Nordstrom Consumer Reviews

PORTLAND, OREGON -- I have been regularly shopping at Nordstrom Rack and occasionally at Nordstrom for two years now. I have, within the last six months or so had a brick and mortar store move in half an hour away. Before this, there was no brick and mortar store close by. I shop online like many women do. I look for what I think will look good on me, which is not always easy to tell when they only use slim build, no curves women for their models and sometimes I think I can base it on experience. This does not always prove true however. Free People is one recent example of that. I normally wear a medium in them, so I purchase three tops in medium. They were so small a twelve year old is about the only size female that could conceivably wear them.
The point is, approximately sixty percent of what I order doesn't work out...rarely, but sometimes I strike out...just as if I'd been able to find these items in the store (which I can't) and try them on in the dressing rooms. On a side note, I have checked the local store regularly. They cater to the small and medium sized customers and tend to carry more of the styles which don't appeal to me and majority of tops which are polyester...which I avoid because it doesn't breathe and I don't want to be part of the death of ocean life. So, after I spent over $400 this last ten months at Nordstrom's stores, I receive and email saying if I continue to shop as I have, they will shut down my account and refuse my returns and business.
I return everything that I bring back clearly unworn...some of which there's no way I could wear and with tags attatched. I guess my $400 is worthless to this snooty company. I called and explained that due to the lack of availability of product which appeals to me, in store, and lack of realistic display by models for those of us with bigger busts and some curves, this is how I will shop their store. They just repeated what was stated in the email. I told them if that's the case I will take my business elsewhere. I may not spend thousands like some people do in one store, but $400 is a good chunk of my clothing budget that I'm certain another store would be happy to have. I also informed them I will be leaving reviews about my negative experience with this everywhere.
I am inconvenienced when I have to drive half an hour each way to make returns or for that matter go looking for tops that will work for me again because some didn't. Shopping when you don't look like a straight board with no shoulders, like all their clothing models, is already sometimes frustrating enough without dealing with such a rude company. Save your heard earned cash for someone who cares about providing better customer service.

IRVINE, CALIFORNIA -- I worked in Kids Wear at Irvine Spectrum last year in a temp position. Manager of the department was all of 25 years old and totally not suited for the position she was in. This department, as well as that whole store, was mis-managed. My immediate manager sat in the back doing her nails and talking with her little circle of favored employees.

They promote a dog-eat-dog environment and my immediate manager allowed the favored employees to take away sales I worked on and when I approached the subject, turned it around to try to make me look bad. When the opposite was done (not realizing another employee was working with a customer that I rung up) I was approached and then she reversed the sale in the system to reflect other employee's number.

They would change schedules all the time and then the managers at times would forget to give updated schedules to some of us. They would bring in hundreds of pieces of merchandise in the mornings during the holidays, which covered the cash wrap, expected to be marked down and put on appropriate racks and pushed at the same time to stay on top of customers. Having had little retail experience, I even knew this was not the way to operate. Merchandise should have been brought in before or after store hours to be worked on, not when we were supposed to be working with customers in the height of sale days during the holidays.

Immediate manager had an in with store manage from what I heard through the grapevine. When position was over, I was told that I did a really good job, really went to bat helping out the department, customers loved me, etc. When I asked to stay on, was told nothing available, but days later took a young guy instead who found out was doing a terrible job and was written up four to five times. I think I was blackballed as when I applied to various other positions, kept getting a letter saying another candidate was chosen. I learned that manager and her sidekick were both let go rather suddenly... what goes around, comes around.

OVERLAND PARK, KANSAS -- My complaint, along with Nordstrom's incredibly callous response, is listed below.

Your request (1332603) has been deemed solved.

Victor C., Feb 21, 14:55 EST:
Hello Bruce,
Thank you for contacting eGift Card Support.
We do apologize if your experience was not 100% positive. Thank you for taking the time to contact us. We appreciate your comments and suggestions, as we are always looking to improve upon the eGift Card experience.
If there are any additional questions or concerns that you may have, please be sure to let us know.

