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Merchandise Certificate Is Worthless to Me.
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI -- I live in a rural community and thus I tend to do a great deal of my shopping online or once every few months when I am able to find a ride to the city to shop. I happened to be in the city on a business trip and decided to return some things to the Old Navy retail store because when I received them they did not fit and I had the person I purchased them for with me to try things on. I have worked retail for over 30 years -- so I knew without a receipt I would not be able to get a cash refund -- thus I did not even bother to ask.

I simply wanted a store credit that I could use to purchase different items that actually fit the person and take advantage of being in the store to ensure the right sizes were purchased. I was told that without a receipt I could not receive cash back -- to which I said duh -- I work retail. I politely explained that I live several hours from the actual Old Navy store and I simply wanted a store credit. The cashier was polite and explained that Old Navy policy was without a receipt I could only receive a merchandise certificate and that the certificate would be mailed to me.

This was frustrating -- but I did not take it out on the cashier and I figured oh well I will just use my certificate when it comes in the mail to purchase something online. So today the certificate came -- I opened it up -- and Skyped with the person I planned on using the credit for -- I even opened the Old Navy website and did some preliminary shopping.

Then I read the fine print that says the merchandise certificate is only good in the store -- not online. I am really pissed. I can deal with the certificate being mailed and I can deal with the need for a merchandise certificate being issued in lieu of a cash refund -- what really ticked me off was I had to show an ID and give a mailing address -- which the cashier even realized was not a local city to the store -- so I explained to the cashier point blank I do not live anywhere near an Old Navy retail store -- the nearest one is 80 miles away -- and that I would just use the credit online once I received it in the mail.

At that point the cashier did not bother to tell me I could not use it online -- she just reiterated it would be mailed and I should receive it within the week. So now I have this completely worthless merchandise credit, because it is going to cost me the equivalent amount of gas to get to the retail store as I received in the credit -- and because I have to show and ID to redeem it apparently -- I cannot send it to family members who live closer to the Old Navy retail store -- nor can I re-gift it or sell it for a cash value.

Like I said -- I get it -- no receipt, no cash back -- and I get it -- it allows Old Navy corporate and its accountants to hang on to their money as long as possible by mailing a merchandise certificate -- what annoys me is I cannot use the dang thing online and simply have a new certificate included in with the packing slip if I don't spend it all at once or pay the difference if I go over the certificate amount.

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Order Not Received
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

RIVERTON, UTAH -- ** I placed this order and paid for expedited shipping because my granddaughter is stuck at my house due to the virus- her parents are not able to travel and this child has no clothes here. I ordered clothes and spent the money and OLD NAVY will not ship, or answer my inquiry and have refused to refund me so I can order elsewhere. This is horrible service and now my grand daughter has no clothes still and OLD NAVY has my money- I've asked for the money back but they refuse and nobody will help. I am going to start posting this everywhere to let everyone know what they are doing during this pandemic.

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Worst experience with in-store holding
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

WILLISTON, VERMONT -- On July 2, 2019, I bought 6 pairs of jeans at Old Navy (Williston, VT 05495). Since I was not with an authorized card holder for the Old Navy card, I could not purchase my clothes (since I was using some of the cash rewards). This was fine with me, and their reasons made sense. However, they told me they would hold these items I chose (this whole package) for me for 24 hours. It was at 8:49pm. The next day, July 3, 2019, I went to the store as an authorized card holder around 7:30pm (still within 24 hours) to pick up and pay for my clothes. The cashier told me that there was nothing on hold under my name. I filled out my name and my phone number so that my clothes would be hold. I spent 2 hours on 7/2/2019 picking out these jeans (I'm small and my size is 8, so it's not that easy to find good pairs of jeans). I was so pissed off because these jeans I picked were the best ones, and they told me they put them back on the racks. I trusted these people to follow their promise of placing my clothes on hold and they just took them back on the racks. I spent another hour on 7/3/2019 to look for these jeans. Most of these jeans were in clearance, so I ended up buying different ones with higher prices. The money was not the problem, but I could never take back my 3 hours. Time is priceless. I also had a feeling that it was because I was Asian that the people at the store didn't want to hold my clothes (too poor to come back for those expensive clothes, maybe?) And I think that it is the right of women, regardless of size, shape, age, race, and socio-economic status, to be happy when they find the clothes that are affordable and fit their figures. I feel very betrayed that my time and my effort are wasted because of the employees' negligence in taking care of their customers at Old Navy. This is probably the last time I would come here again since I could easily find other places with better clothes, cheaper prices, and more caring employees.

