Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Glitch in the Blogger Commenting System

Good morning JCAs! Early today, I noticed that some of the posts had zero comments while my email box showed several comments were actually made in those very same posts.

I tested it by writing comments in a few posts and sure enough, after a few minutes my comments were automatically deleted too.

So if you left a message any time after 9PM last night, your comment got wiped out from the JCA blog (in all posts). Unfortunately, the commenting system is still *not* working for the JCA blog.

I checked Blogger's Help Forum and turns out this is a known problem. Here's to hoping they resolve it soon. As the best part of this blog is the comments! :)

P.S. This is not affecting all Blogger blogs. Just some. Which includes this one. :(

Mini UPDATE: "Thanks!" to Roxy in this post (of course her comment doesn't show up ;) ), that Anonymous comments are not impacted by this glitch. Until this issue is resolved, I am allowing for Anonymous commenting. So if you are a registered user, please use the Anonymous commenting feature for now. Hopefully this temporary work-around works! :)

Mini UPDATE 2: It looks like some of the comments that were made before and then removed, are now visible in their corresponding posts. So if you made a comment and don't see it right away, it will eventually get publicly posted. :) Sorry for the inconvenience everyone! :(

31 comments:

  1. Sooo lame, isn't it? If you allow Anonymous posts those will show up but for anyone with a registered account, you're screwed.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Testing with a comment to see if it stays up. :)

    Alexis {J.Crew Aficionada}

    ReplyDelete
  3. I just commented in the post on the new online chat using anonymous posting and it doesn't look like it stuck.

    Desert Flower.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Desert Flower, I can see your comment in the Chat post. Hopefully it will stay there. :)

    Alexis {J.Crew Aficionada}

    ReplyDelete
  5. Desert Flower, I can see your comment in the Chat post. Hopefully it will stay there. :)

    Alexis {J.Crew Aficionada}

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ugh - how annoying, especially since I spent like an hour last night commenting on blogs and they all just disappeared into the ether.

    Thanks for the info on this issue, Alexis!

    Lisa - respect the shoes

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  7. Thanks for allowing anonymous posting, even if it's just because of the technical problems. I hope you'll consider keeping it, perhaps moderated, after the problems are resolved. I don't want to sign up with Blogger, so I'd resigned myself to not commenting.

    But I check in with your blog most days. J Crew is an interesting fashion business story and I enjoy watching it unfold - though I have a lot of problems with their actual product. Just one example: what is WITH their sizing? I can't wear most of their clothes because even the 0 is way too big on me. I know they're doing a very few 00s but picking through hundreds of items to find a few that *might* fit is more an exercise in frustration than anything else, because you get to see tons of stuff that doesn't. Also, there's no way to search "00" as a size in the sidebar, nor to search "xxs" in the sidebar. Weird oversights....

    Anyway Alexis, you're doing a great job with the blog. Thanks!

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  8. I would like to add my voice to Anon at 9:10 am. Thank you for allowing Anonymous posting again! I used to share promo codes and find items for people all the time and I stopped because I was not able to post (and really felt that my contributions were unwelcome).

    Please consider retaining Anonymouse posting after the technical issue is resolved. I think it adds a fresh perspective to the comments on this blog which tend to get very homogenous and whiny when they are always from the same few people.

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  9. I too felt unwelcome (not by you Alexis!) and definitely different than the rest of the group. Thanks for offering up anonymous posting again, even if due to a glitch.

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  10. Anyone has any FS coupon code? Want to get a cardigan but the FS only applies to selected dresses.... :(

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  11. Some of the dresses were less expensive when they were in the sale section. Now with the 20% off, a few are marked back to full price with the percentage off noted afterward.

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  12. Looks like some of last night's comments are starting to reappear where and when originally posted...

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  13. I was eyeballing a couple of dresses yesterday as I have 2 weddings to attend in the fall. Wanted to try on a couple of them for fit and sizing. So went ahead and put 2 models in 2 sizes each into the cart, did a mock check out and saw one, just ONE, had the dreaded Final Sale tag. But the other dress (same product no., same colour) in a different size didn't say final sale. So, dumped the lot, re-carted the items, and the final sale tag is gone. WEIRD.

