Wednesday, May 22, 2013

"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.

14 comments:

  1. Good morning, new arrivals online ( with discounts)

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  2. Recently, I decided to buy a pair of shoes and ordered item #42315 (Tybee metalic slide sandals). I assumed that these shoes were made in Italy as they were advertised alongside other J. Crew Italian sandals. I was sadly mistaken. After receiving the "brand new" pair in the mail. I took them out of the box and discovered that the silver paint was coming off the shoe (as if they had been scuffed after wearing). I paid $127.44 for a pair of shoes that were made in China and arrived "brand new," but defective. I returned them to the store and was informed by a sales person that the shoes were from Italy, but assembled in China. As if that justifies poor quality shoes. When I spend nearly $130 on a pair of sandals (in this economy) from a company that I associate the brand with quality and then receive a poorly made shoe, I'm livid. It also doesn't help that the salesperson dismisses the poor quality.

    I decided to give J. Crew the benefit of the doubt and ordered another pair when the shoes were on sale a week later. I assumed that I had been shipped a defective pair. The second pair was delivered in worse shape with even more silver paint missing. In disgust, I called the company and complained. The customer service rep (Jessica) apologized profusely and stated that she would immediately overnight me another pair. I told her that I did not want another pair shipped unless someone inspected them first and made sure that no paint was missing from the shoe. The shoes arrived the next day, apparently not inspected, and were also missing paint (in only slightly better condition than pair # 2). Nowhere in the shoe description does it state that the shoes will be missing paint, nor do they appear to be in the photos on the website and catalog.

    Upon receiving a 3rd brand new but damaged pair I sent an angry email w/ photos included to J. Crew (as I have been a customer for 24 years). The contacted me the next day and a 2nd employee offered to inspect them and overnight them to me. I spoke w/a customer service rep and she stated that the 4th pair was blemish free, but that she feels that the metallic paint was coming off during shipping (it wasn't). Again this should not happen w/ a shoe that costs $118.00.

    The 4th pair arrived the next day, blemish free. She also mailed a box and prepaid return label so that I wouldn't have to pay for return shipping per my request. A $50 gift card was included for my troubles. While I appreciate the gift card, I never should have had to purchase 4 pairs of shoes to receive a pair that wasn't damaged. Unfortunately as J. Crew's prices go up, the quality of their products continues to decline.

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  3. Has anyone had a problem with holes the Vintage Tshirts? I ordered four separate styles for a trip to South Africa - and on the first wearing of three of them I found holes! I contacted Jcrew and they were great about returning them, but I was so disappointed. Those were my favorite type of tshirts.

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    1. Vanessa, in my experience, both the vintage and the painter tees develop holes rather quickly. It's a shame because they have so many pretty colors and they're so comfortable.

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    2. Same happened to me. I'm just gonna pretend it adds to the old "vintage" look. Sigh...

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    3. I have a lot of these and painters tees and have never had a problem. I try to wash and dry them with other soft things in the same load, never with jeans or anything with zippers or velcro. That might not be why you had a problem, I have heard the stories of holes in these, so maybe I've just been luck (so far).

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    4. Another thing to try (this is what I do and have never had any holes in the tissue, vintage, all tees w/sequins or embellishments from JC) is to put the tees in a mesh bag in the washer. I also put my bras in a separate mesh bag, hooked, so they do not catch on anything. Then if there are other delicate items with hooks or zippers, it won't hurt the tees. I hang to dry on padded hangers. The mesh bags are only a couple of dollars and I've had the same ones for about 12 years. ;D

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    5. yes, it's happened to me many times in the past, both with the fall (long sleeves) and spring shirts. I've complained and received credit and/or had them replaced, but I no longer buy this light fabric. It's frustrating.

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  4. The "style session" tonight was a total bust at F Street in DC. I had called earlier this week to confirm the event was happening, but nothing in the store was different!

    I went straight from work and walked in dressed presentably, but the only person to greet me the entire time I was in the store was the security guard. I asked an SA whether there was a promotion going on, and he told me about the "now & now" promo -- nothing about the style sessions. I thought I had the day mixed up.

    Although I purchased something full price, the SA was downright rude to me. I asked her a simple question about the item that could easily have been answered by looking at the website or scanning in the merchandise, but she just said "I don't know." When I asked her to help me find the item in another size, it was like I was pulling teeth!

    I saw water, sodas, and cupcakes behind the counter, but they weren't offering them to anybody.

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    1. A somewhat similar things happened at one of my local stores a little over a year ago; they were supposed to have a special event with an early opening on a Sunday morning. The only thing the store literally did though was open early. I wrote to the J Crew customer service email address and within a week received a personal apology by phone from the store manager acknowledging that they had dropped the ball. I'd encourage you to write to J.Crew and express your experience.

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  5. I returned a dress and a pair of shorts almost a month ago. The money hasn't been returned to my card. I emailed J. Crew factory, and they said they have no record of me returning these items. I don't know what to do. I really need that money put back on my card. I don't understand how they don't have any record of me returning it. So frustrating!

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  6. I always have a problem with ALL J Crew shoes. I'm so aggravated. I've already repaired the stitching on my driving mocs once, and now the other side is coming all apart. Does anyone else have experience with the driving mocs being made so poorly? I'm so aggravated.

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  7. I ordered a cashmere hoodie in what should have been turquoise - the picture looked it, the colour was called it. I received the ugliest mint green sweater ever and it was a final sale item so unrefundable. I decided to move on. Then I bought a waffle knit sweater from J Crew Factory and it was of the poorest quality EVER yet cost me over $70. It's pilling after only a few wears and has to be relegated to "mom clothing" for days with my toddler. I own several items from J Crew "back in the day" - from the mid 90's, and they are STILL going strong, unpilled, amazing quality. WTF?! I am so sick of the disposable clothing industry and I'm sick of decline in quality, especially when this is hardly ever reflected in price.

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Dear J.Crew Aficionadas & Aficionados: Please feel free (and encouraged) to share your thoughts and opinions. :) However, please note that this is still a personal blog. So comments that are considered inappropriate (e.g. obscene, racist, homophobic, personal attacks, rude, and just plain mean) will be removed.

And now back to J.Crew! :)