while ago and the royal paisley blouson dress. Even though I bought the same size, the paisley blouson fits much tighter throughout the body. I was expecting the same fit as my polka dot one. Did anyone else notice this?

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  22. I like my skirts between 23 and 24 inches. Aside from the new long no. 2's (yay!), JC pencil skirts generally fall at about 22 or so. I get it - I'm sure it's a good length for a lot of people. But if you aren't going to provide tall versions, can the hem of the existing pencils be cut so that it can be let down by a tailor? I took one in and the tailor said the extra inch and a half of fabric couldn't be let down because of the way the material was snipped at folded corner of the slit. I don't know, probably a silly thing to complain about but this seems totally preventable to me.

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  23. I'm actually just laughing because these are actually real issues, mine is just whining because I have become hopelessly obsessed with the frog clasp bracelet...but it's SOLD OUT EVERYWHERE! It sold out in record time and now is no where to be found, no even on Ebay! )c: Desperately wishing they would get it back in, but I know that's not happening...

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