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.
Customer service is usually outstanding with J. Crew, but the incident I had with a CS rep the other day was a real weirdie.
ReplyDeleteJust over a week prior--nine days, to be exact--I'd purchased a pair of their Wallace & Barnes carpenter pants in the sold-out dark brown color. Original price was $128, but they were on 1/2 price sale, with a 50% promo code on top of that plus a $5 "My Rewards" coupon that brought the price to right around $28. The pants were a pop-back, and were the last pair available (waist 34) in any size in that particular color.
Pants arrived and they were slightly large in the waist. For the price I paid it wasn't worth returning them, and I figured that after a hot wash & extra time in the dryer, they may shrink enough to fit ok. I hadn't gotten around to removing the tags and washing, when fate would have it a few days ago that I noted one more pair had come available in waist 33, but as the "additional 50%" coupon had gone away, the price was $64. No matter: I will call CS and do an exchange.
Or so I thought.
The rep was friendly enough, but she explained that as I was two days outside of the 7-day adjustment period, she would have to charge me the full $64 on the size 33 pair. I politely explained that I wasn't looking for a price adjustment, but simply a straight exchange due to sizing issues. She said she understood, but as these were a $128 pant that I'd bought for $28, they were unable to match my original purchase price on the exchange.
Huh?
My brain was sprained. We kept going around in circles, but she was adamant the best JC could do would be to sell me the size 33 pair for the advertised $64, and then refund the $28 once the size 34 pair was returned back to them. I asked to speak with a supervisor. She told me it would be a bit of a wait, and she informed that per the policy they are now starting to enforce, she was 100% sure that a supervisor would back her up.
I hung up in disbelief. I'd always thought JC was overly-generous to a fault with price adjustments, but it appeared the pendulum had swung to the other extreme. How can they not do a straight size exchange at the same price?
I figured I may as well call back and try my luck with another CS rep, as surely this cannot be the policy...but naturally I got the exact same CS rep the second time.
"Please just humor me and connect me with a supervisor on this," I said.
After being on hold for about 5 minutes, the rep came back on the line to say she'd briefed her supervisor on the issue. The decision: so long as I was doing an exchange for the exact same color item in a different size--which I was--they would honor the original price in an exchange.
All is well that ends well, but is this not very strange?
As she set up the purchase for the new pair in size 33, she made no mention of a return for the size 34 pair, and I left well enough alone as I didn't want to make more waves at that point. Rather than pay return shipping on a $28 pair of pants, I suppose I can flip the size 34 easily enough on the popular auction site.
I guess times are changing at JC...!
Glad you held strong. Frustrating experience!
DeleteI haven't heard of that happening... in the past they've always matched the price of an exchanged item due to size. Thanks for letting us know... this gives me even more pause before I place online orders.
Delete...when was this? I just did two exchanges at the end of last week for items on the 50% sale that were no longer on sale.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThis happened on Sunday--just 3 days ago. From reading the JCA blog recently, I'd been aware that JC has tightened the reins on their price adjustment policy; I never imagined they would hassle me like this on an exchange request due to sizing. Selling me the pop-back pair in my size at the higher price advertised on the website isn't an exchange so much as it is a sale of another pair! My phone rep made a point of saying the supervisor authorized an "exception" provided the exchange request is for an item in the same color. A bit scary.
DeleteI had a similar issue where I bought a skirt and got a great price. It did not fit. I asked if I could exchange it and apply the same price to a different size and was told that I could not. I would not have had any issues in the past but it seems to have been swept up in the whole "no more price adjustments". I guess if I'd been persistent they might have made an exception for it, but I didn't bother.
DeleteYou should try and return the pants. Otherwise, you got them for free. And honestly, I feel sorry for these reps- I think they're just trying to keep their jobs and J.Crew is in real financial trouble.
DeleteThe promo is weird..... there is 50 off sale.... but it’s very random items some final sale.... some not final sale.... so not sure how they choose..... wanted to get a few items: liberty sleeveless dress... but. It eligible..... did pick up adidas sneakers for my son.... I was waiting for a size to pop back....
ReplyDeleteThe Adidas Samba sneakers in periwinkle are $29.49 with the promo. (Maybe less if you can combine another coupon code.) I just received them in the mail this week and I really like them. The color is pretty for spring.
DeleteWow, really? Now I feel swindled! I ordered them last week and they were not eligible for any promos!
DeletePicked up a pair of NB for myself, which was a v good price with promo. The other 15% code didn’t stack. Also found the weird assortment of FS items to be confusing with no rhyme or reason. Sale update had a lot of stuff from fall/holiday still... weird they would do a shoe promo but not a big sweater/tartan/velvet/coat promo to clear out stuff that is clearly out of season now.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I missed the conversation but JC is now taking up space at Zappos! Spreading our wings in this new era of change...
ReplyDeleteI hadn't seent that! They are also available now on Rent the Runway - haven't seen any newer items but there have been winter and early spring items available.
DeleteJcrew factory is on amazon....
DeleteEvery item I get in a blue plastic mailer has failed to come with a packing slip. It makes returns twice as hard as the SA’s have to look up every item instead of an easy scan. Also makes it harder for me to track how much I’ll be getting back, and when my 30 day return window is up. That piece of paper is very useful!
ReplyDeleteI’m having that same problem will all of my recent orders that have been fulfilled by stores.
DeleteSame. I thought it was just me not getting invoices.
Deleteme too
DeleteI take the inner plastic wrap, that can be scanned.
DeleteNot sure if Canada and US are different, but I print out the shipping confirmation email I receive in the email and take that in for my in store returns. Apparently all they need is the order number so even if you don't take a print out if you have an email you can show them with the order number, they are fine. The printed invoice that comes with the package never has the prices on it for Canadian orders so I actually find the shipping confirmation email more useful for tracking what I paid.
DeleteI’m in the US and most of the time they ask me for my email when I make returns and don’t even scan the barcode on the invoice. They can find everything using the email. I’ve always had an invoice included in my blue mailers and bring it with me for store returns but I’ve found it’s not necessary unless you get a very new SA.
DeleteA couple of new reviews posted.
ReplyDeleteI really want to say thank you who posted this article. It is really nice one.
ReplyDeleteIdesignpassion