Wednesday, January 15, 2014

"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.

36 comments:

  1. I placed an order with the 40% off, just 1 item shipped, so I called CS to find out: my 2nd item( cashmere tunic) is supposed to be shipped from a store. So is it ethic to charge a different price( 179.99 store 239.99 online before discount) when the item is actually shipped from the store? I don't think so J.crew.

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    1. I agree, I think you bring up a valid point. What did cs say?

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    2. I was asking about the shipping, thought about that too late!

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    3. sandripera - If your online order had free shipping, you shouldn't get charged shipping from the store. I will admit I didn't understand your pricing query to J Crew.

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    4. Gigi, i think that when something is shipped from the store they should charge the in store price and not the online price.Ciao.

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    5. It has been my experience to be charged whatever the lower, in-store price is. Like JessF says below, I thought they would have the same online prices as in-store since they started order fulillment in the stores.

      My experience w/the Gap brands is that I'm charged the online price I paid. The in-store price is sometimes lower. Their pricing is sometimes wonkier than J Crew's. But I think they must be communicating the online order to the store so that the store rings it up at that price. You would think technology streamslines things as new practices are introduced, but that's not the case.

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    6. Greetings - There is a huge disparity between online and in-store prices. Some in-store prices are the same, some are lower, and some are MUCH lower, Rarely are they higher. I believe some of the MUCH lower in-store prices I've seen have been for returned items that they don't ship back to the warehouse (but maybe there is another explanation). Items that have shipped to me from a store have been charged the in-store price, which, as noted above, may be lower (so yay for me!). I had one item ship to me at a higher store price plus shipping. I called CS to have the price difference refunded, plus shipping since my online order was over $150, and that was done promptly. Given JC's inconsistent sale pricing, which occurs between stores too, the customer should get the lower price. Makes the customer happy, and they can use the savings to purchase something else. Okay, that last sentence may just apply to me :-)

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  2. This happened to me with a pair of shoes. Got the "wish we had enough" email followed by a phone call asking me if I wanted them to do a store search. Why, yes, thanks for asking. I was on hold while CS called the store that had the shoes in stock and when CS came back on the line to tell me what the total was, I stated that I knew the shoes were much less in store plus an extra (at that time) 40% off. She made it sound as if I was not going to get the store price but when the shoes arrived, I was charged the in store price plus 40% off, not the online price.

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    1. Same thing happened to me with a necklace. But the CS who called me volunteered that eye price was lower in store an I would get the lower price if they found it. And they did!

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  3. I was hopeful that when they started fulfilling online orders in store it would stop the price discrepancies. Does not seem like that happened. I have had several on line orders fulfilled from a store and they always arrive with the price tag portion of the item tag removed. I am waiting for the time when it is not and the price marked is lower than what I was charged. If it happens I will complain.

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  4. Was told last night that Canadian stores won't be getting catalogues until March. March!!!

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    1. And yet that probably won't stop them from putting the same old tired Winter Style Guides in your shopping bag...again...and again...!

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  5. Checkout problems. I put things in my cart but could not check out. When I called, customer service said they'd do it over the phone, but when I gave two item numbers, they said they were not available. Normally when something is not available, I am prompted to remove it from my cart. In this case, it just wouldn't let me check out at all and gave no reason for it online. It turned out that once I removed two items (which I had just put in there), then I could proceed with the other items in the order. But until then, I could not get past the shopping bag screen, the FUNSALE discount would not be applied, and I was given no reason for it during online checkout. I eventually checked out with the items it would let me buy (4 hours later). Not a very FUNSALE, J. Crew.

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    1. Hi Cate,
      I've been having the same problem. It started yesterday. I emailed my VPS and asked if she could help me. She answered back and said she'd be happy to place my order for me. I emailed her back again and told her I like to keep track of how much my order is as I go along and place items in my shopping bag. I haven't heard back yet... Sooooooo frustrating!!! I'm thinking it must be a computer glich on their end. ;(

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    2. Hi IJP, it is definitely a glitch on their end. For me, they let me add things to my cart that were not available, and it prevented me from buying the things that were available. The problem is it didn't tell me they were not available. If you want to place your order now without the VPS, go down each item in your cart and click the "Edit" button. If the item is not available when you do that, then try deleting it from your cart. This is not the way it normally works online and they definitely have a technical glitch with their inventory system. Good luck.

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  6. Off topic - but new arrivals online today!

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  7. I had a factory order arrive 2 days after the promised 6-8 days and I completed a survey that simply asked did I receive my order on time and I put "no" with no complaints or anything, and a CS rep sent me an email asking for my mailing address so she could send me a $20 gift card! Awesome customer service.

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  8. hi...i'm new to the site!

    just had to vent about my one and only terrible j crew experience. i ordered a pair of jeans over the telephone, and during the order the j crew rep read out my address. It so happened that the address was a previous address of mine, and so I told him I needed to update it to my current address. He repeated the new address back to me, and the order was placed. Well, five minutes later I get my confirmation email, which had the shipping address still listed as my old address...so I immediately called customer service again and told them the address should've been updated. Again I was told that the address had been updated and the order would go to my new address.

    Three days after I placed my order, I get a call from my former apartment complex saying that I had a package there from J Crew, and someone had been nice enough to take it to the office (instead of keeping it for themselves). So I again called J Crew and told them what had happened...they first asked me if the apartment complex would be willing to mail it to me. I told them that was ridiculous, that it wasn't their fault so they shouldn't have to go to UPS and pay to have a package shipped to me. I was then told that UPS would pick the package up and have it sent to me.

