Macy’s, Bloomie’s, Nordstrom: A customer service test
Like a lot of women I know, I often buy clothes without trying them on. This is usually because there is an unacceptable wait for a fitting room (H&M, Forever 21 - I’m looking at you) or because I’m in a rush or because I don’t feel like taking my shoes off. Whatever, it’s not an unusual practice, especially amongst women who buy a lot of clothes.
You would think that retail outlets, especially in this economy, would want to do whatever it takes to retain such high-spending customers. They should make the experience a pleasure, and ensure that it’s as easy as possible to spend more and more money with them.
So I was surprised by how three different stores - Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, and Nordstrom - handled me when I tried to return unworn items to each of them this past weekend. All of these outlets are located at the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, CA.
Macy’s: I bought a cute Mark Ecko handbag for $52 (a huge discount) on clearance back in December. After cutting off the tags, I noticed a scuff mark that was not too easy to see on the red leather, but still too much of an imperfection for me. (The tags were off, but the stuffing never left the bag.)
I went back to the same Macy’s, and approached a woman at a cash register who seemed bored. I asked if I could make a return, and was advised that I’d have to do it at the specific department from which I had made the purchase. This sounded really stupid (and, frankly, like a lie) to me, but I headed to handbags to make the return.
A very nice sales associate, Ava, told me she could only give me $7.29 as a refund, as that had been the final clearance price on that bag. I had the receipt for the bag which showed that I’d paid $52, and told her as diplomatically as I could that I’d never had Macy’s try to give me a refund based on what other people had paid as opposed to what I had paid. “The system won’t let me do that,” she insisted. I asked if a manager could help.
Ava looked worried (I’m sure they get plenty of screechy, entitled women in Stanford Mall who get really nasty) and went to talk to a manager. After a few minutes, Ava came back with Jackie, who cheerfully asked me about my name as she tapped away on the cash register. Within a minute or two, she’d entered my details and given me a refund for the full $52 as a gift card. I genuinely didn’t mind whether it came as cash or a gift card, so was pleased with the outcome. I thanked Jackie, and called over to Ava with my thanks, apologizing to her for any hassle. She looked relieved that I hadn’t had a meltdown.
Nordstrom: I walked into the store and was immediately asked if I needed help. I explained that I had a (very cute, short, black) trench to return, and asked if I needed to go to outerwear in order to do so. “No way,” the sales associate responded. I followed her to the nearest register and began to worry that I’d bought the coat too long ago (October, I think) to get anything back. But she’d refunded my $50 within a minute, directly to my bank account. I didn’t even have the receipt for this item, which I’d bought at another Nordstrom location, but the tags were all still attached. I was in and out in three minutes. All returns should be so easy and friendly. (Nordstrom consistently has customer service nailed, as well as having great sales. For example, I returned this trench because I got a cuter Burberry trench from Nordstrom for 60% off. I shop there a lot.)
Bloomingdale’s: You’d think the most pricey of the three would bust their humps to make customer service a priority. Based on my experience, this isn’t so.
I’d purchased a cardigan on clearance for $105, in November, which I hadn’t worn even once. I didn’t have the receipt, but the tags were still on it. I was told by the sales associate that they couldn’t give me anything, not even in gift card form, without a receipt. She told me that if I brought a credit card statement to customer service, maybe they could give me store credit.
I went directly to the customer service department, which was completely empty. I called out, waited a few minutes, then asked the nearest sales associate whether anyone was working customer service. She told me to go back and wait.
I saw a woman with a name badge exit the customer service area, and approached her. She asked what I needed, and I explained the situation. “I’m going home now,” she replied. Before walking away, she pointed to a woman whom she said was a customer service manager.
I walked toward the manager and made eye contact, flashing her a friendly smile. She just stared at me and kept walking. I walked after her, asking if she was a customer service manager. “Yes,” she replied, with an unspoken, “Who wants to know?” I explained that I’d been waiting in the customer service department for some time and was hoping she could help me. “You must have only waited a few seconds. I was there,” she told me. Uh, okay.
She then reiterated what I had been told previously - that I would get no refund without a receipt, but that if I could bring a statement to the customer service department, they might be able to give me store credit. I wanted to ask exactly how a statement would help - I bought a lot of clothes in one transaction, so it’s not like I get a line itemized statement from my bank for each item of clothing purchased. At this point, I was too tired and fed up to continue the conversation, so just thanked her and walked away. FAIL.
I’ve spent a lot of money at Bloomingdale’s over the years (they often have fantastic sales - I got another Burberry coat from them for something like 40% off recently), but had never made a return. I’m the kind of customer they should want to keep sweet, and not make it such a hassle. I will never again buy anything from Bloomingdale’s without trying it on and being 100% certain that I will wear it enough to get my money’s worth from it. (Note that I have been buying without trying for years, and this was my first ever return. They should be encouraging me to keep doing this, rather than walking away without making a purchase.)
