Wednesday, February 26, 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.

46 comments:

  1. Buuuuu "CARDMEMBERS, IN STORES & ONLINE: 20% OFF YOUR PURCHASE. USE CODE CARDSONLY WITH YOUR J.CREW CARD. "

    At least give us free shipping on the new arrivals

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    1. My view of the website is saying this in the top right corner: For a limited time: Enjoy free shipping on all orders

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    2. I just saw that. Are they changing the format of the website? I am getting a lot of errors.

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    3. Yeah I was having trouble accessing the checkout, my bag, and the sale sections. It seems they are updating the format and layout of the website.

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  2. WOW the women's sale section has 2092 items

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    1. How can you see that? I couldn't get the sale section to let me choose how many items per page to display, and I couldn't see how many items were in sale. I have a new format in the sale section, anyone else? I paged through in small pages. I would believe there were 2092 items, though, it seemed like a lot more than normal. The non-sale sections didn't seem affected by this web site update.

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    2. Never mind, I see where you saw the total. Still can't see any way to increase the number of items you can view per page in the sale section, though. That's a big downgrade, J. Crew! A lot of us don't shop "by Category". And even within some categories, there are a lot of pages you have to go through if you want to see all the items. I really hope they fix this.

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    3. cate, that is really bugging me too! I used to always pick 90 items per page and wish I could just "view all". Now limited to some low number. Also the layout has changed completely, dumb drop-downs instead of menu off to the side. I'm going to send a complaint email later today.

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    4. I think that is somewhat misleading. It appears that with the redesign they separated out all the Petite and Tall items from the regular sizes. I know they used to do it for some items, but I don't recall seeing as many listed separately as I do now. There were some great popbacks though. I got a couple pairs of shoes that I was stalking! (Though reluctantly with only the 20% off and not the 40% off sale yesterday.)

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  3. WWFIFY is horrible. It needs an overhaul. I've placed 3-4 over the past couple of months and didn't hear either way whether they found the item or not. The most recent two they couldn't even find in the system. That's cuz there is no system. Whatever it is, it's not working. I hate that I gave my credit card number to someone and it is...where, exactly?

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    1. Agreed. SA's claim to be helpful too in finding items but aren't. It is frustrating to be told an item doesn't exist then see it on the website a day or so later.

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  4. What's up with the JCrew website!?! SOooo annoying

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  5. I have mixed feelings about this website update (the new look, not the clothes). On one hand, I adore the ability to view items across multiple size categories. On the other hand, I despise the fact that I am now limited to viewing 32 items per page. J. Crew you cannot seriously mean for me to tab through all 66 pages (holding 2092 items) of stuff…WTH? I am also waiting for the website to break down as it does with each of these new upgrade rollouts.

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    1. I agree, the view all isn't really a view all....

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    2. Can't view all - just came to post the same complaint, and to add dislike of the floating header. Also, I never minded smaller item item pic's, esp w/the addn of the 'quick shop' feature.

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    3. The new sale section layout is HORRIBLE and a total turn off for me. Can't think of any other website that doesn't allow you to control the number of items per page. It takes way too long to click through multiple pages, so I've pretty much given up even looking.

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  6. Of course three items I have been stalking forever popped back today when the promo is not as lucrative. I don't think I am willing to spend $100 more today than I would have with yesterday's promo.

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    1. I'm in total agreement. I was stalking a couple pairs of shoes during the 40% sale and they never showed up in my size. Then, bam, today there they are with only 20% off. I bit though even though it was $60 more than I would have paid yesterday but only because I'm tired of stocking the sale section and they're not final sale. :(

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  7. Now all of the Women's sale section has disappeared. I wonder what is going on.

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    1. I'm double venting today. Slow ship time. My last order was placed before 6am Eastern Monday 2/17 and not received until 2/25. It came from warehouse with regular not sure post shipping.

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    2. Never mind, Women's sale is back. Weird!

