Wednesday, April 18, 2012

"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.

22 comments:

  1. I ordered the Library blazer and got an awful winter coat instead. Now it is completely sold out. I am so disappointed and find that this happens way to often. I must state that this has never happen with any other retailer. It's like J. Crew just doesn't care...

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    1. I just had this happen today and I'm fuming, I ordered a pair of tall winter boots that were at an awesome price, I was even more thrilled when I got an email saying they had shipped. I was envisioning wearing them on a trip to Europe in the fall. Lo and behold, I get a box on my porch this morning and was very disheartened to see it was a small box, I opened it up and sure enough there is a pair of stupid ballet flats in there, wrong item, wrong size, certainly wrong shape in every capacity. Does anyone in the packing department even read?! I called J. Crew and made it very aware how much I was NOT at all happy about this. I splurged on these boots at a time when my finances were tight because I loved them and to have them send the totally wrong item is making me reconsider ever buying from them ever again.

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  2. I'm grumpy about the price differentials between the stores and the website. I don't want to buy anything online because I just know that I'll see someone post that she found it in store for less than 20% of the online price.

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  3. Hexicon

    ITA with you on this one and JC seems to be the worst. If I see it on the website why cant I buy it in the store at the same price?
    Stops me from shopping many times. I really dont know why they can't get the website and stores in sync at this point.

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  4. D*ska, I had this happen often and that is why I no longer buy final sale. It is just ridiculous!

    Also the Archie Grand for JCrew blank book I got is AWFUL. The cover came scratched in several places and I mean deep scratches. The corner dented. Would never buy these type of books from J.Crew again.

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  5. D*ska, I feel your pain!
    I just had the same thing happen to me for the third time in two weeks. First was a cashmere sweater in the wrong color, second a knit top in the wrong color, & finally, in yesterday's package I was sent a pair of size 6 Olympia suede wedges in Persimmon instead of the size 9 Kira sandals in Dusty Clay. The Kira's are sold out in my size & color, & they're online only.

    If you call & let them know they will immediately process a pre-return, & send out a free return shipping label.

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  6. I don't understand how they can be getting so many orders so wrong. I only had one item wrong in all the years I've ordered from jcrew and it was during Christmas like 2 years ago so I just figured it was an honest, overworked employee mistake. Are there different warehouses clothing comes from? You would think all they had to do was scan a barcode and the computer would confirm it was the right item.

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    1. Miss JR, I wonder about it too.  I'd love to know the process.  In my cases, the plastic bag is labelled correctly.  The merchandise in the bag is not what is labelled on the plastic bag.  

      So a label is generated, & someone pulls stock to place in the bag? If the item is out of stock at time of order fulfillment, since we all know JC sometimes has issues with their tracking stock (IT issues), is it a hassle for the 'bagger' to have to stop & go to a supervisor, and just easier to shove random stock in the order to complete the task? I kinda think so...good employees are hard to find.

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  7. Well, it finally happened to me: the dreaded 'leftover surprise' found in a J Crew final sale item. I was pulling out all my shorts for the season, which included several NWT shorts bought at the end of the season last year on final sale. One of the bermuda shorts I bought was obviously a store return because the price tab on the tag had been taken off. No biggie, I thought, and so I just tucked them away to save for this year. But when I went to put them on today, I found a little surprise-- $11 in cash wadded in the pocket. Clearly not my own $$, as the shorts were new (to me at least) and never worn by me. I must have overlooked that little tidbit when I origially bought them last year--serves me right for not inspecting and trying everything on immediately. Ugh. I guess $11 is better than the used tissue once found by another JCA!

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    1. If you bought them for $11 or less, that would be kind of awesome, though. :)

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    2. That is disturbing to me. It's one thing when you know you are purchasing pre-owned clothing -you know to take precautions. But you are purchasing clothing that is supposed to be new. I'd be livid. Wash before wear!

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    3. @D*ska, I'm curious, why is it disturbing? what are stores supposed to do with current things customers return, just count it as a loss? if that were the case, everything would be final sale!

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    4. I think D*ska is referring to items that are obviously worn and returned. I also feel that those items should not be resold to regular retail customers. They are perfect candidates for a sample or warehouse sale, but not customers buying from the store or website and expecting brand new, unworn merchandise. Unfortunately, some customers will wear and return items with the tags attached and J.Crew apparently does not inspect returned items before putting them back in their inventory.

      I once received a silk shell from J.Crew that had deodorant stains and hair on it. Yuck!

