I like to start by stating that I am very thankful for the educator and student discounts at J.Crew. It is a great incentive to shop with our favorite retailer. I know the application (and explanation) of the student/ educator discount has varied over the years. The recent being that promotional items (for example, a category like tees on sale for 20% off) are not eligible, but universal promotions (for example, an additional 30% off sale) are eligible. Of course, full priced merchandise are eligible for the discount as well.
"Thanks!" to ruffles (in this post), who shared the following news about J.Crew's student/ educator discount:
...I was told yesterday ... at the Northbrook IL store that JC will no longer stack the educator discount with any other % off in store..."Thanks!" to E P (in this post), who shared last Thursday the following:
...did find out today that b&m stores will no longer apply the educator/ student discount on sale items, only full-priced. Apparently, this was a company wide decision announced yesterday....It seems that maybe (?) J.Crew is changing the parameters of the student/ educator discount again. Not sure if this is the new company-wide policy that will take effect in all stores or perhaps rolling out slowly in some stores first or what.
If you have shopped recently (in the past week) at a J.Crew store, please let us know if you were able to apply your student/ educator discount.
Did you know about this change? What are your thoughts on this latest change? Will this have an impact on your future purchases?
This also happened to me as well. I went to Oak Brook Mall in Oak Brook, IL, yesterday, and I was told that they no longer stack the educator/student discount on top of sales/promotions. Sad. :(
ReplyDeleteYesterday (at Tyson's) an SA would not let me use my student discount on sale items because of the 20%-off store-wide. (However, as I said in another comment today, there was no indication of there being 20%-off store wide, so I thought that was shady.) So that seemed to be in line with what I always thought the rule had been - yes if only sale items are on further markdown, yes if it's full price, no if there's a storewide % off. (But I also remember there being a sock promo this winter, like buy 3 get 25% off, and you could stack the universal 20% off the whole store with that - but not the student.)
ReplyDeleteThis is frustrating. I tried to use my student discount about 5 years ago and was told it couldn't be stacked with sale items. After that, I never tried again. Looks like I've been missing out on this. Shame on J.Crew.
ReplyDeleteJust inconsistency with policy. One store in MN would let me combine and another one never would so you might not have been missing out. No worries. I just want a consistent policy. Anything is better than not knowing from store to store or getting treated different from store to store!!!!
DeleteI have gotten mixed signals, since like Christmas they would not combine the student with any discount even when it was like 30% off the whole store. But sometimes people still combine it, it seems random almost like they are not trained properly. I wish they combined it still, giving me an extra small percent off a sale item is not going to hurt them but it will totally make me want to shop there!
ReplyDeleteMy store is on board with this too. I was told that they had changed it, and the student discount would not longer stack with sale/extra % off promos. Only full price merchandise. This is extremely disappointing, since as a student, that extra percent really makes a difference! But maybe J. Crew is trying to weed out sale shoppers like me. If that's the case, I think that's a bad move. Students can discover/shop the brand enabled by this additional discount, and later on, when they are no longer students but successful executives (or people with jobs, really) they will be emotionally tied to the brand and spend their $$ there. But as usual, I imagine a lot of though went into this decision and what I am pointing out here probably came up? I can only hope.
ReplyDelete*thought not though. Grrr, typos!
DeleteNow I wonder if my store is just different or if the SA didn't know what she was talking about. She said it could be used on any purchase storewide except partnership items like Liberty shirts. I even asked specifically about sale and promo and she said yes, the discount stacked with those. This was like 3 weeks ago.
ReplyDeleteI was able to stack my student discount on the 20% promo yesterday...
ReplyDeleteOT: Article about Gap vs. J.Crew. Lacking substance a bit, but interesting.
ReplyDeleteThey've gone back and forth, back and forth with this policy over recent years. It's just maybe the last year that we were able to stack discounts again . . . I got accustomed to not being able to, so no big deal.
ReplyDeleteThough they don't honor educator discounts online, my wonderful VPS will order anything for me with the discount and get me free shipping to boot.
My VPS said they will no longer honor my educator discount online just last week.
DeleteI've got to be honest--I haven't trusted J. Crew enough to order online in years. I want to touch the fabric in my hands, and see if the specific item fits before I order.
DeleteThanks for starting a new thread on this, Alexis. It is sooo awesome the way JCAs share info and experiences.
ReplyDeleteI had hoped it was just an uninformed SA, and I will be really disappointed if this is a universal change in policy. On my (teacher's) budget I am a J. Crew sale shopper, period, and this will limit my (and I suspect others') purchases.
I agree ruffles. In the last five years, my pay check has gone down drastically due to my state being in debt, furlough days and pay freezes. This just means I don't have any extra to spend at J Crew. The extra % off meant I could have a new fix when I needed one and feel good about myself going to school. Boo, I will miss this.