Thank you,
Victor C.
Nordstrom Gift Card Support
[link removed]

Bruce B_____ 19, 22:39 EST:
If you look below you will see this order was made on Valentine's Day, and according to Nordstrom it was processed just after 5:00 PM. The receipt is for an order with a Delivery Date of February 14th, Valentine's Day. It was a Valentine's Day gift card.
And it was not actually sent out until about 4:00 AM on February 15th...the day after Valentine's Day. Naturally, given all the electronic assurances from Nordstrom this was a Valentine's Day order, a Valentine's Day gift, to be delivered on Valentine's Day, which was processed on Valentine's Day, and given it takes seconds to send out the card in an email, I would never have dreamed Nordstrom would fail to send the card until the next morning.
This resulted in a very negative and unpleasant misunderstanding with my wife, and truly the absolute worst Valentine's Day either of us has ever experienced. I did not write this until the 19th so as to ensure my emotions were in check before so doing.

On Thu, Feb 14, 2019 at 5:09 PM Nordstrom Gift Card [link removed] wrote:

Hi Bruce,
Your Nordstrom eGift Card has been processed. We'll let you know when your recipient views their eGift Card. In the meantime, here are some details about your order:
Order CND7EDK6U4

"I love you more!"

To: Elena B_____ at [link removed] Purchase Date: 2/14/2019
From: Bruce B_____ Delivery Date: 2/14/2019
Amount: $450.00
eGift Card Total: $450.00

PORTLAND, OREGON -- I am writing today to unfortunately complain about Nordstrom's customer service for the first time in the 20 years I have been shopping at their stores. Yesterday evening I had one of the worst shopping experiences of my life at the Downtown Portland Nordstrom location and thought everyone should be aware of this.

One of the reasons I have always respected, admired, and above all shopped at Nordstrom was because of the exceptional customer service. This is exactly why when I was treated so poorly yesterday I was exceedingly disappointed. At Warren Buffet once stated "It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it," sadly, this is exactly what happened last night.

My mother lives in Boise, Idaho where there is no Nordstrom. I live in Portland Oregon. So, my mom comes over here at least 5 or 6 times a year to visit and more importantly, to shop. We ALWAYS shop the Washington Square Nordstrom, Downtown Portland Nordstrom and The Nordstrom Rack at Tanasbourne. Not only has she been shopping at Nordie's since before I was even born (and I am 26) but also, it is rare that she leaves to go back to Boise without spending at LEAST $1000 between the three locations. This past weekend was one of these weekends.

On Saturday we visited Washington Square and made some purchases, then Sunday we went to Nordstrom Rack where we collectively spent over $700. As it was a Sunday and we were crunched for time, we raced from the Rack to the Downtown Portland Nordstrom for some last minute shopping before heading to the airport.

We arrived at the Downtown Portland Nordstrom at approximately 5:20 - 40 minutes before the store closed. I have been looking for a new handbag and was debating between a Chloe Paraty handbag and a new Tory Burch speedy type purse. As time was limited and we did not have the time to stand around while I thought, my mother decided she was going to return a couple of the items she had purchased at the Rack and purchase some Jo Malone perfume instead.

The salesperson in handbags told her she would not do the return, that she could not return Rack items at a regular Nordstrom. This caught my mom and I both off guard as I had made a Rack return at a regular Nordstrom just a week or two before at Washington Square (I returned a pair of men's True Religion jeans from the Rack and then bought a couple of full priced items in The Rail). We figured she just couldn't do the Rack return there in handbags so we went upstairs to customer service.

In customer service there was one employee working and she was with a customer. It was apparent she was going to be working with her for a while; she looked at us and told us that it would be a bit of a wait, we told her that was okay we just needed to make a return. She looked at the Nordstrom Rack bag and said "well if that is Rack return you can't do it here."

We were again, caught off guard, but we told her that my mom was from out of town and was leaving that night after first making some last minute purchases at this store. We asked if she could make an exception for us. She then rolled her eyes, said fine but that someone else would have to help us. She then called for the "Manager In Charge".