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Unethical business treatment
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

NISKAYUNA, NEW YORK -- I am writing to express my upset over a recent incident at the Old Navy store in Niskayuna, NY. I went to return a pair of pants which I purchased for my daughter. The pants were damaged at the zipper. I did not have my receipt, however all of the tags were attached and intact. I did have the credit card they were purchased with, as well as the appropriate ID. The general manager was able to find evidence of the purchase, the price I paid for them and the date they were purchased on the computer. I was told that I had missed the '45 day' return deadline for Christmas purchases, and as result I could not receive the amount I had paid for them. This despite the fact that they were damaged. I tried to reason with the general manager, Greg Towe, however he was immovable and inflexible.

This was the worst customer service I have ever received. Given the fact that the pants were damaged it seems that accommodations should have been made to rectify the situation rather than digging heals in and refusing to assist. I will never set foot in Old Navy or any of it's affiliates again. Perhaps further education should be provided regarding customer service, being fair and cultivating relationships with consumers in the community.

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Returns without a receipt
StarStarStarStarStarBy -
Rating: 5/51

When dealing with a return w/o a receipt you have 3 POSSIBLE options depending on the situation:
1- if you made a purchase w/a card you can have that transaction seached up through the card, but keep in mind that after a certain time limit (i believe its the amount of days you have to do a return) that transaction can no longer be searched through the card.
2- if you don't have any form of a receipt or a card based purcahse to be used as a seach form you will receive store credit which will be mailed to you (its company policy and if any cashier is giving it any other way than thats a total violation that can get them fired, not to mention the register itself will only give you the option of store credit)
3- you can do an exchange purchase w/o a receipt but it MUST be on ONE TRANSACTION to avoid a mailed merchandise certificate(store credit), but keep in mind that you'll want to make sure that the purchase amount should be close to or greater than the return amount (change under a certain amout will go back in cash thats the only exception - the register will let the cashier know).
SIDE NOTE: An Online Return W/O an INVOICE or card search will automatically go back in a mailed merchandise certificate regardless, because online returns won't allow cahiers to make an exchange on one transaction.

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Customers, this is for you
StarStarStarStarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 4/51

CALIFORNIA -- Hello everybody, so I currently work for Old Navy and have for a little over 4 years. While I do agree with some of the complaints that you all have, you also have to remember that the sales associates that work at Old Navy work for that particular STORE not directly for Old Navy corporate, therefore, the sales associates are not responsible for:
A) the quality of the clothes B) the prices/sale prices of the items and C)store policies. Old Navy corporate decides all of that, the sales associates are basically there to just fold clothes, cashier and to be helpful to a customer by informing the customers on policies and answering questions such as "can you tell me the price of this?" or "do you have this in a size..?" the reason some associates get frustrated with customers is because they don't READ the signs, while yes I agree some of the signs are a bit confusing, most of them do say which item is the one on sale, you can't just look at the price and assume that the item you are looking at is the one on sale, most of the signs say which item is on sale, also, the clearance section says "UP TO 50% off" what that means is there is a variation of clearance discounts and the biggest clearance percentage you can find on something is 50% off, BUT if you look carefully and you are lucky you can find things for. 47 cents! Also, the super cash, that's something that started not too long ago, at first it had many flaws, but corporate has improved it somewhat, for now in order to receive a super cash coupon when the promotion is going on you must spend at least 25$ on your purchase BEFORE taxes, now, don't ask me why they make it before taxes I don't have the answer to that question, when you spend $25 (before taxes) you will receive a $10 super cash coupon, that is the smallest amount in super cash you can receive, there are bigger amounts, you can either receive a $10, $20 or $30 super cash coupon depending on the amount you spend at that time. The coupons say very clearly the dates you can use them and how much you must spend in order to redeem your super cash next time, also, if you READ the back of your super cash it will tell you, "you must spend X amount before taxes to redeem super cash." I can't tell you how many people come up to me with a super cash they have received and it is not valid yet, therefore they cannot use it and for some reason they just can't understand why. If you have more than one super cash coupon we will have to split up your transactions if you want to use all of them at once, we cannot combine them. Super cash is typically handed out a month before the valid date. Also, please DO NOT ask "can I use it anyway?" the answer will always be "NO" why? well simply because the computers will not let us, like I said before sales associates work for that particular store you are shopping at not directly for corporate, the sales associates have no higher authority therefore, they must do what they're managers and most importantly what corporate wants! if corporate wants a coupon to start at a certain date then that will be the date you can use it.
A lot of the sales associates may also have other duties such as working for shipment or signage, shipment is well, the people that receive the shipment and put the merchandise out on the floor, signage are the people that are in charge of changing the signs in the store, but, don't assume that ALL associates do these jobs, because they don't, so if you ask a sales associate about a certain sign and they have to ask a manager about it, it's because they are not in charge of signage and really don't know and just want to be sure they give you the right information. Also, the sales associates don't walk around the store every time they are there and memorize the prices of everything in the store (if someone can do that, wow! amazing!) so don't give them a hard time if they have ask someone to check a price for them. We also never know exactly what is coming in shipment, sometimes things don't arrive in a particular shipment which is why we may not have it, but we could receive it in a next shipment, but we truly never know what is going to come in.

