I'd like to share my above and beyond story with you all. It all started when we had a horrible experience at our local Victoria's Secret (VS from here on) store and VS as a whole at that point in time. My wife, an avid VS fan, saw a flyer for their Valentine's Day Collection.We have been hit fairly hard by the current economy and as a direct result, have had to tighten our belts considerably. Needless to say, shopping at VS is a real treat for her right now. She has been in kind of a slump lately and I've noticed that she just wasn't "feeling" as sexy as usual.
As soon as my wife saw the flyer, her eyes lit up. I figured it was the perfect opportunity to do something special for her and make her feel sexy. I said, "Hey, why not go out and pick that up, take your time, have some fun and call it your Valentine's Day present?". Can you say, Victoria's Secret to the rescue?...Or so I thought.
Now fast forward to her experience. Granted, it had been quite some time since she has had the opportunity to grace the presence of a VS Store, this was a very special treat to her. She REALLY fell in love with their Vintage Victoria Bra, Panties and Garter in the Wineberry color. We set it up for her to get pampered by first getting her hair done, then her nails/toes and finally, like a cherry on top, her visit to the local VS store.
Upon arrival, she quickly located their Vintage Victoria push-up bra in the Wineberry color. However, she was unable to find the accompanying panties and garter. Eventually she went and asked an associate at the counter who brushed her off, but finally found aid from another associate sorting items.
When she asked for help in locating the matching garments to the Valentine's Day collection, she was told that the store had received NONE of the matching items. Disappointed, but not broken, she asked if it would be possible to get a rain check on them (due to the ongoing sale) and possibly receive a call when stock arrives.
At this point it was further explained to her that this was a limited collection and that the store will NOT be receiving more stock or even getting them at all. Basically, she was out of luck, while empathetic, the associate offered no further assistance on the matter, nor offered to do anything to try and make it right.
Can you see her aforementioned lit up eyes dwindle in disappointment? I can and did.
I initially assumed the associate was most likely in error. I mean, this is VS right? There's no way! So considering she purchased the Wineberry bra, I thought I could once again "save the day", be her hero and get them straight off VS.com.
However, to my dismay they are not available. Not even the Vintage Victoria Wineberry push-up bra she was able to purchase in store was available. I searched high and low, even hitting up eBay in an attempt to find them...Nothing.
I used my fancy Consumerist skills and shot off an email to what I thought might be Ms. Victoria's Secret (CEO) herself. Depicting the same story above. I honestly didn't expect it to arrive anywhere, much less get anything more than a canned response.
However, to my surprise, she did receive it, forwarded it to the necessary party, who in turn replied to me. They wanted to speak to me and my wife. So, we did what anyone would do...Fired off our number in (morbid?) curiosity.
It didn't take long at all for them to contact us. Not only did they profusely apologize that absolutely zero stock had been delivered to the store. They were tremendously grateful that we notified them of the fact. It turns out there was an issue and we were able to bring it to their attention.
As one would expect, they offered to ship off the missing two items to us free of charge and include an extremely gracious gift card. Personally, I felt the gift card was just too much and tried to decline it, completing her collection was more than generous. Nope, they insisted, they wouldn't allow us to turn it down. We were utterly amazed at the treatment we received.
We soon found out there was some bad news. The matching panties were completely gone, sold out, no stock anywhere. Ohh well, they already made us feel like royalty, we were still very pleased with our experience.
But wait...There's more! I received an email from them earlier today. Apparently, they shot off an email to every store in the states in search of this ever elusive pair of underwear...And they found them!!! They literally conducted a nationwide search to get my wife her panties.
If this isn't above and beyond...I don't know what is.
Sincerely,
Chris & Becka
Now that's customer service!
]]>@chatterboxwriting: No, I am a Dude... no biggie...
]]>Email to head of VS:
Dear Mr. Jackson,
I am a loyal Victoria's Secret customer and must report a very disagreeable experience at your Ardmore, Pennsylvania Victoria's Secrets store earlier today.
30 On the Sq, Ardmore, PA 19003
I tried on several different pieces of lingerie and bikinis and was quite happy with the selection I found.
I snapped a few photos of myself privately in the dressing room.
I have a rare mobility disorder called EDS, Ehlers Danlos Syndrome.
Recently my neck was injured and has only recently healed.
I was celebrating by buying new lingerie and swimwear to show off.
Since I have problems turning my neck, my camera is lifesaver to see how clothes look on me.
Suddenly I was startled by a woman saying she saw a flash go off in the dressing room and for me to stop taking photos because it was illegal.
I told her thru the closed door that other associates had told me it was fine to take photos over the last six months whenever I buy new lingerie.
She replied she "didn't care" and that "wasn't true". She then knocked on the door rapidly and scolded me to to exit.
I asked her name and position thru the close door. She said asst. mangager and wouldnt give her name. I asked again and she said Joanne.
I dressed and exited the dressing room.
My joy in finding pretty new items to buy was torpedoed and I handed my intended purchases back to another sales associate. I asked where Joanne was.
The woman told me NO ONE named Joanne works in the Ardmore store. I then explained the situation to her and asked who on earth had lied to me about their name.
She said only one person was letting people in the dressing room. 'Vickie'
So I found Vickie and asked her if she was letting people in the dressing room.
She said yes. I asked her why she told me her name was Vickie.
She said she didn't.
Anyway I calmly told her that I see nothing stating that I couldn't use my camera in the private dressing rooms.
