girl sophisticate

Katespade.com = 8 Failures and Still Unresolved

Tis the season for Friends and Family discounts and when 25% off arrived in my inbox for katespade.com, I jumped on the offer.  Unfortunately, the entire experience of buying through katespade.com was a disaster.

Failure #1 -  Ordered on April 9, arrived on April 19.  Given that Zappos also carries Kate Spade and will deliver next day for free, waiting 10 days just isn't worth it.

Failure #2 - I wanted to give Kate Spade a heads up on how far behind they are lagging in the e-commerce world in terms of order time.  It took a solid 10 minutes of clicking around on their site before finding a customer service email address.

I received a prompt customer service email reply which is quoted below.

thank you for contacting kate spade.
we sincerely apologize that your recent experience at kate spade did not
meet your expectations.
please enjoy 25% off your next order here at kate spade.
in order to use this discount, simply call us here at 866-999-kate. any
phone representative will be able to help you will place your order
using this discount.

Which leads to Failure #3 - Apparently, their customer service representatives are not coached to use proper capitalization.

Failure # 4 - Thanks for the 25% discount but I just told you that I won't be buying from you online again due to your outrageously long order fulfillment time and to add salt to the wound, you've now given me a discount that I can't even use online (my preferred channel) but rather have to call-in to redeem.

Failure #5 - The item finally arrives and it has a few defects.

Failure #6 - I called 866-999-kate to see if I could return or exchange the defected product.  The customer service person told me I had to call a different phone number.  And no, she couldn't transfer me.

Failure # 7 - I called the new phone number.  The person took my name, phone number and email address and said that someone will call me back tomorrow.

Failure # 8 - The customer service rep asked for the order number.  Guess what?  It's not printed on the invoice.

Originally, I had hoped to exchange the item for another one.  I think at this point I have decided that I just want my money back and perhaps this is not a company that I would like to deal with ever again.

 

What are your expectations when you order stuff online with regards to when it will arrive, customer service, returns and general communication regarding the order? 

For retailers that have brick-and-mortar stores and an online presence, have you noticed any differences in brand experience and customer service between the two channels?

Daily Deal Overdose

Am I the only one suffering from daily deal overdose?  When I discovered Groupon, it was awesome.  Then I discovered Bloomspot - even better!  Then it was Gilt, ideeli, Plum District, woot!, BuyWithMe, RueLaLa... even Travelzoo and Yelp started sending me daily deals. 

Please!  There are only so many mani pedi deals I can buy.  Kudos to those getting me to buy more interesting stuff ($7 for $15 at Drewes Brothers meat butcher) but honestly, what I need is a way to prioritize which deals I'm looking it and why.

Here's my daily deal rundown by category.   

Which ones are your favorites? 

Who have you actually purchased from? 

I know there are many more sites I haven't listed, feel free to comment on those as well.

My favorite right now is YipIt - it allows you to select your region and the categories that interest you the most.  Then it sends you a selection of daily deals from different deal sites that you may like.

 

Biggest deal sites, multiple cities, mulitple categories:

  

Apparel focused:

 

Activity (including hotels and restaurants) focused:

 

 

Home:

 

 

Wine and Food:
 
 

 

 

Beauty:

 

 

Mom, kid, baby (there's a ton more but probably not worth mentioning):

 

 Deal aggregators:

 
 
 

San Francisco Dream House Raffle

So I didn't win the HGTV 2011 Dream Home in Stowe, VT but the odds of winning the San Francisco 2011 Dream House is MUCH better.  With a maximum number of 40,000 tickets sold, your odds of winning something worth at least double your purchase price is roughly 1 in 100 if all tickets are sold.  The catch is - well, tickets are $150. 

Personally, I'm not one who plays the lotto or scratchers or even gambles in Las Vegas.  But, a pre-paid $2.8M house in San Francisco (or $1.4M cash alternative) will significantly change the way I need to plan finances.  Even $25k or $10k will go a long way to paying off my graduate student loans.  Verdict?  I am a proud supporter of Yerba Buena Center of the Arts.

Naracamicie Blouses: Crisp, Clean and Classy

I'm always on the hunt for one-of-a-kind pieces.  The sort of bag/blouse/shoe/accessory that can almost be a piece of art.  A recent discovery is the Italian brand Naracamicie.  I just LOVE their blouses.  Most run around $150.  They have 3 stores in the US: San Francisco, New York and Miami.

The SF store started a sale today!  $75 for most blouses... a few of my favorites from the sale are pictured below:

Shoe Helpers and Soap.com

Speaking of shoes, there are a few tricks every shoe addict should know about.

Band-Aid Friction Block - about $5-8 (pricey, but worth it!)

It looks like a mini 2" deordant stick when you pop open the cap.  Rub a little wherever your shoe is rubbing on your foot and instantly, it doesn't hurt anymore!  Obviously, it doesn't work on blisters that have already formed but it does a great job in preventing new blisters.  I haven't had a blister since I discovered this product.

 
Another one of my favorites is Foot Petals.  Heavenly Heelz (pictured above, $10 for a 3-pack on their website right now!  Great deal!) prevent heel slippage. Tip Toes (pictured below, $7 a pair or less if you buy a multi-pack) are great for ball of foot comfort.  Both are also great solutions for shoes that may be just a tad big.   They are super soft (feels like memory foam), resist wear and stick on very well.

Band-Aid Friction Block and Foot Petals are available on my new favorite site: soap.com  Spend more than $25 for FREE NEXT DAY shipping.  Most areas you can order as late as 6pm and have it at your door the next day. Amazing.  That's why Amazon.com bought them.  Oh, and you can you buy condoms too.  Stealth.  Just don't do it at work.