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.
Is anyone else finding the new format of the website difficult to navigate? It won't let me select a colour, so I'm unable to check inventory in my size. I tried the site in both Firefox and Chrome, and it's the same.
ReplyDeleteThey continue to not be able to get it together to refund my shipping (returns from Canada) I think they did not realize it was so $$ and are back peddling now. Any other Canadians having this issue. The promo was free shipping and free returns along with 25%off. Carolyn from Vancouver
ReplyDeleteI am in the US and they keep charging me for return shipping. I keep emailing them and they say I should not have been charged and take care of it by refunding the return shipping costs but it takes a while to show up in my account.
DeleteWhat is the issue Carolyn? In the past I have sent emails to CS to have the return shipping reimbursed (when there was a problem with my order like wrong or damaged item) and included the tracking number and cost. For this free returns promo they are now asking for a copy of the receipt so I haven't gotten around to doing that yet (scanning it) but it seems like it shouldn't be a problem. It can take a while to have the
Delete...amount appear on my credit card statement
DeleteEverytime! When they had the free return with swim last year, with shoes in the fall and again with the swim this year.
DeleteThey never SEE the attached receipt from Canada post - whether it is highlight or stapled right to the return slip. Once it did help to call in advance of the return arriving there and get them to put note on file for the amount I paid for the return shipping and that it was on its way to them
Love that there's a WISHLIST, really I do, but within hours of my entering my sold-out items, I received an email from a VPS telling me that my items were sold out - knew that - and suggesting "similar" items instead. The suggestions were way off base. But the real issue is this: I'm perfectly able to look over the website or drop into a store with a question. And it's easy for me to find things I don't want, or would never wear. Somehow I thought the idea of the personal shopper (by any name) was that they could find stuff I couldn't? and btw one of the items has since reappeared in apparently ample quantities and there are dozens in at least two NYC stores, radio silence from VPS.
ReplyDeleteoh, and I really don't like the tacky little metallic buttons on otherwise nice sweaters. Bring back pearl! or decent-looking pearl-ish!
ohhh.. i second that VPS suggestion thing... sometimes i get a little annoyed with having someone suggest things that are sooooo out of my comfort zone and price range. i try to only use my VPS to get free shipping and stuff when there isn't a code online... sometimes she takes so long to place the order that i'm worried my item will sell out.
DeleteIt's like they are using our misfortune of not getting our ordered items to up-sell us stuff we don't want.
DeleteBased on comments I hear on this board, it seems like people's use of the VPS service varies widely from store to store and online versus store. I use my in-store VPS for style advice: creating a work-appropriate look with a hard to style item already in my closet or picking mix-and-match new clothes for an upcoming vacation. Also, whenever I'm in store and trying on items with no particular shopping goal in mind--he provides feedback on sizing, fit, etc. He doesn't alert me to sales or help me find bargains. Now that may be a by-product of the fact that the store is a super high grossing J.Crew. Perhaps it's different in other areas? It just seems like people have widely varying expectations on what a VPS is supposed to for them.
DeleteAgreed with WellFedFred about the buttons on JC sweaters of late. They're tacky.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a vent but I am perplexed. Crewcuts shorts are overpriced, and they're not selling. It's an odd strategy to go into July with a ton of shorts in stock that haven't even gotten a first markdown. Parents like me have already made their buying decisions (and I live in the Northeast so bought late!). Some of the shorts are attractive, but I'm not paying $50 apiece. Oddly, the Frankie style is variously priced at $48, $49, and $49.50. Weird.
I feel like J. Crew is just phoning it in these last few months and putting all their energy into the upcoming fall offerings. I want to buy warm-weather clothing, it's June, but there's nothing I like right now. I really don't understand what J. Crew is doing with their prints lately. Someone mentioned it in another post. The prints themselves are mostly fine, but the clothing they've chosen to put them on is often a mis-match. Racerback tanks and 3" inseam shorts and mini-skirts? Not interested. And when they were put on a dress, the prints have been so big and literal (pineapple, Barbados). Roller girl dress also a good idea, but the dress style is odd with the square neck & buttons. I feel like J. Crew had a good idea with the prints but missed the mark.
