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.
Maybe we were simply being spoiled in the past...but where are all the promotions? Are they limiting extra 20% of $150+ purchases to the holiday season? I feel like it has been an eternity since a true promotion was offered by JCrew.com.
ReplyDeleteUgh wore my Dolores dress for only the second time and the elastic on one of the sleeves snapped. I am not hard on my clothes--I sit at a desk all day!
ReplyDeleteSince JCrew is designating some inventory as final sale, and sticking to the no return policy on these items, I wish they'd make a separate section for final sale, as they have done for 'clearance' items on the Factory site. Then I know it's not a website error, as it has been in the past.
ReplyDeleteCan a sister please get a 20 percent off promo? WTF!!!! J. Crew is killing me this spring/summer with its lack of promos. And the prices are outrageous. I have bought many things at full-price, so I feel like I'm due for some kinda perk, god damn it.
ReplyDeleteAmen!
DeleteRegarding the site-wide promo-palooza this past holiday season...I think it was either a way for J.Crew to clear a lot of surplus stock quickly or it was some kind of online marketing experiment and we were the guinea pigs. I don't think that we can expect to see it happen again, unless J.Crew has decided to push bi-annual promos for fall/spring. In which case, we should see one soon.
ReplyDeleteAlso now that they ship internationally it's unfair to only offer promos to the US, it needs to be the same discounts across the board.
DeleteTotally agree!
DeleteA little story from laundry day:
ReplyDeleteI pulled two cotton tees out of the dryer the other day and discovered both had developed big holes in the armpits.
One had been purchased just 2 weeks ago, for about $40, from J. Crew.
The other, I got for less than $3 over 2 years ago at the Great Wall of China.
J. Crew, your quality is worse than a cheap tee bought years ago at a souvenir stand at the Great Wall?! Come on...
Rachel,
ReplyDeleteIt seems like the holey tee issue keep popping up again and again. I won't buy another one due to all the reports.....but your report is seriously funny comparing it to a souvenir stand tee! (I am sorry about your J.Crew one:(
JC seems to be moving away from FP promos, but if you are patient pretty much 95% of the merchandise moves to the sale section, some of it rather quickly. Then put a 30% off sale promo on top of that, and voila! Great deal.
ReplyDeleteJust visiting, ITA about the final sale stragglers. They are so disappointing after you thought final sale had gone away.
Cass, yes. This. I wonder why people want FP promos so badly when, like you say, 95% of merch quickly goes to sale. Most of it isn't worth 20 or 30% off full price, anyway, with all of the quality issues we've been hearing about lately. Much better off waiting for a markdown, and then extra % on top of that, if you can.
DeleteOh how I wish J.Crew had reviews on its site. It is obvious why they don't - they definitely aren't customer centric, but wow, wouldn't that be nice?
I agree that extra 30 off sale is a great deal...but not if you can't return the item! Everything is final sale! I end up wasting $80 on something I might wear once. Much better to get a full price promo and be able to return (considering most items/sizes are online only).
ReplyDeleteAbout half the year this is true. I go long stretches without buying JC when final sale is in effect because I rarely buy anything full price or for only 20% off. But Oct through Dec and April through July [?] you can return [most] sale items.
DeleteAnyone notice that their bathing suit sizing is weird? The ones with under-wire/cups run way large - as I ordered the size I normally wear in bras and it was swimming on me. No pun intended. Same with the bandeau style tops - size small fits me in every other brand but JCrew. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteAlso the boning on the swimsuits is not finished at the ends and can dig in. I looked at other brands of swimwear that I own with boning and they are finished off nicely with stiching and fabric over the boning. I wondered why my sides hurt when I tried on their suits. Buyer beware of JCrew suits with "boning" as they can be prickly! Yikes.
ReplyDeletePicked up the Scatter-Dot dress the other day (on 30% off sale in-store, still fp online) I know there has not been a lot of love for this dress, but I decided it is very cute with a proper belt over the little stringy ties. BUT the poly lining generates enough static electricity to power every light in my house and possibly electrocute the cat! Why can't JCrew use fabrics appropriate to the task? Argh.
ReplyDeleteI haven't bought much J. Crew lately. I am absolutely firm in my resolve to never buy final sale, so that in itself has limited me. I have a few thing on my wish list right now and I can't decide if I am hoping for a full price promo or for the items to go on sale where I may be risking final sale. Especially since I have one small store near me and can't try most things. Do I play the game, order them at full price to try and then return and wait for sale? Ugh.
ReplyDeleteI think their summer stuff pretty much blows. I haven't really bought anything this spring summer because their clothes aren't very summery! What's going on???
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ReplyDeleteMelBell, the last full-price promo was Feb. 22nd. Way too long ago!!!!
ReplyDeletePathos, I agree. It has already hit 107 here and there are too many sweaters and not enough summer options.
ReplyDeleteNow for my vent. I received my pair of full price Drea peep toe pumps today. Of course they went on sale today. Well, they are damaged and it is OBVIOUS. There is a large dark blue, ink like, smudge on the side of one of the shoes and they came in one of the crappy brown boxes with just a little tissue. Recall, I paid FULL PRICE for these shoes! There is NO way the SA who sent those shoes could not have noticed the "smudge". I really don't know what it is. It might be under the patent coating. Oh, and best of all...my size is now sold out online and my store does not carry shoes. Sorry for the rant. The heat is getting to me!
What's up with those generic brown shoe boxes? I've received several pairs of shoes in those boxes and 100% of the time the shoes had obviously been worn and/or had some type of serious defect. Some appeared to be factory seconds or sample sale shoes. If they're returns, why is J.Crew accepting returns of so many pairs of shoes that have been worn and are missing the box and tags and attempting to resell them as new? I hesitate to order shoes from J.Crew as this has happened to be so many times.
