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.
Just another sad face re: the latest rollout. Loads of "new" items, but nothing to actually wear.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate a few editorial pieces that push the boundaries of the brand and I also appreciate a few special- occasion pieces. That's what make fashion fun IMO. But who exactly are they targeting with this fussy, poorly-made, difficult-to-wear stuff? I'm starting to think that J Crew has skidded toward designing exclusively for their co-opted bloggers, who will wear a sequin-and-feather encrusted $700 skirt one time for an insta photo and proclaim it "amazing!"
Hi Ruffles - I agree, and as I was looking through the new rollout it felt like most of the pieces were either inaccessible (I have no occasion to wear any of the Collection items, although they're always fun to look at) or overly accessible (at every retailer). They still can't seem to hit that balance.
DeleteI am starting to wonder about a few bloggers that I "follow"
DeleteI do see some pretty expensive pieces lately. do they get them for free or at a super discount? do they wear it for the shoot and return it? they always have the "new " pieces. and the do proclaim all items they show as "its everything'.
I like to folllow as previously most of the items shown were in my price range. now bloogers have gone high end priced. items.
I get it if this is someones 'job' but I prefer the 'real people' on instragram.
I do not want this to come across as mean spirited...I am only wondering...do some people get to go the the J CRew fashion show as a perk for showing clothes?
I just think if you do get perks...you should be clear about it...and show the items that are not everything...IMO
I should add that I realize 'blogging' does take alot of time and effort. and a photographer.so it probably is a job.
Deletei think legally, if a blogger gets an item for free, they have to disclose it, right? although, i'm not sure what the deal is if a blogger buys an outfit with a gift card/store credit that they received.
Deletei like checking out real life blogger pics... and seeing how they style various items. but yeah, it's totally unrealistic when they don't repeat items. makes me think they borrowed or bought/returned items.
yes...I am just curious.
DeleteI really love the instagrams of the JCA's we have that work instore. the reviews are always appreciated. and I get these ones ..because they work for JCREW. and they review items we are interested in.
It has always irked me that Alexis, one of the original and most authentic of J Crew bloggers, has not received more recognition from the company for JCA, not to mention an invitation to NYFW nor co-opted Collection stuff. I enjoy all images of J Crew on social media but also prefer the authentic bloggers, and take the superlative, non-JCA reviews with a large grain of salt!
DeleteIt is 100% against the law for a blogger to have a material connection with a sponsor without disclosing it. Material connection can mean a lot of things -- free clothes, free trips, discounted clothes, discounted trips, meeting a celebrity -- basically anything that a reasonable consumer would want to know in order to know how much weight s/he would give the review. It's always better as a blogger to err on the side of transparency.
Deleteremember how we used to chuckle (cackle) at the awkward "French" expressions on tees? Moving on to Italy, the latest adorable travel tee shows a map of Italy on which the name of the province in which Rome is located (also the name of a football team with belligerent supporters) is misspelled. Thank you to the reviewer who pointed this out, saving me the trouble of a return, and reminding me not to e-shop without enlarging every image!
ReplyDeleteWow! That's incredibly embarrassing!!!
DeleteLZAIO.....
Deleteoh my
That's disappointing, and I'm glad the reviewer mentioned that in the post. Ugh. I was looking forward to that shirt, thought it'd be cute to wear on a future trip to Italy. Ha! That would be embarrassing.
DeleteEeeek! That is SO unfortunate. It's the only recent JC item I wanted :( (really really wanted..since I studied Italian)
Delete
Deletewhat t- shirt ?
It's G6607 -
DeleteOMG, that's terrible. And embarrassing!
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DeleteOh no! I just received this tee today! It might end up bothering me enough to return it...
DeleteI was going to get one for me and one for a young family member who'll be in Italy later this summer - thought about embroidering a proofreader's correction mark in red thread, but have decided this shouldn't be my problem. It's so easy to find multilingual people here in NYC to eyeball a few tees and prevent mangled French, misspelled Italian, nonidiomatic usage... and they just don't take the trouble. Sigh.
DeleteI wonder if the error is apparent when the design or pattern is turned over to the manufacturer, or if the manufacturer makes the error and it's too late or costly for them to start over. I really don't know how these things work.
Deleteif it's a grammar or punctuation or translation error, it should be picked up at the design stage. The factories are responsible only to produce the designs that are sent to them, on the specified fabric and in the specified size range. it's difficult enough to enforce that, without having to tell contractors in distant parts of the world that they have to locate and hire a proofreader who's able to read Italian. A manufacturing error would be something like a run of sizes is ordered, but all 100 gross are made in size 6, and then handed over to the size tag guy to "correct" the error.
