I ordered the lace sleeve tee in sky back in March. It was on backorder until May. Last week I saw that it is no longer on backorder and when I put several in my cart it said "in stock". I called and was told that for people who ordered after me it was available for shipment but that for me I still have to wait for May 11th., the only option they offered me was to cancel the order, reorder the top, then call them with the new order number so they could waive the shipping and apply whatever discount code I had originally used in March. ...This story got me thinking about items that I have purchased with J.Crew that have been back ordered... And my experiences have ranged from (1) getting the item earlier than the anticipated date, (2) getting the item even latter than expected, (3) getting price adjusted without asking (yey!), (4) having my item canceled with and without notification. I can't remember if I experienced a situation where it was available and my order was not being fulfilled. (That would bother me a bit too!)
I will say, I have definitely noticed that purchases are not fulfilled in the order they are received. (I hope this last part makes sense. Just because I am the first to order an item does not mean my order will be fulfilled and shipped out first. Which kind of sucks, because it should be first come first served. But I am rambling now...)
Reading Jane's issue got me thinking about the website "upgrade" and whether her experience will become the norm from now on. (Incidentally, I think the associate who spoke to her should have looked into the order and sent her the tee right away. I mean, why should she wait if its available?? What's the point of pre-ordering anything then.)
Have you ordered a wait listed item recently? Have you been receiving them on time? Let us know your experience!
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ReplyDeleteI've seen a number of different terms on the order list in my account: submitted, released, backordered, waitlisted, cancelled... Released has gone on for up to 2 weeks. At first I thought it meant "we checked your credit card and it worked." When released started lingering, I began to wonder if it really meant "well, ok, your card worked, but we haven't gotten around to working on your order," or maybe even "yeah, we know we can fill the order but we'd like to wait and see if anyone we like better is interested in this item."
ReplyDeleteAs for the difference between backordered - with or without date, I've seen both - and waitlisted, since brand new "arrivals" hit the site backordered, I think it's a difference without a distinction. Or maybe a distinction without a difference.
When an order goes thru online, it prints up in the warehouse. Runners take the orders and go thru the warehouse to fulfill them. Mickey is the only one in the company who is allowed a bike -- (no Jenna cannot have one as she already has car service) -- so the runners literally have to run. They get tired and sometimes stop. So they 'release' some items until they have energy to look for them again. Shifts only last so long, which is why orders sometimes say "released" for multiple days.
ReplyDeleteJane, I'm sorry to hear about your crappy experience with the waitlist. J Crew is testing a co-op shopping experience. Perhaps the thinking is if we have to work a little bit, we'll be motivated to get our orders completed.
(silly tonite)