She was very rude and replied that wasn't "her problem"
I then told her that I post on Consumerist.com and that I would be taking up her treatment of me with VS Corporate offices and also on my personal Fashion review blog.
She only replied that she wanted to know my name. No apology, still combative.
I finally left store shaken and disappointed.
So I leave this matter to you.
Please let me know VS store policy and whether your assistant manager's reaction was up to the Limited Brands standards.
I will be posting this story on Consumerist momentarily.
We are not "feeling" sexy and frankly, that's alright.
]]>@xay: same here. i'm 38DD and i've been able to find nice, cute bras there without a problem. the ultra sexy stuff, like the vintage line unfortunately usually don't even go up past regular D at all.
wonder if it's regional? we have two ginormous three storefront wide mall victoria's secrets in my town, so maybe they just get more items?
I only look at their catalog for the articles.
]]>LOL... Nationwide panty-raid... Now I have heard everything.
+ Watch video
I went to VS under the impression that they would do better, both in selection & fitting, than my local dept. store. wrong on both counts. They tried the trick of going down in the band size & up in the cup size, without ever telling me the measurements. That might work if you only need to adjust by one size. But trying to put 42C into 38 D is painful, besides looking bad. Did they think I wouldn't notice I couldn't breathe? Did they think I wouldn't read the size on the tag & notice they were trying to fit me into a bra 2 sizes too small? I expected better.
@rockasocky: Me too! Was he implying that she has a problem with feeling? I mean, "feeling"?
]]>@qcgallus: So I don't need to see a doctor?
]]>1) He's not forcing his wife to buy rare...nay, epic...panties so that she's more appealing to him. This is her own idea. *gasp*
2) He thinks she's sexy regardless of what she's wearing.
Depressingly, I agree with him. I'm sure someone is getting mad right now about this post.
]]>That is so cute. I can't wait to see! MUST include the diaper bag in the photo!
]]>You may have to order a few different ones to try on, but their return policies are good.
]]>@Oranges w/ Cheese: 36DD, and it's almost impossibly to find sexy underwear in any store at that size (and I don't like ordering undies online, due to sensitive skin, I really need to be able to feel the fabric before I pay for the right to put it on my naughty bits), but VS is especially bad.
I've honestly found that a Maidenform outlet store nearby has the best selection in my size (and they do have some cute bras, but not anywhere near as cute as VS). I even found a sports bra that fits well there!
]]>If I'm not feeling sexy, due to coffee spills, or spinach-teeth, I twitter about it. Apparently this gentleman includes it in his email to The Consumerist!
To-ma-to, po-tay-to.
]]>@Liam Kinkaid: And my mom used to put silk panties in my Christmas stocking each year, starting when I was about 16 or so. Too funny. I'm sure she was just trying to embarass me.
]]>@Oranges w/ Cheese: I'm a 38DD and I've never had a problem finding bras at VS. I usually get fitted in the store and then buy online.
Buying a sports bra is another story. Grr.
]]>I mean, I know this is a post about a nationwide search for the right pair of panties but still.
]]>Give me curvy women over skinny ones any day. :)
]]>What's Victoria's Secret?
*in Austin Powers voice*
"She's a man, baby!"
Now see, this is the part where I come in saying they can afford to do this. Where as companies making 10 or 20% on big ticket items wouldn't necessarily want to do this.
But it's still a victory!
]]>Honestly I had more trouble shopping there when my boobs were at the small end of the scale. They don't do a lot for the A-endowed ladies.
]]>@Eyebrows McGee: Oh, I can only dream that my boyfriend would be that excited. He cringes everytime I mention going to register for baby items.
]]>If only they tried a strong drink and some sweet talk
]]>...now if only VS stores could carry a size above a C cup so I could actually shop there. -_-
]]>@Oranges w/ Cheese: I agree. I wear a D cup and that's basically saying I'm a pariah in that place.
]]>And I give credit to those who work at VS. It sounds cute: "Oh, I work at VS", but you have to deal with arranging everything perfectly all day while other mess it up all the time and witness less-than-desirable people purchasing things that you do not want to image on them.
]]>@fonzette: Every time I have tried to find a bra, corset, or other top from there that goes by bra sizing, I've been told that they rarely get that size, or get one or two.
Maybe it's just the midwest, but VS B&M stores are notorious here. I've given the chain several tries (the most recent just a few months ago) to be told that their receiving D cups was unusual.
And the panty gods are smiling.
]]>If I had my keys we could just drive out of here...
]]>I would like to mention that if you use Google to find the format and Consumerist's email finding advise it's fairly simple to figure it out.
]]>@Oranges w/ Cheese: Yep. Did you know that a 36D was morbidly obese, shouldn't even be out in public, and has no right to wear sexy underwear? I didn't, until I went into a VS store.
]]>any pictures so i can see if it was worth the effort.
]]>Gosh, apparently I'm a satisfied consumer in an area. Who knew?
]]>National Treasure 3: Hunt for the Missing Panties
]]>I recently got a Vintage Victoria set in black. It's perhaps the nicest set of underwear I have ever had. Definitely worth a nationwide search.
]]>Land's End just did this for me ... only it was for a discontinued diaper bag my husband really wanted. With sailboats on it. Does this mean the honeymoon's over?
]]>That is great customer service!!! and you sir... are a Gentleman and a Scholar!!!
]]>