The "Manager In Charge", her card stated her name was **, came upstairs and asked us what she could do for us. We explained the situation and she just stared at us blankly and nodded continuously stating "I am sorry but we do not typically do Rack returns here as they have a different policy than us." I said, "okay, I understand that," they have a 30 day return policy "but we just bought these items 2 hours ago." She continued to nod, in a VERY condescending way, and just said "I am sorry, like I said we do not typically do this, the Downtown Rack is just 2 blocks away you can go there and make the return."

As a Portland native, the Rack is in fact more like 4 blocks away and it was POURING rain. Moreover, we now only had about 20 minutes to get down there to make the return, thus leaving us NO time to shop at the Downtown store.

I said to her, "I understand you don't typically do this, but does that mean you sometimes make exceptions?" She said "yes that is true." To this I replied, "Okay, well then can you please make an exception today as I would like to buy some stuff at your store and will not have time if we have to go to the Downtown Rack." To this she just said, "No, I cannot help you. I am sorry you're on a time crunch but that isn't my fault." That just floored me.

Ms. ** response was the type I would have expected from a salesperson at Macy's, NOT Nordstrom. I then said, "So you're really willing to say no to our return and lose a customer who is going to spend a lot of money?" And she just again stated, "I am sorry I cannot help you." We then asked for her business card and left. I was baffled that, A) ANY store (especially in this economy) would turn down a customer about to spend over $1000 on their store on a handbag alone, not to mention also purchase some perfume, and that B) she was so rude. Both of these actions are something I have NEVER experienced in a Nordstrom store.

So, we left the Downtown store with nothing more than Ms. ** business card and a lot of anger, frustration, confusion and disappointment, then proceeded to get soaking wet running down to the Downtown Rack where my mom was able to return her items before heading off to the airport.

Our experience last night completely made me rethink my loyalty to Nordstrom. I purchased the handbag that I have been looking for from the Bloomingdale's website this morning. Not only does Bloomingdale's have a product variety superior to Nordstrom, but also have way more sales, promotions and all around prices that are significantly more competitive. Frequently I can get the exact same product much cheaper from Bloomy's than from Nordie's, I have just always loved the "Nordstrom Experience" which is why I was willing to pay a little extra.

This is no longer the case. And the same for my mom. She flies here to see me and shop at Nordstrom's, now she will fly to Seattle where I will drive up and meet her and we will shop Nieman Marcus. Or we will fly to San Francisco or LA where I have sisters and we can shop at Bloomingdale's. Or we will both just shop online, but definitely NOT from Nordstrom.

To bring this full circle, what I have found even more baffling is that this morning my mom went to the Nordstrom website and did the "Live Chat" with a customer service representative. She asked if she could return Rack items at a regular Nordstrom store. The representative said that yes, of course she could, however they would follow The Rack 30 day return policy. I have also talked with a couple of my friends who are current Nordstrom employees both at the Washington Square location and the Lloyd Center location, and they have all confirmed that they can in fact take a Rack return with no problem.

MISSISSAUGA, CALIFORNIA -- My interview was scheduled for May 9, at 10 AM. I arranged my day and plans to have a phone interview with a member of HR team on that date and time. At 11 AM, still no calls, I, myself, contacted them through email. They apologized and said their member of the HR team was caught up in a meeting. They scheduled for the day after. The call on May 10, wasn't even 3 minutes. The regional HR manager called me and asked only 2 questions. It sounded to me that they had made up their minds and the interview was just a fake one. There was no feedback or reasons given afterwards (although she mentioned that I'd be informed about the result in 3-4 days). Again I reached out to see how things were, it was only then that I received a short call telling me they moved on with another candidate.
The store is not open yet, and I wanted to get this out there. It seems to me that there are politics involved in the process. My hope is that one day there's no racism involved in finding a career.
I wish everyone best of luck in their job search.

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA -- This is the biggest disappointment that an employee of Nordstrom can ever face. I feel insulted and discriminated against – and worst of all, I feel like a victim of racism. Nordstrom, which is all about keeping employees and customers happy, maintaining a high standard for ethics and what's not, has stooped to the level of terminating employees without any notification or reason.

