This past weekend, I went up to NYC for a farewell dinner for my dear friend who is moving to Utah for work. The weather on the East Coast has been in a state of flux all winter...twenties one day and sixty something degrees the next day. Since I drive everywhere, the weather usually doesn't affect what I wear too much since I am barely outside for more than a few minutes.
Much to my dismay, I forgot that most of my New York friends walk and take the train everywhere so I was exposed to the frigid 20 something degrees for a prolong period all weekend. Needless to say I wasn't prepared and my Banana coat did nothing to shield me from the cold.
Almost the entire group of girls were clad in a long bubbly sleeping bag of a coat and looked so warm. I had major coat envy.
So today when I got the daily email reminder from J.Crew for 30% off sales items, I decided to see if the knee length wintress puffer was included in the 30% discount offer. As I expected, it was but they didn't have my size small but the xs was available. I was hesitant to purchase because with the 30% deal, it's final sale and no returns. Even with the discount, it wasn't cheap enough to risk buying a jacket that may not fit. I googled "JCrew coat fit" for reviews on how their coats fit but didn't find ones specific for outwear. J.Crew hasn't always been consistent for me in terms of sizes so I tend not to buy it online unless I've tried it on in store already.
I've never called the J.Crew 800 number before (you can call this same number ( 800 562 0258) from the red phones in store) and was pleasantly surprised. The wait was about a minute before I was connected to a rep who was just the sweetest girl. She answered my questions about the jacket and then she asked me if I would like to put in a ticket for a national search for my desired size and color. I said I wasn't interested in going to a store outside of Virginia which she promptly informed me that they would send it to me. And with FREE shipping, I was ecstatic! Not only was I getting it in my size and color but it would be shipped for free (saved $8.95) and arrive within a week. If I purchased the one online, I would run the risk of it not fitting, paying for shipping, and it wasn't expected to ship till March 1... winter would practically be over by then.
I highly recommend using the "We Will Find It For You" service next time you want an item from J.Crew and the size/color you want is out of stock. I've been monitoring the leather capri sandals because my old pair broke from boy stepping on them while I kept walking. I was sad and have been waiting to replace them but they've been full price every time I've seen it in the store. But they were on sale online so I called the store and asked if they had my size and asked how much they were. As predicted, they were original price. I explained that they were on sale on their website and the sweet lady said she would honor the online price. yayy!
Last but not least, also read on their site that they offer a complimentary personal shopper assistant. You can reserve by phone or online. I've been a loyal J.Crew consumer for years now and am very impress by these extra effort to make the customers feel important and valued. Although often a bit pricier than Banana or Ann Taylor, many J.Crew pieces are timeless and always in season and now they offer the best service of all my favorite retails. kudos to J.Crew!