DeleteLast weekend I was in a store with my daughter. I reached for one of the candies for her and was crisply told that I needed to make a purchase. These are the fruit shaped candies that have been out for 3 wks in jars at the cash registers and no one has ever told me I needed to make a purchase. In fact, I've been encouraged to take them. I didn't buy anything at that store. I would've told the woman how I felt about how she handled it, but she disappeared after that. She was incredibly rude.
ReplyDeleteI went to my 'home store' and asked them to tell me about the candies. Apparently they are to be given out with a purchase and there's signage for it. I've neither seen signs or been told about the promo.
Also, I'm tired of sales associates telling me, also very rudely, that I can't put a credit card return on a J Crew gift card. Yes. I can. They don't understand that I'm not asking for it to go to an alternate form of payment. I'm actually committing the money to the store by putting the return on the gift card, instead of putting it back on my credit card. I have been haggling with this for a good year.
I dislike complaining, but I will add that the woman told me 3x that I needed to make a purchase for the candy. Then she said, if you really want one you can take one.
DeleteIt's so incredibly easy to deliver on service, no matter what is going on with the style or quality of the merchandise. I imagine morale is a little low with all of the announcements in recent months and negative press for the past few years. However, I think the quality of hirees has gone down. A store director wearing her hair in a greasy looking, messy ponytail? Not for style, but obviously ran out of time in the morning or just didn't care. A number of employees behave like they work for a different type of store.
oh...that is very nasty. I saw those candies three weeks ago as well. When you are shopping with your kids...this would be a little treat for them for being patient.
DeleteI feel your displeasure....strike three for J Crew. the are pretty much out. in the in store customer service dept.
on the tele. lucky they seem to be polite and helpful.
Mean and nasty... so sorry, Gigi and Mini
Deleteunless the candy was for sale, then who cares?! let the kid have a piece. yeesh.
DeleteHow petty! It's candy, not gold nuggets, give the kid (or anyone who wants one) a candy for pete's sake. If they're only to be bestowed on those making a purchase, put them behind the counter.
DeleteOh WOW, that is really obnoxious and off-putting. Sorry you guys had to go through that - definitely leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
DeleteAlso, I can't imagine trying to enforce such an alleged 'policy' with a straight face -- as a 'promo' it's embarrassing. No purchase, no candy? Seriously? And there's SIGNAGE for this, presumably because it's so promising?! ('Free candy with purchase?') The cashiers at my store sometimes offer those free little water bottles, even if you're just making a return.
I suspect it's all a part of the general atmosphere, and that company morale must be quite low at this point. Ugh, what a sad mess.
I went in last week with my 2 kids and they each had 3 pieces each. No one gave us a look or said a word about having to purchase an item to have displayed candy. There was no sign to inform any customer of this requirement. Whatever the 'rule' is, there needs to be consistency.
DeleteI'm so sorry, Gigi - that is so wrong on too many levels. You probably know, I am working in a JC B&M. We have the candy - so many people DON'T want it, and we plead for them to take a handful and throw it in their bags, so WE don't eat it. LOL Who knows what's going on in that B&M, wish you could come to ours! xo
DeleteBut as much as I love the company, there's no consistency with J.Crew!
DeleteOh, I'm sorry that happened. I want so much for retail to survive this hard time (a lot of jobs in the balance, and I don't want to give up my option of seeing clothes in person before I buy!) - and every little thing just seems so negative right now.
DeleteI've never seen any indication that the candy is only with purchases. If that is the case, they need to make it clear, and be consistent. Otherwise, we are left wondering why one person is being said "no" to, and another said "yes" to.
Geez...sorry to hear that happened to you and mini G.
DeleteThe Crew has crossed the Rubicon. Waging war on mom's with kids. They seemed determined to commit suicide.
DeleteVery sad growly face here. My store has acquired a few such associates and I just don't go in when they're around. Sorry you had to deal with that person, Gigi! Ugh!
DeleteMy vent is not specific to J.Crew, but for all retailers. I'm so tired of pursuing racks of stretched out knits that have been sitting on hangers for too long. The shoulders and necklines start to lose their shape, and I'm nervous to buy any of these items as I don't know whether the shoulders and armholes will regain their shape with a gentle laundering, or are permanently misshapen. I know it's easier to display things on hangers, but when it comes at the cost of damaging the merchandise, what's the point?
