Marilla S.
Company Policy undermines Advertised Offers
Last weekend my Chico's catalog arrived with an offer of $50 off a $100+ purchase with at least 1 full price item. I saw a pant I wanted in the catalog, full-priced at $104.50 and ordered it in two sizes to find the right fit. After placing the order, I saw the $50 discount split against each pant, which I thought was peculiar and a bit troublesome. Sure enough, when I arrived at the store to return the pant that was too big, after waiting for the one and only clerk to finish a phone call, I presented the pant for return and expressed my concern that the $50 discount had been split and that I wanted to be able to get the full credit against the pant I was keeping since it qualified for the full discount. She said that she couldn't do it and it was "company policy" to split the coupon over all the items purchased. I had NEVER experienced that kind of deception nor experienced such indifference from a Chico's clerk. She suggested I call customer service and maybe they could fix it for me. I kept the pant and went next door to a restaurant and while awaiting dinner, I called customer service and explained the problem and again was met with what felt like a condescending lecture on their "company policy". I asked for a supervisor but she assured me I'd hear the same thing from a supervisor and resisted passing me to one. I insisted, but after holding for 21 minutes, and twice hearing she was "still looking" for a supervisor, I hung up when my food arrived. When I returned home, I again called customer service and a gentleman sighed with a disgusted remark under his breath when I told him I had a problem. He asked for a phone number and other information, and then went away for quite a while before I had a chance to tell him my situation. When he finally returned having found the order, I proceeded to tell him what I had been told and before I could finish, he began the lecture about their "company policy". I told him I'd already been lectured on their policy, but I felt their policy was scamming their customers...as it was manipulative and deceptive to prorate the discount across all the items, thereby disqualifying it from being used in full on items eligible for the advertised discount. I asked if I could return both and repurchase using the offer code again, and he said yes, but that requires driving another 90 miles tomorrow to unravel what they should have been able to do at the store today. I will take both pants back tomorrow and then repurchase the one that fits, but my money is on them telling me the code has already been used once and can't be used again, and I'll get half or nothing...take my pick. I've shopped Chico's since they opened in Preston Royal-Dallas, and have clothes and accessories from them that are at least 20 years old. Now there is little variety...Today the store was all blue black and tan. Their trends leave me waiting 3-5 years until colors I wear well come back through their racks. And now their attitudes are reflecting complete disregard for their loyal customers. Tomorrow will determine whether I go back or not. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ August 23rd: this morning (on Yelp) there was a response from Chico's requesting I call CS. I did so and spoke to Scarlett (sp?) in the Dominican Republic, who chanted the company policy once again. I requested to speak to a supervisor because after posting the situation on both Yelp, and Trustpilot, they responded on Yelp asking me to call in. Bottom line, I was on the phone with her for 39 minutes and 25 seconds. After multiple holds while she consulted with the supervisor who "wasn't there" to speak to me, I was told I needed to email a screen shot to the supervisor, proving that they responded to my review. So not liking the games, I insisted that she email that request to me, and then I would gladly email a reply with the screen shot, but I wasn't falling for the games they were playing since clearly the $50 off offer was a scam from the get-go. After again checking on what to do, she came back and offered the $25 towards a future purchase which I told her was unacceptable. This is a radical departure from standard customer service practices with any business that respects their customers. My advice to anyone considering shopping at Chico's is to RUN from patronizing a company that is so devious in their practices. And since they deleted their response after I refused to send them a screen shot...too bad I took one anyway before they got around to taking it down. So I posted it on Yelp for anyone to see.



