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Quality
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Return Policy
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Customer Care service
Overall
Forever 21 is a US-based online fashion retailer. They offer the fashion gamut – clothing (for men, women, and girls), fashion accessories, beauty products, and home goods. They promise to always have you looking 21 (read as dazzling), by providing you with on-trend fashion styles at affordable prices.
Forever 21 is a legit fashion store. It is not a scam because they will never steal your money or credit card details. And customers always receive their orders just as they from the store.
But do they offer to deliver fashion materials? This review will examine the store to know if they deliver what they promise or not.
The big question is whether they live up to the promise. Is the online fashion store the go-to place for the latest fashion trends that’ll have you dazzling? Are their prices really affordable? In the first place, is Forever 21 product genuine?
Top 5 Most Popular Fashion Stores Online:
- Amazon.com (Most Popular & Legitimate)
- Rotita.com (Beautiful Dresses)
- Modlily.com
- Cupshe.com
- Bellelily.com
This Forever 21 review will examine Forever21 in order to provide you with the information that’ll help you answer those questions.
Forever 21 reviews at a glance
- Established in 1984; owned and maintained by Do Won Chang and Jin Sook Chang.
- A fashion retailer offering to clothing for women, men and girls, as well as accessories, beauty products, home collections
- Has an extensive list of products including dresses, tops, skirts, trousers, jeans, shoes, lingerie, swimwear, beauty products, bags, home goods and more
- Offers very low prices; as well as some enticing promotion
- Offers free shipping
- Returns are allowed if made within 30 days of receiving an order
- Payment is by Credit/ debit cards and PayPal, JCB, Master card, and Apple pay
- Customer support is by email, live chat and web portal
- Website (https://www.forever21.com) is compatible with mobile devices, and available in English, Korean, Chinese, and Japanese
What is Forever 21?
Forever 21 was founded on April 21, 1984, by Do Won Chang and Jin Sook Chang in Los Angeles, United States. It originally started as a shop called Fashion 21. Over the years Forever21 has only gotten bigger, and was rated as the 5th largest speciality retailer in the United States. Forever21 was created to meet the fashion need of people in all shapes and sizes around the world. To do this their commitment was to providing affordable clothing. It is the low prices offered that launched them to the consciousness of the fashion world. They also offer different styles for every season and occasion, recently a line of bridesmaid dresses was introduced.
Forever21 has made some remarkable accomplishments over the past 34years. They have more than 30,000 employees; the net worth of more than $124 million. Though many online retailers are busy closing stores, Forever 21 continues to expand. They have stores all over the US (Rochester, Minnesota, Santa Cruz, California, and many others); they also have stores in another part of the world. In total, their stores are over 500, with an average size of 38,000 square feet (the largest is about 162000 square feet).
For a company that has operated for so long, you’ll expect that they’ve met one or two bumps on the way. Forever21 has been involved in so many controversies, ranging from labour practices issues to accusations of copyright infringement. Most of the products in Forever21 are produced in China. This was after a 2001 lawsuit that was as a result of complaints from American workers about the poor working environment in Forever 21. Also, like many fashion retailers, there have been different accusations of the company allegedly stealing the work of different designers. However, most of these claims have been settled.
This review cannot be complete unless this important question is addressed. This is an area that can save customers from losing their money to scammers. There are just too many scammers in the internet opening fake platforms to rip people off. Thus, anybody who intends to purchase any item online would want to know if the store is legit and not a scam platform. Also, you need to ensure that your personal information is safe and secured.
Is Forever 21 legit??
Forever 21 is legit. It is not a scam because you will receive any product you ordered from the store. Determining that an online store is legit is important before proceeding to place orders. However, it is hard to recognize which online store is legit or a scam simply by looking at the website. That is why a review like this is written to guide you to know if the forever21 online shop is truly legit or scam.
In this review, there are two important factors that will be examined to determine the legitimacy of Forever21. The two factors are the test of time and physical existence.