ReplyDeleteI've admonished my local J. Crew several times for hanging sweaters. It's not only a pet peeve with me, but like you have pointed out, it ruins the garment. I'm not a merchandiser, retailer or sales assistant and I know this.....so what's is their excuse???
DeleteI'm undecided on "to store shipping". I'm glad they have the option, but not sure it is worth saving $5. I've used it a few times and it takes so long for the items to arrive. I have an order from 7-8 days ago that is finally arriving today. Once you add the time to go to the store it is not really a savings. Plus so many have had bad experiences picking up. I would much prefer an option to pick up in store items that the store already has. I know you can call to do this, but it would be nice to buy online and pick up something that is already available at the store, not having to be shipped there. This would be a better option IMO.
ReplyDeleteI actually like it. Since I'm tall, items are never in the store, and I usually buy 1 or 2 on sale items so it's impossible for me to meet the $150 minimum for free shipping. I actually wish they would hold items for 14 days but I guess that's too long.
DeleteI completely agree. It would be nice if J. Crew pretended it wasn't 2007 and have the option to pick up something in store that is actually in stock in the store. I continue to be baffled at how little they've invested in technology that has been around for years. But pay now or pay later and we see the option they took. Now they are behind and trying to catch up. I also wonder how much they've wasted in fees to consulting companies telling them everything we've been saying on this blog and not implementing a single one of these ideas. They literally rolled out Find in Store in 2017....I honestly laugh just thinking they sat around for years thinking the find in store feature is something they should roll out in 2017.
DeleteBythelake, that's interesting that you've had that experience. For me, things ship faster to the store than they do to my house. But then I have to go get them, of course. I have had good and bad experiences with shipping to store. I will say that I have never bought anything extra when I am picking up my orders (usually returning things actually) which is the main purpose of providing this service. To get people into the stores to shop!
DeleteI agree with you about the pick up in store option. Like Jazmine said, it's really laughable that they are just now rolling out the find in store feature. So many stores have had this feature for so long now.
ship-to-store is a nice idea in theory, but as an employee i can tell you it was pretty clearly implemented by corporate as an easy way to draw people into the store without giving any thought to what impact it would have on the function of the actual stores. they didn't bother to set up any of the necessary infrastructure or work out any of the bugs, so it's falling on the associates in already-understaffed stores to fix each entirely new fuck-up in the system without any kind of training on how to actually do that. it sucks to have to tell customers shopping in store that i can't help them because i'm trying to solve someone else's problem, and it sucks even more telling someone that instead of the easy, convenient pickup they were promised, it's going to be another half hour of waiting while we figure out what's gone wrong. if j crew wants to get people actually shopping in their brick-and-mortar stores again, it needs to focus more on creating positive in-store experiences, not just luring people in with free shipping. for the love of god, j crew, stop actively hindering your employees helping people.
ReplyDeleteI've done ship-to-store about four times now and it's been smooth and easy every time. Sometimes my stuff is already carefully bagged, once it was still in the shipping box, but the orders have been correct. I really appreciate ship-to-store though. I do NOT like having an order come to my house in 10 brown envelopes, so ship-to-store is an excellent option.
DeleteI can see how an incorrect order could be a pain for employees to sort out, though. I hope they work out the kinks so it's a smooth process. This idea is a win-win, if they do. They get customers into the store like they want and I don't get a pile of brown envelopes on my doorstep!
Another good option would be to let customers consolidate their items into a single shipping package to home! Maybe not possible in all cases, but I think it's possible most of the time.
DeleteMy VPS found the Liberty Thorpe top in my size and had it sent from a store to me. Loved it and was planning on keeping. this morning in the light, I was contemplating taking the tags off and wearing when I noticed a hole in the front. Then three more holes right underneath. looks like someone slashed the shirt four times with a box cutter! It arrived to me in a plastic bag but had a handwritten tag attached to it. I cannot believe they didn't even check the item before they put it in a brown bag to me. Hoping my VPS can find another in my size! oy where is the QC!!?
ReplyDeleteI'd really like to know what other JCAs' experiences have been with discounts on Collection items. I'm a teacher and I have never had a problem with using my 15% off discount for a price adjustment after I bring in the shipping slip. Today, I was picking up the ultra wide leg striped pants and they told me that I couldn't use the discount. The manager called J. Crew and he told me that I couldn't use it on Collection items. I returned the pants because they weren't a perfect fit (and I have the size 10 at home anyway) but I was going to take them home and just compare them side by side. Anyway, I got home and called J. Crew and basically the person on the phone told me that it's up to the store. Has anyone else had these kinds of situations happen to them as well?
ReplyDeleteThank you!