Wednesday, May 11, 2011

"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.

31 comments:

  1. sooo... question... i placed an online purchase... then got that 20% off coupon. i was told the coupon couldn't be applied to the order since it already shipped so i reordered everything and went to return the first. when they SA asked why i was returning, i told her about the coupon and she said next time that happens just come into the store and they'd fix it. on the one hand, that's really awesome. but on the other, it made me feel kinda dumb. is this a new policy or something? who's right? the SA who told me to reorder or the second one who was doing the return?

    oh. and my vent is the usual vanity sizing rant i have. half the stuff i ordered has to go back anyway since it's all wacky sizing.

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  2. arrrr perfect timing for this: I got up at 5:30am this morning to jump on the site and take advantage of the free shipping code. Site hadn't updated yet. Went back on at 6am and not only had the site updated, but everything was already picked over! When did it update today? AHH!

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  3. I agree with Miss JR about the sizing....EVERYTHING I have ordered lately has had to go back. There is no way on God's green earth am I a size 2, but on J.Crew earth, apparently so. If they continue this, they are going to need to start making xxxs!

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  4. Cloggsy-- seriously! at 5'4" 125 lbs i am a normal healthy woman. i should probably be about a 4 or even 6 in a normal world, but in j crew i can go down to a 0! by this time next year i may be sized out completely!

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  5. Unfortunately, we've all had to do a fair share of returning. I ordered two tees during the recent promo and decided the quality wasn't worth even the discounted price. I intended to use the prepaid label to send them back, but was a touch outraged to see that it would run me $7.95 (!!!) to return two whisper thin tees. (As this group knows, J. (s)Crew ups the prepaid label fee when there is more than one item being returned.) Though I can hardly squeeze a trip to the PO into my day (which is one of the reasons I shop online), I jetted over and spent $3.50 to ship the tees WITH TRACKING!

    Highway robbery those prepaid labels.

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  6. still waiting for 4/29 order to ship!
    meanwhile grumbling about infantile styles and high prices here

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  7. kikki cee,

    I think the labels are great when you have a large box of items to return and would cost me much more than the $7.95 to return using the post office. Otherwise, for two lightweight items I see your point.

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  8. Notwithstanding my griping about ruffles, sequins, raw edges, skirt lengths, vanity sizing, lack of business casual offerings, etc., the quality of the Super 120s suiting had never been a problem for me . . . until now.

    I'd been blaming my white cat for the white flecks on my Abby jacket. But when I pulled one off, turns out it is a 1" fiber from the lining (not even the interfacing or shoulder shaper) coming out through the wool. The jacket is suddenly covered; it's as if the fibers all tried to escape at once. On closer review the same thing is starting with some of my other jackets.

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  9. Hexicon, that is terrible about your suiting. I also used to trust J.Crew suiting to be good quality and have lasting durability. Sad to hear that is no longer the case.

    My gripe was mentioned yesterday but I'll vent again today. What is going on with the swimsuit sizing? The bottoms I have ordered over the last while are huge and not wearable in the water without suspenders to hold them up and on. The Casbah top I received recently is really small. Granted, it was offered in bra sizes so perhaps I need to size up next time but this suit is going back.

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  10. teeny84, are you on eastern time? It officially updated at 5:45am EDT. Figures, right between the two times you checked. :( Items went fast fast fast! I put one $19.99 item in my basket and checked the heck out ASAP, thanks to free shipping, then went back later and ordered another item. You're right, it didn't take long for items to be picked over.

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  11. @tamara: yeah I'm on Eastern timing - figures that I was too early for the popbacks, and then too late! ARGH! What can ya do? I'm sure my bank account is happy about the mishap haha

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  12. ROFL wellfedfred @ "droopy drawers"! My first thought was poopy pants but droopy drawers is even better. :) Ghandi's dhotis are stylin', but they don't translate well into the longer length I see, and certainly not with stiff fabric. Why am I thinking "King and I" now?

    Hexicon, it would be interesting if you could open up a small section of a seam joining the lining and jacket fabric to peer inside and see what's happening to the back side of the lining. I take it the outside of the lining that goes up against your top isn't having the problem. Weird. It's like the fibers are breaking. Is the jacket fabric rubbing them to the breaking point?

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  13. This is my first post on this blog. I love J.Crew but, I have been somewhat frustrated by the quality and sizing this year. I recently purchased a cashmere sweater only to find a small hole in the sleeve after I wore it twice. I have J.Crew cashmere's from three seasons ago that are in better shape than my newly purchased one. The cashmere isn't the same quality as it use to be. I assume they have changed mills? I also wish they would keep some of the classics they have been known for. I feel they are going a bit trendy with many of the styles and by doing so, have lost the quality they strive for. Many of the classic t-shirts this year are not as nice as previous seasons. I also wish they would add a notation on how each piece is sized (running small, true to size, or large) on the web site. I have returned so many items this year because I bought the wrong size. The money I spend in shipping back would have bought a jacket!! Still love J.Crew but, I wish they would find a solid direction on what they are trying to do.

