Catharsis: Order issues

Despite all the browsing and purchasing I do at Anthropologie, very little of it is actually for me. I have friends in the movie and TV industry and I like to help them shop (when they let me!). Sometimes I act as a personal shopper. And then there are those glorious times when I can shop for myself — usually as a reward for getting through a tough assignment at work. So nothing frustrates me more than when my order is handled incorrectly. I feel like it’s really lame when someone I am depending on fails and then tries to absolve themselves of responsibility. Even for something as frivolous as clothing.

I recently placed 5 orders at Anthro. Two during the spend $200/get free shipping promotion. Three much smaller orders after. Four of the five went fine — order processed within 24 hours, shipped within 48 and arrived within a week whether by USPS or UPS. But the fifth order, man what a pain it has been! I placed the order on 12/6 of last year (ok, it sounds more dramatic than it is) and am still waiting for the Finishing Touch Necklace ($48 but out of stock). When I placed the order the item was clearly marked back ordered with an expected ship date of 12/18. I was intending to gift it but had to reconsider because come 12/19 that date was pushed back to 1/9. I decided to let the piece come and would most likely keep it for myself.

You can imagine my surprise though when I was in an Anthro store two weeks ago and saw at least 10 Finishing Touch Necklaces in stock! I thought maybe it was a fluke but the other Anthropologies in NYC also had plenty in stock. I figured mine must be on the way. Then late last week I got another backorder notice for the necklace! Thoroughly confused, I called Anthropologie’s customer service line.

The rep I spoke to was so NOT helpful at all! All she could do was repeat what I already saw in my online account — backordered but expected to ship within 3 days. When I confronted her with the info that I had seen the necklace in-store, her recommendation was that I go to the store and just buy it there. No apology. No offer to investigate. Just an alternate solution. I didn’t want the online order to come as well so I decided to wait. That was probably a mistake, because my order was updated yesterday morning to reflect another backorder delay — this time until 1/19.

Now I am just feeling bummed. Clearly my order has gotten lost in Anthropologie processing hell. So I will go back to the store and just buy the necklace. But I feel bad for anyone experiencing similar delays that does not live near a store. And since I’m whining, Anthropologie, my birthday is this month and you have not sent me my birthday discount. Maybe you are not sending them anymore. Now I’m wondering if we’re even still friends.

15 Comments

  1. January 16, 2009 / 1:12 am

    Whoa, Anthro has sent birthday discounts? I have been shopping there since 2003 and this is the first I have heard of it. Tell me more!I had some bad orders, too. I ordered a bracelet and when it came it was not what I ordered. It was very clearly not the item I ordered. So I took it back to the store to return along with a print out of what I ordered, with a picture of the item. They took the bracelet back but did not want to refund me my S&H. I really pressed the issue since it was clearly not what I ordered. They said I could return it by mail but then I would have had to pay to ship it back, and possibly not get the original S&H returned……because one time I had placed an order for a sweater and it arrived with a hole. At that time there was not Anthro in Tucson, so I mailed it back with a note stating that it had a hole and please refund my original S&H per the guidance on the website. They did not credit the S&H. So I had to pay to send it back and pay for shipping me something with a hole.Abyway, tell us more about the birthday discount. My birthday is next month…how can I get in on this?

  2. blondmoma
    January 16, 2009 / 2:04 am

    I would love to hear about the birthday discount too. I spend a ton there (I know I shouldn't-can't help myself) and it would be nice to get one. Speaking of orders…I have purchased items that are on sale and I get very excited only to find out the next day, by email, that the order was canceled because it was out of stock. I don't appreciate the delay they have in their system. I know other sites such as revolve clothing and shopbop are real time. So this doesn't happen which is just sooooo disappointing.

  3. January 16, 2009 / 2:08 am

    There's no excuse for a retailer like Anthropologie to have crappy customer service. I noticed this a while ago and it's really disappointing. Just this week I called Anthropologie with a customer service inquiry and they didn't even make pretense at being helpful.

