Karie, it will be interesting to hear about your Factory experience. I think our Factory has been chosen for this "resale" duty, so it's not typical. See or ask if they ever get JCrew Collection through their clearance, and that will tell you. (We do, which I think is very unusual -- but because it's often damaged, it's not as great as it sounds.)
RE: quality. You all know I am a huge JCrew fan and wear a ton of their clothing, but I do think some things have gone downhill. I still remember a violet cashmere sweater from about 12 years ago that was MUCH plusher then any they sell now. And, it NEVER pilled. God knows why I got rid of it (too much purging!). In the past 3-4 years I've purchased soft wool sweaters from JC that have pilled almost instantly. And my daughter had to return shoes that literally broke (heel became unglued) the second time she wore them. I don't have any problems with tees, and I adore their dress pants, but wool and cashmere are very tricky in my experience. And a lot of people are very vocal about JC's increased reliance on synthetics (more poly, less silk) - if you care about that.
RE: service. I would expect Angie to get stellar service anywhere, especially where she is known, but even still, my experience with JCrew has been overall very good, and whenever I have called or chatted online with a problem, they have been really really good about making things right. But really, I have gotten fantastic service and iffy service from pretty much every brand. Depends on the store and the day. Reps are people who have their ups and downs, and some brands are better than others at training and inspiring. I think overall, JCrew is pretty good at this.