The image I had of Nordstrom for so many years has shattered after such a terrible experience I went through as an employee. Believing myself to be a Nordstrom employee, I entered my Employee number at a Nordstrom store to get a discount on my purchase. Embarrassingly enough, it got refused and I was told that I have been terminated about 2 weeks back according to the system. I called the Nordstrom store that I was working at and spoke to a manager, demanding a clarification.

I thought there was an electronic glitch in the system, as there was no way a company like Nordstrom would be so unprofessional as to terminate me without reason or notification, let alone both. Especially given the fact that I was passionate about my job and had leading sales figures for the shifts that I did work. There was no reason for this at all.

However, it turned out that the information given to me by the cashier at the random other Nordstrom location was true – I had been removed from the system as an employee. I expressed disappointment and asked why I was not informed, and demanded a reason.

At first, I was falsely accused of not showing interest in getting more shifts/hours. This was not true at all. I had previously called asking for my schedule and was told that there are no hours available for me, and that I would be contacted when there are hours available. Ever since then, I had not heard from the scheduling manager regarding shifts.

I told the manager on the phone all of this and her next statement sounded like attempt # 2 at covering up Nordstrom's unfair termination. She said that the scheduling manager had left 2 voicemails for me since my last conversation with the scheduling manager. The truth: I have received ZERO voicemails. I can verify this with my phone carrier. I was receiving voicemails from everyone else that left me one, so it would be highly strange if my scheduling manager's voicemails would be the only ones not to reach me.

Of course, I told her this. She said that the scheduling manager told her that there were voicemails left on my phone. Once again, I said that there were no voicemails at all, and that in case there are hidden voicemails that I didn't receive, I can contact my telephone carrier to look into the matter further.

There was a hesitant pause and then another cover-up. I was told that there hadn't been any hours available for me to work, which is why they terminated me from the system as an employee. This makes no sense. If there were no hours or no demand for work that I do, how does one explain the thousands of Nordstrom employees working for hours and hours every day in the same role as me? So far, I was only being given statements that were either false or sounded like excuses with no solid justification. Clearly, there is discrimination going on based on race or some other factors.

After I still didn't have a reason or explanation at all, I asked why I hadn't been notified that I was terminated. At this point, I was upset and unable to get an answer. But now, I also wanted to know why a company as big as Nordstrom would get rid of an employee, and not even call to let them know that they are no longer part of the firm.
The answer to this was that Nordstrom doesn't always tell employees when they are terminated. I was dumbstruck and confused. I had no idea that Nordstrom does not feel obliged to let employees know when they are no longer employed.

Does that make any sense? I have no answer regarding my termination. No reason, no justification, nothing. Not even a notification. The two issues were being terminated without reason, and not being notified of this termination. There was no reason given (except for “no hours available” – which I don't believe).

My thoughts: I was the only employee at my cosmetics counter that belonged to a south Asian background. There is no valid reason for me to be terminated, even after a discussion with a manager regarding this. I think this is a clear a sign of discrimination.

Why would they terminate me without any reason, any notification, and without getting in touch. I demonstrated good performance (I had leading sales figures for a few of my shifts, and did well on average), I showed interest in working further shifts even if I only got a few hours every month, and I was passionate about what I do. Then why would I be terminated? And why would they not notify me?

This shows Nordstrom's lack of courtesy and poor business ethics. I was treated derogatorily, and feel discriminated against. This attitude is not one that a professional and renowned organization like Nordstrom embraces. This only leaves me to believe that there is racist/discriminatory behavior going on.

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA -- I've worked for Nordstrom for 11 years, 10 years of that in management. I have been asked to move 3 times to other states to take over management to turn business around. I had been with this store for 5 years when my store manager was asked to relocate because she had been there to long. I would say she was the best store manager I had ever had with Nordstrom. January, new store manager is transferred from out of state. A man who has only managed a store for 2 years. I haven't worked for a man in 25 years for good reason. And I am a man myself. Most of my interaction with him was negative. It was very clear that he either didn't like me or the job I was doing. I had been having great business and increases for the past year. Had received cash call almost monthly.

