02/13/09

Great clothes but disappointing, snobby staff

by yue_x

The clothes are definitely great at Jill Stuart and with the recession, their prices keep falling and falling. However, I was thoroughly disappointed by their customer service. I walked into a Jill Stuart today, 2/13/09, greeted by Kirstan and Sarah, both busily chatting away on their cell phones. When I purchased my item and noticed the "Final Sale" stamp on the receipt, I questioned it. These are the remarks that were said to me: "This is Soho. All Soho boutiques have a Final Sale policy on sale items. We're not Old Navy. They have a much more lenient return policy." Followed by "You should have asked about the return policy BEFORE you purchased it. It's really your responsibility." And the icing on the cake was when one of them said, "You could discover there's a big hole on the shirt now and we still can't return it for you." Regardless of the store's return policy, I was deeply disturbed by the snarky duo and did not appreciate their stereotypical Soho attitude. No customer deserves to be talked down to.

• Pros: Fantastic clothes, high quality, great sales
• Cons: Snobby and rude staff who talk down to customers, Store return policy (No refunds, and all sale items are Final Sale)

Bohemian basics.

by Contributor

The Scene
The space is Soho Basic--huge loft, lovely wood floors, bare white walls, minimum of merchandise on display--but the clothing is anything but, and the sales staff is surprisingly low-key. The ground floor houses Stuart's main collection; in the basement you'll find her jeans line, as well as a selection of Stuart-picked vintage items.

The Goods
Stuart's intelligent, bohemian designs--decidedly modern, with Victorian and eastern European motifs--are the kind of innovative staples that you'll wear every day. Definitely worth splurging on. Snap up pin-tucked Egyptian cotton blouses with high Victorian collars and nipped waists, dark wool dresses with pleated skirts and pairs of perfectly tailored flat-front trousers.