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  8. I wish they would retire vibrant flame/modern red for a while. I like the look of the new cotton peacoat but not the color - if it was either red or orange I might bite, but just cannot do that Campbell's tomato soup color.

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    1. what she said.

      of all times to decide not to cut navy.

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    2. Agree...I would also add poppy to that list. I am so o er those colors...why are they still making them? I have so many of these items from years ago...it doesn't seem new at all anymore. Also...really dislike the new site. It seems like they keep trying to find ways for people to avoid the sale section.

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    3. It's beyond my comprehension why they keep bringing back such an unflattering shade of red. (Tomato soup is right!)

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    4. I think the only person on the planet who can do "tomato soup" (lol) is Lupita Nyong'o. She can do any bright color. Maybe she looks horrible in grey. :)

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  9. My FS Liberty embroidered bib peasant top in Aaron paisley arrived yesterday and... it was damaged. CS was great, and there was no problem whatsoever when I requested a return. My vent is about the whisper thin, gossamer-like fabric (cotton/silk blend) the top is made of. The retail price was $188. Seriously??

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    1. I agree with this one too...I don't understand why everything is so thin and so SHEER in a lot of cases. It just screams cheap and poor quality. Honestly the is better quality at a place like old navy these days. I can't understand why they charge so much for a shirt they know will fall apart after a wear...much less a wash. That being said...I do love the shirt you mention...and have been waiting for a discount in my size bc as you mention...the full price is just laughable.

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    2. reaganflowers, you're right, the shirt is beautiful, and I was really disappointed to see it damaged. One of the braided ties at the neck appeared to be cut/torn off and if I had to guess it was also due to the thinness of the yarn they used.

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  10. These sale shenanigans are like playing cat and mouse with this company. It's wearing on me. Their stock is not up to date, miraculously a bunch of new sizes pop up after the sale, and I constantly have to ask them (and they do it) to put notes on my orders to be able to return final sale items or even just exchange because my correct size seems to pop up later even though "they're sold out nationwide"...

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    1. This is really bugging me too. Why do they say "sold out" when they are merely reserving items from a promotion? Why not just say "this item does not qualify for the promotion"? I shop in spurts, I'm not on the web site every day or even every week. I'm willing to pay full price or non-promo'd sale price for something I want. Why would they remove that ability?

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  11. Well, a silk shirt I bought just got a huge snag down the front of it. It was FS, but I think I'll be bringing it in to show them and hopefully get a return.

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  12. So I probably shouldn't post conspiracy theories, but I have been reading a lot about airlines, who use cookies to check on airfares we, the consumer, are looking at. Some bloggers have said that they believe the airlines are using the "saves" and "cookies" to track popularities in flights, and then jack up the price in the subsequent days.

    With many of us "wish listing" things on the J.Crew website, is it bad that I am now starting to think that they are doing the same thing? Using the wish lists as 1. a metric to track popular items 2. a means to maximize their profit margin by *not* putting the item (in a specific color or size) on sale. By their thought-process, Why put something on sale, if we know people are willing to pay full or nearly full price.

    So now, I'm beginning to wonder if keeping a wish list, is such a good idea. I think I am announcing to J. Crew that I may be willing to pay more for this much coveted item....and thus, they will never put it on sale....

    Okay, I should take off my tin-foil hat now! :D

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    1. Hi audball - another JCA mentioned this when the wishlist originally rolled out (so you're not crazy!). I think that there's probably some truth to it - kind of like the '99' quantity from five or so years ago. Most of my wishlist has not budged in price in months. That's alright, I'm not budging either...it all goes on sale eventually.

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    2. audball - I'm sure you & other JCAs are onto something. I update my wishlist, adding & removing items just to throw them off. Tin-foil hats!

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    3. I have at times wondered if some people see certain prices and other people see other prices. Not on J Crew, as far as I can tell we all see the same prices, but on other sites.