  4. January 16, 2009 / 4:54 am

    Anthro used to send birthday discounts but I haven't gotten one in a year or two. They have probably eliminated it altogether which is kind of a bummer, unless someone has gotten one recently.Re: in stock/out of stock — this is a relatively new thing for Anthro. blondmoma I went through the same thing as you. I have only recently begun to have issues with items being canceled my order. I think as Anthro becomes more popular it is harder for them to keep real-time inventory.

  5. January 16, 2009 / 5:21 am

    Oh, it's always a bummer, isn't it? Just like the J. Crew fiasco with their website this summer. Customer service really makes or breaks a lot of these places, whether they want to believe it or not…and news of bad customer service tends to spread much more quickly than news of good customer service. Shape up, Anthro! 🙂

  6. Anonymous
    January 16, 2009 / 5:37 am

    ive never gotten the birthday discount before, however my sister just got one last month. 15% off during her birthday month (december). when she got it i assumed it was a new thing since my birthday, but apparently not!! unfortunately i too have been unimpressed by anthro customer service. i love anthro – but their service leaves much to be desired!!

  7. Jennifer
    January 16, 2009 / 1:37 pm

    I just received a birthday discount card a few weeks ago! My birthday is the end of this month. 15% off. I was pleasantly surprised – I didn't know they did that. That necklace is gorgeous! I hope I can find it in a store near me.

  8. January 16, 2009 / 3:36 pm

    I too have had some pretty horrid service on Anthro's 800 line. I also signed up for the Anthro card, but didn't see any benefit, so I threw it away.The customer service rep should have offered you the "charge send" option. They either call a store that has it in stock and they will ship it to you from the store (no shipping charges), or you can call the store directly and ask for a charge send. The benefit of doing it yourself is it is immediate vs. it takes up to 72 hours if they do it for you and the item may go out of stock. I've done this once, and I called the El Paso store because (not to be offensive to anyone from El Paso) I figured they wouldn't be busy and would be willing to help over the phone.On a side note, I am really frustrated with their sales this year. It doesn't seem like they are moving their merchandise discounts very quickly. And frankly I find the quality of their clothing not to be worth the full price tag. It may look cute, but if it has a hole in 2 days, I don't want to spend $100 on it.Off soapbox. Thanks for the blog.

  9. Anonymous
    January 16, 2009 / 4:02 pm

    This is the exact reason I will not buy things online anymore….same thing happened to me with a dress a few months ago. I also haven't been thrilled with the 2 times things I have ordered haven't been the same as pictured. If I can't see an item and feel the fabric, I don't want it.

  10. Sunako
    January 17, 2009 / 4:13 am

    Even though they're doing better (profitwise) than all the other clothing retailers, I do wonder if in this recession, Anthro is cutting jobs in their fulfillment/shipping department.Because their service has taken a turn for the worse very recently. I ordered a sweatercoat and was sent some ridiculous frilly blouse that was totally random. This happened with my last order, which I placed on Jan 9. Although, to be fair, I called their 800 #, and the person was very helpful and nice.Most importantly, I hope they're not cutting jobs, esp. in a crap economy like this and esp. since they're not actually losing tons of money like everybody else.

  11. January 17, 2009 / 1:27 pm

    I was disappointed the birthday discount can only be used in store…I don't live near one. I am going to call and see if I can convince them to let me use it over the phone. I was annoyed recently because I got a note an item I ordered was out of stock, so I wanted to cancel the full order, and was told it was "too far along in the warehouse to cancel" hence I will be losing shipping $ (I should add it was "too late" like 2 days before it actually shipping from them. I think when possible anywhere in store shopping is always preferable

  12. January 19, 2009 / 12:11 am

    What a hassle! I do LOVE that necklace, though. Hopefully it will be worth the wait 🙂

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