Test of time: Forever21 has been in operation for over 34 years. If they were a scam store they wouldn’t have lasted even a decade. If a fake store scams people, the information will be out in no time. In these days of social media and viral posts; there’ll be no hiding for such a fake store. Nobody will want to patronize them again, but that won’t be necessary because a scam store that’s been exposed almost always close up and disappear. However, Forever 21 has taken the other route. They have only been waxing strong over the years, and this is despite all the bumps (controversies and lawsuits) on the way. They’ve expanded, launched new lines, built many stores, and are still growing. Forever21 ticks the test of time which shows that the online store is 100% legit.
Physical existence: Any online fashion store that has a functioning physical store, warehouse, office, showroom, production centre and others is legit. Scam stores do not have all these. They have only a virtual existence. That is why scam stores do not fulfil orders; they don’t have any product to deliver to customers who unsuspectingly place orders. On the other hand, Forever 21 is a duly registered company with physical headquarters in Los Angeles (US); they also have over 500 stores (including warehouses and offices) in the US and around the world. This shows that forever21 has all it takes to fulfil orders, and is therefore legit and not a scam.
Is Forever21 safe?
Forever 21 is safe. It is very important to ensure that the online store you want to make a purchase from is safe and secured. This is because cyber fraudsters are on the increase day by day with new ideas on how to scam people of their hard earned money. They do not just stop at scamming people by creating scam website; they also try to hack into legit sites to steal people’s information.
When you register with Forever21.com, you’ll be required to give sensitive data such as e-mail address, phone numbers, billing address, credit card number, and more. If such sensitive information is allowed to get into the wrong hands (fraudsters), you can have cleared. For this reason, the ideal online store should provide safety and security measures to protect customers’ data.
In this regard, Forever21 makes all the usual statements. They say that the privacy and security of customer’s personal information is a priority. Different technical and organizational measures are taken to ensure the protection of data. The technical measures include a safe site with the appropriate firewalls and use of encryption protocols. While the organizational measures include not sharing customers data with unauthorized third parties.
However, it would seem that these measures are not top-notch, or in the least not constantly upgraded to stay on top of any hacking activities. This is because Forever21 suffered a data breach in 2017 which led to the theft of customer’s payment details. The bad part is that the breach was not discovered on time, as customers were exposed for over 8 months (April 3 to November 18). The investigation will later reveal that encryption on some point of sale was not always switched on; which allowed the hackers to penetrate the system to steal the payment details. The breach affected millions of people, and over $50,000 was used for compensation.
That said, though Forever 21 takes security measures to protect customer’s data, the data breach they suffered raise questions about how tight the measures are. Other legit sites like Forever 21 are Dresslily, Pretty Little Things, Zaful etc.
Forever 21 complaints and feedback:
Forever 21 complaints and feedback we found, we have shown you below. We did not add or remove anything from them. That means this post provides you with what customers are actually saying about Forever 21.
- Diana says:
I’ve ordered around 20 times from forever 21 over 2 years and have never had an issue. I find that most orders ship fairly quickly and get to me within 1.5 weeks. I live in Canada and I can just return items in store if I needed to but they only give store credit which sucks. The reviews are really bad here and I never had a bad experience online with them so I’m pretty surprised.
- Rose says:
Harrible company. Making online shopping with them impossible. I bought denim shorts online but did not guess the size. They refused me to return. They have radiculas rules do not refund items sold online if its sale. I can not understand it because you never guess the size. How it possible create such rules for online purchases? I lost 30 dollars. I will never shop with forever 21 and will tell about to all my friends.
- Jessica says:
Usually the workers at forever21 are a little serious.. but today when I went in I had the best customer experience! I think her name was Sara (she had long dark hair) she was beyond super helpful! She went out of her way to help me find a birthday outfit!! They need more workers like her because forever 21 is already such a big store that it can sometimes be overwhelming trying to find a prefect outfit! So thankyou Sara for the friendly help!!
