have my expectations become too high? - YouLookFab Forum

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have my expectations become too high?

kkards

Veteran

case #1
ordered something from WHBM, from order date to arrival at my house--10 days......seemed like forever....well, like 4-5 days longer than what i would expect.

case #2
saw something of interest on H&M's site, and didn't want to order on line because this item is has a high potential of not working. but i was interest enough to want to know if it was available at my local H&M, but no Check Store Availablity button. ok, i thought, i'll try on line chat....only to 1st have to wait 5 minutes for an available chat and then 2nd to learn that they don't have access to store inventory. really, its 2017, and they couldn't tell me if my local store had this style because it was closed and they could not call.

what do you think, are my expectations to high?
have your expecations getter higher in the last couple of years?

General

22 replies

Latest reply was from Jenni NZ

Alexandra

(website)

Veteran

I wouldn't say too high, but more likely reflective of where you usually shop.

Jenn

(website)

Veteran

What Alexandra said is interesting, because I am perfectly willing to wait six weeks for artisan-made shoes or three months for a custom-upholstered couch. If I'm shopping for mass-manufactured goods with a large company, though? I think the benefit of that should be quick ship times, a great inventory management system, and technological tools commensurate with their annual revenue.

kkards

Veteran

Jenn---actually, i waited 8 weeks for my dining room table and chairs because yes, it was handmade to order, but come on H&M is global mass market company. and WHBM, they're completeing with BR, JCrew in the last 2 years orders have generally arrived in 4-5 days.

Anonymous

Case number 1: OMG. Right? Ridiculous.

Case number 2: Items are never available in a store near me. I stopped looking long ago.

Are our expectations too high? I really don't think so in the age of Amazon.com.

annagybe

(website)

Veteran

The first case is probably shipped via truck. Honestly yeah it's no fun waiting. My order from Bare Necessities took about the same time. I'm actually kinda ok with that given the impact of air travel on the environment.
And even the in store inventory issue, Nordstrom often gets it wrong. Or it's not available period. I've had orders canceled & I think this has happened to others

Tisa

I've learnt to never call an H&M store for info, because it's just a waste of my time and patience. It's less hassle to go there and deal with a shopping assistant in person.

Among fast fashion mass-market companies Zara has the best store-inventory system, that actually works, while H&M uses some type of Stone Age technology.

Emily K

(website)

Veteran

Have you ever researched something on-line--using a company's FAQ's and expending a reasonable amount of brainpower to locate the answer yourself--and then you call customer service and (after a lengthy wait) you get a C/S agent whose idea of service is just to go to the FAQs page and read to you from there? And even companies with a good C/S rep, like Nordstrom, often can't tell you anything about the product or availability that it not available for you to see in the item description. I DO expect better, actually.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I agree with Jenn. I guess we're spoiled by Amazon and Zappos. I sometimes do get annoyed with how long it takes stuff to arrive from Nordstrom, but it varies widely.

kkards

Veteran

Anna --yes it probably did come by truck, but still, i could have driven to the warehouse and picked them up and driven back in 4 days. which is why i thought that 10 days was excessive.
Tisa-interesting, i assumed given H&Ms global footprint, that it would have an on line inventory system that its customer service personal would have access to....i don't expect 100% accuracy, but still, how can customer service not know if a store carries an item?
Emily K---yup...i can read, and if i'm calling you with a question, please listen to what i've told you and don't just read me back what's on line....

and the 3rd case that i didn't list....bought something from Micheal Kors, ordered it in the store becuase they didn't have what i wanted. i live in a state that doesn't tax clothing or footwear...was charged tax...called customer service to get the tax removed.....they had no idea what to do....and had no idea of were to check to see that i was telling the truth! its taxes, you progam your system to charge taxes in the states that require them and not to charge in the states that don't! solved the problem by returning them.
sorry rant over.

cindysmith

Veteran

In this day and time, when companies like Walmart and Amazon have mastered logistics and inventory, h&m needs to be ashamed of themselves. Even yoox has a better grip on inventory and logistics than that, and their website is clunky as all get out (so they're not complete masters of the digital age like their big box competition). Seriously, h&m should really fix that, because that's unacceptable IMO

As for the long shipping time in example 1, yeah, it seems excessive, but it's gotten to the point where extreme weather is always affecting shipping. If it isn't a snowstorm, it's flooding from a rain event, or hail damage to half of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, or a tornado outbreak, or a hurricane... So I'm inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt, but I'd be leery of ordering from them again just the same.

