Bad J. Jill, Bad!

Warning: Long, boring vent ahead! Feel free to skip it and then just leave a comment that says, "Oooh, that must be so frustrating! I'll complain to J. Jill next time I'm there!" Thanks.

This is the sort of thing that makes me spitting mad. As I mentioned, I had myself a little shopping spree at J. Jill a couple of weeks ago. I ended up buying 7 items, totaling $343.99. My 15% discount brought that down to $292.39, and with my $25 coupon I ended up at $267.39—a savings of $76.60! Pretty nice, huh? Well, I was unsure about one of the shirts I bought, so I figured I'd try it on at home and see what Andy thought. He agreed that it wasn't great, so I went to return it last week. Here's where the fun starts. The J. Jill computer rings up each item individually, each with its own 15% deduction and a prorated portion of the $25 coupon taken off of each one. So my receipt looked like this:

shirt 24.00
discount (3.60)
coupon (1.74)
total 18.66

shirt 38.00
discount (5.70)
coupon (2.76)
total 29.54

and so on. All of the "coupon" amounts add up to $25. So when I went to return the $38 shirt, I expected to get back $32.30 ($38 less the 15% discount I got). Instead, they gave me $29.54, which they said was what I paid for it. I reminded them that the $25 coupon said only that there was a minimum purchase of $100, which I obviously met. I said that I should be able to return all but $100 worth of merchandise and still save $25. They said sorry but that's the way the computer does it. I said that's ridiculous—you shouldn't be penalized for returning something; had I known, I would have put the questionable item on a separate bill. I said that if I had indeed returned all but $100 worth of merchandise, my $25 coupon would suddenly have been worth only about $5! They held firm and suggested I call their 800 number. So I did, but they said they deal only with the billing and not the actual purchasing; they said I should call the customer service people. So I did, but they said they only deal with catalog orders; they said I should call the store manager. I said that I had already spoken to the store manager, who said her hands were tied because she couldn't override the computer. I demanded to speak to a Big Boss, which is when I got one of those guys who listens patiently to everything you say and agrees that you have a point but then still claims that nothing can be done. It was maddening! I said that it was really deceitful to lure me into the store with a $25 coupon only to decrease its value just because I returned something. (I have since received another coupon—they always come in the catalog—and read all the fine print; nowhere does it say that you lose the value of the coupon on a returned item.) I explained that every other store in the universe deducts a coupon's value at the bottom of the receipt (and that their computers would be able to tell if someone tried to return merchandise so as to spend less than $100). He wanted to know how much we were talking about, and I said that it's not the $2.76 I'm upset about, it's that this whole transaction has left a bad taste in my mouth about the company. I also told him that the store manager had said she had people complaining about this all the time. Grrr.

Update: I forgot to mention that the store manager did give me a 10% discount card to use next time I'm in the store. That was all she could do, and I did appreciate it, although she was getting a wee bit snarky by the time I left.

Another Update (4/28/09): For some reason, this post attracts more spambots than usual, so I'm closing off comments. Feel free to email me if you want to make a (legitimate!) comment to this post.

Comments

[Lora]

"Oooh, that must be so frustrating! I'll complain to J. Jill next time I'm there!"
=D
I really did read the whole post. I agree that their computer program is goofy and should be changed.

[susan]

I was going to post exactly what Lora did. :)How ridiculous! Bad J. Jill. Now you need to pull a Pretty Woman move and go to Chico's and buy a ton of clothes and then walk over to J. Jill with your bags in hand and tell the manager you would have purchased your stuff at J. Jill if they had a better return/coupon policy.

[Elena]

Just another example of how computers--for all the benefits they provide--also make our lives more complicated! Otherwise, the store manager could have simply complied with your request. Instead, the computer is the one actually in charge!

[Jen Rodis]

The silliest part is J. Jill probably lost a valued customer over a measley $2.76.

[leah]

I'd be tempted to return the entire purchase, including the shirt. Then, re-purchase the items you want to keep and apply the $25 coupon. It's odd that J.Jill would have such poor service as they are usually much more Lands End-like in their approach.

[Green-Eyed Lady]

I would grrrrrrr, too! It is ridiculous that they lost a customer due to poor service. Unfortunatley, I've had that happen to me, too in other places. It's so aggrivating.