      It gives me the creeps when I look at a web site that I've ordered from in the past, don't accept cookies, don't buy anything, and a couple of days later I get their catalog. I don't think Comcast assigns the same IP every time I connect, so I'm not sure how these merchants know it's me with no cookies to look at. I need to find out.

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    4. Things sit in my Wishlist for a very long time, though, often until I delete them, so I don't know if Wishlist is an accurate predictor of purchasing. I put things in the Wishlist then I neglect it. I forget what's in it. Then I go back and see I've saved multiples of multiple items (having forgotten I already added them, I added them again, sometimes three times same item). Then I delete them all. Or I don't bother and just leave them sitting around indefinitely but never buy them. That pricing model is going to break down if they're basing it on customers like me!

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    5. The wishlist might be a predictor tool, but in the end, I think they have to look at what is actually selling. Sale/promo prices probably indicate that a particular item has not been moving well, so the retailer is trying to entice customers to buy. Prices going back up may also indicate that perhaps they have met their goals on how many units they want sold by a certain time. In the end, it all comes down to supply and demand, and I am sure they have computer metrics that spit out numbers to the pricing team every day and from there they make their decisions on how to price items.

      That said, at the same time J. Crew also does a very intricate pricing/promo dance, which we see repeatedly irritating our lovely JCAs. They readjust pricing and promos so that in the end, the final sale price comes out about the same even though the terms are different. Sale price but no additional percent off versus additional percent off but no sale price. The difference sometimes is negligible, but all it comes down to is repackaging it to look new so the customer will look again. Some customers will react to a lower listed price, while other customers might react to a percent off. It's fascinating and exasperating and seems to take a lot of energy out of everyone!

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  13. Thanks, silver_lining...I must have missed that (our JCAs are very astute, so I'm not surprised :) ). It galls me because I keep thinking they could harness this technology on their website for "good" and not "evil" ;)

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  14. I've been watching Zara more and more (and bought some things from them), and I'm really impressed with how they handle their sales and inventory. The inventory must be totally real-time, I've seen things pop back and within a few minutes they're gone, and when I manage to snag something it's gone after I go through the checkout process. I love that the discounts get deeper and deeper. I got some terrific sweaters for only $15.99 that were originally $79.90. The only problem is that they update their inventory apparently all day long so it's kind of hard to tear myself away from my computer if I'm waiting for something in particular to pop back.

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  15. Angry here. The Factory Lightweight MERINO cardigan which is listed as being MERINO is actually 80% cotton and 20% wool. No wonder if felt like cotton when I took them out of the packages. I had bought two, was going to send back the ivory and keep the black but now I'm sending both back. I really dislike cotton sweaters, they wrinkle and sag so badly. By the way, I might not have noticed right away except when I was packing up the ivory cardigan I noticed that the label on the bag said "COTT".

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  16. Jeez, I think the Ava suede pumps would be really cool in black, except you can see how shoddily the vinyl tortoise covering is tacked around the heel in the photo. It's all ripply! I mean, come on...

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  17. If anyone excitedly opens a box expecting to find a pair of Parker boots (black, extended calf) and instead finds a pair of Field boots (kindling, regular calf), please let me know. I am beyond annoyed at this point, as (naturally), the boots I ORDERED are no longer available--unless of course I want a "scuffed" (CS words) pair from a store. When, WHEN, will they ever get their s*** together in order fulfillment?

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    1. My sympathies! I would be so frustrated. I wonder if J Crew goofed or if a customer sent back Parkers in a Field boot box. Either way, J Crew should make sure the right boots are in the box.

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  18. I hate to see great popbacks slowly disappear from my cart, but I am too stubborn to call and beg for an extension of the store promo, so I guess it's saving me money...right?

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  19. I'm late, but I just want to add my vent that the new website view bites! I'm not clicking thru that many pages either. And why are the oldest items that need the biggest cuts still being shown as New To Sale? That's been filtering inaccurately for awhile now.

    Aaaarrgggghh.

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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.

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