ReplyDeletecate......couldn't agree more about the misuse of the prints. Not that the Crew has ever observed the use of scale, but I'm unnerved when I see a print appropriate for a dress used on a pair of 3" shorts. Or a pair of flats or a bikini. It just doesn't work. Also I feel discriminated against because I don't wear tiny shorts that come in lots of prints and colors that aren't offered in the longer inseams. So the Crew is saying to me that because I don't want to show off alot of skin (ugh...the thought of that!) I don't get cute shorts. And some prints would work much better on a longer inseam short so why don't they do them? All of this weirdness with sizing, too short garments, weird necklines and sleeves have to do with short cuts to save money. This roll out is the worst in recent history...at least since I have been a regular customer (3 years). The gap is widening between me and the Crew. And it's sad.
ReplyDeleteDitto. Maybe we should hold a protest march with signs that say "Make shorts for grownups"
DeleteI cannot tell you how many print shorts I have gotten excited about and sadly removed from my cart after reading 3" in the description. I have purchased only 1 pair of shorts this summer from jcrew: the 5" inch factory version of last years blue arrowhead ikat and I love them. I've also purchased the 2 print Milly shorts from Banana Republic. I'm having to spend my money elsewhere Jcrew!
I have the retail blue/white arrowhead shorts from last year, 5" inseam, they're great and don't look dowdy at that length. They did make the June's Meadow Floral Liberty shorts in 5" inseam this year, but I didn't love them, and it was only one print they did in the 5" shorts (maybe I'm forgetting others?).
DeleteJ. Crew is shrinking their clothes and their customer base.
I agree about the shorts, pants and skirt lengths. It's not all about age - in many cases the super short lengths don't even look flattering on the (young and thin) models!
DeleteBut I wonder about what segment of the JC customer base is 35+ (I am in that category). I have a feeling that there are more of us on this blog who are 35+ than in the overall JC customer base. I have to say, when my kids age out of Crewcuts (next year or so) I'll have even fewer reasons to check out JC regularly.
I'm still under 35 and I don't like the 3" shorts, too short dresses and mini skirts either. I like 4-5" shorts, and knee length skirts. The silhouette is just more flattering on my body type. Mini skirts and short dresses only look good on super narrow body frames. Otherwise the proportions don't balance out your curves.
DeleteThere are also no pretty printed pencil skirts this season, when JC used to reliably have numerous pretty printed pencil skirts to choose from every spring/summer.
As long as we are talking about lengths, can we talk about PANTS, too?
DeleteI get that the entire NY J. Crew staff walks around in $500 silk Capris and glitter-encrusted "Shiny Pony" heels every day, but that's not my life. I'm sick of Capris! Cutting off the leg at the lower calf creates an unflattering line on many women, they are not appropriate in many offices, and it's absurd for the cold weather months in many parts of the country.
For me, anyway, add Capris to the heap of 3" shorts and mini skirts that don't work for me.
Sorry to countervent( is that even a word?) but I love the cafe capri. At 5'3" they are not capris on me but the perfect length where I don't have to hem. Because I am on the upper end of the petite range, petites usually are cut too short in the stride for me. I also like the postage stamp minis. However let me qualify this statement. Jcrew needs to offer talls or extra talls in the minis and cafe capris. While the wool LINED capris work fine for the most part for my climate, they also need an alternative for winter. Cafe capris for those in warmer areas, full length pants to wear over or tucked into boots for the rest. They should comsider the footwear requirements of those who have to slog through the weather as well.
DeleteJust so I'm not shooting myself in the foot in case Jcrew is reading: I love, love, love the herringbone lined cafe capris from winter 2012/2013 but make some alternatives for my more northern friends.
I'm glad this item works for you, but isn't it saying something that you don't actually wear them as capris but rather full-length pants on your petite frame? I don't think anyone wants to get rid of the capris completely, but it's a little ridiculous when 90% of the fall "pant" offerings are capris rather than normal length pants (and yes, they should come in petite, regular and tall).
DeleteAnd to add on the print issue, let's bring back the sophisticated/modern florals and abstract prints. I have no interest in pineapples, bananas and palm trees.
DeleteI actually like the Cafe Capri style. I have them in black, tan and that blue cove (?) color from this year. I'm 5'4" and they are just right on me. What I don't need are printed Cafe Capris, but J. Crew churns them out constantly. I am too lazy to deal with full length trousers because I inevitably have to get them hemmed, it's too much trouble. If I worked in an office, I'd probably be wishing for full length trousers, though.
Delete"Yes! We have no bananas today"....but wait, we do...all over tees, dresses and shirts! I don't even like seeing this kind of print when I really am in a place that grows bananas, pineapples and palms.