[Lorna]

I have one better for you: I recently purchased a bunch of t-shirts with their buy 2 get 1 free promotion. I went to exchange 4 that were the wrong color or size. Unfortunately, they were wiped out on sizes due to the sale. I decided to return the shirts, since I had bought enough anyway. Imagine my surprise, when 2 of the shirts were returned for $0!! Yes, I had chosen 2 of my freebies to return and the manager would not give me any monetary value for the shirts. She explained that they were free, and the computer could not do it any other way!! Does this take the cake or what?

[Tara]

Chico's does the same thing. I catalog ordered two pairs of pants in different sizes (along with other items) and told the operator who took my order that I would be returning which ever pair did not fit. She did not mention this coupon deal to me. When I received the order and went to the local store to return the pants, I ran into this same ordeal. The store manager gave me a $10 off coupon after I complained.

[Trace]

J.Jill sells great on Ebay, especially if it's new with the tags still on. Don't return what you don't want - sell it. You'll make way more doing that then returning the things to the store!

[racheli]

My goodness! What an ordeal! You spent a great deal of time and energy trying to recover that $2.76 and the unfairness of it all. Not to trivialize your dilema, but just think how lucky you are to be able to afford to spend $350 on clothing that you probably don't need and not worry about minor things that other people deal with such as not having enough money to buy groceries for your children or to pay your gas bill before it gets turned off, or medicine for yourself, etc. So GET OVER IT!

[Karen]

I do indeed feel very grateful that I can afford new clothing every now and then (and, believe me, I do not treat myself to new clothing very often -- I spend it on the kids instead). But just because I can buy new clothing and not worry about food bills instead doesn't mean that good customer service is no big deal to me. I take it very seriously and expect to be treated fairly and with respect.

[Shelly]

I agree that this isn't right, Gymboree and The Children's Place also do this and it's not a nice thing for them to do to us. We should all get together and do something! Any ideas?

[Sunni]

I'm glad I found this post because I was about to use a coupon for JJill tonight. I've noticed this is a growing trend for merchants to deduct % per item. I have an online store and its good to learn more about what customers want in their shopping experience. At my store the coupon % is taken off the entire subtotal and if someone makes a return they get the full item cost back. It just makes more sense to me. In any case, if a customer complained I would have just adjusted their return since customer satisfaction seems more important than saving just a few $. I am a consumer too and it gets frustrating fighting the 'red tape' of big stores constantly.

[Cris Clay]

This is a very bad policy. GAP does it too. I had the same experience at GAP when returning 2 items of 4 that I purchased and used a $20 certificate on. My certificate was a GAP rewards certificate given to me for making a certain amount of purchases. When I returned the items, they would not give me the coupon credit. I was so angry. I will deal with it in the future by doing exactly as you said - having them ring up questionable items on another receipt. But we shouldn't have to do this.

[Kim]

I have also run into this before and discovered that if you return the item without a receipt you will usually get the last sale price and a store credit. If you are wanting to exchange the item for something else in the store you are better off doing this because most of the time you will come out ahead. Just an idea. I've had to do this at Children's Place for the same reason because you've ended up spending more money than the coupon required and you will end up losing most of the value of the coupon if you returned one or two items. You have to play their silly game!

[Kimi]

Yes, I actually had some similar problem with a return to Gap when using my Reward Certificate. I returned the skirt and lost the reward! Hello! I still wanted to use the reward on something else in the store! I ended up calling their 1-800 number and the guy apologized and said I should still be able to use my reward on something else. He made it right! I was so amazed! But I had to go through too much to make it right. No wonder customers get nasty customer service can suck sometimes.

[Debbie]

I just came across this entry, and I had to comment because I've had the same thing happen to me at both J Jill and The Gap! It's infuriating!! Basically, I have learned to NEVER use a coupon on something that I am not sure I will keep. However, in the event that you have to do that to make the "minimum" purchase, if you end up needing to return something, as noted in another comment, you usually will come out ahead bringing in the item WITHOUT the receipt and telling them you received it as a gift. I always ask the sales associate how much I will get back for the item, and make a decision accordingly. And I'm sorry, but I find it incredibly hard to believe that a manager does not have the capability of doing some sort of "manual override" to rectify these sorts of issues. It's nice to hear that I am not the only one who has lost sleep over this stupid policy!! It's so not about the $2.76, it's the PRINCIPLE of it!!

