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

[Natalie]

Oh and there's another way around this but you need to be ordering ONLINE for this to work.

1. Put all the items in your cart and place your order and wait for the order to go through.

2. Your items should be packaged and shipped within 24 hrs. and they will send you an email. To make doubly sure, wait 1 day until those items get packed and an invoice printed.

3. Then CALL customer service and tell them you have a coupon or gift cert but it didn't go through correctly when you placed your order and you want to make sure you get credit for it on your order. They will ask you your order number and coupon number.

This *should* work to get your discount applied but not at the individual line item. And, if you wait until the item was just shipped then the invoice printed out will not show a discount or coupon, but you can still get J.Jill to apply it to the order you just placed. Then, if you need to return something to the store or exchange an item, you take in the invoice that came with your package and you're good as gold cause no discount appears on that invoice.

[Terry]

Two years ago my daughter gave me slippers from Target for Christmas. Unfortunately, there was a lump sewn into the bottom of one and I went to return them, actually exchange, for another pair, but they didn't have my size in any color. I tried 2 more Targets, neither of which had any of that particular slipper available, and finally gave them the gift receipt to obtain money or a store credit. I was told that because I had made 3 returns in a 90 day period (even with receipts) I was ineligible. If I couldn't find the same slippers to exchange I was just out of luck. I avoid Target and now also shop at Walmart: I have never had a return denied with or without a receipt and on occasion even after the 90 day grace period, and, let's face it, they have better prices anyway.

[marianna]

Fear not, there is an ongoing class action suit against Old Navy for similar practice, and it is about going to payment at this point. If I come across the paperwork, I'll surely alert them to your experiences, although, I do believe its really bad for all to have to go to these measures. JJill should be able to read their own promotion definitions and adjust the ever so problematic 'computers' to do the same.

[Sandie]

Let me tell you as a big fan/shopper of J.Jill as well as a former employee of same -they DO have the ability to override any price they want and give you back what you paid (without deducting the coupon). I know this for a fact, they just choose not too. I love the store and their product so much that I worked there part-time for awhile, but the employees (at my local store anyways) seem to have some sort of resentment at times towards customers who are able to benefit from coupons, rewards, etc. (because company policy dictates employees are not eligible). Wish they would just realize if it wasn't for us loyal customers they would not have a job.

[Karen Sorensen]

I am sick to death of JJill and their ridiculous "teaser" offers. I have just been through another of their nightmares only to be told that their "deferred billing" program is no longer valid. They send me emails and coupons indicating that they have are offering these promos but when you enter the codes, they are not valid. I call the customer service number and live chat and they are beyond rude telling me that they do not offer this any longer (stating that I missed it by one day). They do not care that they will lose a $1200.00 order because of rude customer service personnel. I guess their jobs do not mean that much to them. They seem to forget that without customers, none of them would have jobs. None of these catalogues would have any business if it weren't for us customers. JJill, Coldwater Creek, Spiegel, Newport News, etc. all offer deferred billing for their customers. I have recently noticed that the websites that share this information for members have actually had this content blocked/deleted by the company. I cannot believe that they are losing that much money for a 10% coupon and deferred billing for three months. Let's get real. They just do not want people having access to the information without registering at their website first where you only get a bunch of junk mail anyway. Forget class action lawsuits - it is not worth it. The only way to hurt them is to stop spending money at their stores. All shoppers should boycott all catalogues and Internet websites for one week and hit all these companies where it hurts until they shape up and treat their customers right!! Whatever happened to "the customer is always right"? I guess companies no longer operate on this philosophy. I have never, ever been treated so rudely by customer service personnel than I have by JJill customer service. Do they think that they are paying us to wear their clothing?

[fatou]

I am sorry to hear that about my favorite store. I have got my colleagues, my friends " jjill"addicted. I have always received great customer service. Sorry, you went to the wrong one.

[Melissa]

The discount is prorated, so you got back what you paid for the shirt. I am sure the back of your coupon states that the discounts are prorated. I would also like to remind you the a sales person just trying to following company policy is not poor customer service. I am sure you have rules and regulations that you have to follow at your company. Just keep that in mind the next time you are shopping.

[Karen]

In fact, the $25 coupon did not say anything about prorating the discount, because I pointed that out to the salesclerk. And what ended up happening was that after my return, I didn't get the full $25 discount even though my remaining purchase was still valid. My $25 coupon ended up not being worth $25, just because I returned an item.

And I wasn't referring to the salesclerk's customer service; I was referring to the company policy.

[rebecca goy]

I had a similiar experience at new york & co. They tried to charge me $13 more for a necklace that was $3 less than the original, for an exchange. They said the computer takes 25% off any returns or exchanges when using coupons. Isn't this like a restocking fee? I've never heard of this on clothing. I was so mad. I argued politely for about 10 min. before the lady was nice enough to apply some fake discount so that I didn't have to at least pay $13 more for a less expensive item. I took it, though I'm still frustrated that I lost about $4 plus I couldn't use my cash bucks to further discount the item. SO BEWARE AT NEW YORK & CO. If I had bought the item using the separate transaction idea, I would have gotten the full amount back, since I had spent the amount requirred for a coupon anyway. Then I could have just returned the item and used my cash bucks to buy it again. I don't think it is ethical for these companys' to work this way.

[Homer]

QUIT YER BITCHIN! Like 'she' said: 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]

Since you took the time to copy and paste someone else's entire comment, I'll take the time to copy and paste my reply to that first commenter, which appears right after it anyhow:

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.

[Suzanne]

Although it can wipe me out for the day, I will fight/canoodle/charm to the end to make such consumer situations right. I win about 99% of the time. Although it's in one's best mental interest to "get over it" (ie, not be bitter about it in the end), I agree with the other posters here it is indeed the principle, and that in being a stand for fairness we increase the fairness for all consumers, for the mom with her kids to feed. If we let businesses get away with stuff, they will do it, and do more. Money talks. Integrity has a pass-it-along effect. I find, interestingly, when I myself am paying close attention to my own integrity in life, I win these situations with great ease. Even with companies like Sprint!

[Tracy]

I have experienced a somewhat similar situation at the jjill store where I purchased the item to be returned. Because there is another jjill store about 10 mi. away I went to that one with the same return and had no problems. So it's not the computer, it's the store manager.
By the way, I hear that if someone doesn't step up and buy all the jjill stores Talbots(the current owners) are closing them all down after Christmas.

[Laurie]

GAP is still doing this. I purchased over $100 worth of boys clothing and got a discount (buy $75 or more and get $25 off). By the way, we didn't eat that week but the boys looked good! Anyway, returned a pair of jeans cause "they weren't cool enough". LOL. Store would only give me the discounted amount for the jeans even though remaining purchases were still over $75.