I have been a happy Banana Republic customer for many years.
Not anymore.
Why? I bought a pair of pants at their outlet store in the middle of nowhere, only to find that they were defective after wearing them once - the side stitching was falling apart.
I have returned items that didn’t fit or turned out to not be so much my style as I’d thought without issue, so I assumed that something like this would of course be accepted as a return.
Before I continue - let me stress that I paid for the pants with my Banana Republic card.
Given that the outlet store is well over an hour from my house, I opted to go to the local Banana Republic five minutes away. They refused to accept my item for a return, stating that the “Banana Republic Outlet” was a completely different company. I just didn’t but that - I paid for the item with my Banana Republic card!
Needless to say, I made a serious stink, but it didn’t help. I even asked to call customer support with their phone and complain - but guess what - customer service was closed.
The conclusion? I am no longer a happy Banana Republic customer. In fact, I’m not a Banana Republic customer at all anymore. This simple gaff on their part was enough - I’ll take my business elsewhere.
Not to Gap or Old Navy, either. I think I’ll start off with some online shopping first - Amazon has a good clothing selection these days, and their customer service is terrific - at least is has been in my experience. I have bought a piece of clothing from them. They offered me a 20% off coupon if I signed up for clothing emails from Amazon, so I did - of course! I bought a French Connection shirt - its quite nice and fits really well - surprising, since I obviously didn’t try it on before I bought it.
It just doesn’t seem worth it to me for Banana Republic to take such a hard stance about their outlet store. Oh well, their loss.