STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

This is the e-mail that I sent to customer service....

So when I lived in Philly, I would often go to Anthropologie and purchase things (the Wayne location). Well, a couple of times I went they didn't have the items so they would locate them for me. They always came through and I usually HAD my items within a week. At the latest, two (maybe happened once). Well, the first time I wanted an item that Anthropolgie didn't have was in Chicago when I was visiting my bf. I asked the SA there if there was anything that she could do and she said sorry. Nothing more. Then I went to my Philly store and that's when the lady told me that they could order the item. Why didn't the Chicago store mention that? Strike #1.

At Christmas I ordered a duvet cover so I bought it with a gift card from my bf. Well, the Chicago store didn't have the matching shams so THEY offered to find them for me. I called a week later after not hearing anything from them. They told me it may take up to two weeks. I called around stores myself and ordered them. I didn't even bother to call the Chicago store to tell them to stop looking because I had already found them. It didn't matter because they never followed through with finding the order for me. Strike #2.

I recently bought two of the same shirt in different colors, but decided I didn't like the blue color with my skin tone so I returned it (Sept. 6) and they gave me a store credit since I didn't have my cc with me (eventhough it was two days later). Fine. So I found a sale shrug that I wanted but they didn't have my size. THEY offered to find it. Fine. So the SA filling out the form was really nice. I mentioned my previous experience with them not following through. She said they would call me regardless and made a note on the sheet saying to notify me regardless. A week and a half later. Nothing. I'm really upset. I call because I haven't heard anything and they said UP TO two weeks. The girl on the phone said that it could take up to two weeks to find the item. Um, that is three days away. She said she will make a note and call me. It's been over two weeks. I haven't heard anything. I am upset because I would have called around, but they promised me they would stay in contact. Strike #3

Three strikes and you're out in my book.

I just called the store and asked for the store manager and told them my name and that it was a customer service issue. The sales associate informed me that she was with a customer, could i wait? I said yes and waited 14:50 seconds (I was going to hang up at 15 minutes). While she (J., I think that's what she said), was nice, that is too long to make a customer wait on the phone. I have worked in retail and the store managers(which I later found out that she wasn't, she was an assistant manager) job is to make sure that the store runs smoothly, not do the selling. That is what sales associates are for. She put me on hold and told me that they found the top, not in the larger size which I wanted, but in the size down, which I said I wanted if they couldn't find the larger size. This was what was written on the sheet. WHY DIDN'T THEY NOTIFY ME? Or for that matter, send it to me?? They had all the infomation. I'm expecting to hear from them, and if they did find it, why didn't they tell me? That is completely unacceptable.

Here are my issues:
-don't make customers bend over backwards to get their items. It is the stores job to EARN business.
-don't make promises that can't be met.
-how can a large store like the Chicago store offer such horrible customer service while the Wayne store in Pennsylvania, which is smaller and probably doesn't have as high of standards as the Chicago store, be so different and much more deserving of business?
-it is NEVER acceptable to make a customer wait for 15 minutes on the phone.
-pass off your customer if you are the manager in the store that is responsible for dealing with customer service issues.
-the item that I was interested in ordering is a seasonal item, that can only be warn during the transitional months. Getting the item a month later in Chicago, doesn't cut it. I declined the offer of sending me the shrug. It's too late and the store doesn't deserve my business.
-I would have ordered the item online, but the sale price online is twice as much as the price in the store...very frustrating since I have no acceptable store to shop at!

I was at the Urban Outfitters in the same area owned by the same company, the store manager happened to be at the register, she helped me, and took out this little gadget and used it to find me an item. She then called the store for me, etc... all in five minutes. Isn't Anthro. supposed to be a step up from Urban Outfitters? The prices reflect it as the EXACT same pair of shoes carried at both stores is more expensive at Anthropologie. If I am paying more, I expect more.
Please respond to this e-mail at least acknowleging that it was received. By the way, the store manager at the Chicago store is S. (although I never got a chance to speak with her).

I'M SOOOO MAD AT THAT STORE! I TOLD THEM THERE WAS NOTHING THAT I COULD DO WITH A STORE CREDIT AS I REFUSE TO SHOP THERE.


-- Edited by shopgirl82 at 14:38, 2005-09-28