J Crew is a store that promises to offer quality and good fashion products for men, women, boys and girls at affordable prices.
J Crew is a legit fashion store. The store is not a scam because they will not steal your hard earned money. And you will get your ordered item just as it is on the store.
At a time where there are so many fashion stores online, does J Crew offer the product range and quality as well as the prices to make them stand out from the crowd? Is the online fashion store even legit to start with?
This J Crew review will examine everything about J Crew to provide the information that you will need to answer those questions.
J Crew Review at a glance
- Established in 1983; owned and maintained by J crew
- A fashion retailer offering clothing, fashion accessories and beauty products for men, women, boys, and girls
- Has an extensive list of products including dresses, tops, skirts, trousers, jeans, shoes, lingerie, swimwear, beauty products, bags and more
- Offers low prices, as well as some enticing promotions
- Does not offer free shipping
- Returns are allowed if made within 60days of receiving an order
- Payment is by the J.Crew Credit Card, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, JCB, PayPal J.Crew Gift Cards online.
- Customer support is by email, phone and post
- Website (https://www.jcrew.com) is compatible with mobile devices
What is J Crew?
A review of the fashion store will be incomplete without a little background information. J Crew came into existence in 1983. They started with the idea of mailing of their first catalogue; and six years after, they opened one of the best fashion stores at New York’s South Street Seaport.
J Crew factory was launched in 1988, where they produce exclusive designs. However, the designs are slightly changed sometimes so as to keep their prices competitive, as well as to ensure that the quality and integrity expected by their customers are maintained.
Millard “Mickey” Drexler joined J.Crew in 2003 to serve as both chairman and CEO in a bid to improve on their services, quality and innovation. In order to be among the best in the very competitive fashion market, J Crew had to partner with the finest global fabric mills, craftsmen and more. As a result of these partnerships, J.Crew has several line extensions, including crewcuts for kids, J.Crew weddings & parties, and more.
Presently, the business includes retail and outlet stores all over the US and a growing online and catalogue business. Also, there is a constant addition of new products/ items to the existing stores. J.Crew stands proudly as not only a legit fashion store but one of the most popular fashion stores for men’s wear, women’s wear and kids’ wear. And not just in the US. In August 2011 J.Crew went international. They had their first Canadian store opened at Yorkdale Center in Toronto and another two stores at Vancouver and Edmonton. Their e-commerce site serves more than 100 countries as at early 2012; and till date, they are still breaking into new countries.
Mobile Compatibility
Online shopping should not be a chore. It is something that you should be able to do at any time and anyplace; even when reclining on your bed or couch. That is only possible if the online store is compatible with portable devices such as mobile phones and tablets.
You can get the online store at https://www.jcrew.com, and their website is available in the English language. Thankfully, the J.crew website is compatible not only with the desktop platform (such as Windows and MacOS), but also with mobile operating systems (such as Android, iOS, BlackBerry and more). J.Crew website is mobile friendly and easy to navigate. With your mobile devices, you will be able to view the products, select the one you want, make your payment, and access every other service that can be accessed using the desktop platforms.
Is J.crew legit?
J Crew is legit. It is not a scam. In the world we are in, the number of cyber fraudsters is increasing, and so is the number of tactics used by these fraudsters for scamming people. Thus, people will be concerned whether an online platform they plan to join is legit or a scam. This is especially so if the online platform is an online store. This is because “online stores” is one of the ways fraudsters scam people; they’ll design a scam platform, and lure people to pay for goods that never exist, and so will never be delivered.
Different factors can be examined to know the legitimacy of an online store. In determining whether J.crew is legit, we will look at two of these factors – a test of time and physical existence.
Test of time – It is a given that scam stores do not survive for a long time. In this age of social media, the information about their scam activities will spread wide in a short time such that nobody will fall prey for them again. The exposure always causes them to close the scam site and disappear. The good thing is that J.Crew passes the test of time.
They started way back in 1983, which is about 35 years ago. And through all the years that follow; instead of closing shop and disappearing, they have weathered whatever storm, grown bigger and continue to meet customers’ fast fashion needs. There is no doubt that J.Crew is a legit store, as no scam online retailer can remain in business for decades.