- Jane says:
I submitted my order and immediately noticed the shipping address was wrong when the email confirmation came to me. I called twice and was put on hold, no manager came to the phone. I submitted four emails, not one response back. Needless to say, I never received my order and have not received a credit or a response to any of my emails. They keep sending me surveys, I keep filling them out and nothing. Ridiculous experience. Will never order from them again.
- Caley says:
$38 for shipping INT. is really expensive I’ve ordered from Department stores websites and they offer way less shipping that is trackable and it gets delivered within a week or less to SAUDI ARABIA. some websites even if I order only a 5$ product the shipping would be for sure less than 8$ and it’ll be trackable and arrives quickly. I don’t know why forever 21 offers $38 shipping even if I wanna order one top, that is really crazy expensive for little items. ALSO, a lot of products DO NOT QUALIFY for int. shipping! like, WT? it’s just clothing! why not ship them anywhere? really frustrating.
Mobile compatibility
Online retail stores should make their website user-friendly and easy to assess by those that wish to make purchases. One of the ways to achieve this is by making their website compatible with mobile devices for easy access anywhere and anytime.
You can get the online store at https://www.forver21.com. The website, which is available in the English language, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and more, is compatible with both desktop platforms (such as MacOS and Windows) and also mobile operating systems (such as Android, iOS, and more). Their website is not only mobile friendly but also easy to navigate. With your mobile devices, you can have access to the website, be able to view the products, select the one you want to buy, make your payment, follow up the delivery, and have access to every other service that desktop devices can access.
Product Range
It is very important that online retail stores provide a wide range of products because most consumers prefer stores that have different products. This will not only give customers the opportunity to make all their purchases in one store, but it will also give them the advantage of cost saving. This cost savings advantage is as a result of a discount on bulk purchases, and one order flat shipment instead of shipping different items from different stores. Therefore, it is important to consider the product range of a fashion store you plan to buy from. In this regard, Forever21 ticks the box. Forever 21 provides a wide range of fashion products for men, women and girls. These include clothing, accessories, shoes, beauty products, Home goods and others.
Forever 21 also add new items to their inventory on a daily basis; that way you are sure of finding trending/ latest fashion styles in the store. The product categories in the store include:
Clothing
Forever 21 provides trending fashion that can make you stand out from the crowd.
- Women clothing includes: Tops and Tees, Sweaters, Coats and Jackets, Blazers, Dresses and Jumpsuits, Pants, Denim, Skirts, Shorts, Suits, Swimwear, Sweatshirts and Sweatpants, Pajama, intimates Formal Trousers, and others.
- Men’s clothing includes T-Shirts and Polos, Shirts, Dress Shirts, Sweaters, Coats and Jackets, Blazers, Suits and Tuxedos, Pants, Denim, Shorts, Sweaters, Cardigans, Sweatshirts and Sweatpants, Underwear and Pajamas, Swimwear, Sportswear & Joggers, etcetera.
- Cloths available for girls are: Tops and Tees, Bodysuits, Sweaters, Graphics Shop, Sweaters, Coats and Jackets, Dresses and Jumpsuits, Leggings & Pants, Denim, Skirts, Shorts, Swimwear and Rash Guards, Sweatshirts, Hoodies, Sleepwear, pyjamas, and more
Shoes
At Forever 21, you’ll find boots, flats, heels, mules & slides, loafers, sandals, sneakers, slippers, Ankle Boots, Flats, Flip-Flops & Sliders, Heels, Leather Sandals, Slippers, Trainers, Wide Fit, Boots, Flats, Heels, Sandals, Trainers, Boot Edit, School shoes, Mid-knee socks boot, Knee high boots, Toe boots, Lace-up boots, Ankle boots, Block heels, Suede Chelsea boots, High heel sandal, Lace-up stiletto boots, Suede snickers, Tennis shoes, Knee high riding boots, Lace-up sneakers, Combats boots, and more
Accessories
There are different accessories available at Forever 21. These includes Earrings, Necklace, Watches, Fit Guide, Bra Shape Guide, Knicker Guide, Bags, Bags packs, Caps, Hats, Scarves and Gloves, Socks, bum bag, hair bobble cracker, headband, jewelry, hair clip, hair bobbles, lingerie, fragrance, belts, sunglasses and readers, hair accessories, tights, gift items, phone cases and others.
