Thursday, June 24, 2010

Summer Sale is Back to Normal {or is it?}

As Geneva (in this post) pointed out, the Summer Sale (click here to shop online) intro image no longer has the phrase "All Sales Final". In fact, there is no fine print to be seen anywhere.

A bit cautious, I added something to my cart to see if "Final Sale" in red would pop-up. And nothing! There was no mention of the item being final sale either.

So was the "Final Sale" business move for one day only? How bizarre, right? I mean, why change the terms of the promotion on the last day & for one day only. Or maybe enough customers complained yesterday about the sneaky maneuver that J.Crew decided to hold off on Final Sale. Who knows? In any case, I am happy to see "Final Sale" is gone ...for today at least! ;)

Were you surprised to see that the Summer Sale is not Final Sale today?

47 comments:

  1. I didn't see any Final Sale notices when I shopped the sale online Monday and Tuesday, but if they did change it sneakily like that, it would be enough to make me not want to shop there anymore.
    That is complete BS.

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  2. I emailed CS yesterday asking them about the final sale debacle and making sure that the order I placed Monday would be returnable if needed. Here's the response I got:

    We're sorry about the confusion; the email you received was sent in error. We're happy to let you know that you may return any of the sale merchandise you purchase this week as long as it's unwashed and unworn.

    Sounds like they got a lot of flack about the change (and for good reason!) and are now calling it an "error"--I think we'll all be good with returning items.

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  3. I too am surprised to see that the Final Sale sign is gone (granted it was in fine print).
    But it makes me even madder that JC tried to pull that stunt just for the last day of the promo.
    Wasn't that stupid for them to lose $$ (heck I didn't order just cause of it) and get bombarded with cancellation calls and emails?!

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  5. I saw no "final sale" notices anywhere when ordering online on Monday, and I specifically looked for it very carefully. However, in my local store, they told me that something that I bought on sale on Monday was not returnable. But not on the website. I'd better be able to return stuff that I bought Monday if it doesn't fit!

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  6. Does anyone know if JC gives price adjustments on sale merchandise? Of course, a pair of sale flats I bought this week are now $20 cheaper. TIA!

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  7. AppGal: Thanks for the info!! Haha... Error! I think you're right about that!
    That makes me feel better. I had an "Oh Crap!" moment yesterday when I saw the initial post about the sale possibly being final!

    Andi: I agree with you ... if they tried to pull that (AND there wasn't even that typical red 'final sale' notice under the item in the shopping cart) I would seriously question there business tactics... especially to loyal customers!

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  8. jbird: J.crew only do price adjustment if buy regular price item and that one goes on sale later. Price adjustment can do only once and only within 7 days of shipping date.

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  9. AppGal: Thanks for sharing that response. :)

    I have to say I am a bit bothered that J.Crew is pretending that yesterday's email & sale image were both "errors". Maybe if it was just the email, but the image on the Summer Sale page was also changed to read "All Sales Final". On top of that, several JCAs reported yesterday calling Customer Service and being told that items purchased yesterday were "Final Sale" too. So all together, it seems (to me anyways) like yesterday's move was deliberate and now they are pretending it wasn't.

    Don't get me wrong, I *love* that Final Sale is gone and J.Crew is allowing customers to return if necessary. (Yey J.Crew!) I just do not care for J.Crew to pretend it was all an error. Instead, just admit to it and apologize- that would have been classier. :)

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  10. I think they removed it after being flooded with calls (probably from JCAs, lol). And good show, ladies. I'm just not sure why they even bother trying the FS thing. Is it just intimidation, so the 99% of the world who doesn't obsess over the brand like we do will be cowed into not returning things they buy? Very confusing!

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  11. They said it is error because I think lots of people canceled their orders due to final sale sign online yesterday. But I think final sale will be sooner or later. they just postpone final sale.

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  12. This is so funny, I called today to check the status of my order (the online status update wouldn't work for me), and the CS rep said first that final sale was 1) only for items ending in 99 cents then changed her response and said final sale was 2) only on items purchased yesterday. Seems like they need to get their story straight! I am even more confused now. This is pretty disappointing I must say.

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  13. jbird: no adjustment on sale merch. I always just rebuy the item and then make returns to get my own adjustment.