Physical Existence – It is a given that most scam online stores have only a virtual existence. They do not have a physical office, factory, warehouse, or physical stores. There is usually nothing physical, except a phoney website showing enticing pictures of products that do not exist. On the other hand, J.Crew has a physical existence. J.crew.com is operated by J.Crew and other men that are prominent men in the fashion business. They have physical stores in New York City, Canada and other major cities in the world. That means they are legit and not scam.
Is J Crew safe?
J Crew is safe to use. The high rate of hacking and phishing activities has shone the spotlight on the safety of any online retail store. Apart from not being scammed by an online store; you should also be concerned that your using the store should not leave you exposed to other scam artists.
The online purchase involves customers giving out details such as your name, email, mailing address, credit card details and more. If such personal and sensitive information is exposed to third parties (read: hackers), you can have your identity stolen, or have your account wiped clean. Therefore, every shopper will want to make sure that the sensitive information they share with an online store is safe and secured. For this reason, any online store that fails to provide the information/ transaction safety measures is bound to a loss in the competitive market.
In this regards, J.crew says that they have in place technical, administrative and physical safety measures to prevent unwanted third parties from having access to customers’ data. Technically, J.Crew uses SSL (Secure Socket Layer) technology. SSL is the security industry standard for establishing a secure link between buyer and seller, such that any traffic transferred between the buyers’ device and the sellers’ servers is private and shielded from third parties.
SSL also uses encryption to ensure that even if the information is captured, it cannot be deciphered and read. However, there is no information about the actual encryption level used. There is no way of telling if the encryption standard used is the secure 128- bit encryption, or the 256-bit encryption which is widely regarded as the most secure.
Administratively, J Crew pledge not to share your information with any third parties without your prior express consent. Also, personal data are retained for business needs and legal requirements only. It will be retained as long as it is necessary for the purpose of processing the transaction and other related purposes for which the data was collected.
For instance, certain transaction details may be retained until the expiration of the time for claims arising from the transaction. That means the information is deleted after it has served the purpose for which it is gathered. J.crew operates in the U.S and other countries; thus, it is possible that customers’ information is stored, accessed and transferred to other jurisdictions that may not have provided the same levels of data protection as your own jurisdiction. But the good part of it is that they have promised to ensure that every personal data collected receives an adequate level of protection in the jurisdiction in which it is processed.
This puts the question of whether j.crew is safe to rest. J.crew is very much safe based on the fact that they have different measures in place that ensures that vital information of their customers is safe and secured.
J Crew Video
Product range
It is very important that 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 shopping in one store. There is also the advantage of cost saving. This cost savings advantage is as a result of the discount given on bulk purchases and flat shipping rates. Most shops will give you some discount on your total order if the order amount is up to a particular amount.
It will be important to buy all your fashion products in one shop so that your order will be up to the qualifying amount to receive such bonuses. Also, when it comes to shipping, most fashion shops gives flat shipping rates, which means that no matter how many items you are purchasing, you are paying the same amount to get them delivered to you. Therefore, buying all your items in one place will mean that you will pay for less, unlike buying items from different stores and paying their individually shipping cost.
Therefore, it is important to consider the product range of a fashion store you plan to buy from to know if they hold a wide range of products. In this regard, J.Crew ticks the box. J.crew provides a wide range of fashion products that are needed by men, women, boys, and girls, such as clothing, accessories, shoes, beauty products and others.
Clothing
J.crew offers different types of clothing for women, men, boys, and girls.
- Women clothing includes Tops and Tees, Sweaters, Coats and Jackets, Blazers, Dresses and Jumpsuits, Pants, Denim, Skirts, Shorts, Suiting, Swim, Sweatshirts and Sweatpants, Pajamas and Intimates.
- Men’s clothing includes T-Shirts and Polos, Shirts, Dress Shirts, Sweaters, Coats and Jackets, Blazers, Suits and Tuxedos, Pants, Denim, Shorts, Sweatshirts and Sweatpants, Underwear and Pajamas, Swimwear.