When it comes to opening up an Old Navy card, the particular promotion they may have going on such as getting 10% off if you are approved or not approved may change, it can be get 10% off if you are APPROVED and nothing if your are NOT APPROVED or you may get at least 5$ dollars off if you are NOT APPROVED. Old Navy associates get NOTHING in return when someone applies for an Old Navy card we simply ask if you would like to open one up because we are told to ask, just remember that if you are approved, the amount of your purchase will be put onto your new Old Navy account so there is now a charge on that card, most associates will tell customers this before opening up your account. We do not get any type of commission what so ever on anything! also, at this time Old Navy stores (not the one I work at least) accept in-store payments, so don't walk in there a day before your payment is due and get mad at the associate because you can't make your payment, that is not their fault, as far as I know payments can be done online, by phone or through mail. Returns? the policy is now you can return something from whenever as long as you HAVE A RECEIPT, if you do not have a receipt and you paid with a credit/debit card we can look up your item and return it that way. If you do not have a receipt and did not pay with a debit/credit card, you will receive a MAIL CERTIFICATE that means exactly what is says it is a MAILED certificate, a store credit that will arrive to your current mailing address for the amount in returns you have made, if you paid with a gift card you will receive a gift card back, exchanges? work the same if you have a receipt you can do an exchange for whatever item, if you do not have a receipt but paid credit/debit card we can look it up and you can do an exchange for whatever item, if you do not have a receipt and did not pay with credit/debit card exchanges are NOT ALLOWED and we are only able to do a mail certificate. If you have a gift receipt you will get a gift card for the return amount. If what you are returning was a gift and you don't have a gift receipt or regular receipt you will get a mail certificate. So they key here is if you want to do a return/exchange HAVE YOUR RECEIPT!! Online returns? if you have an invoice your return will go back to you in original form of payment, exchanges cannot be done with online returns. If you do not have an invoice for whatever reason you will receive a MAIL CERTIFICATE. Just keep remembering that these are all store policies and sales associates just follow the rules and do what they have been told is allowed and what is not allowed. Don't blame the associate if you have a problem with the sale prices, coupons, returns, exchanges etc. blame corporate, they are the ones that decide how all of those things will work.

Now, if you're wondering why I rated Old Navy 3 stars, it's because I do agree that Old Navy has a few flaws in their system and they have a few things that could improve, the main thing I think they could improve with returns anyway, is giving a store credit customers can use right away if they do not have a receipt, instead of having to wait for the store credit to come in the mail. I also think they should allow in-store payments. So I do agree with some of the customer complaints. What my point is here, is to help and to make some of you (the customers) understand that it is not the sales associates faults and that when they tell you "I'm sorry, there isn't really anything I can do" it's because there really isn't much they can do, they are simply following store policy.

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Old Navy Employee Perspective
By -

This is just to inform you on some of the issue you all are having at Old Navy. Employees on the sales floor: if it is not Christmas season or back to school season, you are not going to find many employees on the sales floor because it is not as busy. I understand you may need help on the floor with something, and I agree with your complaints. But DO NOT catch an attitude with the employee you do find because that just frustrates us. It is not our fault that there is nobody on the floor. DO NOT ask somebody who is on the register to come help you, they can't leave the register area. Normally you should ask the person in the fitting room because it is easier.

Small amount of cashiers: I agree 100% with your frustration because I get frustrated. There has been times when I was the only cashier for 2 hours and customers catch an attitude and yell at me like it is my fault. You just have to be patient because sometimes people call out and sometimes the managers just don't schedule enough people. If you think you are getting impatient, so are we.

False advertisement: I'm sorry but this is just your issue that you don't want to admit you are wrong. When you see a sign that says $10 shorts. Right under it will tell you the original price and the style of shorts. DO NOT get angry because you didn't read the sign and you are coming to me with a shirt thinking it is $10. Me being the person I am, I'm not going to argue with you. Either get it or leave it there. You have to understand some customers will pick up items and put it back anywhere so don't just pick things up because you see $10. You have to READ. Please don't catch an attitude with the cashier, it is not their fault.

Return/Exchange policy: Okay let me tell you. You can return anything for exact money back on your credit card, gift card, or cash with a receipt within 90 days. If your receipt is expired, or you don't have it, you are not going to get direct money back. The only exception is if you paid for it with a credit or gift card. Point blank period. If you do not have any of those then you will receive a merchandise certificate or mailed certificate that you can only use at Old navy. That's it.