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  14. This is also my first post and sadly it is a vent. I am so upset with the perfect fit tee shirts this year. I just ordered several of them in medium and they all have to go back. The shoulders are all too narrow and sometimes even "sit up" above my actual shoulder. The smalls I got last year still fit perfectly in the shoulders but are just a bit tighter than I want to wear this year. Why did they change it???

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  15. I have the Dorrie skirt in Dragonfly Blue, and have had the Toffee and red on back order. The Toffeee just came, and I kid you not, it is a good inch or two shorter than the blue! Same size! The Toffee came in the mail wodded in a ball, so wrinkly, so I pressed it before heading out in it, but quickly changed as it is so short! I guess a size bigger would fit lower on my hips, and be longer, but I liked the high waist look, but this just makes it too mini. It will be returned! Sad!

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  16. Though it's extremely depressing, J.Crew is admittedly another corporation whose goal is to grossly maximize profit. That means cheaper quality and higher prices.

    Do they have sweatshops in Italy now or something?

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  17. Hi all - count me in as another person who has followed the blog for a while but have never posted, until now. This isn't a vent exactly, just a pet peeve. The sale lists a "j crew collection" section with 3 items - but we all know that there are many dozens of nutty Collection items in the sale section, sometimes up to 80% off. It seems that J Crew puts a lot of energy into obscuring their merchandise failures. If the items are that bad, take them away entirely!

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  18. Tamara -

    Are all sale (and new arrival) updates at 5:45 a.m.? I'm not quite that motivated...

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  19. cousy, most of the updates I've witnessed have occurred between 5:30am and 6am ET. I remember one that occurred just before 7am.

    The sale categories are a little crazy. I think the Velvet Ruby still doesn't exist in any category but you can find it if you look through all of the sale items or do a product search. And for some items that come in multiple sizings (petite/regular/tall or regular/extended calf) only one is visible in the sale section, the others are only indirectly accessible. Example: the regular sizing for the Velvet Ruby doesn't show up in the sale section, but you can get to it via the petite sizing or via product search. That might explain why so many are left! There have been multiple sizes/colors for like a week now.

    (I thought I saw a mid-day update but it was a false alarm caused by lack of sleep.)

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  20. lunarary, sad but true, the sweatshops have been outsourced to Italy. I have commented about this in the past but here are some links if you want more information.

    L.A. Times - Slaving in the lap of luxury

    Daily Mirror - Designer labels' sweatshop scandal

    The Consumerist - Made in Italy is Italian for "Made in sweatshops"

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  21. Tamara,the update was 5:45 ? Are they trying to kill me? You might not have been dreaming about that mid-day update, I swear I saw some new things too a few days back and they dumped my cart at that time too. I fear the quality of the leather shoes is now suffering as well. The milano gladiator sandals I just received on sale have thin leather compared to my sandals from last season. The straps seem to be "unfinished" too, with raw edges. I also wish they made those ankle straps a little longer. Apparently I have some huge ankles...hopefully they are not cankles !

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  22. xoxo-
    Ah-ha! And I was just joking! Wow that makes me feel very cheated. And more hopeless about the world.

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  23. Why does the swimwear sell out so freaking fast?! It gets worse and worse each year. The bathing suit I wanted was already sold out in my size (and the 2 next closest sizes) in April! WTF. We don't all live in Miami.

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  25. I was anxious to receive my recent order, a tiered dress, along with few other items! I was disappointed to find out that the dress that I really want did not come with the shipment... Jcrew did refund me, but I prefer to have a replacement. I also bought a pair of ballet flats at the store, but the leather was a bit scratched. I should have talked to the manager to get a damage discount before purchasing the shoes... so i was told that those marks are not scratched but that's how the leather look. The sales also said that the leather is of superior quality.... I just dont think a brand new pair should be like that.

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  26. I agree with xoxo...the swimsuit bottoms are HUUUGE! I now have one top and 3 bottoms, since I can't figure out what size to order. And the "vintage slim" jeans...also bizarrely gigantic in the wasit & hips. On final sale, so I couldn't return them, but my normal size in every other style jeans I own is sooo big on these, all the belts in the world can't save it. I'll be roofing in them later today....
    And don't get me started on the holes that show up in everything. Thank god for this site - I thought I was going nuts!

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  27. Lisa,
    I had the same problem with the Perfect Fit Tees when I tried them on a couple of months or so ago. Way too narrow in the shoulders! I even tried different sizes just to make sure it wasn't because they were the wrong size, but none of those fit either. Very disappointing because I really wanted to get one, since there's a particular color in them I really like. I didn't have that problem with the long-sleeve Perfect Fit Tees from during the Fall and Winter. Hoping that they fix that ASAP!

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