the boutique lesson - YouLookFab Forum

I learned a lesson last week. Or should I say I knew better, but got carried away. Driving home from my kids school one day, I spied a cute boutique near home and made a mental note to check it out in the future. On a day that I had free from work, I went to check it out, unfortunately also having some christmas gift cash burning a hole in my pocket. Let me digress at this point to say that usually I am the queen of "free shipping, free returns" - I almost can not commit to any purchase if I have not tried it on at home with many possible outfit combos. Well, needless to say, I became enamored with the boutique vibe and left with a pair of charcoal silk track pants and (alas) a snowflake white quilted moto type jacket. The return policy, yes, you guessed it - exchange or store credit only. So when I got home and realized that I live in a house with a dog and two elementary school-agers, I knew I had lost my senses. The next day, I set out to repair the damage. I returned the beautiful, but impossible (for me) to keep clean jacket, exchanging it for 2 tops and 1 sun dress. However, I was in a hurry to make an afternoon meeting (never shop when rushed). I got home later and realized one of the tops was essentially a inferior duplicate of a top I already own and that the dress was too clingy. The next day, I swallowed my pride to return to the store again. I was told "we don't usually give store credit for a return of a return, but this time we'll make an exception" - stated in an frosty tone. She was not impressed that I did keep 2 of the 5 items purchased thus far! Now I have store credit at a store that I can hardly bear to step into again! No wonder I usually shop at Nordstrom!

10 years ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Oh! I feel your pain. I have had a similar experience and it hurts. And I must admit it turned me further in the direction of online, even though I live in Canada and my "free shipping/ free returns" with generous return window options are pretty limited. Still, I'd rather deal with that than the frosty stares. Ugh.

I hope you can get at least some wear from those items. Or maybe you can give a friend the credit as a gift? I might be tempted to do that! Although I guess you don't want to send your friend to a place with such poor customer service.

Gigi

Oh, so sorry! I would be reluctant to stop in again also. Maybe next time you could go with a friend, and that would help you pinpoint some items that maybe you wouldn't need to return? Or do they have anything like tights or socks, which would be less likely to be returns?

This reminds me of going to Forever 21. I bought a bunch of tights there and asked the gal if they were returnable if they didn't work. Yes, she said, within 30 days (or however many days it was). Well, I came back with half of the tights to return them, and I was told that it was for store credit only! I told the cashier that the other gal hadn't told me that, which I think was not on the up-and-up if I am specifically asking about the return policy. Grrr.

I'm sure those places do that on purpose to make more money, which is maddening. So they have your money, yes, but you're certainly not going to send any more business their way!

Peri

I know what you mean. Technically speaking I would like to support local business, but a lot of those boutiques make it really hard! I think sometimes they must not realize how much those policies, not to mention the frosty stares, alienate potential customers. I do understand how a small business would have a hard time financially dealing with lots of returns, but they also need to realize they do need customers who return.

catgirl

What Peri said. The advantage of a small boutique is personal attention, and if that attention is negative they are shooting themselves in the foot.

NDMom

Active Member

Amen, Alaskagirl!

Anonymous

Sage words all. My plan to is let a few weeks go by and then take a friend to help me pick so something out to use up the credit .... and then no longer shop at that store. *sigh*

Lyn D.

I did this recently, with a gift voucher. My first purchase I put it towards was not going to work for me, and when I returned it I had to spend the entire value of the first purchase so as not to lose the 'gift'.
I hope that you have a while to spend your credit, so that perhaps some new stock has come in that will suit you better!

unfrumped

I feel your pain. Not just return policy, but the fact that these little boutiques sometimes are a great Way to find something a little different to spice things up, but also often have things in fabrics or trims or styles that are impractical, and they skew toward date might or ladies who lunch and tempt me into my imaginary lifestyle. So I like the idea of maybe finding my wild card, but I have to be really careful.

Glory

I like your idea of going back in a couple of weeks with a friend. Even the strict return policy could be manageable but not the unwelcoming and judging attitude.

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