DeleteI'd be interested in age group numbers too. I'm in my mid 50's, and I see women my age often in J. Crew spending money. In fact I see more older women than young women purchasing. So how hard is it to give some more nice prints on longer length shorts and a few inches on the skirts and dresses for older women or women who just don't like to wear short things. The last time I wore short shorts or a mini skirt I was 16 years old. About the cafe capris. I'm tall and I wear the cafe' capris only in the spring/summer. They don't work well in the Pacific Northwest in the wet/cold months.
DeleteLet me bring this conversation back to shorts.
DeleteHATE 3 inch shorts. Love 4-5 inch shorts. I shop a lot at J. Crew. Therefore, J. Crew should make me, and the apparently many like-minded customers on this blog, happy.
Actually, I just posted about it on my blog if any of you have a chance to check it out: http://what-i-bought-today-tc.blogspot.com/2013/06/short-shorts.html
I totally agree with disliking the too-short shorts/cparis/skirts/dresses. Even when I was in my 20's I would never wear a 3" short. At 5'9" that's just too much leg showing, no matter how tone or young a person's legs may be. Same with the capris. On taller gals, the standard 25"-27" inseam hits at the widest part of the calf making a super unflattering line. Dresses and skirts are the same story--I dislike feeling a draft on my rear end. I've gone to ordering most of my dresses and skirts from Boden where they offer everything in a tall version.
DeleteI agree that I feel discriminated against with all the 3 inch printed shorts. They need to do a few longer shorts in a print. I love the capri pants but only because 1) I am tall and 2) I live in HELL (hot pretty much year round) and I can pull them off. I would NOT be fond of all the capri pants if I still lived back East. And, face it, full-length pants are professional looking and capri pants are more informal to me. I also am totally sick of all the printed capri pants but I don't buy them so I just ignore them. J Crew's strategy of late makes no sense to me at all. They are making many clothes for the younger woman but the prices are very high. I don't get it.
DeleteNot really a "vent" per se, more of a wish ...
ReplyDeleteI really, really hope we find lots to love in the fall rollouts, because it seems that the fall season is really being hyped up at the same time the retail stores are practically giving away summer stuff.
I inquired yesterday about some of the pre-order fall items I was interested in with my VPS. I know they are all Collection with price tags to match, but nothing was under $495. I don't know if even a Bella or Lexington or Library-Print Dress in the fall rollout would be spectacular enough to fit into my budget at FP. Here's hoping.
Agree with everybody about being very underwhelmed with JCrew offerings, nothing to entice me. I ordered Mai Tai skirt and tee out of boredom but I think they are overpriced for what they are. How about some pretty dresses for the summer, there is no one dress this year that I want to buy.
ReplyDeleteOh well, if you are interested I posted reviews of Mai Tai skirt and tee HERE
Cass, I agree no great prints on pencil skirts this year, very disappointing. I am stalking EBay for some of the past year prints.
ReplyDeleteMy shipping costs now are up at $90. As shipping from Canada is roughly $28 per pkg. I have returned 3 pkgs.
ReplyDeleteThey keep saying they remembering this each time I email...but never tell me they are going to credit me back. They only say...THANKS FOR REACHING OUT. I just want to be refunded. Any other Canadians having this problem with GMCAN PROMO ? Carolyn from Vancouver.
Hi Carolyn, have you tried contacting the VPS department and emailing them a scanned copy of your Canada Post receipts? I have not had a problem getting refunds for shipping, but I do have to email a copy of the Canada Post receipt and parcel form which shows the tracking number. It's a pain but I usually get a refund in about a week after sending in the info.
DeleteI think the problem is ...speaking or emailing to someone new each time. They have all the details...I have been very through with these returns, and the receipts.
DeleteThey have the returns...and the info. it seems it just is ignored
I sent another email..I will see what they do now. Carolyn from Vancouver
OT...check out Elements of Style blog. A few J Crew nods to fashion/interiors. I like her blog. Her fashion Fridays are always good. I am not affilaiated with her...just like her taste.