- Cloths available for girls are: Tops and Tees, Graphics Shop, Sweaters, Coats and Jackets, Dresses and Jumpsuits, Leggings & Pants, Denim, Skirts, Shorts, Swimwear and Rash Guards, Sweats, Pajamas, and more
- Boys clothes available include T-Shirts and Polos, Shirts, Graphics Shop, Sweaters, Coats and Jackets, Suiting, Pants, Denim, Shorts, Swimwear and Rash Guards, Sweats, Pajamas and Underwear, Shoes and Accessories, and more.
Accessories
Women accessories available at J.crew includes: crystal mirror statement earrings, crystal-studded bead and tassel earrings, crystal-studded bead and tassel necklace, crystal and gold circle drop earrings, crystal and lucite mirror earrings, crystal and tortoise drop earrings, pearl hoop earrings, different colours of passport cases in Italian leather, Glitten in cashmere blend, and others.
Shoes
At J.crew, you can get different types of shoes. This includes high heels, flat shoes, sadle ankle boots in velvet, pointed toe flats, pointed stiletto ankle boots in leopard calf hair, Tall high heel boots, stella bow heels in embellished glen plaid and velvet, Tall high heels in faux snakeskin, over the knee leather boots, Matte Chelsea rain boots, Cap – toe ankle boots, kitten -heel Chelsea boots, MacAlister suede flats, MacAlister wedge boots, Nordic boots, Nordic wedge boots, Black watch tartan loafers, Kiltie monk-strap loafers, pointed – toe slides in brocade, Academy penny – loafer mules in patent leather, Academy penny – loafer mules in metallic leather, Academy penny – loafer mules in croc- embossed leather, Poppy two strap ballet in leopard calf hair, poppy ballet flats in embellished plaid, Poppy two- strap ballet flats in suede, Velvet Mary Jane flats, Convertible smoking slippers in velvet, Pointed toe loafers, pointed toe sling back flats, Suede smoking slippers, Leopard smoking slippers, Ryan penny loafers in leather, strappy block heel sandals, pointed – toe slide in denim, stappy buckled sandals, Buckled midheel sandals, and many others.
Beauty products
J crew have different types of beauty products; ranging from 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 one of the major factors affecting both the buyer’s decision and the level of sales. That makes it important to determine whether the prices of products in any store are in the affordable range.
J.crew offers a variety of products, and they keep adding new products and re-branding from time to time. So their prices are subject to change making it difficult to quote a particular price for any product. At any point in time prices fluctuate a lot, and you’ll have to keep checking their website for the price of any particular product at a particular time.
However, J.crew prices are competitively okay, but not as low as some other online retailers. When the prices of their products are compared with similar products in other stores, it shows that their prices are higher than some low priced online stores.
Promotions
Online stores are aware that one of the things that increase sales is discount or promotions. Most people are eager to purchase products that are discounted, they always look out for where products are cheaper than normal.
J Crew knows this secret. As a result, they offer promotions from time to time that significantly slashes their prices. All you need do is to be checking their website to know which promotion is running at any particular time.
At the time of writing, some of the promotions that were running included:
- 40% of women fall favourite: this offers a discount of 40% of the normal price for women
- Women up to 50% off inmates: Here women are given 50% off the full price for underwears
- 40% off men fall favourite: J.crew offers 40% off the full price of some items for men
- 40% off kids fall favourite: they give kids 40% discount of the full price
- They offer free standard shipping with J.crew rewards: which allows you to get your order delivered free of charge
Payment method
Different parts of the world are targets of every online store, therefore there is a need for them to accept a wide range of payment methods to avoid losing customers who might not find a payment option supported in their location. In this regard, J.crew provides a variety of payment options, such that you’ll easily make payment in the store from anywhere in the world. J.Crew accepts the following payment methods: The J.Crew Credit Card, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover card, JCB, PayPal, J.Crew Gift Cards online.