Beauty products
Forever21 have different types of beauty products such as Lipstick, Lip gloss, Lip scrub, Luxury lip tint, Lip slip, Eve Lom, Face gloss, Cat eye, Universal stick, Medieval palette, Eyebrow Gel, Lip treatment, Luminizer, Mascara, Dew pot, Tinted balm Eye shadow, Lip shine, Ointment, Eyeliner, Boosting base, Lippen, Radiant translucent powder, Tinted lip conditioner, Cucumber water stick, Nail polish, and others.
Cost / price
Price is seen as a major factor in buy decisions. Low prices tend to attract more customers than the higher prices. Thus, the ideal online store should have reasonably priced items.
In this regard, Forever21 promises low and affordable prices for all its products. That they are famous for their low prices means that they have lived up to the promise of keeping the cost as low as possible. In fact, while some global fashion empires turn their backs on slashing prices, Forever 21 has fully embraced it as a market strategy and is the leader in an affordable fashion.
It was mentioned earlier that the company has faced a lot of lawsuits. Many stemmed from accusations of using cheap labour. Well, the commitment to always providing low and affordable product was at the heart of the issues.
That said, if you will shop with a budget, Forever21 will be an ideal shop to look at. Their prices are very competitive. The prices of items listed on the website are subject to change; they can decide to change prices without prior notice. But the price of confirmed orders cannot be changed.
Promotions
Every business gives promotions to drive patronage and increase sales. This is also common among online stores, and Forever21 is no exception. A review of the promotions offered by an online store is important because taking advantage of such promotions can result in significant cost savings.
Forever run different promotions many of which are for only specific times; thus, it’s important to always check their site to know what promotion is running. At the time of writing this review, there were over 850 active coupons that can be used for discounts on Forever21.com. Some of the tops offers to include:
- 35% off the full cost on one single item (by activating the code F21HAPPY)
- 30% off the full cost of Everything and Free Shipping (with code CYBER30)
- 30% off orders of €100 (by activating promo code save30%)
- 30% off storewide and free delivery. (use promo code BLKFRI30)
- Student discount
- A reward program to earn rewards at Forever 21 (e.g a certificate of $5 for every 300 points earned)
- 20% off your first regular-priced purchase
- A birthday discount of $10 on a $25 minimum purchase.
- 21% off on your Forever Rewarded Anniversary and for Forever 21’s birthday
Payment method
It is the wish of any online retail store to operate globally, that’s why it is important that they accept a wide range payment options so that customers can easily find a payment method that is supported in their home country.
In this regard, Forever 21 accept only a few payment methods such as visa debit card, visa credit cards, master card, JCB, pay pal and Apple pay. This is on par with what many of the online stores support. However, some customers will want to see a few more options such as cryptocurrencies and e-wallets.
When an online store accepts a good number of currencies, it saves customers the stress of converting their currency to the accepted one. Many of the online stores accept payment in different currencies, but Forever 21 use only the U.S. Dollars.
Shipping
Forever21.com delivers items to customers in all the 50 US states, the U.S. territories, P.O. Boxes and APO/FPO addresses. U.S. territories include American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Forever21 also ship to international destinations which include: Argentina, Bahamas, Bahrain, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Oman, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
The two important shipping considerations are shipping cost and delivery times. Almost every customer would want to pay as little as possible for shipping, with free shipping even better. Also, no one would want to wait forever to receive delivery of his/ her orders.