    It has now been three and a half weeks since I placed my order, and I still don't have my jeans! I just called J Crew again and was told the jeans are on their way back to the warehouse to ensure that all items are still in the package, and THEN they will be sent to me. So who knows how much longer it'll be until I actually get them.

    I think the most annoying part of the whole process is the lack of care when it comes to the customer service reps. No one seems to realize that waiting almost a month for a pair of jeans is absurd. They've offered me nothing to make up for it...not even expedited shipping.

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    1. What the?!?!
      They should have had the apartment complex manager send the package back to them and just send a new one to you at the correct address.

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    2. I know...none of it makes sense!

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  9. BAHHH 2 of my 5 items from this morning's online order got cancelled. Get your inventory straight, JCREW!!!

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    1. Make that 3 of my 5 cancelled. Just got the dreaded call! My only 2 items (a shirt and a pair of socks) are shipping separately too. Great, a package with just a pair of socks :S

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    2. I hope they aren't charging for shipping when this happens. If we were over the limit for free shipping, then they canceled 3 items in our orders, they should not be charging us for shipping what was left without giving us the option to cancel the order or add to it.

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    3. No charge for shipping - the least they could do is honor that....! Still sucks. I hope they improve their inventory tracking system.

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    4. I placed a "we will find it for you" order on Tuesday in the store...took about 20 minutes b/c the associate was super slow. Anyway, I was told they were out of stock online but there were plenty in stores, so the order was placed.

      I called J Crew yesterday b/c the jeans were back in stock online, but I had already placed my "we will find it for you" order...I didn't want to end up without the jeans, but I didn't order them online b/c the customer service rep said "oh, there are plenty of them..you will definitely get them." Well, I was just told that the jeans are not available. -_- ugh

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    5. 4 of 5 items now cancelled, my socks were the only item that shipped :S

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  10. Another one of mine just got canceled too. They were a mess this morning.

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  11. I placed an order yesterday and had one item cancelled and another today and had two items cancelled : (

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  12. oh... and don't you just love the feeling when you *think* you've gotten a great deal on a sale item with add'l % off. Then 2 weeks later the price went down again! *sigh*

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  13. An order I placed this morning got cancelled by 6pm. They need to get it together inventory wise. It is getting old.

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  14. I had an item canceled too! If anyone sees an Edie tricolore bag (or plans on returning one) please let me know!

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  15. Just going to echo the resounding commentary of "get your inventory right!" I am so sick of wondering "will this even ship?" when I place an order! I can't help but think this must come from items being shipped to the wrong people, too, since I've received SO MANY item mix ups in the last few months.

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  16. I was similarly frustrated about 2 months ago, when I tried to order off J.Crew's site for the first time, and after placing the order I was informed that the item was not in stock. If it's not in stock, don't let me order it in the first place! Everyone is right, they definitely need some inventory system improvements. That being said, I've worked in multiple retail establishments, and inventory seems to be an issue across the board. But in store there is a lot more room for human error and theft. I very rarely come across stores with inventory issues online.

    My gripe is that I've visited the Southdale Mall J.Crew twice in the past month, and no one has acknowledged my presence either time. My visits have been fairly brief, but come on, at least say hello to me! I'm pretty sure I don't look like a bum! I still work retail now, and I'm expected to greet every customer, which I do with a smile. When I go shopping and don't get any acknowledgement, it really stands out, especially at a high end store like J.Crew. Anyone else have similar experiences lately?

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  17. J. Crew just canceled three more of my items. Thanks a lot, J. Crew :(

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  18. Not sure if anyone has had this J.Crew experience or not - but I ordered a necklace online from J.Crew Factory - and it happened to be backordered but they were still selling it. I ordered the necklace at the end of November (right around Black Friday I think) - and they let me know that it was only going to ship Jan 31st. Yikes. BUT - the price was really good, so I thought it was worth the wait. Then, as December and now January has rolled around, I saw that they would remove the necklace online saying it was "sold out" - then a couple of days ago, I saw it back online, letting people buy it (not at a reduced price) - even though it was backordered. This was a few days ago.

    Today - I got an email notification from J.Crew letting me know that the backordered necklace was now backordered AGAIN to March 4th, 2014! I was kind of taken aback - why does J.Crew do this?? They have the necklace listed online to buy - even though it's backordered until April now?! Why do they keep selling items that they don't have in stock for people who have placed an order MONTHS ago --- but yet KEEP SELLING IT? That just doesn't make sense to me. When I saw that the necklace was back online for sale - I assumed that maybe they got more in - and that my order was going to be fulfilled soon. Not so much. I was pretty bummed.

    I just emailed Customer Service and told them about how I had ordered it in November and that it was delayed now another month. Their response to that all backorder ship dates are subject to change. Which I get, but not when you keep selling a necklace that is out of stock - and pushing the ship date back further and further. I was told in my J.Crew email that it was supposed to ship March 4th - but when I looked online that same day (because the necklace is still up for sale) - it had a ship date online for the product as first week of April (not March like I was told...) so I cancelled my order because i assumed I was just going to get yet another email telling me that it was going to be backordered a third time.

    It is still posted online for sale through the Factory site -and it now has a ship day of May 7th!!!!! I have no clue how they can make promises to other people who have ordered - I cannot imagine sitting here - waiting for a necklace I ordered in November - to only get it a HALF YEAR later??? Are you kidding me??? I'd be curious to ask about it though. Has anyone had this experience before? I guess I learned my lesson, I'm not buying anything backordered anymore. That was a nightmare and a bummer. I just don't understand why they would keep selling something currently on-site that they can't even promise to customers for months and months?

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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! :)