Gigi

Veteran

Banana Republic takes about two weeks to get to me...yeah, seems like an eternity. And I agree about H&M. Same with F21. If you see something online, good luck finding out if it's carried in your local store without physically going there and showing a picture of the item to a SA.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Hahaha...up here in the frozen wastes, 10 days sounds fast!

Seriously...one reason I keep ordering from Zara even though I send nine tenths of it back is that they deliver so quickly in such nice packages -- it only takes a couple of days and returns are free -- which is not the case with most others here.

BR can sometimes be a matter of 4/5 days...but can also be up to 10 or even longer. At least returns are free.

J. Crew takes 10 days at best and returns are not free. Aritzia takes longer. Club Monaco is mixed -- sometimes fast, sometimes pokey.

Barbara Diane

Veteran

I'm always shocked it takes so long for my Nordstrom purchases to arrive. Especially during NAS. I assume it is substantially cheaper, but on the other hand, if something gets to me faster I can return it sooner and get it back sooner so it has a better chance of being sold. Waiting is annoying/challenging/frustrating.

Staysfit

Veteran

What I'm surprised by is the variability. Some items arrive the very next day, and others take two weeks but were from the same order, and the expected delivery date was the same.

Anonymous

I agree with Staysfit about the variability, even within an order. Often it can be a combination of some items shipping from a warehouse and some shipping from a store. I think the stores ship faster.

One thing to keep in mind, shipping is a big cost line item for companies, and often they will choose a slower ship method to minimize this cost as much as possible. They must be weighing the cost vs how it impacts their customer experience. That said, I like to get my shipping sooner too. With NAS, it has been slow for me. I think they get pretty backed up with their higher volume during those weeks.

kkards

Veteran

delurked...interesting that you think stores ship faster. my experience has been the opposite....
and yes, i realize that 10 days is, well not a lifetime, and really isn't that long...but what drives my crazy about on line shopping is that i often i'm wanting to compare mulitple sizes or similar items from different stores, and so if one store ships and it arrives a week before another store, it becomes a pain. ah, 1st world problems.

annagybe

(website)

Veteran

As far as Amazon, their search function & selection for clothes and shoes is terrible. So much crap, and don't forget variable pricing for same item depending on size & color.
They attempted to get designer fashion market going and it failed. Even now I scoff at those unboxing ads. You'd think they'd learn from owning Shopbop and Zappos

Emily K

(website)

Veteran

One of my main concerns is the returns-factor. If I were to find items in a store, I might take three sizes into the dressing room--or try several colors. If I order on-line, I am motivated to try only the most likely size. And if it fits acceptably, then I keep it without having had the option to find out if a different size works even better. I think ordering online encourages "good enough" and I am trying to teach myself to do better than that. But, I am finding a way around this--and it does not work to the retailer's benefit--in cases where there is a free-shipping minimum, I order ALL the clothes. Bracketing sizes gets me over the minimum and I earn free shipping and then I walk the returns to the store. Although, I did get burned recently when I bought a bunch of stuff from GAP (none of it available at the store) and found out that some of it was OK to return to the store and some of it was for return by mail only.

Anonymous

I swung by to comment on an order I have from Gap. I ordered it on April 19 and anticipate delivery on April 26. Seven days. Not bad.

The problem is that I continue to shop while I await the order. It is probable that I won't keep the Gap items because I will have bought something similar or better by the time it arrives.

Does this happen to anyone else? Do others continue to shop while they wait for any order?

For example, during these seven days I convinced myself without ever trying the sleep pants that they will be too sheer for me. I am now looking at a better item from Nordstrom. I will likely order and keep the Nordstrom sleep pant.

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Jenni NZ

Veteran

Sterling, I hate to mention it, but are some habits creeping back from before the fast? ( confession: bought a pale green summer top on sale 3 days ago, for next summer ... straight into storage). So not judging.

Anonymous

Thank you for asking, Jenni. I have been on my guard. April was designated as the first of my two seasonal shopping months. Since I don't really know how to do seasonal shops, I allowed myself the full month to shop and buy. It is my goal to wear my new clothing during the rest of the summer and shopping should slow considerably.

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Cool! I don't know how to do seasonal shopping either.