DeleteI wonder about policies and the lack of consistency. Last week I called a store and was told that J.Crew no longer does charge-sends, for "security reasons." The SA did offer to hold the item for mr so I could call WWFU and tell them to call that store. I of course did what I so often advise others to do, I hung up and called another store, and of course my charge-send was not a challenge for them. Wearing it now!
ReplyDeleteI have had this happen to me too Fred! It's ridiculous--I've had stores try to tell me that it's company policy that they have to go through WWFI. Honestly what's more secure about calling WWFI or the store?! I've had so many bad experiences with WWFI that I usually give up or call another store if it's not a hard-to-find item.
DeleteYes, I've found WWFU totally useless. I can tell myself that something's sold out on the web.
DeleteAs I never buy JC full price, and the teacher discount will essentially only cover the sales tax, I guess I can put away my ID card. It will definitely result in my shopping less at JC, but it's their loss, seeing as BR, Gap, Joe Fresh and others are trotting out very similar looks. The teacher discount kept me coming back - it was like a loyalty program. But I guess shareholders need more profit returns.
ReplyDeleteTalbots now offers an educator's discount but on full priced items only. Just makes good business sense not to stack the discounts and a clear policy would be nice across the board.
ReplyDeleteLol I feel like I've been missing out because I have always been told I can't use my student discount on sale items. I thought the policy had always been on full priced items only.
ReplyDeleteMy VPS told me that the educator discount is good on any item except those with an extra percent off. I have never been able to stack it with a storewide % off and now will not be able to combine it with sale plus a % off. To clarify, I can still use it on sale items, just not when they're offering an extra % off sale. My VPS said that corporate made the announcement last week.
ReplyDeleteThe policy has stayed the same since 2011, but many stores and SAs are simply misinformed about it, and often do not apply it when they should. I have not heard of any of these recent changes. I'm hoping that the SAs are simply mistaken, especially about the discounts not being applied to % off sale merchandise now.
ReplyDeleteFor those shopping the current tees & shorts 20% off promo, I have confirmed that they are definitely eligible for the discount though, so you should be able to get the extra 15% off applied.
last friday i was shopping at westfield, sf. 15% student discount can be applied to madewell purchase (i bought a full price shirt and a sale sweater). but at jcrew, the 15% discount dose not apply to sale items anymore.
ReplyDeleteI've found the educator discount to be very inconsistent, even at the same store from visit to visit. Sometimes they'd let me combine it and other times they wouldn't. I always enjoyed when they did since, let's face it, 15% off usually isn't as good as some of the other promos. I feel like a lot of stores offer these types of discounts, but the other sales they offer always trump these, so in the end, they end up being obsolete.
ReplyDeleteI just purchased two sale items yesterday evening and the sales associate did confirm that the student discount was valid for use along with sale items. Luckily, I scored the liberty toothpick jean in emma and georgia floral along with a floral phone case, both on sale + the student discount. The SA even told me that before her shift began, her manager did confirm that the student/educator discount can be used on top of sale items. Just finished chatting with a CS rep and was told that the student/educator discount is valid on sale items except partnership and wedding items.
ReplyDeleteI am a bit confused with the miscommunication of the store's policy; really wish the store employees could all be on the same page!
The official policy now according to J.Crew corporate is the same as it has been, except that the discount cannot be applied on top of extra % off sale promotions any longer, which is what math teacher's VPS told her. So, if you are to purchase from the sale section now the discount can be applied. However, if it was 20, 30, 40, or 50% off sale, then it could not be applied.
ReplyDeleteThe discounts are still good on full-price and sale merchandise, as well as promos such as the 20% off tees & shorts deal taking place right now.
Not allowing the discounts on extra % off sale merchandise is a very recent change, but at least it can still be used on regular sale price items.
DeleteI was told that this was the policy a while ago.
ReplyDeleteMy trick was always to buy at least one full price item with my sales purchases in store, and the computer would give me the extra 15% off on everything.
I am very sad to say that this is in effect. I live in NJ and I have not been in a J Crew store this month until today. They would not stack the 15 off on top of the 30. Although I bought my item (which I will post about later on my blog: http://what-i-bought-today-tc.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteThis decision will ABSOLUTELY impact my future purchases. It is only because of the discount that I felt I could afford J. Crew items on my salary. I won't go as far as to say I will stop shopping there but I CERTAINLY will be shopping less. Thankfully GAP and Target have been offering several J. Crew-like items lately should I need to get my "fix." And of course there is the Factory...
Late response, but I purchased sale items today that were additional 30% off and was able to stack the student discount for combined savings! :)
ReplyDelete