Shipping
Shipping is the second most important factor (after price) affecting online purchases. On one hand, there is shipping cost, and on another, there are shipping/ delivery times. Very often, shipping cost makes customers abandon their shopping carts when high shipping cost adds to the cost of the items to make the total expenditure on the items higher than expected. In such situations, if the shipping cost had been zero or acceptably low, the customers would have proceeded with the purchases. Thus, if you want to avoid spending too much over and above the cost of the items you are buying, it is important to check the shipping cost of the store.
Free shipping is definitely the deal clincher. J.crew offers free standard shipping, but only when you sign up to their reward; and not all orders qualify for it. Orders that qualify for free shipping and handling will be offered free shipping and handling for all addresses. In their words: “Free standard shipping and handling is valid for logged-in J.Crew Rewards members on qualifying orders. Offer cannot be applied to previous purchases or the purchase of gift cards and cannot be redeemed for cash”
Their shipping covers all 50 states in united states, Washington DC, U.S. P.O. Boxes, U.S. territories, and APO/ FPO/ DPO addresses. The shipping methods offered during inspection depends on the item selected and the customer’s specific shipping address. Orders shipping free to the continental U.S., Alaska and Hawaii will be sent through standard shipping and delivered by UPS or USPS. Orders shipping free to P.O. Boxes, APO/FPO/ DPO addresses, Guam, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands will be sent through USPS.
One good thing about J.Crew is that delivery times take effect the next working day after you place an order. This means that orders are processed the same day that the purchase is made. This is the fastest order processing time in the business, and as a result, J.Crew is able to fast delivery. There are many fashion stores that will take up to 3 days to process your orders.
Shipping and handling charges are based on the shipping method, the time the customer expect to receive the item, as well as the shipping address. The order size and weight do not affect flat-rate shipping and handling fees. Monogrammed and personalized orders take more than 14 working days to reach their destination. The standard shipping will cost you $5 and takes 3 to 6 working days, while expedited shipping cost $10 and takes 2 to 3 working days.
J.crew shipping also covers Canada and more than 100 international destinations. They offer flat-rate shipping to international destinations through UPS Worldwide Express. The prices are provided at checkout.
Shipping to Japan via standard shipments takes 5 to 11 working days to arrive while express shipments take 2 to 6 working days. Shipping to North America by express delivery takes 3 to 5 working days while 2 to 10 working days is the Standard Delivery Times. Shipment to India takes 3 to 6 days for express delivery and 5 to 13 days for standard shipments. Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Macau, Maldives, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka takes 3 to 6 working days. China, Taiwan and Singapore will take 3 to 6 days (express) 5 to 9 working days (standard). Korea and New Zealand take 3 to 6 business days via express shipments, and 6 to 10 business days via standard shipments.
Thailand, 3 to 6 working days (express) and 6 to 12 working days (standard). Australia, 3 to 6 days by express delivery, and 6 to 18 business days for standard shipping. Hong Kong, 3 to 6 business days- express, 7 to 9 business days – standard shipments. Indonesia, express delivery takes 3 to 6 working days while standard delivery takes 8 to 15 working days.
The standard shipments to Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands takes 2 to 6 business days to arrive.
Brazil, Costa Rica, and Mexico take 2 to 6 work days for express delivery and 5 to 10 work days for standard delivery. Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Iceland, Jersey, Malta takes 2 to 6 work days. Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and United Kingdom takes 2 to 6 work days via express shipments and 4 to 8 work days for standard shipments.
Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia takes 2 to 6 work days for express delivery and 5 to 9 work days for standard delivery. Shipping to Romania takes 3 to 6 work days for the items to arrive. Shipment to Russia takes 3 to 6 work days for express delivery and 5 to 13 work days for standard delivery. Turkey takes 2 to 6 days by express and 5 to 13 working days for standard delivery.
Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Reunion will take 3 to 6 business days. Shipments to Saudi Arabia will take 3 to 6 work days for express and 5 to 12 work days for standard delivery. Israel, and United Arab Emirates, standard shipments take 3 to 6 work days.
