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.
If I had paid more than $12 for my striped boatneck Painter tee, I would be VERY EXTRA upset that I have only worn it twice and it is already pilling. I loved the look so much that I bought a second one during the add'l 30% off promo. Got quite a few compliments but I can't see how the top is worth more than $20 (that seems to be the going rate for a basic tee these days), even with the cute snaps. Based on other reviews, I guess I should be glad that no holes have appeared yet.
ReplyDeleteMy vent is about the worthless cardholder or special promotions. Several times this fall I have received special promos diiscount codes because I am a cardholder. What ends up happening is that Jcrew or factory has another promo that is a better deal than my perk promo. An example was the 20 and 25 percent off code when they are offering extra 30% off clearance. You couldn't use both codes and the 30% was a better deal. Granted I am mostly only a sale and promo shopper but my perks did not feel very special. While I love all the promos they've been running lately, why not make it really special for cardholders and allow you something extra like the 30% off for cardholders verses the 25% off for all promo they just did. I don't want to be too greedy but I guess I want it all just like Veruca Salt! Now!
ReplyDeleteI agree. I got my catd b/c they offered free alterations, then found this was only on items you pay full price for. Is it so hard to just hem my skirt every once in a while?! I just ignore the "cardholder" promotions b/c they kind of feel like a scam.
Deletefree alterations? i had a button fall off a new coat and asked if they could fix it. the answer: no. silly me. i thought fixing a button would be easier than hemming pants and stuff.
DeleteA lot of people have vented about this, but the checkout process is ridiculous. The many pages that I had to click through in order to enter my information kept causing my Firefox to freeze, so I ended up not even placing my order. :(
ReplyDeleteI was wearing my elephant pendant necklace this week, looked down at it and noticed one of the crystals in the blanket covering the elephant had fallen out. This has happened to quite a few of my crystallized pendants from JC. Right now I can't return this because it is out of production. Does anyone know if you can take these to a jeweler and see if it can be repaired? Maybe this is a silly vent but I really hate that this happens, this was not an inexpensive piece, and I store all of my jewelry in the original boxes they come in. Unsettling..
ReplyDeleteI just had to return a cabochon fan necklace for the same reason. I only wore it twice!
DeleteThis happened not once, but twice on the fall floral crystal necklace (I think that was what it was called) that I ordered. I didn't even wear it once. One time it just shipped that way and the other time, I simply tried it on and the crystals fell out. The quality of their jewelry has definitely declined, but the prices have not.
DeleteJust reiterating my vent about the recent slow shipping. I placed an order on Sunday and it still hasn't shipped! I'm in NYC and usually receive my orders within two business days. What gives?
ReplyDeleteI used to receive my orders in two days too (I am in NYC as well) but now I noticed that it takes an extra day or two. However they do ship fast (same day or day after) so it looks like it takes more for UPS to actually get them here.
DeleteIn my experience if an order takes more than two days there is a major problem (like one of the items being cancelled). HTH!
Thanks Ema...I had already started to suspect that there may be a problem with one or more items in the order. When I checked out, there was a note in my cart on two of the items that said something like "only a few left." It would be nice if they could give me an update though!
DeleteI've been waiting since Monday for my factory order to ship. When I look at the order in my account it says 'Released' which I would think means they have everything and it's been packed and is ready to go. But still no 'Shipped' email. All of my other orders have shipped the next day or two after ordering.
DeleteJust as kllovestoshop, my order is Released since Monday. I imagine my items running around the warehouse with their plastic bags thrown off. They must be having a hell of a time to not be shipped yet.
DeleteAm I the only one who thinks that anchors are a summer motif? I have found it odd that JC has slapped it all over everything this season.
ReplyDeleteAnd another thing: JC is overusing each print. When they put a print for a cell phone case and a boys swim suit(among a zillion other items), I'm less likely to want to purchase a pricey dress or sweater with the same print.
True that.
DeleteI recently purchased a silk blouse from Everlane and was surprised that their head designer sent an email asking for my opinion and if there was anything I would do to improve the design. I'm pretty sure it was a generic email, but I was impressed with the level of customer service and the effort made to get customer feedback.
ReplyDeleteI wish J. Crew would consider a similar tactic, but I feel like their collective heads are in the clouds. A lot of their press recently has been so self-congratulatory that it's off-putting (i.e. Gayle Spannaus). I feel that J. Crew has lost their way - loyal customers have been saying the same thing for years, but I feel like it's fallen upon deaf ears.
I completely agree with everything you said. J.Crew design staff appear to believe they are designing for themselves rather than customers.
DeleteThat's because if Jenna or Gayle doesn't want to wear it, "it isn't right." ;)
Deleteso maybe all they need to do is have a section for J or G rejects?