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  14. I don't think J. Crew CS is giving a straight answer to anyone on this issue. I placed an order yesterday and then panicked when I realized it was final sale. I called customer service and the first person I talked to said I wouldn't be able to return anything, so I wanted to cancel the order. She hung up on me (by accident, I assume) so when I called back, I spoke with another CSR. She said that anything that ended in $.99 was final sale and that only applied on Wednesday. (Purchases made on Monday or Tuesday were returnable.) I was annoyed because no where on my order was there any indication that certain items were final sale.

    The CSR said she would put a note on my order just this one time that would allow me to return the items if I needed to. NOW they say the whole thing was a "mistake"? I wouldn't be surprised if they still give customers a hard time about returning items purchased in the sale yesterday. They clearly are all over the place with their new policy.

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  15. They never say same thing, depend what they want to do. I had one time asked the sale associate works for years in my town if that sale section was final sale. part of answer is ridiculous. " We never had final sale in stores " I remember I bought final sale items few times in that store but I did not want to argue.

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  16. I had an online order on Wed. too. I will tell you next week if my sale items end with 99 on my receipt is final sale. my order should be by next Tues. or Wed.

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  17. you may be able to return it now but there is no longer 30% off. bummer. had a few things in the cart I wanted to try on for size that are online only...

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  18. Don't tell me that. I placed a huge order of office clothing for me/husband and ordered in two sizes each to make sure we got the right fit since sometimes sizes run too large... I hope I could still return whatever didn't work for us.

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  19. I placed a bunch of orders this week during the sale and I am not too worried about returning any of them. Nothing said final sale during checkout and unless it says it on my receipt I will return as needed... I did also have my entire order from Monday canceled (all 8 items) and therefore many of the items in my order on Wednesday were the same as Monday (I managed to find 4 of them again:) As others have said before they need a final sale section that is deeply discounted and a regular sale section. For instance there are still winter coats lingering on the site from Fall 2009 for $149??? mark these puppies down in a FS section! I have no issues with FS as long as it is clearly marked FS and deeply discounted. I also must give a shout out to the Personal Shopper that assisted me in finding many of the items from my canceled order- they were really great and very helpful. She did mention that they had many issues on Monday with the site and that may be why my order was messed up??

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  20. fyi, there are some new items in the sale section. I just ordered the ikat skirt, which is now down to $98, so I got a price adjustment.

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  21. Ok, this seems plain dishonest. Just apologize and move on. And for heaven's sake, get the CS people on the same page!!

    Also, there was NOTHING on my order yesterday about final sale. No red print - nothing. As a result, I expect to be able to return what doesn't work.

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  22. Kris - I also saw that there were a few updates to the sale section. I ordered the Daisy Day Dress, it's $99.99 now :-)

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  23. I found some of the items I have been watching added to the sale section. I love the Bling Button Cardis and they are ALL on sale now :). I also had been watching the Piped and Twisted Pocket Cardigan and the Gingham Schoolboy Blazer both of which have been significantly marked down! I am soooo happy!!

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  24. I did a mock order last night, and the items weren't marked FS. (Still didn't order, though, since I'm waiting on a package from the first day of the promo.) I've been told in store and from the 800 number that unless the invoice is marked FS, you can return. Also, if something is defective or you've been given incorrect dimensions, you can always return even if it's FS.

    The Briarwood store had an additional 20% off sale prices today, but it didn't look like much new was added, just the mint Jackie, not the pinks that are online, so I left empty handed. Again.

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  25. Wow, there *are* good sale updates - some I've been waiting for for awhile!! Thanks for mentioning, JCAs!

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  27. 20% off and final sale still going on in stores...

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  28. Can anyone comment on the rogue ruffle dress, esp. the length?

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  29. I just saw some of you were confused and thought I'd offer what we have been told as sales-associates regarding the recent sales. I am not sure about the online sales as they change all the time without any notice or warning to us, we rely greatly on the same e-mail updates you get. Though I can tell you in the store the sale has gone down to an extra 20% off starting today (at least in my store in the midwest) and we were expecting a larger shipment of sale items and had a large list of markdowns this morning, so it may be worth checking out your local store if you have time. I know some of you hate the final sale, so do we trust me. We never know when a "final sale" sale is going to happen really, but we do know that it means we can be expecting new looks in the near future.