Return and Refund policy
When you are making online purchases, especially of sized products, there is a need to know the return or exchange policy applies to the online store. This is to ensure that after making the purchase and the product is undersized or oversized you will be able to return it or exchange it for another item. Apart from the sizing issue, the item might be damaged or not meet the certain expectation of yours (quality or even colour). All these can be taken care of only if the online store in question has a favourable return and exchange policy.
Returns
The good news is that J.crew accepts returns and will issue refunds. US addresses get a full refund; but for international orders, you will receive the original purchased price and not any duties and taxes you paid on the item in the currency and exchange rate at the time of the order. Also, international customers will be responsible for the shipping charges incurred during the returns
However, there are certain conditions and terms you must follow so as to ensure that your returns are accepted and your refund processed.
- The items to be returned must not be worn, washed, damaged or defective. They must be in the original condition they were before purchase.
- The returns must be made within 60 days of receiving your delivery package
- International customers should email julie@jcrew.com or contact them at +1 800 261 7422 to make arrangements for a return or initiate return.
- Request for refund or exchange of purchased must be accompanied by the original receipt.
However, there are certain products that cannot be returned. This includes all monogrammed and personalized items, lingerie, vintage, altered or final sale items, and fine jewellery. Also, once your return is received, you should allow up to two weeks for it to be processed.
If you’ve checked the return policy of some other online fashion stores, you’ll find that J.Crew’s return window of 60 days is double what many other stores allow. From a customer’s perspective, this is enough time which greatly reduces the risk of your returns not reaching the retailer on time and disqualifying you from getting refunded.
Exchanges
Most online stores do not allow exchanges. Which means that if you are not satisfied with the apurchased item when you receive it, you cannot request to exchange it for another item. It is good to know that J.crew accepts exchanges on every item purchased except those aforementioned that cannot be returned. However, exchanges are handled in-store. If you are not satisfied with the item, and you need an exchange, bring your invoice or receipt to any J.Crew store for an exchange, in accordance with their policy.
Unlike other online stores that you have to first return the item, get refunded and place a fresh order, J.Crew exchange policy makes for smooth user experience when getting a new product in place of an another.
Customer Support
The importance of efficient customer support service cannot be overemphasized. If you walk into a store or a business organization; no doubt you’ll need someone to attend to you, somebody you can, at least, ask any question you may have relating to the business transaction. But when purchasing from online stores, you will not meet any physical human to talk to. You might still have questions you need to be answered, or issues you need to be solved. Therefore, it important to know the provisions that the store makes for addressing customers’ questions or issues.
J.crew has provided four different channels to support their customers. The first stop is a self-help FAQ section on their website. The FAQ is loaded with some answers to many questions that customers have asked in the past.
You might have a need to directly contact a customer support representative. J.crew supports such contact via email. You can send them a mail using the email address: help@jcrew.com. Their response time is impressive. So you’ll get your answers in a few hours.
J.crew also supports telephone support service, you can reach them through this telephone support line: 1800-562-0258 as shown in the “contact us” page on their website. Another channel is through twitter you can lay your complaints or ask you questions through @jcrew_help.
Phone and email channels are the fastest in attending to issues. It doesn’t take much time to get your feedback when you reach them through email. The phone is instant feedback, though your issues might not all be addressed at that moment.
Summary
J Crew tries to meet up with its promise of providing fast fashion. They have many new arrivals daily; so you’ll definitely find the latest fashions styles in the store. Their prices are affordable, they run promotions that bring their prices to very enticing levels, and they offer free shipping (through J.crew rewards). Also, they prioritize customer satisfaction because they allow you to return and exchange items that you don’t like, and you’ll be refunded your payment, or get a replacement. When it comes to customer support, many customers will agree that they provide excellent customer support service.
I liked
- An extensive product range that includes women’s wear, men’s wear, boy’s and girl’s wears, accessories, beauty products and even some home products
- Affordable prices for good quality items
- Orders are processed the same day that they purchase is made
- Free shipping
- Regular enticing promotions
- 60 days returns and exchange window
- An effective customers support services
I didn’t like
- No detail about encryption standard used
- Refund processing time is too long
- Limited payment options (no e-wallets and cryptocurrencies)
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