Wednesday, March 22, 2017

"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.

35 comments:

  1. It may be my preference, but I find their website terrible to navigate these days. At the top it used to be easy to move between women, kids, sale and factory and now they seem buried one layer seem and the factory icon I had is gone. It's also 5:30 am and I'm only half way through my morning coffee so I could just have morning brain...

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    1. But now I closed out and went back to the page and things are there, maybe I keep hitting their morning maintenance window or something.

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    2. I agree. I also hate that it now takes at least 3 clicks to get to my wishlist, and now it wants me to log in EVERY. SINGLE. TIME I try to add an item to my wishlist from the item page, when I have already signed in multiple times in one browser window and shopping session! The huge banner telling you to apply for a credit card on the checkout page is obnoxious as well.

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  2. I ordered the short-sleeved drapey oxford popover (which the website says is cotton) to discover that it is a lyocell blend--no cotton whatsoever. Ugh! Has a slight sheen to it and feels plasticky to me. A total disappointment--was expecting a lovely, substantial cotton shirt. Also tried the linen popover--lovely fabric, looks absolutely like a nightgown on me. I also ordered the same size in two colors and they were dramatically different--sleeves were nearly two inches longer on one. And the berry print pleated skirt: looks white on the website photos (at least on my computer) and in the catalog, and in real life it's definitely an ivory/light tan for the background. That's fine, but it would be nice if the catalog and online images were more accurate. It's all going back. I've been shopping at J.Crew for more than ten years but I think this might really be the end for me. I've returned 80% of what I've purchased in the past year. The quality has plummeted, prices have gone up, pricing games are constant, and the designs are either lackluster or wacky. What a shame.

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    1. sizing has been off on more than shirts and tops!
      agree the linen popovers gathering doesn't do it for me either.
      I would have assumed the oxford popover...was oxford cotton!
      pricing games...have me so angry..I am on another self imposed shopping J Crew ban.
      spring summer has not ever been my largest purchasing time of year. I prefer fall winter...but I purchased very little from J Crew this past season...all to do with flimsy collars and sheer cheap fabrics. not to mention pilled sweaters.

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  3. I know there have been shipping vents on this thread in the past but I have to say that, in my experience, Lilly Pulitzer has the worst shipping -- much slower than J. Crew. My order is now expected to arrive two weeks after I placed it. But LP is a great place to go for fun prints!

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    1. 2 weeks is pretty much waht it takes J Crew to ship to me in Canada. I forget what I have ordered by the time it arrives.

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  4. Ugh, my windowpane marties are losing threads all over the seam in the front through the crotch after one hand wash. This is not the quality I used to know from jcrew. It makes me so sad to know these pants probably won't last me a year. I'd really planned on making them a work horse! 😔

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    1. That is so disappointing - I had thought about ordering a pair with the current promo. Speaking of diappointing Marties - I like that they're washable (at least the cotton ones are) but my tomato red & bright blue pairs have faded to the point where they're unwearable. I dumped them in a Goodwill bag last weekend. I think I only washed them a few times a piece.

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    2. I am scheduled to get these delivered today! The marties have always been a troublesome fit for me so I guess now I am hoping they don't work so I can just return. We should not have to treat every item like it is super delicate especially when the washing instructions say machine wash. I am averaging about one order a month and that is fine with me. It used to be one a week. My wishlist is 7 items which is very small for me.

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    3. losing threads? like the seam is coming apart or the material itself is too weak?

      (i just want to know what to look out for)

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    4. I'm hoping I just received a defective pair. But yes, it appears that one layer of the seam is coming undone. I wish I could leave a photo here so you could see. I'll put one in my insta stories for those of you who instagram. You can find me @mrsgarzelloni

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    5. @Taylor - I read about the fading issues with the marties in the reviews. That is so disappointing. @Jess F The fit for the marties is very odd. For me sizing up has resulted in the pant stretching over time to the point where I should have ordered my normal size despite the tight fit at first. So frustrating. And I really love the silhouette on me; it really flatters my petite frame. I just wish there weren't all of these issues. It sucks to love something the first 2 wears only to be utterly disappointed after washing. I'm not rough on my clothes at all - my work clothes are scrubs so literally I'm just around the house or running errands in my clothing. They should last more than a wash 😔

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    6. I had ordered the Chambray ruffle pant and they were a perfect fit and did not bell out like the chino version. The second time I wore them I noticed a pull in the fabric mid calf; so I emailed customer service with a picture and told them how disappointed with the quality and it is not what I expected for $100 pants. They immediately got back to me offered a replacement with over night shipping for free and a shipping label to return the damaged pants. Maybe they will start listening to customer complaints about quality if they spend too much money shipping out replacement pairs!