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    5. No I agree, and I hate when people return things that they have worn because I was always raised that once you wear it, it's yours. However, it's really hard to judge that. The deodorant stains/hairs could have come from someone trying it on in the fitting room, you know? It's just difficult. If something's stained or smelly or something ridiculous (and the SA notices, b/c most of the time people don't explicitly say "I've worn this..."), then it would be damaged out, but for the most part things like that are hard to catch.

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    6. Thank you J.CrewJD. That's exactly what I meant. Maybe I wasn't clear enough. When I read Egyptomaniac's post, I couldn't help thinking, "what if the previous wearer didn't wear smallclothes with the shorts?" Ugh.

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  8. Has anyone had items missing from their shipment before? My shipment from the last promo came but was missing a factory bag! Even though my receipt listed it, someone in the warehouse must have forgot or thought they put it in! Ugh! Was hoping to use it this weekend....oh well...i know it happens and they're probably pretty busy there but still.....anyone know if CS is pretty good about sending another one right away? I will be really annoyed if the item is sold out!! ok-thanks for the vent!

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    1. I have had that happen to me too. Twice! I just never learn. But on the plus side my PS sent it out to me via express mail for free. Still, maybe I should take a page from (original) Genny...

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  9. I don't know how they can get so many orders wrong but I lost count at about 15+ totally wrong items and 10+ defective/obviously worn items and that is when I finally said enough is enough! Sometimes people return items in the WRONG bag and that is where the problem begins. Other times they are just weird makes that do not make any sense like getting a pair of men's pants instead of a women's sweater. Yes, I used to order a LOT but now I rarely do...

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  10. Agreed with Hexigon and Kate - the price differentials between store and the website are my biggest J Crew beef. I would buy so much more if I had confidence that I wasn't being fleeced on-line. For Crewcuts the store prices are almost always better, but the closest store is 20 miles from me.

    I feel so bad for the folks here who have had wrong items in their shipments. It has never happened to me but I would be spitting nails if it did.

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  11. I had a pair of Pixie pants on backorder. I apparently received an email that my order was on hold (email was dated Saturday) then got an email on Monday that the order had been cancelled. I hadn't checked my email over the weekend. The card used to purchase the pants had expired and the number is the same but the date is new. This happened a few months ago with the same card but different purchases but J.Crew wasn't so hasty to cancel the order. I would just reorder the pants but they were bought with a 20% discount. I'm irked that they were so quick to cacel the order when they haven't been in the past. New policy?

    Also, could someone outline the rules (or point me in the right directin) for using the student/educator discount? I'm starting school again and would like to be able to take advantage. Thanks.

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  12. This is more of a question... why do I never hear from my PS? I see so many others posting about e-mails from their PS, and I have yet to receive one from mine. Is it on the customer to do all the e-mailing to receive any communications from their PS? Or maybe I need to find a new one... although it would be difficult considering I only live near one.

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  13. I am so incredibly fed up with the quality of fabric J Crew is using lately on their t-shirts and tops. I recently placed a large order (over $1000) for a lot of items I needed in relation to my wedding/honeymoon/related parties. I placed the order online with my regular PS (who replaced my beloved PS who had gone to work in the international dept), and got a reply from someone else, saying that he had left the company and that she was my new PS. She then went on to say that she could no longer honor the standard 10% off my initial PS had offered me way back when (based on volume - for years, probably 80% of my wardrobe has been JCrew, and she wanted to keep it that way), but would "just this once" on this order, and also that she'd give me free shipping "once in a while" as an incentive. That kind of rankled, since I tend to order enough to qualify for free shipping anyway, which she would've known if she'd looked at my history. Anyway.

    Within hours of wearing the linen dolman T, a tiny hole appeared. I emailed my PS, who said to return it & she'd ship me a new one. Great! Next day, I put on another T from the shipment - a hole develops in the middle of the back, within hours of me putting it on. I don't know this til my future MIL points it out. Great. I set it aside. New linen dolman T arrives. I put it on a few days later and nearly blow a gasket when I spot a hole in the fabric before even putting it on. I email my PS to ask what to do - and she never responds, but she is good enough to send me a canned email telling me all about the new summer items I want to be sure not to miss.

    Final straw is tonight, when I go to set aside the colorblock stripe slash henley, and see a hole in the armpit.

    All I can say is, I'm easy on my clothes and have had other J Crew items for years that I still wear regularly without an issue. Why on earth should I pay $45 for a top that can be worn ONCE before falling apart - it doesn't do much to make me want to continue buying their more expensive items, if they can't even get a simple T-shirt right.

    Sorry if this is ranty but I am so, so annoyed.

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