Forever 21 offers free shipping but you must make a minimum purchase of $50. The free shipping offer only applies to standard ground shipping to U.S. delivery addresses in the 48 continental states only. It is not valid for international delivery addresses or Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. territories, P.O. Boxes, and APO/FPO addresses. If you’ve checked other reviews, you’ll find that this is one of the lowest free shipping order- qualifying amount in the industry. Some fashion retailers will require that you spend as much as $100 to qualify for free shipping.
Where free shipping is not applicable, Forever 21 offers flat shipping rates which means that your shipping cost will not increase with an increase in order weight. There are a few shipping options available, which include standard shipping and express shipping.
When shipping to addresses in the continental US 48 states, standard ground shipping takes 3 – 6 working days, and cost $4.95; while Express shipping takes 2 – 3 working days and costs $9.95. There is also a “Next day” shipping option which will get your package to you the very next day, as long as the order is placed before 11 am. It cost $24.95 for orders less than $75, and $18.95 for orders of $75.00 and above.
Only standard delivery is available for destinations like Alaska, Hawaii, P.O. Box, APO/FPO; and it takes 5 – 13 working days. Shipping costs to these places changes with the order amount. For these US territories, order amount of: $0 – $25 cost $10.90; $25.01 – $49.99 cost $11.90; $50.00 – $100 cost $13.90; $100.01 – $150 cost $15.90; $150.01- $200 cost $17.90; and $200.01+ cost $20.90.
Standard shipping & handling for APO/FPO may take up to 18 working days; and the cost is on the expensive side. Order amount of $0 – $50 cost $38.00; $50.01 – $100 cost $48.00; $100.01 – $200 cost $58.00; $200.01 – $300 cost $78.00; $300.01 – $400 cost $138.00; $400.01 – $500 cost $188.00; and $500.01+ cost $238.00.
We cannot exhaustively cover the shipping cost for all international addresses. You’ll get the applicable cost at checkout. However, know that all international shipments are subject to taxes, import duties, and other customs fees, which are not included in the shipping cost at checkout, but which the recipient is to settle once the package reaches its destination. This means that there will be extra cost upon delivery of items.
When orders are placed, Forever 21 takes 1 – 2 business days to process them before dispatching them for shipping. This is great as it means that most items are dispatched within 24 hours. Order processing and dispatching may be delayed if a customer’s payment information is inaccurate or incomplete. Also, you should always allow for the handling/ processing time, by adding 1 – 2 days to the advertised delivery times.
Forever21 does not ship orders on weekend and holidays. Orders are packed and shipped during working days (Monday – Friday). Every order placed on the weekend or holidays will be processed on the next working day.
Returns and refund policy
It is important to ensure that the online shop you want to make your purchases allows returns and exchanges. This is because in online shopping you do not physically assess the products before the purchase; and in such blind purchase, there’s the possibility that you will not be totally satisfied with the item when you receive delivery of it. There is even the risk of being delivered the wrong item
Returns
Fortunately, Forever 21 accepts returns and will issue refunds. If you meet the entire return requirement, you will get a full refund (which is the original purchased price; any duties and taxes paid on the item are not refundable). Your refund will be in the currency and exchange rate at the time of the order.
To return an item, you have to simply fill the order returns form (the reason for the return, number of items being returned etcetera), custom papers, and the return label that may have come with the package; attach the returns label on the package, and mail it to Forever21.
However, there are certain terms to be met if your returns are to be accepted and the refund processed. This includes that the returned items must be in their original unused condition with original tags still attached; they must not be worn or washed; there should be free of stain or dire, and swimwears must still have their sanitary liner in place. Also, items that are specifically designated final sale items cannot be returned for a refund. This includes cosmetics, jewellery, gift cards, and an online gift certificate.