My increases had been so good that I was having a hard time getting a monthly bonus. Managers monthly bonuses are revised every quarter on trend and increase. If you're doing well you have to do better. For the months of Nov. Dec. and Jan. I had to have an increase over 50% to make Bonus. Nov. Dec. no bonus but in Jan. 165% increase and a pick up of $65,000. This translated to a bonus of $659.

I had requested a sabbatical leave the beginning of November with my old store manager. This is a benefit of the company that after 10 years of continual employment you can take 6 weeks off unpaid. My old store manager had also promoted my best employee to an assistant position in another department. New store manager did not know anything about the sabbatical and I kind of freaked. I found my request with signatures of store manager and HR manager. I asked the HR manager about it and she told me that the request was in a different file so the new store manager didn't know about it.

To be fair I did have a few oops moments of things I was to do but didn't do them the way I was used to or should have. I did feel like I was being watched and judged. I tried not to have much interaction with the new store manager. He also told me that managers didn't go on sabbatical if they were short staffed. I was fine when I requested the sabbatical and my previous store manager promoted my employee. The HR department isn't the best at finding employee's for you. They rely on people applying on line to get prospective employee's.

I was having a schedule review for the month I would be gone. I had a line for a new hire, the store manager asked who the new hire was. I told him that I was trying to get someone hired. The HR manager was there as well and I was asking her about their hiring process. I was later told I was being disrespectful to the HR manager. The store manager asked me to rewrite the schedule with only 2 employee's. This in the fact that I was short one employee and I would be gone for 6 weeks. Later that afternoon he called me and said I had brought up some good points and rewrite the schedule with a temp dept. manager.

Days before I was to go on sabbatical there was no temp. dept. manager. My employee's were not looking forward to each closing 3 to 4 days a week. Normally we would split the closings and I closed as much as they did.

On my second day of sabbatical I heard from my previous employee who had been promoted and was now managing next to me. She told me that they had just announced the temp. manager that day. Nothing like upper store management planning ahead. It is very normal that at the store level as manager you must have everything scheduled and planned in advance. As far as corp. and upper management it is usually late. Such as our quarterly bonus arrangements are usually delivered to us 6 weeks into the 12 week quarter.

I traveled most of my sabbatical and spent a lot of money. Work was always on my mind and the work situation as well. When I returned I went right back to work. Several weeks after I returned the store manager called me into his office. Most of our interaction is behind closed doors, you have to know that Nordstrom has an open door policy and his behavior isn't the norm. Most employees commented on this as well.

He told me that he was surprised that I hadn't met with him after my return as it was a get away and time to think about things. After some brief conversation he told me that I didn't have the management skills to manage the department and that I didn't hold my employee's accountable. My employee's as well as myself are in our 50's. The new store manager is turning 50 this year. I was asked to step down, I would not be able to sell in my department or the dept. my previous employee was managing. I was offered designer handbags or Salon shoes. I choose to go to Designer Handbags. This step down resulted in a pay loss of 70%. I went to a dept. making $10 per hour and 6.5% commission.

It was clear after a week that this was not for me or where I wanted to be. I called a friend who managed my previous Dept. in the city I came from. There was an opening in the dept. and I gave notice and would be there in a week and a half. I would start at $16 per hour and would continue to work with my regular employees.

There is a big trend at my old store. The new store manager is cleaning house and getting rid of managers that are over 40, been there to long and most likely making to much money. I was replaced by a 27 year old with management in bridge departments. Needless to say my old employee's are having a hard time with her management style.

Although I have changed stores I am still with the company. One of my best customers contacted me because she and her boyfriend had both been contacted by the new dept. manager. She wanted to make sure that they were being taken care of and that she was there to help if she could. Any one who knows me knows that I do a lot of business by email and phone calls. I am in contact with all my clients. This is a very odd line as I haven't left the company just gone to another store out of state. My client told her that she would continue to work with me. Her boyfriend told her that he thought it was rude of her to call. Most likely because I was still with the company and working with both of them.

