Forever 21 or Never 21?

Forever 21 has cute clothes at super cheap prices…which is why I should have known better! Shop in store, maybe. But shop online? Sorry sucker! Let me tell you about my recent online shopping experience with Forever 21.

I placed an order on June 21, 2009. I received a welcome email but never an order confirmation nor update status. Five days passed and I received shipments from other companies I ordered from prior to placing my Forever 21 order but still no word from F21.

I logged in to my account to see my order was still processing. Ugh? After 5 days? The following week, my order status changed to shipped. Finally! By checking my account I was able to find the UPS tracking number. UPS.com showed an estimated delivery date of July 1, 2009. Yay! Right on time for the holiday.

July 3rd rolls around and I realized I didn’t get my package. Checked online and UPS.com shows a status of “Out for delivery” since July 1st. I smell a lost package! So I call UPS and the lovely representative confirms this means my package is lost in the UPS abyss. She stated that I needed to have the shipper (F21) call to issue a trace on the shipment.

Call the number listed on the F21 website…”You have reached a non-working number” WTF? Okay, maybe I dialed a wrong digit or two. Retry…”You have reached a non-working number”. Okay, email! I emailed customer service providing a very detailed version of my issue. Provided my order number, dates, UPS tracking number, etc. This is what I got back:
[quote author=”Forever 21″]Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for emailing us with your concern. We apologize for the delayed response.

According to our records, you have one order placed with us. Order information is as follows:

Order Number: 2******9
Order Status: Shipped
Tracking Number : 1ZA**************9
Delivery Date : 07/07/09

You can now check the status of your order by logging into our website, www.forever21.com. Once logged in, click on the ‘Orders’ link. You will then see your order number along with its’ status. Once your order has been shipped, you will notice a tracking number when you click on the ‘View Order Details’ link. Click on this tracking number and you will be directed to the shipping carrier’s website where you will receive up to the minute status on your package.

If you have any further questions/concerns, please call our customer service line at (888) 494-3837 or by emailing us at online@forever21.com. Our representatives are available to take your calls and emails Monday through Friday, 6:30 AM to 6:00 PM, and Saturday through Sunday, 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM Pacific Standard Time.

Sincerely,
Forever 21 – Customer Service[/quote]
OMG, they just repeated what I told them and act as if I should continue tracking a package that says “Out for delivery” every flippin day! Of course the delivery date says July 7th…it was also out for delivery the 1st, 2nd, 3rd…you get the picture! I did not appreciate this email which was clearly a canned, nearly automated response when I clearly stated a UPS rep told me the package was lost and F21 needed to place a trace on the order.

Also in my email to them I stated I would be out of town for a few weeks and that if my package was not delivered by July 6th, I wanted a full refund. To make a long story short, today is July 21, 209 (1 month later) and I have not received my order nor a refund. This is after several attempts to reach Forever 21’s customer service reps via telephone and email. I paid for items I never received and I want my money back.

I do not want a store credit as I will not shop there. I want my money refunded back to my credit card, the same format I paid for the order. I also do not want to hear their crap about how it will take 3-4 weeks for my refund to be issued to my card. It did not take those pansies 3-4 weeks to charge my card for the order therefore it should not take that time to refund it!

With such low prices normally a red flag would’ve gone up however the store is so popular nationwide you wouldn’t expect to have such issues. Also, be aware that even in store you can run into issues with F21. Lubby & I went there last week and were told that we could not buy the shirt off the mannequin even though it was the only one left in the size needed. They took our contact info and said they’d call Tuesday (today) when they change the floor stock. So they keep the clothes displayed even though they don’t have them available and expect you to drive back a few days later to make the purchase.

Also they do not do refunds in store, they may allow you to exchange or receive store credit. However this is after a lengthy argument. They don’t care if it doesn’t fit, is damaged or whatever. They train their store associates to spew company policies like robots. The employees don’t even know why things are that way, they just know they are company policy.

Am I saying do not shop there? No. What I am saying is do not order online unless you are okay with potentially losing your money. If shopping in store, carefully inspect everything you buy for rips, tears, missing buttons, scrapes, etc. Try everything on. Be sure you want to make the purchase because all sales are basically final at F21.

Forever 21, in my opinion should be called Never 21. Because if you order online you may never get your order. If lost, you may never get a refund. If purchased in store, you may never get an exchange or credit. Keyword: Never.

The end.