Bottom line: I won’t be as inclined to browse or buy from Bloomingdale’s after that hassle and all the apathy on display by sales associates and even the customer service manager. Macy’s had a satisfactory outcome, and my experience with making returns to them has generally been positive, so we’re good. I was already a huge fan of Nordstrom, but now I’m even more loyal to them.
Retailers, get it together. You’re dying in droves and need women like me spending as much money as possible in your stores. Don’t drive me away with your systems and policies. Give your employees the autonomy to recognize when a good customer is about to be lost, and trust them enough to let them handle the situation accordingly. Your systems and policies might make you feel secure, but they’re screwing you out of revenue.
EDITED TO ADD: A friend of mine who is a manufacturer for retailers and a very discriminating, high-value shopper emailed me just now:
Your article is exactly what I have experienced. I just moved all of my shopping business to Nordstrom’s - all of it. I spent well over $25K with Bloomie’s last year and I get treated horribly.
Nordstrom’s is a winner and Macy’s doesn’t do too bad especially with sales.
Filed under: Life
You hit it on the head re: stores empowering their employees. There is no up-front investment in proper training, much less screening, and there is no real-life policy in place to handle situations like the one you describe. I also think that, unlike in days gone by, women (it’s mostly women, it just is) who work in department stores aren’t viewing their job as a career (which, now that career options for women are more vast and awesome, it’s hard to blame them) but as a PITA. A lot of us remember going to a Bloomingdale’s and service was 75% of the experience of being there and that’s gotten lost along the way, for good and bad reasons.
Anyway, you are right, though, companies need to reexamine their policies and systems at this point and be more realistic. I am like you - a woman who does have money to spend and will when it’s wise - and I would rather not have the hassle and just stick with places that will provide me good quality and no headache!
Yes, agreed, Nordstrom is the gold standard. If I could, I’d never shop anywhere else.
But the curious thing to me is that their returns system seems to be tied to little barcode stickers, which they scan and attach to every purchase at check out. With that, they can look up more than enough information to do a full return.
But Bloomingdales has the EXACT same stickers — so what’s the problem? I understand not taking back something tagged without proof of purchase (whose to say it wasn’t stolen?), but if Bloomies is stickering like Nordstrom (and they were the last time I bought something there), they should be able to deliver the same level of customer service.
As for Macy’s… don’t get me started. It’s not even a store to me, just a large museum to low quality merchandise and terrible customer service with too many branches.
Harriet, I’ve had entirely positive experiences with Macy’s at branches across the US (most notably in Cincinnati and Hillsdale, CA). They have some great sales and I’ve gotten some beautiful dresses from there. That said, I find it a pretty boring store, and the juniors section (where, despite being as far from junior-sized as one can get, I’ve found some great casual items) is now usually so messy that it’s just not worth my time or effort to sift through the jam-packed racks to look for bargains. This is consistent across the branches of Macy’s I’ve shopped in the last two years.
Nordstrom is the gold standard. Bloomingdale’s is trying to be Macy’s, and Macy’s is trying to be Mervyn’s, and Mervyn’s is out of business, as it should always have been with a name like that, although I think their business model was to compete with the Dress Barn. Which is still in business. Moooo. Baaaaah.
In my limited experience of US stores that don’t only sell books or fast food, Nordstrom is one that my heart doesn’t automatically sink at the thought of going to. Both Macy’s I’ve been to were OK and I don’t know Bloomingdales.
You know there’s the worst recession since the 1930s when British shop staff start behaving as if they had an interest in customers. I’m finding that in London now.
But there’s a class action suit brought by Nordstrom employees–which they won. As all sellers are on commission, Nords was deducting returns–even returns of worn merch–from those commissions. Turns out the store can’t do that, and the employees won.
Here’s my take:
Nordstrom: A woman walks in. She drops $$$ of money she earned on clothes. The person in front of her on line has an issue; the store associate takes the time needed to help the customer. The woman waits and is happy that she will be the beneficiary of similar help when it is her turn, because this woman expects service.
Bloomingdale’s: A woman walks in. She drops $$$ of money her husband earns on clothes. The person in front of her on line has an issue; the store associate takes the time needed to help the customer. The woman rolls her eyes and sighs heavily because she is not happy at having to wait her turn, because this woman demands attention.
Bloomie’s target market is a bitchy, size 2 trophy wife and treats anyone who isn’t like dirt. I don’t know any career woman who still shops there because of experiences like the one you went through.