Over at The Consumerist, there is a story posted about a J.Crew customer who recently received 30 pairs of free shoes from the retailer after catching them in a web of lies. Please read his story below.
It started off with me shopping in a store in NJ. I really liked the sneaker there but the store was closing and I had to head back to Brooklyn. The sales associate told me to just go online and id be able to get the shoes for same price via website. They were 50% off in store, plus I had 15 % student discount. I call J.Crew online, and the sales person is super nice. She places me on hold to confirm with store the price.
She tells me that she spoke to the manager and that the shoes were never 50% off. I asked who she spoke to. Hang up and call store myself. Turns out there’s no manager in there by the name I was given
I call back J.Crew. I am told salesperson who i was working with left for the day, only to then find out she’s actually still in. Basically lied to non-stop.
I call CEO (Mickey Drexler). His assistant takes care of me. I have 30 new pairs of sneakers now.
This is a classic example of the policy and price inconsistencies at J.Crew. Some stores charge shipping of full price items, while others do not. Some stores match online prices while others do not.
On top of that, the website does always work. It’s always down and/or forbids online customers from browsing. (See “J.Crew Forbids Access to Some Online Shoppers.”)
This leads to an extremely negative shopping experience at J.Crew. Perhaps, it’s time for J.Crew to issue another apology. (See “J.Crew Admits Their Woes.”)
Personally, I would love to see the retailer post the policies on the website in black and white. It would be nice and clear for everyone: managers, sales associates and customers. I would love to be able to print it out and carry it into the stores with me.
Posted on Mar 1, 2009 in
Behind the Scenes 
As most J.Crew shoppers know, the retailer attempted to update its website last summer. With that update came a slew of problems. J.Crew even posted an apology on their website last summer. Click here to see the posts.
I have even had many readers write in to tell me that they have been blocked from accessing the J.Crew website. Tonight, the same thing happened to me. I received the following error message while browsing the site. Luckily, some IT folks in the family are helping me to get around it.
I am very curious as to why J.Crew is blocking potential customers from browsing its website. At a time when the retailer is laying people off to cut corners, J.Crew should welcome all visits to their website.
Has this happened to you? What did you do to get around it?
Posted on Aug 7, 2008 in
Catalog,
Website Browsing the website this morning, I noticed that J.Crew’s apology has changed once again. It now reads:
“We’re in the midst of making some major improvements to your web site and call center. During this transition, you might experience some short-term problems that could effect the high level of service you’ve come to expect from us. If that does happen, know that we’re very sorry and hope to have everything running smoothly again soon. Thanks so much for your patience.”
Below are the older apologies. The most recent one is very similar to the current one that is up. I wonder why they altered it when there is not much of a change.
OLDER APOLOGIES:
Posted on Aug 1, 2008 in
In the News,
Website I found the following article very interesting as it highlights the changes made to J.Crew’s apology that is posted on its website. I saw that the apology had been made smaller on the homepage, but I didn’t realize they had actually changed the wording.
I have included some highlights here. Please click the link below for the article in its entirety.
J.Crew Apologizes For ‘Too Many’ Mistakes During Launch, Then Redesigns Its Apology
by Eric Athas and Evan Schuman
J.Crew said Wednesday (July 30) that it had made “too many” mistakes after it launched its new site a month earlier, amid complaints of crashes and frequent slowdowns. Apparently, one of those mistakes included precisely how they said they made too many mistakes, as the company made more than a half-dozen changes to its homepage apology from Wednesday to Thursday.
The original apology, posted early Wednesday morning, said: “We’ve made some mistakes (too many in our mind). We want to say that we’re sorry for any issues you have experienced while shopping J.Crew online or over the phone over the last few weeks—we know we’ve let you down. We are in the midst of making some enhancements to our web site and call center (and, unfortunately, encountered some bumps along the way). Please bear with us as we work through these issues—we know it’s not perfect.”
It dominated the homepage of jcrew.com and was signed by J. Crew President Tracy Gardner and Chairman/CEO Millard Drexler.
By Thursday morning, the apology sharply shrunk—to less than one-fourth of Wednesday’s size—and it appears that Gardner and/or Drexler had reconsidered being personally tied to the glitches and their names were magically erased.
OLD APOLOGY:
CURRENT APOLOGY:
Posted on Jul 31, 2008 in
Fashion News,
In the News,
Website
The media coverage of J.Crew’s apology has been overwhelming. Check it out below.
On Women’s Wear Daily: Drexler Apologizes for J. Crew Web Site Glitches by David Moin
On The Washington Post: J.Crew says sorry by Ylan Mui
On Internet Retailer: J.Crew devotes its home page to apologizing for web site glitches
On The Boston Globe: Clothing seller apologizes for problem-plagued order system by Bloomberg News
The last article is posted below. I just wonder if the “inconvenience is so unacceptable,” why they don’t consider taking the site down while they fix the problems? There’s no sense in angering customers when they place orders for items they will not receive.
NEW YORK – J.Crew Group Inc., the clothing retailer run by former Gap Inc. chief executive Millard Drexler, has apologized to customers, asking shoppers to excuse problems with Internet and phone orders in the past few weeks.
“We know we’ve let you down,” Drexler and president Tracy Gardner said in the apology, sent to customers by e-mail yesterday and posted on the company’s Internet site. J.Crew is making “enhancements” to its site and call center and “unfortunately, encountered some bumps along the way,” they wrote.
“We’ve made some mistakes (too many in our mind),” the executives wrote. “Please bear with us as we work through these issues.”
The retailer’s website wasn’t accessible as of 1:47 p.m. and showed a “Be back soon” note. As of 2:30 p.m., the site worked and had the apology note on the home page.
On Wall Street, J.Crew, a men’s and women’s clothing retailer known for khaki shorts, chinos, and cashmere sweaters, fell $1.11, or 3.7 percent, to $28.98. The stock has dropped 40 percent this year through yesterday.
In the first quarter, Internet and catalog sales made up 30 percent, or $100.9 million, of New York-based J.Crew’s total revenue.
A recent upgrade to search and zoom functions online has caused some issues when shoppers place orders, J.Crew spokeswoman Margot Fooshee said in an e-mail, without elaborating.
“In our eyes, any inconvenience to our customers is unacceptable,” she said.
I was not surprised to see this email in my inbox from J.Crew this morning as the same message was posted on the front page of the website since last night. With the update of their new system, customers have had to endure long waits on the phone and vague replies from their contactus@jcrew.com email address.
I have only encountered some minor challenges since I placed a few orders last Friday morning. Here are the gory details.
I placed order #1 for two wedding dresses, the Fontaine and Madison dresses. The only dress that arrived yesterday morning was the Madison dress. It arrived in a huge box so I assumed that both were in it, but there was only one. However, the packing slip said that I was charged for both. I called customer service, where I waited 20 minutes before I was connected to a special occasion consultant. She immediately apologized and shipped the other dress with free overnight delivery.
The same thing happened with order #2 which arrived today. This order was for two Ecole Jackets: one in the Herringbone and one in the Donegal tweed. Again, I only received the Herringbone. This time, the packing slip only listed the one jacket, but the order total reflected that I was charged for two jackets. It was quite frustrating to see that. After another 20 minute wait, the customer service representative apologized and shipped the missing item with free overnight delivery.
Overall, I was satisfied with how they handled my situation. The shipment of both orders was very timely. I placed the order on Friday and here I am on Wednesday, with both of my orders completed. I know that others may be very frustrated, but a little patience, everything will work out.
I am happy to see that J.Crew is willing to admit their faults and attempt to resolve issues as they occur.
