the copywriter from space answers the phone - not the mountain I'm gonna die on

And so it has come to pass that Himself and I are invited to a confirmation and related festivities.

With me, it's generally not so much "what shall I wear?" as "what fits this week?"

Fortunately, a pale sage green outfit - silk satin skirt and lightweight silk velvet jacket - was excavated and fits!

However, the little satin tank that went under the jacket has vanished.
Hello, I'm looking at the stacked sequin shell, number c1929, and I have a couple of questions.
blurry small picture
from JC website
Go ahead.

OK, first, the description just says the fabric is "cotton." Can you verify if it's 100% cotton, or if there's anything else in there?

Well, if it says cotton, it means cotton.

I don't mean to be a pest, but the reason I'm asking is that hasn't always been my experience, so I'd thought I'd just check.

We welcome all of your questions, we're here to help.
larger picture from JC website
not so blurry but
color values are confused
So the fabric is 100% cotton?

It's cotton. Did you have any other questions?

Yes, is the fabric a knit or a woven? The description doesn't say.

It's a very fine fabric.

Is the fabric a knit or a woven? 

Oh, if it was one of those, they would tell you.

Um, but they haven't, so that's why I called, to find out about the fabric.

It's cotton.

OK, last question, the color, I need some help here. The color that I think might work with my skirt is "pewter, mint, burgundy." I'm guessing that the darkest sequins are burgundy, but is the mint the color of the other sequins or are they pewter? Or is one the color of the shirt?

Have you looked at it in one of our stores?

I called the store closest to me and they said they didn't have it.
blow-up showing sequins
we seem to have pink, dark red and ?
color of fabric - mint or pewter?

We can check other stores for you tomorrow morning and someone will context you within 48 hours.

Let me think about it. Thank you.

Well, thank you for calling J.Crew.
Later that evening - placed web order with no conversation with anybody. Noone.







20 comments:

  1. Oh my, did they say they would "context" you? Please no.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sadly, yes. I might have overlooked it had the SA managed to transmit any useful information. I wound up ordering the top anyway because (1) I felt like a gamble, and (2) it was on the 25% sale.

      Delete
  2. I'm going with mint and cupcake for the other sequins. Best of luck!

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    Replies
    1. Well, if they aren't cupcake when they arrive, they may well end that way after an afternoon-to-evening event of young teenagers and a dessert table. We can only hope.

      Delete
  3. Yes I have never really understood the premise of the customer service phone reps, or whatever other title they use. They work well for price adjustments but it seems that they never have any additional information other than the small bits which are already available online. Why isn't the tank described as woven or knit from the start? I guess the bigger question is where did the original mystery tank go. For me it always seems that there are random pieces that disappear into the missing sock abyss despite sincere efforts on my part to keep such items organized. I hope the new tank defies all expectations and is the perfect match for your outfit. Now wouldn't that be something!

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  4. Ten to one this is not all cotton; knit v. woven stumped her?

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    Replies
    1. Counting the minutes till the package arrives and we learn the secret!

      Hmm, consider the possible answers to that question:
      Yes.
      No.
      Knot or woven what?

      Delete
  5. Okay having just got off the phone after talking to 3 people at J. Crew this morning about an issue with my J. Crew credit card, I am commiserating with you. Fwiw, they can't answer a simple billing question in anything less than 9 days, 2 phone calls, and conversations with 4 separate people. Good grief what is going on there?

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    Replies
    1. Looking on the bright side, at least I'm not old enought for false teeth, because all this repeated gnashing could be very expensive.

      Delete
  6. Congrats for finding something suitable that fits. I am finding that more and more elusive. You just reminded me that Knityarns the younger is about to be confirmed and that I don't have a huge expanse of time to rectify that (sartorial) situation.
    I am,sadly, not surprised about your conversation, at all.
    I ordered shoes last week. I won't bore you with the saga, but caveat- UPS now uses the USPS for certain deliveries, and apparently they don't speak the same language. My shoes visited more interesting places than I will ever take them myself.
    Much as I am crossing my fingers that you actually receive said item, I would not be lying if I admitted that just a tiny part of me expects another humorous(for the reader) post about how many phone calls and miles it took to retrieve your tank.
    But, it is pretty.

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    Replies
    1. OH, I just looked. I am pretty certain it is a knit and that the background is pewter. There are decidedly mint sequins showing on my monitor. .

      Delete
    2. Fedex uses the PO also. It's typically the service of choice for Free Shipping. The bright spot is that I sometimes get an email along the lines of "We're going to be delivering in your neighborhood today so the truck will drop your package at your building instead of driving it an extra half mile to drop it in the mail at your local PO."

      The Top of Ambiguous Colors and Fibers is due later this afternoon. The event is tomorrow. Fingers crossed - I'd cross my toes too but I just put polish on them.

      Delete
  7. I looked at the navy version of this top last week and it is a knit. Didn't try it on and am sorry I did not because it is cute and I want to see if it has the dreaded long armpit syndrome. The SA working on the morning I went in was a horrible snob and I vacated the premises as quickly as I could! Hope it works out for you; keep us updated!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yikes! nothing worse than gratuitous rudeness. Well, obviously, things like ebola are worse, but in the context (ahem) of a busy day, anything that interferes with your clarity is not nice and not necessary.

      Delete
  8. I have a wonderful online VPS who researches if I have questions-she's great-as are others on the team. Not so much when calling the 800#-sadly many of my calls were like yours so I made a VPS friend. However, I have not spoken to her in months because nothing at Crew has appealed to me-nothing-nada.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The VPS who's been auditioning for me works an odd part-time schedule. Sigh.

      Delete
  9. I don't know where my comment disappeared to but it must be hiding with your matching shell. Despite sincere efforts to be organized, invariably some article disappears into the lost sock abyss. In my experience the customer service people are courteous and great at handling price adjustments, but have little to offer besides the scant information already listed in the product descriptions. Why it is not listed as a knit or woven from the beginning is a mystery. That would make it all too easy for everyone. Well hopefully the new shell will work perfectly. Now wouldn't that be something?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hi, Teacups, at last! I I don't want to jinx myself but my hopes are rising!

      Delete
  10. Well, you must have received it now but I tried the three colors and the pewter is pewter (horrible color on me). However the major information about this top is that it runs huge. I bought it in the Navy in a hurry before leaving for London and I was swimming in the XS. The Collection store was out of all the sizes in the Navy (best color IMO) so I thought I would buy it anyway and layer (since in any case I won't be able to wear on its own until May-June) but it is huge even layered over a turtleneck. Returned. Hope it worked for you, I think it is one of the best things they put out this Spring.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I took a wild guess at a size, translating JC's sizes which are not even statements of expectations into what I used to think was my size. I ordered a small, and it fit like I thought a small should fit.

      I think the navy is the best look and I may still get it, but the "pewter" was the one that worked satisfactorily with the rest of the outfit.

      Delete

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