Deletewellfedfred, you mean like the George Costanza "opposite" theory? :
DeleteJerry (to George): "If every instinct you have is wrong, then then opposite would have to be right."
Chicken salad, Mickey…chicken salad...
I read in a prior article that Gayle thinks naked ankles are sexy. This explains why JC doesn't make any full-length pants anymore for women...because Gayle says so.
Deletehi, aid all, that's kind of how I shop -- how'd this get past the ugly police?
Deleteum, autocorrect, I meant audball
DeleteSince J Crew came to Canada, I have become its newest addict! My bank account has never been angrier, but I can't help myself! My question is, when does J Crew have its absolute BEST promotions? I've noticed that there is ALWAYS some sort of promotion going on, but for the items that I've been lukewarm about, I want to wait until they're their absolute cheapest. Is 30% about as low as they go? Are there a major markdown after the holidays, ie. in January?
ReplyDeleteMy bank account thanks you for any insight!
It depends on how well a particular item is selling. Items that don't move will have multiple markdowns, and then you can apply %off promos on top of that when they run them. If you wait until after the holidays, final sale returns and then you are stuck with an item even if it doesn't fit. Occasionally at the absolute end of a season there will be an extra 40% off sale section, but it is rare. Usually it's 25-30% off.
DeleteLast year the J. Crew store in Yorkdale had a crazy sale starting on Boxing Day...extra 50% off all sale items. They also brought out tons of new sale stock for it (some items that the store had never carried in the first place, so they obviously shipped it in from U.S. stores or the warehouse).
DeleteHowever, selection was very hit or miss and I wouldn't count on being able to score a specific desired item at a sale like that. It was good if you were just browsing because there were definitely some gems at great prices!
Most likely old news.
ReplyDeleteWas told in store that I couldn't use the student discount on top of a sale item but when I asked a representative on live chat, she clarified that the discount is valid! Frustrated that the sales associate gave such poor customer service in this situation.
I agree it's been inconsistent. Last time I was at a B&M, I showed my ID before paying and the SA said I couldn't use the discount. Then, after she rang me up, she realized that she was allowed to stack the discounts AND scolded me for not showing my ID before paying (which, of course, I had done). She ended up refunding me the difference, which I appreciated even though it made for a very long time at the register.
DeleteI agree, too. Sometimes I feel as though I know more about the brand (and its policies) than the SAs do. I have had people deny me the student discount, while other associates have given me as many discounts as they could (which caused me to buy more!). I wish for more consistency and more positivity. Some SAs are so snooty.
DeleteMy rant du jour is that the lovely diagonal sailor stripe top I bought shrank in the laundry and is now too tight! It fit after the first wash, in an adorable boxy-yet-shrunken sort of way, when I line-dried it.
ReplyDeleteI probably shouldn't have put it through the dryer. The fabric has no give, so I'm not able to re-stretch it the way I could a knit tee. Any suggestions?
Ok, my friend pinned this just the other day! Neither of us have tried it, but it's worth a try, right? Good luck!
Deletehttp://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/10/how-to-resize-shrunken-clothes.html
I had yet another button fall off a blazer. I have worn this blazer twice! Really wish J.Crew would properly attach buttons.
ReplyDeleteJust received the festival blue schoolboy blazer...covered in cat hair!!! And I just got a bunch of grief from customer service about an item I sent back almost a month ago. They gave me a one time courtesy pre-return after I practically begged! And finally, I know this has been said before, but the difference in color online or in the catalog compared to what arrives on your doorstep is so distorted it is insane. I am so sick of ordering one color and have it arrive so different. I think I may be done for awhile...
ReplyDeleteIT WAS COVERED IN CAT HAIR?!?!?!?! WOOOOOW!!!! Please say you took pictures!!!!!!! I'm assuming it was still packed in the clear plastic wrap? This is horrible!!!!
DeleteOh yeah! It was in plastic, paper still on buttons, and yet covered in fur! Totally going back!
DeleteCat hair! Yuck! Can we file that with ShopwithM's wedding dress in the J. Crew shipping errors Hall of Fame?
Deletea little annoyed that my factory order hasn't shipped yet but my pre-order is being delivered today. and i placed the pre-order AFTER the factory order and was told i wouldn't get it until mid-december.
ReplyDeleteAAAANNNNNDDDD... someone please remind me not to pre-order stuff... it just means immediate returns.
DeleteDoes anyone know why J.Crew's LIVECHAT is not available???? I hate dealing with their Customer Service via phone because I usually just want to yell obscenities, thus Livechat was my thaaaang!