For returns to be accepted, the items must get to the warehouse of Forever21 within 30days of receiving your order. If you’ve checked reviews of other online fashion retailers, you’ll find that this is one of the best returns windows you’ll find. There are some stores that even allow only 18 days. That said, you don’t have to worry about racing against time to get your returns to Forever21.
Also, items purchased online may be returned to any of the brick and mortar stores of the company. All you need is the original invoice/ receipt. However, if you return the item to store, you will only receive store credit or exchange; you cannot have your refund as cash to your bank account. For all online returns, the refund will be issued through the original payment method. You should allow for some time after the returned item is received by Forever21 for them to process it and issue the refund.
It should be noted that customers bear the cost of all returns, and they are non-refundable. However, you have received a defective item, you can send the Return Shipping Receipt along with your return and your return shipping cost will be refunded. If your item is inspected and confirmed defective, a replacement will also be shipped to you at no cost.
Exchanges
Forever21 allows exchanges except items returned from U.S. Territories, APO/ FPO address, or international address. In fact, certain conditions allow you to exchange your item instead of a refund. For example, if your items are either defective or wrong; if you communicate them and return the item; they’ll the items and they pass you’ll get a replacement shipped to you at no cost.
Customer support
Customer support service is very important in any business. Whenever you walk into a store or a business organization, you’ll need someone to attend to you; a person that can respond to any question you may have relating to the business transaction. It is the same even when you are purchasing from online stores; there is a need for an active customer support service so that all your questions, issues or complaint will be addressed effectively. Therefore, it’s important for customers to ensure that there are channels available for reaching the online store they want to purchase from; it’s also important to know the effectiveness of these channels.
Forever21 provides three channels for direct contact with a customer support agent – phone number, email and their portal (online contact form). They also have a FAQ section, where you can access self-help articles that may answer some of your questions.
For the telephone service, they provide toll-free lines so you don’t have to worry about charges when seeking assistance. For customers from the United States or Canada, the phone number to call is (888) 494-3837; and for international customers, the number to call is (213) 741-8257. To use the email service, one email address to send your submissions is eucustomerservice@forever21inc.com. You can also contact them through their customer service portal.
Unfortunately, the customer support service is not available round the clock. You can call support only between 5 am – 6 pm (Monday – Friday), between 7am-5pm on Saturday, and between 8 am – 5 pm on Sunday. Also, while telephone service and the mail option (email and ticketing system) may do the job, it was disappointing that Forever21.com does not offer live chat as a channel for customer service at the time of this review. It will be fine for them to add live chat to their customer support arsenal, as this will help in providing prompt/ instantaneous responses to customers’ queries.
Summary
Forever21 does live up to its promise of providing trending fashion at low cost. They ensure that they have new arrivals daily; so you’ll definitely find the latest fashions styles in the store. Their prices are low, and they run numerous promotions regularly that bring their prices to very enticing low levels. Also, they prioritize customer satisfaction because they allow you to return items that you don’t like for an exchange with another item or refund. And the refund you receive is the full purchase price issued in cash to your original payment method (if you did online returns) or issued in store credit (if you did in-store returns).
This review clearly established that Forever21 is legit and not a scam. Also, it was found that while the company takes measures to be safe and ensure the protection of customers’ data, how safe those measures are is questionable owing to a recent data breach. Thus, we’ll want the company to really strengthen security measures and do more to assure customers that they are safe.
Another small area that can see some improvement is increasing the payment options available by adding e-wallet and cryptocurrencies, and yet another area is adding a live chat to their customer support options.
I liked
- An extensive product range that includes women’s wear, men’s wear, and girl’s wears, accessories, beauty products and even some home products
- Affordable prices for their items
- Regular enticing promotions
- Free shipping for orders of $50 or more (albeit to only the 48 US continental states)
- 30 days returns and exchange window
- An effective customers support service
- Exchanges are allowed
Not sure
- Encryption standard
I didn’t like
- Limited payment option
- No live chat feature
- Refund processing time is too long
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