Wednesday, November 10, 2021

"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.

25 comments:

  1. Sort of a vent....I'm so bored and disappointed with J.Crew. Things just seem so dull to me, especially those cat food colors. In one way, it's helpful to me since I want to buy less but better, but I like to see things that delight my eyes.

    I wonder what Mickey D. and Jenna think if they look at J.Crew's offerings. When I look at my older items, particularly the shoes, I say to myself, "What happened?!"

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    1. I wonder about those articles a few years ago that claimed part of J.Crew's downfall was the emphasis on luxury for the middle class and that the audience for this type of thing is dwindling. Why is BR headed in this direction then? I recognize they can depend on sales from Gap and Old Navy, but I really wonder what the variety of reasons were that caused JC to file for bankruptcy.

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    2. @ST: Well, "luxury for the middle class" sounds pretty good! Not sure why that would really be a problem because there seems to be so little of it.

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    3. I told a friend the other day that I long for a Christian Dior New Look moment as we come out of the pandemic. I wish people would rediscover the joys of dressing up and making life feel special again and that there would be a renaissance of lovely affordable clothes and iconic looks.

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    4. Because they promised but didn’t deliver - notoriously the cashmere pilled at sight, BUT THE ROT WAS PERVASIVE - seams were serged not sewn, the linings were synthetic not silk, the buttons were crappy, the fabrics were the thinnest and cheapest line of otherwise respectable houses, the “alterations” took months to come back and turned out not to be free after all, the sizing went out of control, and Jenna may have had her moments of flash, but does anyone remember “Little Edie goes to Girl Scout camp (shudder)” or the tacky majorettes? And suddenly leather began to vanish from shoes that were “made in Italy” because under Italian law if an essential finishing step occurs in Italy, that qualifies the label, even if the step is only adding the label - yes, there were failed ad campaigns, failed enterprises (the by appointment wedding store with no sizes to try on, anyone? And there was credible evidence that MD read Jenna out for spending too much time at social events and not “watching the store.”

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    5. I always wondered about all of those stores they were building/opening. Was that a good idea? Whose idea was that? Mickey's?

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    6. @Mary: Oh, that is my wish too. It is so rare that I get to see anyone looking great and having made an effort toward getting dressed.

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    7. @WFF: You said it all! Jenna definitely did some things that were way beyond the pale.

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    8. @MmsJacqueline Don't you live in Virginia? That is sad if the Virginians (my mother was one) can't inspire anymore. I have wonderful photos of my mother and her friends in Fredericksburg in the 40s and 50s. They look like movie stars.

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    10. @Mary G. Yes, I live in a small college town in VA. It's not hick, but nor is it chic.

      I grew up in Southern California (1950's-60's-70's), which was likely a bit more casual than where your mother was here in VA, but it was still pretty decent back then.

      It's a different world in a new century. People say they "like to be comfortable," but that can still look nice enough. My 94-year-old mother still dresses well.

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    11. @MmeJacqueline Sigh. I know. New century where "comfy" rules. I guess I prefer some fantasy in my life. As a friend of mine said about a recent holiday catalog that we looked at, "If I want to see "real" people dressed badly, I can just go to the local mall."

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    12. @Mary G.: I know. All too true. I am still going to dress with care even if the world decides to live in pajamas. It makes me feel better.

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    13. @MaryG, MmeJacqueline, I’m on board with the two of you. Over here the words Dressed to Kill” is still in full force. Makes feel me better more than ever and it’s nice to have a husband that appreciates me dressing up. Mind you I still wear jeans and a blazer around but if I go out to lunch it’s “dress up time” depending on the locale.

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    14. @Lynn: I so envy you. It makes for better scenery and, for me, a more enjoyable experience at a restaurant or any event. At least people mostly dress pretty well at our small Anglican church, but most of the congregation is older. We have just a few college students who attend because it is the type of worship they experienced before leaving for college. Perhaps it is the traditional liturgy with the old hymns that inspires people to come dressed for "reverence."

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  2. ST, they were expanding overseas with brick and mortar stores at the time. I think they overextended.

    I can't remember how this came about, but back in the day I wrote to customer service that I wished a pair of their pants came with belt loops. At some point I was called and put on the phone with Mickey Drexler lol! He seemed like a bit of a showman, broadcasting to the employees wherever he was that day, but he told me to send the pants and they'd add beltloops and I'll be damned if he didn't do exactly what he said he'd do! Can you imagine getting that kind of personalized customer service now? I do miss the old days of J. Crew. I still have both pairs of the pants, which is a good thing because nothing they make now fits me because it's all too high waisted.

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    1. @Cate: Wow! Those were the days indeed. I remember that there was a program on television that was all about J.Crew, and MD said that he wanted people to think of them like Bergdorf-Goodman. Well, that was a bit of a stretch, but it was a nice thought.

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    2. I once received a collection cashmere sweater that had thumbholes, and I went to a store to ask whether the style was supposed to have them because the product description online didn’t specify that. The store said it wasn’t supposed to but they wouldn’t let me exchange it for the same sweater in store because the sweater I bought was navy and the store only had midnight blue. Both looked like the same shade of navy. I ended up getting store credit, but I was annoyed I couldn’t exchange the sweater due to a technicality, so I wrote an email to CS. A few days later I got an email from Mickey apologizing and saying he was assigning me a VPS who would send me another sweater and to help me out whenever I needed. I also got a call from a district (?) manager apologizing as well. JC CS used to be so amazing. That response many many years kept me on as a customer longer than they deserved.

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    3. eeps, a salesman in the Rock Ctr store tracked down a sold out necklace for me, found it at Lane Crawford (Hong Kong), and had it overnighted to me gratis. Another time I was in London, took a cashmere cardigan out of my suitcase and all the edge trim had come off. Well, there used to be a “complain to the President” web site, and I was so mad I looked up MD’s personal Email and sent him a picture. He called me within minutes. Hard to imagine these days!

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    4. Lucky ladies for the personal response. I had a featherweight cashmere cardigan that was stolen years ago. I posted here in fact looking for one. Sent an email to MD and a short time later every stylist, CS rep was in the hunt for one. This continued for a couple of years without luck. MD was the ultimate salesman which is why he was so successful to a point. Could have sold ice to the Eskimos. Customer service was fabulous both in-store and online. Most packages were overnighted. Those were the days I remember so fondly. Today one can’t even get a direct response from any of the designers which infuriates me.

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    5. Cool stories! Those were the good days.

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    6. I was going to say the same as @cate. Very cool.

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  3. Vent: everything I like (literally everything on my wish list - 18 items) is excluded from the current promo.

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    1. @Cancan, hang in there, I expect to see more promos in the very near future. They have a lot more inventory coming in.

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  4. Hello all, there will be a Cyber Week Promo taking place the week of Thanksgiving and on Thanksgiving Day no CS.

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