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    7. @Mrs. Garzellloni- Ugh!!! I am having the same fit issue. Ordered a size up as in the past Marties are super tight in my regular size and the majority of reviews indicate to size up. Had them on last night just around the houses for like two hours and they have grown exponentially around my waist!!! Feel like I need to reorder in my regular size. If they had belt loops it would be very helpful! Or maybe I should seriously just give up on Marties. I am eyeing up some pants at Old Navy and may give them a try instead. I can get two pairs for the sale price of Marties.

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    8. @JessF oh no! I'm with you in the frustration! Another pant to try (if they still make them) is the express columnist. I have two pairs and they have belt loops and are true to size. They are also machine washable. Let me know how the Old Navy ones work out if you get them!

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  6. I agree about the quality these days. I took a bag to Goodwill over the weekend and it was full of JCrew. So sad, they were always my go to store.

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  7. OT-anyone who has the white and gold JC New Balance: do you find yourself wearing them often? If so, how/with what? I'm debating a return, but don't want to regret it. Finding more in my closet than I'd like to admit that's NWT, so trying not to keep anything that isn't a 'love.' Thanks in advance!

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    1. Hi Wendy! I'm embarrassed to admit that I own these and have never worn them. They're super gorgeous, but I just haven't figured out how to incorporate them into my wardrobe. HTH!

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    2. Hi Wendy
      I've had those NBs for over 2 years now and I wear them with most of my causal outfits! It goes well with olive pants, any color denim, shorts and skirts. This NB colorway is very neutral and hence versatile. I wear mine so much that it's looking very dingy and I may even order another pair. It's causal and chic with any outfit. I wear mine when I teach and my students love them. HTH!

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    3. Oh, you just gave me ideas on how to wear them!! Thanks Wendy!

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    4. You're welcome, Mrs. Garzelloni!

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    5. Thanks, Wendy! Barefoot or no-show socks only, right? I'm a novice at athleisure 😂

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    6. Yes, wear no show socks. I forgot to mention that white jeans with those NBs looks very fresh and chic. Fold up the jean to show some ankle, wear a stripe tee plus a denim jacket and you've got yourself a chic Spring outfit.

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    7. you ladies are making me want to pull the trigger on these sneakers!

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  8. Does j crew always play games with inventory. I've been stalking the black liberty skirt. No reviews all sizes have been stocked for a while with no markdown. It magically appeared sold out during the sale? Not a coincidence

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    1. Sarah, it looks like it is back in stock in pretty much all sizes now. And, yes, they do seem to mess with the inventory during a sale sometimes. I've questioned them about this before and they said it was due to their "dynamic inventory" (eyeroll).

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    2. Yes it's always back first thing AM and then it goes back to being sold out. This is on every item in my wishlist...

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  9. For the second time, I've received a item with the store security tag still attached. This time, I didn't notice until I got to the office. Fortunately I keep a pair of needle-nose pliers at my desk . . .

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  11. After a brief hiatus (I've not made a purchase since right before Christmas), I returned to my local brick and mortar yesterday. I was pretty disappointed in the quality of the new roll out. If I were blindfolded, I would surely have named several items as Factory based on how thin the fabrics were. Also, sizing is so inconsistent. I had to size down to a small in the merino-linen v sweater and then when I tried on an 8 in the ruffle top in clip dot, it felt tight and I felt crazy. Regardless, I wound up heading to the register with two sale items. I'm also a teacher and have been playing the 'teacher discount' game for a while. I'm quite adept and know the rules by heart. So when I let the associate know I was a teacher, and she explained that she could not add the teacher discount on top of a 'whole store' promo, I replied with "Right. On full priced items. However, you've always added it to my sale items." She stuck to her story. No additional discount. I remarked, "Okay, so this is a new rule." She explained that it had always been the case when there is a whole store promo...even for sale items. Again, I felt absolutely crazy. If that's how you're gonna play it, J. Crew, that's fine. But tell me you've decided to change the policy. Don't tell me that years of sale purchases with the additional teacher discount never happened to me. Cuz they did. And I don't like being lied to. This was a reputable store manager, too. Just when I thought I could confidently ask for the additional discount without getting side-eyed....

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  12. Does anyone else dislike Mail Innovations? UPS sure post - fine, USPS priority mail - fine, Mail Innovations - slow , slow, slow.

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    1. The real question is does anyone like UPS Mail Innovations?! It's TERRIBLE!

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  13. Ugh I ordered six items on Monday. Got one notification of one item shipping on Tuesday. Got another notification today (Wednesday) of one more item shipping. Am I going to get one notification for one item shipping each day for the next four days?! My mailman is going to kill me.

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