The perfect IT sweater -- and no one to sell it to me - YouLookFab Forum

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The perfect IT sweater -- and no one to sell it to me

April

Veteran

I was in Macy's today to get sweatpants for my son and I decided to work on my shopping resolution (go into real stores; try on) by scouting the INC department.

I found what may be the perfect IT sweater: soft, dolman sleeves, relaxed cowl, cropped length, long sleeves, beautiful neutral colors. Seems like it might have been this one but there's no way it "hits at low waist." On me it was a cropped length. <happy sigh>

And then I tried to buy it.

I went to one, two, three, FOUR sales counters and stood at three of them for a full minute, scanning the floor for a sales associate. Not a soul in sight.

At that point I put it back and left.

I may try again when I get to New York on Friday, since Macy's is right across from the train station. Surely the world's largest retail space will have someone willing to work a cash register...

General

25 replies

Latest reply was from April

Aquamarine

Veteran

Macy's drives me nuts! Boo!

viva

Veteran

Ack! So frustrating.

Anonymous

I hear your frustration! This has happened to me on several occasions and sometimes when the staff eventually appear it's as much as they can do to be civil. I'm in UK btw and I think our clothing assistants need lessons in being friendly and helpful.

Inge

(website)

That is just beyond frustrating!! I am so sorry, April-((( And I'm holding thumbs that you'll still be able to get your dream sweater, it really does sound perfect.

Glory

Veteran

ugh that is terrible - good luck in NY

Thistle

Veteran

Terrible!!

Better service at Target. At least they will check you out even if no one in the store knows much else.

Gaylene

Veteran

Our Bay store is notorious for this kind of problem. The last time this happened to me, I marched over to the administration office with the item in hand (which was, of course, hidden away in a corner) and asked if their retail strategy included taking money from customers. The poor office assistant looked bewildered and said she didn't think so. That cracked me up so much I left, without the item, but laughing all the way home.

Diana

Veteran

Oh boo. My trick is to go the jewelry counter. There is usually someone there. (I don't think you can go to makeup in most stores because those are generally independent of the main store).

K. Period.

Veteran

Ugh! I have that same problem too. And they have so much stuff on their floor that I have a hard time finding anything like the sales counter. Drives me batty. I only go there as a last choice anymore. Isn't that sad?

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

UGH! That happened to me at The Bay too - so annoying.

Greyscale

Veteran

That is so infuriating. I have become more and more irritable about that type of situation, sadly, and say something curt to the salespeople once they show up. I'm trying to chill out about it, but grr.

At least I finally graduated from "kid who doesn't look like she belongs in this store" to "well-dressed potential customer." It's possible I have a chip on my shoulder still about all the anxiety I used to feel in department stores.

On a brighter note, the sweater you linked looks lovely and cozy. And glancing at it, I'm sure that would be very cropped on me, too, despite how they describe it. I'd be tempted to just buy it online.

Anonymous

Ah, yes, Macys is horrible.
Have fun in town!

April

Veteran

Diana, that is very smart -- you're right, the jewelry counter is rarely left unattended.

At my Macy's, all the misses departments are in the basement, and somehow it didn't occur to me that I could take the darn sweater upstairs to check out. I could have taken it to the same person who rang up my son's sweatpants!

Firecracker (Sharan)

Veteran

Darn it! That's one of the reasons I don't shop at Macy's anymore, though. Too frustrating.

April

Veteran

Does anyone think The Macy's Problem (it sounds universal) is in force at the Herald Square location? Somehow I've imbued that branch with all kinds of magical properties because, come on, it's the world's largest store!

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Nicole D

Veteran

Dreadful. Would anyone have noticed if you had just walked out of the store with it? Not advocating theft.

Classically Casual

Veteran

It was in the news today that Macy's is doing a big layoff. (I actually joked to myself, that the customers will never know...) However, layoffs are never funny, and it makes one wonder what retail will ultimately look like.

Ariadne

Veteran

I'm laughing at Lyn and Gaylene's comments, because the first thing I thought when I read your post was "Are you sure you weren't teleported across the border to a Bay store?"!

Parsley

Veteran

That's ridiculous.
You should write to the manager about that. They should know that customers are being turned away.
Why don't you just order it online?

marianna

Veteran

Ugh sounds like my typical Macy's experience.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Urhg!!! I am chortling at Gaylene's story. The Bay is Macy's north. I have had very similar experiences there. I can't tell you the number of times I have gone to buy something and left empty handed. Same happens when I visit their incredibly frustrating web site. I end up giving my business to somebody else.

Michelle

(website)

Veteran

That is, without a doubt, the most frustrating story I've heard in ages. It's hard enough to find ideal clothing items, but then to be denied the chance to actually keep them???? Intolerable!
Gaylene: your story totally cracked me up. Like all Canucks, I can empathize with terrible customer service at the Bay. Though the situation is much, much better at the Toronto flagship location, which happens to be a 10-minute walk from my office.
Ariadne: I didn't know you lived up here too.

Gigi

Veteran

I think it's worth contacting customer service and telling them what happened. Maybe it will at least get you a discount coupon on a future purchase or something. Gosh, that would make me infuriated.

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

Their big, flagship stores are a cut above. Both in terms of merchandise mix and staff. Give Herald Square a try. I never have this problem with the Union Square store in SF, but then again it's probably a profitable store with all of the international tourists.

At the Union Square store, you can go to the Visitor Center and if you have an out-of-town ID, you get a coupon for 10% off, valid for 3 days. They usually ask what hotel I'm staying in.

April

Veteran

Ordering online would be the easiest, except that I'm not sure the one I linked to is the same sweater. The one I tried on definitely said "Dry Clean" and the one I linked to says it's machine-wash. Two, the color selections are different, and the color I really wanted isn't online.

Boo.