DeleteI returned the Audra Patent Sandals in bright dahlia because they had a blue mark on the edge of the footbed. It must be a defect from the mfr. - maybe a drop of casablance blue?
ReplyDeleteBeen a while since I vented! I guess I'm due ;) I had a rather ridiculous encounter with a sales associate yesterday which, having worked in retail myself at one time, I'm deeming "how NOT to make a sale". I was trying on the Metallic swing sweater and while it fit quite well and I was on the brink of buying it, I felt that the sleeves were a bit tight for my comfort and stepped out of the dressing room to ask an associate about whether or not I could expect them to stretch out a marginal amount after some wear. First, I opened the dressing room door looking for help, and the associate looked at me and continued to walk right by. Then, after I followed her to the front of the dressing room, I asked if she thought the sleeves would stretch out at all and, interrupting me mid-question, she continually reiterated (as though I was the one who wasn't understanding), "The body is MEANT to be big and the sleeves are MEANT to be tighter" - I understand the concept of a swing sweater but that wasn't my question. Jeez! Suffice it to say I left without buying it.
ReplyDeleteDebating if I should go back and try it on again... I definitely liked it but that associate rubbed me the wrong way. Just goes to show how poor CS can ruin a sale. It's unfortunate, too, because the other associates in the store whom I deal with on a regular basis are fabulous.
Funnily enough, just last night I was watching the Seinfeld episode where Jerry tries to return an expensive blazer to spite the salesman. I guess I can appreciate the sentiment! ;)
DeleteLILIBETH SANDALS. I am going to return my 2nd pair today or tomorrow. As many have commented these are miserable to wear. My first pair started to rip at back on both shoes on the 2nd wearing, ordered another pair for $54 and have worn them again twice (around the house) trying to make sure they are comfortable since they seemed to be better than the first pair. NO they still hurt like heck. Now they are no longer on sale back up to $98 WTF, these are cute but unwearable shoes.
ReplyDeleteI bought them too and I feel your pain (literally, haha). I kept mine, but they definitely require some alterations in order to wear them for more than a half-a-step. Seriously, can I speak with the designer who decided that putting sharp as hell pleated patent leather on the heel area was a swell idea? I would like for him/her to put them on straight from the box and try to walk without crying.
Deletewhy are they trying to sell a $400 skirt with such crappy photos?:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.jcrew.com/womens_category/Collection/skirtspants/PRDOVR~82988/82988.jsp
you can barely even see the skirt's detail! c'mon now.
the SAs at my store are annoyingly overbearing. i don't need 3 people tailing me while i hold 1 shirt. just let me shop for chrissake.
ReplyDeleteHa! Were you at the Philadelphia Center City store? Usually they ignore me, but this past Saturday I was interrupted by four SAs... repeatedly. I was holding one dress and one shirt, and wanted to continue browsing before starting a fitting room. Really overbearing.
DeleteI wore the patent Valentina pumps today and by 10:00am my feet were already sore (it's 6:20pm here in Hamburg). I could barely keep them on near the end of the day but I was in a meeting room with several male colleagues that I just met on Tuesday so there was no way I was taking my shoes off. I'm back at the hotel now, alternating one foot at a time with toes in the ice bucket. I broke my rule of not buying sale items that I wouldn't buy at full price and I am regretting it. I hope the maid likes these shoes because they won't be going back in my suitcase when I check out.
ReplyDeleteOh that is terrible about the Valentina pumps (for that price- they should be more wearable). On a different note, I hope you are enjoying Hamburg! :)
DeleteHi - question for those who find holes in their knits. Is it usually in the same place? I have a few jcrew tees that have the same 2-3 holes around the belly area and it confuses me how the same holes can occur each time! I don't have many non-jcrew tees to compare to but those seem to be fine...
ReplyDeleteI discovered that i had holes in tees in the belly area due to either a certain belt or button on a pair of jeans. Once I lost weight and no longer wore the jeans or belt my hole problem magically disappeared. I'm sure this was the problem. I just wished I would have figured it out before I ruined at least 10 tees!
ReplyDeleteI washed the colorblocked tees, the apple orchard print sweater and they bled color like crazy. It was really shocking to see. So disappointed in the quality after paying such prices.
ReplyDeleteThey were dabbling in the card member promos - there hasn't been one of those in ages either...
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ReplyDeleteLobster--I posted last week about holes in a cashmere sweater. They were all in the shoulders and front-to-back on both sides. It was like the fabric was punctured and then openned.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I sent a second email to JCrew and never heard back from customer service. That's doubly shameful.
But, I was in a B&M last week and as I was checking out, a customer was next to me exchanging a t-shirt with an underarm hole. She didnt' have a receipt and they exchanged it without question. That was good to see--despite her inconvenience.
As for me, the SA didn't even bother to speak to me during the transaction. Feast or famine service-wise in the stores.
tasty moog, I ordered the blazer that matches that skirt. It made me age horribly. Fit was tts. The fabric was very odd. It had pieces of silver thread, more like tinsel, sewn across horizontally and much of it was pulling out of the fabric so there were pieces hanging off. I did not like the fabric at all. The price was outrageous. I ordered it out of curiosity and because the dreaded final sale will soon be upon us. :(
ReplyDeleteJeanne, also the last few pairs of leather shoes I received did not have the dust bag with them. And, one was collection shoe....on sale...but still!! Last month it had been hit or miss getting the dust bags. More cost cutting J. Crew????
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