ReplyDeleteCarolyn from Vancouver
My vent is regarding the chino shorts. I bought the mint color, it's adorable and I love it! Put it through the washing machine (on cold, normal detergent, with other light colors) and it came out with blue spots! None of the other clothes in the load had been affected, thank goodness, so I put them in the dryer and ran the shorts through again by themselves. Still blue spots! I am so disappointed, because this now severely limits how I can wear these shorts that I was so looking forward to.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if it's a JC chino shorts-specific problem, because it's only happened to me one other time. Last year I ordered a pair in bright yellow, and they came out of the machine (a different machine, btw) with reddish streaks! Again, nothing else in the load had been affected and to this day, the red streaks are still there. Obviously the yellow shorts have been relegated to cleaning/lazing wear.
I just don't get it --- I was actually a little worried that the colored chinos might bleed onto other clothes during the first wash but they didn't. Frustrating!
I'm new here but can anyone explain to me why the stores won't honor online prices? The item I want is sold out in my size online but I managed to find it in a local store. However, the price is $20 more! It's the exact same item, from the same store. I am very confused by this, and disappointed.
ReplyDeleteDid they tell you straight out no at the store? My store always offers to honor the online price.
DeleteMy store also honors online pricing, as well as any extra % off that might be taking place at the time. It seems to vary by store as to whether or not they price match, so it always worth asking to find out for sure.
DeleteYes, I called the store and they were just about to put the item on hold for me to pick up and mentioned the price. I said it was $20 less on the website and they said they do not honor the website's prices. That seems outrageous to me. I also wrote to their customer service and was told the same thing. I can understand not honoring a competitor's price (which many stores do!) but not honoring your own company's website?!!
DeleteGlurf, that is outrageous. My store is like FFM's, not only do they match the online price, they also give the extra percentage off on top of it. It is so frustrating -- J Crew is consistently inconsistent!
DeleteMine too, shopalot. I think it helps if the recognize you at the store but they can access the website price and should match the price. I would ask CS to do a WWFIFY then they will match the online price I would think. I must admit usually the price is higher online in my experience.
DeleteThe stores in my area will only honor a lower online price if the item is still available online.
DeleteUpdate on my post. I contacted customer service and after some polite back and forth, they said they would credit my card the difference if I purchased the item at full price and emailed them them info from the receipt. This ended up not being necessary as when I told the store, they agreed to give me the website sale price but as a one-time thing. However, CS wrote:
Delete"Typically, the stores will price match with the items as they are online, you only need to let them know that there is a difference. The same is for online merchandise -- if you are in the store and your size is not available, call us from the Red Phone in the store and we can ship the item to you at the store's price. Also, if you are in the store and they will not offer the online price, you can pick up the Red Phone and we can place an order for you with free shipping for the right price."
Good to know! And I am happy CS resolved for me.
I am sure it is a coincidence that the Collection monarch skirt and the Collection Dauphine dress in watercolor floral are back on the site for full price now.... Thank goodness for the new wishlist feature which I've checked daily or I would have missed that the day the promo ended!
ReplyDeleteI just got an email that says that we can view the Fall/Holiday 2013 Lookbook. When you go to the page, they want customers to write down the item numbers to items that you are interested in and then email a VPS to get prices. How about just providing the prices on the Lookbook page?! ARGH!
ReplyDeleteSupposedly the prices are not set in stone yet, but I totally agree with you, why are they making it so hard to pre-order? Ridiculous.
DeleteThis is a vent that ends with a small love. I saw the SLEEVELESS SHIFT DRESS IN STRETCH WOOL item 95962 in store on sale, regular price $198. The hem was hanging down on the size I wanted on two different dresses. I spoke to SA and she said most of them were like this and another client had taken the dress to a tailor to correct. I did buy the dress at a very good price and was able to press and sew the hem to fix it. But I started to think about it, a $198 dress and it is in the store like that...something is not right. So I sent an email with before and after pictures. I did get a very nice and quick response. But the implication was that quality is good at J Crew and this is not the norm. So I sent an email back and said, I beg to differ, not confrontational but that is the truth. I did mention that older items I purchased back in early 2000's are going strong, today's merchandise is not nearly as durable. Sorry, long story but the bottom line, I think we need to complain to J Crew and not accept this lack of quality and for me, lack of quality control to put this garment on available for purchase in the stores. The love part..they are sending me a gift card which is appreciated but that was not my intent/purpose for my original email.
ReplyDeleteSuggestion for the Factory side. Associates should be able to pull up our account billing/shipping information on the computer via email for send/sales just like they can on the retail side. Once I give my email, they should be able to confirm billing info & not have to fight over in-store sounds to hear what I'm saying over the phone.
ReplyDelete