    And if what the other poster says is true (I haven't memorized the prices of the dresses), then JC is up to their tricks again, similar to what happened with the jewelry couple of days back, mark them back up to apply the % off, hoping to fool us... WTF!?!?!?

    Closet Crisis (One Too Many Closets)

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  14. I used to post anonymously but now I think this blog is friendlier and posters are kinder without anonymous posts.

    Thanks for the temporary use of anonymous though:)

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  15. Anyone know when the next round of new arrivals will be on the site? Im assuming this will be more "fall" items

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  16. I'm new to commenting, but have been reading this blog for quite a while and i love it!

    anyone know if the 20% is still going on in the stores?

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  17. Does anyone know what the latest Madewell e-mail was about?

    I seem to be having the same problem receiving e-mails from Madewell that others have mentioned about J Crew e-mails.

    Thanks.

    Sidenote - I see that Madewell is having 25% in store-only for anyone who lives nearby.

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  18. I just noticed that there's been a restock of the Sale Section. Lots of popbacks of tops, shirts, tees, sweaters etc. Drooling over the perfect shirts and cashmere cardi's... thankfully for my wallet and my cramped closets, no free ship w/ $ off means JC won't get my money...this time around...

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  19. Sorry, this is OT, but I'm in major shock as I came back from vacation for a month and the Jcrew near my house (3 miles!) is permanently closed! I'm talking about the store in Brea, CA.

    I wonder what happened...whether it was just this store that wasn't doing well or has anyone read about Jcrew not doing well overall and started closing stores around the country? I'm so, so sad!!

    Cecilia

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  20. I love J. Crew! The preview for Fall 2010 looks amazing!

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  21. While an Anon can still post, I wanted to provide some information on how retailers decide who gets what promotion or catalog. I see a lot of comments on here that J. Crew’s promotions and catalog mailings are “random”. No way is that true – there is too much money at stake.

    By way of background, I have an MBA and experience in a corporate market research department. I am not an expert in database marketing, but I am generally familiar with the concept. I have worked in retail, but never for J. Crew.

    Generally speaking, direct marketers have a customer list. They use sophisticated statistical techniques to segment their customer database into buckets using the variables they’ve found to have the best predictive power. The lists are “scored” which allows the marketing team to select the buckets (and by extension the customers in those buckets) that are predicted to yield the best response to a given promotion or catalog mailing. The models can be changed to weight variables differently depending on merchandise mix or promotional features.

    The point of a retailer promotion is to increase profits, gain new customers and/or increase incremental sales. If the result of a promotion is that the retailer sells the same merchandise they would have sold anyway to the same customers at a lower price, they have reduced profit and it would be considered an unsuccessful campaign. This is part of the reason your mother/father/sister/brother/boyfriend/husband/BFF/frenemy who doesn’t purchase as much got a better offer in the catalog than you did. THEY need a “big carrot” in order to purchase. YOU don’t. This is also why many retailers don’t like the publication of promo codes – it throws off their results.

    For a case study on a multi-channel apparel retailer that I did in grad school, demographic info was the best predictor for PROSPECTIVE customers (e.g., women were more likely to respond than men, this age range was most likely to respond, this income bracket was most likely to respond, etc.) For EXISTING customers, transactional information had greater predictive power. Transactional information included things like frequency of purchase, tendency to purchase from a competitor, Abacus * score, house file model score, whether the customer was a “Brand X” credit card holder, etc.

    Sorry for the length. Hope some of you found this helpful.

    * At the time, Abacus was a cooperative database company. Catalog companies that joined Abacus provided them with customer transaction information. Abacus combined this information into one huge database that contained detailed information about 256 million American consumers and their shopping habits. Abacus could also take a retailer’s house database and provide a “score” for each name that ranks that person in terms of catalog shopping activity. Abacus was acquired by Double Click in 1999 then sold to Alliance Data Systems in 2006. It is now part of Alliance’s Epsilon division: http://www.epsilon.com/Epsilon-brTargeting/p31-l1/

    ReplyDelete
  22. While an Anon can still post, I wanted to provide some information on how retailers decide who gets what promotion or catalog. I see a lot of comments on here that J. Crew’s promotions and catalog mailings are “random”. No way is that true – there is too much money at stake.

    By way of background, I have an MBA and experience in a corporate market research department. I am not an expert in database marketing, but I am generally familiar with the concept. I have worked in retail, but never for J. Crew.