ReplyDeleteOrdered a sweater and 2 other items at Factory to meet the free shipping minimum. Two weeks went by with no updates. Then I got an email saying my order for the sweater had been cancelled because the item was out of stock. WHAT?! It took 2 weeks for them to determine that? I called customer service. She attempted to locate the sweater in my area's Factory stores, came up with nothing, and offered me a $25 gift card (instead of a $60 sweater),
ReplyDeleteFortunately, my Mama provides better service. She called her Factory store (1.5 hours away is the nearest to her), and they had the sweater! They put it in the mail for her and honored the in store sale price, whichw as less than online.
Inconsistent service across the board.
I went to my local B&M today and they are running 30% final sale items and 30% off accessories. They are also running online promo of 30% off Outerwear. Not sure this belongs here, not sure where to post.
ReplyDeleteoh, factory.. ordered 2 identical girl's critter necklaces. They both arrived, in the same package. One was nicely packed in a little silver box with cotton, its twin was - not. Plastic bag. Who does this?
ReplyDeleteLOL...
DeleteI don't normally vent too much, but I'm really beginning to get annoyed at the constant re-issuing of items. It struck me today when I was looking at the new Factory arrivals that almost every single thing was a reissue of a previous retail item. Even in the Girls Factory section they had re-issues of women's retail items.
ReplyDeleteI totally understand that J. Crew is a mall store and not a boutique, but at the same time it makes me much less willing to shell out for any "special" pieces, knowing that they will come out with a Factory version of it within a year. And they are designed to look identical (quality is not always the same, I know), couldn't they at least mix it up with the design or colours a little bit?
It just seems like they aren't coming up with anything new, and as a result the pieces from previous years that were once special have become less so.
Reiteration of the "meh" attitude towards their current offerings (style and quality). When I was visiting the folks over Thanksgiving, my brother and I went shopping. The Jcrew SA told us that they were stacking the 25% promo WITH the cardholder 30%. At first we were a little giddy, I admit. But after trying a bunch of stuff and doing the math per item, we both left empty handed. No regrets either. For all I know, the SA was likely misinformed and we wouldn't have been able to stack promos at the register. I'll never know, nor do I really care.
ReplyDeleteOK, I am dumb. Really, I have repeated my stupidness so many times that I can't even blame J.Crew any longer. I need to remember that color names and online depiction have nothing to do with the real item color.
ReplyDeleteThe poppy Valentinas are not red. They are orange. OK, reddish orange, but orange. Not as pictured. Why do I do this to myself? What a waste of my cardholder discount and rewards card and my $6.95 return shipping.
Suiting dresses should never "fall above knee".
ReplyDeleteLast week I managed to snag a couple of sweaters with a good discount. One of them was the merino turtleneck in abstract diamond. I love the colors, I love the print. What I don't love is the places in the ribbed neck, cuffs, and along the bottom of the sweater that were missed when it was "carefully printed it by hand using a new screening technique for maximum impact" so that they are still white. It looks like it has been spotted with bleach. The dye also didn't take as well along the arm seams either so they are lighter. And this isn't an isolated problem, as I ordered 2 sizes of this sweater and they both have this problem. This sweater is normally almost $100 - so not worth it, even with the discount.
ReplyDeleteWell I didn't think it could happen twice, but it did. I just received another Collection cashmere sweater with a defect! WTH j.crew? The sweater has a big mis-stitch front and center, clearly visible through the plastic when I pulled it out of the super size box that it had been thrown into. I am starting to feel like a whiny uber venter, but j.crew really needs to step up its game.
ReplyDeleteTotally dislike the inconsistent service as well!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's really starting to tarnish my thoughts on JC. The Biennial's on sale one week in one color and then the next not, thereafter another color...
Also, I REALLY need to learn to just stick to B&M's for bottoms and never shop online. Their sizes are soooo inconsistent!!! Slacks of the same style in one color are not the same in another color? WTHeck JCrew?!
Very frustrated that so many lovely Factory clothes have sold out online and are apparently not getting restocked! What makes me even more annoyed is that most of those clothes are featured in "looks we love" or other places around the site. Take those photos down if you don't have the item featured in stock!
ReplyDeleteUgh my Factory order from Monday just shipped today. Normally I would have had it by yesterday. Pretty disappointing!
ReplyDeleteI ordered on Monday, too, and I'm still waiting patiently (not!) for my 'your order has shipped' email. Grrrrr......
DeleteGot the Perfect Shirt in Ivory Tartan not two weeks ago and have worn it maybe three times. The second time I washed it, one of the buttons just vaporized. Not only did it pop off, but it fell apart. An $88 shirt should definitely not have buttons that disintegrate! I will be writing to them to request more buttons. I don't think any buttons came with it which is also weird. Has anyone else experienced this issue?
ReplyDelete