There are changes every year with any company but this year there seem to be more than any. Everything is being micro managed to the nth degree. Opening accounts, using mobile devices, etc. I'm sure this is coming from upper management who does not work on the floor and is trickling down hard.

The company does seem to be big on hiring 20 year olds when our main clientele is 35-70. Yes they are talking about the YC "younger client" at the loss of our older one. I'm sure that by the end of the month there will be many more older managers gone from my old store. I was not the first one that this happened to. Support jobs had been revised so that they could let someone older go and hire someone younger. I'm sure this will come back to bite them in the ass.

As an employee, I have been a victim of racial and sexual harassment and discrimination. Management tries to cover up budget and manhours, just to try to meet their own personal quota. Promotion from within, does not exist. They hire from outside.

https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/4-16-09a.cfm

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA -- At approximately 11:30 this morning (8/9/13) at the Stonestown Nordstrom in San Francisco, I attempted to purchase a Shiseido bronzer. At the counter was a Smashbox clerk assisting two customers. At another cosmetic counter two clerks chatted away, ignoring me while I waited for assistance.

After the Smashbox clerk completed the two transactions, she ignored my presence to flirt and chat with her awaiting boyfriend. I then approached the chatting clerks for help. One walked me back to the Shiseido counter, pointed to the bronzer, handed me a brush to try the product. She did not offer to help with color selection, application, etc and appeared to be rather annoyed. I then decided to go to Macy's where I received excellent customer service - she helped me with color selection and where to best apply the bronzer. I purchased the bronzer and an additional $273 in Shiseido cosmetics.

Today's poor treatment at Nordstrom Stonestown was my third in the past few months. In one particular incident it became apparent that Nordstrom no longer values customers over the age of 40. Three strikes you're out. Goodbye, Nordstrom. Our 25 year relationship has ended. I'm now seeing Niemen Marcus and Bloomingdale's and Macy's too.

Just to mention. I did visit the Customer Service counter for a Complaint form. They had to search for one in the back office. I was told the Store Manager was not in, just handed me the card, said sorry for the poor service and walked away.

I called later in the day and spoke with **, an assistant store manager. She listened to my complaint and said the Store Manager would return my call. It is not 7:01 pm and I've not heard from anyone. What has happened Nordstrom? It once had wonderful customer service and appreciation for all customers. The merchandise lacks quality and is now targeted to the 20ish crowd with nothing for anyone over 35.

SCHAUMBURG, ILLINOIS -- I worked for this great retailer in the late 1980's in Southern California when the company was growing like crazy. Maybe it was a great time in my life, but I loved working at the Redondo Beach Store.
I went back to the company in the 1990's and worked at Oak Brook and loved it as well. The company even has an employee relief fund which is funded by the workers. This demonstrates the company really cares about its workers - or it did in the past
Then I worked for the Schaumburg store in the 2010 through 2012. I was almost fired. I was pushed by managers constantly. Managers who just wanted to advance to the top at all costs. I feel sorry for the hr department. They always have their hands full. They are cutting hours for all. Trying to make sure that very few employees get a full load of hours so they don't get medical benefits. It looks like the last 2 classes of new hires came right out of high school. Very young. They don't want to hire older people because they are to experienced and too expensive. They even hire younger salespeople in college and pay them less than the other salespeople; they call them internships. They pay them less and that saves the company a lot of money. Then they try to get them in management because they are young and naive and will work 60 hours in management at salary for half the pay a more experienced (aka older worker).
They will probably have a lawsuit for age discrimination on their hands in no time. See what happens when you vote the union out. Nordstrom did away with the retail workers union either in the 1960s or 1970s. The employees voted them out.
Now, this is a great company with a great reputation and great workers. It is being poorly managed by many now and everyone looks the other way.. I don't' think the Nordstrom family wants to continue with there legacy any more. Get ready for the family to sell. Then the Legacy will disappear