[Stephanie]

Here's another for you -
Bought a DVD movie at full price at Target.
Still unopened, with original receipt, Target said they could only give me 1/2 price back because it was now on sale or clearance. I had a receipt for the full price!!! Furious, I left Target, went to Walmart, and explained to them that I purchased it elsewhere, but could they return it? Walmart indeed took a competitor's product (because they also stocked it) and gave me full price in the form of a store card. Needless to say, I NEVER shop at Target any more. Over approximately $9, Target lost a customer whose typical annual spending at stores is in the $3-4 thousand range. It's been over 2 years, and I go 5 miles out of my way to avoid Target.

[Karen]

Well, I just received a $10 coupon from the Gap, along with a letter saying that because of a class-action suit, from now on they will credit rewards points back to customers' accounts on returned items! Yee-ha, we won for a change!

[Lisa Saxon]

Wow.I cannot believe JJill treated you that way. I have always received excellent customer service there. The customer service reps have broken rules and credited my account when a sale item is further reduced. .... A few weeks ago, I purchased a full-price shirt that was ruined in the laundry (hem fell out). JJill sent me a new shirt and invited me to keep the one that was defective. The operator even offered to waive the shipping fee on any other item I wanted. ... The clerk at my local JJill store has coupons behind the counter, and she shares them with customers she recognizes (I go there maybe four times a year, and the woman remembers me by name -- probably because I drop $300 every time I go in!).

I suggest you mention this incident the next time you order something. Ask the operator to waive the shipping fee.

Good luck!

[Deborah]

Sahalie is even worse. I recently tried to buy a "Wooby" sweater. They advertised free shipping for all Wooby products and also advertised 10% off for any purchase over $49. My purchase was over $49 but they wouldn't give me BOTH 10% off AND the free shipping even though it doesn't say anywhere on their website that you can only use one discount per purchase. The Sahalie reps told me their "system" couldn't handle two discounts. I suggested that they get a human being to handle the transaction but they insisted that their system was at fault and why wasn't I happy with the $7.99 shipping discount? So for $4.95 they lost me as a customer. I hope that a lawyer brings a class action lawsuit against these companies for false advertising on their websites and coupons. It would be a good case of consumers vs. the companies.

[Mary]

Love the comment about how you shouldn't expect good customer service because you can afford to buy the clothes...that's classic. I've had all of those places (J Jill, Coldwater Creek, etc) do exactly the same thing. My fave was when I had $300 worth of clothes (sorry, the kids didn't get to eat that week because mommy wanted clothes) and wanted to apply two of the coupons...they said no, so I said "Cool, put away half of them and I will come back in half an hour with another coupon for the other ones"....then they magically made the computer work!

[Kathie]

Holy cow, to the person that thinks bad service is ok as long as you can afford $300 for clothing even though they don't even know your personal situation. {{{rolls eyes}}} Just remember this, many people ate because of your clothing purchase. ;)

Bad service aside, the clothing at JJill is great, isn't it? If you really like their things, like I do, I think I'd write a letter to their customer service department explaining why you think the policy is unfair...I do, too. Maybe you'll get a response. Who knows.

[Stephanie]

I have had the same bad experiences at J.Jill! The $25 coupon issue AND issues with their buy two get one free schemes. Woe is you if happen to want to return/exchange the item that rang up as being free for another color/style. They wouldn't even let me exchange for same-priced-item (the promotion was still ongoing)! since they said it was a free item! I was so mad I went and donated the items to charity rather than give it back to the store for them to resell to someone else! I had been spending so much at their store but this experience has chilled my passion.

[Natalie]

I think the only way to get the attention of these stores and actually change their return 'screw the customer' policy is to band together and bring a class action suit against the company. It's usually FREE for the consumers who sue cause the lawyers love this and want the case, it's bad publicity for the retailer, and it's also very costly for the retailer cause they have to spend the $$$$$ to put up a defense and then they have to probably change their policy in the future anyway. So, this is the BEST way to get their attention. Writing a letter to the CEO doesn't do the trick cause they don't care if they lose ONE or TWO customers. They make their fortune on maintaining a 'good' reputation. CLASS ACTION SUIT. It's the best way.