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  30. Re: Kris... the rogue ruffle dress is so cute. It comes with this great waist tie that you can either tie multiple different ways or simply take off and you can't even tell because the loop is hidden under one of the ruffles. It goes right above the knee, a classy length not too short...well depending on you height I suppose, but in general I would say its a very cute dress.

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  31. DP - thanks! I was concerned about the length but at 5'4 it sounds like I don't have to worry.

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  33. Well, I'm glad that the final sale is over (for now, at least). I love JCrew but it does really irritate me when they do things like this. I was sooo ready to call the Better Business Bureau if any of my items were non-returnable! I'm sure they do "final sale" so they don't have to deal with returns but HELLO, you are a catalog company, so people should have the right to return something if it doesn't fit. And we all know that there is inconsistent sizing.... Ok, vent is over! :)

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  34. I didn't see anything I really wanted in the updated sale section. I went ahead and ordered a sheath dress from Banana Republic... J.Crew's work clothes are not cutting it for me. Today I got the Carlyle in a petite 0... honestly, this should be sized a 6. Vanity sizing is really running wild. I was swimming in it. I got the Andre dress (which I had tried on before and once again remembered why I ended up hating it)... it's cut so low one of my boobs might fall out. Plus, it's a 00 and STILL too big. I'm honestly not particuarly thin... I'm 5'1" and about 100 pounds. This is not freakishly skinny or anything. J.Crew has been sizing so big these past couple years. I have a sheath dress that's a petitie 00 from two years ago that's just right. Urgh. Banana Republic may be boring but their sizing is much more consistent.

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  35. On the bright side, I received Glass Trap necklace and it's beautiful. Nice and heavy and seemingly of good quality.

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  36. Hi! I have a question. I emailed J Crew using the "contact us" email inquiring about a belt that online didn't appear to carry my size (it was sold out I'm assuming). How long does it usually take for them to respond? Thanks!

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  37. That's just crazy what J.Crew is doing/saying about Final Sale status on Wednesday. Someone goofed up here and I'm glad they realized the error of their ways, hehe. I'm sure FS is coming back though, it's that time of year and things need to be cleared out.

    theanthropologieconnoisseur, if I want a quick answer I will call CS or email erica@jcrew.com as that email is staffed with personal shoppers who will answer quickly. I've had emails to contactus go totally unanswered, although that's rare. But overall the response time is erratic. Could get back to you today, or tomorrow, or...

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  38. Just wanted to add that in-store was additional 20% off sale, but it was final sale. My PS said they are getting instructions about the discounts day-by-day so no idea about how long this might last.

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  39. Emails I send through contactus@jcrew.com usually get answered within a day. I've never had any email go unanswered, but xoxo is right in that if you need a quicker response, the erica@jcrew.com is the way to go. HTH!

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  40. Thanks so much for the advice!

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  41. Deal alert: My local B&M has the Hockney Satchel in the weathered wood color marked down to $149.99 (currently $189.99 online), but it rings up at $79.99! In addition, there is currently 20% off final sale items. I snagged one today for $63.99! Wow!

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  42. Those who missed the extra 30% off online sale - I just went to the store (in Madison WI) today and they were having additional 20% in store. I found some that they sold out online, still available instore with a lower price :)

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  43. RWMOC: can I ask which B&M you got your satchel? I've been wanting one and that's a great deal!

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  44. jcrewphd: The B&M was South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, CA.

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  45. RWMOC: Thanks, but they no longer have any...
    If anyone sees one please hold one for me (prefer the orchid color). Thanks so much!

    jcrewphd@gmail.com

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  46. I didn't see the orchid color, but this afternoon they had at least four more in the weathered wood color. They had the hockney hobo in the orchid color, but I don't know if it was on sale.

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  47. I received my order this evening (from order placed Monday) and was apprehensive about the Schuyler dress ($55.99 after promo) due to previous reviews, but I liked it!

    I'm small-busted (34b) and pear shaped, and this is a classic go-to silhouette for my shape. I liked the fit of the dress, and it was a perfect length (on the short side, but exactly where I like it, and not scandalously so -- I'm 5'2"). The only thing that kept this dress from being perfect is the pouffiness of the skirt. It felt like there were too many layers or something.

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