    Generally speaking, direct marketers have a customer list. They use sophisticated statistical techniques to segment their customer database into buckets using the variables they’ve found to have the best predictive power. The lists are “scored” which allows the marketing team to select the buckets (and by extension the customers in those buckets) that are predicted to yield the best response to a given promotion or catalog mailing. The models can be changed to weight variables differently depending on merchandise mix or promotional features.

    The point of a retailer promotion is to increase profits, gain new customers and/or increase incremental sales. If the result of a promotion is that the retailer sells the same merchandise they would have sold anyway to the same customers at a lower price, they have reduced profit and it would be considered an unsuccessful campaign. This is part of the reason your mother/father/sister/brother/boyfriend/husband/BFF/frenemy who doesn’t purchase as much got a better offer in the catalog than you did. THEY need a “big carrot” in order to purchase. YOU don’t. This is also why many retailers don’t like the publication of promo codes – it throws off their results.

    For a case study on a multi-channel apparel retailer that I did in grad school, demographic info was the best predictor for PROSPECTIVE customers (e.g., women were more likely to respond than men, this age range was most likely to respond, this income bracket was most likely to respond, etc.) For EXISTING customers, transactional information had greater predictive power. Transactional information included things like frequency of purchase, tendency to purchase from a competitor, Abacus * score, house file model score, whether the customer was a “Brand X” credit card holder, etc.

    Sorry for the length. Hope some of you found this helpful.

    * At the time, Abacus was a cooperative database company. Catalog companies that joined Abacus provided them with customer transaction information. Abacus combined this information into one huge database that contained detailed information about 256 million American consumers and their shopping habits. Abacus could also take a retailer’s house database and provide a “score” for each name that ranks that person in terms of catalog shopping activity. Abacus was acquired by Double Click in 1999 then sold to Alliance Data Systems in 2006. It is now part of Alliance’s Epsilon division: http://www.epsilon.com/Epsilon-brTargeting/p31-l1/

    ReplyDelete
  23. Sorry for the double post - comments must still be a bit glitchy as I only submitted once!

    Alexis, please feel free to delete one!

    ReplyDelete
  24. OT: I have a habit of buying things at full price & no promo code (partly because I'm afraid that if i don't get it I might miss out on something I really want) and a couple days later a 30%, 20% or free shipping comes along & I always miss out. In this month's catalog I received a 20% off promo code shortly after I puchased 3 items at regular price & no free shipping (one item was scheduled to be shipped in August) & I had just missed out on the 30% off promotion.

    I contacted Alexis to post the 20% off coupon in which she informed me it was a one time only regardless of who uses it. I couldn't use it since i had already spent too much so I gave it to someone else to use.


    Today I noticed the item that was scheduled to ship in August became available and it seems to my surprise that J Crew applied the jewelry promo code to it. I was so excited by it because this has never happened to me. Just wondering if this is normal & if this has happened to anyone else before.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Girls, if someone has a 20% off coupon and is not going to use it, please, mail it to me: "zorya_s at yahoo.com". Thanks a lot!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Hi Anon 9:33 pm,

    Yes, this is what normally happens in my experience. If you place an order for a waitlisted item and the system price is lower at the time it ships, you are automatically charged the lower price.

    Congrats!

    ReplyDelete
  27. I am experiencing the same dang thing -- and it is annoying!! I also found that if you post your blog to Facebook, the site address and the images pop up, but that short summary is bingo-bango MIA. If anyone knows the answer to this one, please let me knw!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anon @ 8:46 ITA with what you are saying. I also know from my work experience that are you are dead on with the many ways retailers segment to drive sales. But even though I never get the 20% off in a catalog my Personal Shopper will give it to me for a single higher priced item if I ask. Items that are over $200 and more like $300. I'm usually buying at full price and that is likely the reason why they accomodate the occasional discount.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Thanks everyone for your patience with the whole glitch. I really appreciate it. :)

    Now back to J.Crew! :)

    ReplyDelete
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Dear J.Crew Aficionadas & Aficionados: Please feel free (and encouraged) to share your thoughts and opinions. :) However, please note that this is still a personal blog. So comments that are considered inappropriate (e.g. obscene, racist, homophobic, personal attacks, rude, and just plain mean) will be removed.

And now back to J.Crew! :)