Exchanges are different. You can do an even exchange for the SAME TYPE OF ITEM. You cannot exchange denim jeans for khakis and expect it to be an even exchange. You are going to have to pay the difference. If you don't have the receipt or credit or gift card, I don't care how much you paid for it because you have no proof don't even tell me because we cannot do that. So if it is not the same item there may be a difference that you have to pay or that you get back. Online returns is very simple. just an online return and we cannot do exchanges with those.

Discounts: We cannot do 2 discounts on 1 transactions. The system will not let us do it. So you can't use your 20 reward card and 10% off on the same transaction. It won't go through. And you cannot bring an item back in the store that you have already bought to get a discount on it. That's being very cheap and I hate when customers try to do that. We as cashiers will get in trouble for doing that.

Messy stores: You have to realize that customers come in there all the time. I know at my store we are always busy at night and sometimes we don't have that many employees to clean the store at night. My store closes at 9:30 and we don't get out until 11. So realize we do not want to be there til 11 pm cleaning a store but whatever we can get done, we do it. I can see if the store is constantly messy every time you come in. So you pretty much you cannot blame the associate for things wrong in the store, because majority of the time it is not their fault and they cannot do anything about it. The managers are the ones you need to talk to.

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Employees Perspective..
By -

CALIFORNIA -- I work for Old Navy; I have for the last two years. I've read a lot of complaints about ON, and I've got to say, a lot of consumers sound like they never worked a day in their life. Don't get me wrong, sometimes ON's policy is booty, but don't shoot the messenger. If you're nice and respectful I don't mind bending over backwards to help you. Attitude goes a long way, seriously. If you come up and start making demands my first reaction is going to be "who the heck do you think you are talking to me that way?" Common courtesy seems to be lacking these days. I'm only twenty and I have better manners than some of the older people that come in.

Imagine working all day trying to make everyone happy. I have to keep things folded, talk to everyone, help them out, and be able to ring. Customers come in and unfold an entire stack of shirts. I promise you, when I ask you if you need help, I honestly mean it. I'd rather spend 30 minutes looking for your size (and trust me, I don't care if you're XXL or XS) than have you spend 5 minutes and destroy my whole table. It takes the average employee 30 minutes to fix what you mess up. Don't be rude; let me help you. Heck, don't you want someone to do the work FOR YOU anyway?

I'm not trying to rip you off. Look, I totally get that someone gave you a present without a gift receipt. But trust me, with every transaction I asked my customer "would you like a gift receipt just in case?" and almost every single time do you know what they say? "No, they don't need one. If they don't like it, too bad." So instead of getting livid with me, get mad at the person who bought it for you. THEY didn't care enough about your interest to spend 2 seconds and let me print out a gift receipt. Standard policy is placed on the counter at my store. It even says it on every receipt we give you. "Refund in the form of original payment."

If you don't have a receipt, you can exchange it for the EXACT same item in a different size or colour, or you can get a mailed check. Most stores only carry in-store merchandise certificates around Christmas time. My store carries them all the time but you have to be a cash-handler to over-ride the system. If you're not given manager over-ride access, you have to call a manager or Cash handler and explain to them why you're bending the rules for a customer. What does this result in? It results in the employee getting in trouble. Me, I can over-ride it anytime. But if you come off with a crappy attitude, why should I give you anything easier than a mailed check?

I can also over-ride it and give you a gift card, but why risk being audited by my manager for you if your attitude sucks? Policy says I'm NOT SUPPOSED to do either of those, but I will if you're nice. Honey gets you further than vinegar. Manners go a long way. Don't complain about me being rude if you're on the phone. I have enough respect for you not to answer the phone when I'm ringing you up; why can't you spare 2 minutes and give me the respect I'm giving you?

Customers complain about cleanliness. Here's the thing, it takes 3-4 times longer to fix something to mess up. 2 seconds is all it takes to DESTROY a nicely folded and sized pile of shirts. What will it take me? 10 minutes. 10 whole minutes. Why? Because if I don't do it right, customers complain. I honestly can't win. And who do you think makes the store dirty? Do you think employees run around messing up the store? Leaving clothes everywhere and leaving their empty soda containers around the store? No. CUSTOMERS make the store dirty.

So instead of getting p/o'd at us, get mad at the guy you see unfolding an entire table of shirts looking for his size only to find once he finds his size, he doesn't want it anymore. I would LOVE to be able to keep my store clean. But I can't. Not when I have 20 people in the store at a time and I'm trying to help you.

  1. I have to push the store credit card (ONCs as we call em). This is what I get to hear every 5 minutes "Have you gotten any ONCs?" "Why haven't you gotten any? You've been here for 2 hours." "I expect 2 enrollments before you leave." "you can't leave unless you get an ONC by the end of your shift." And when I FINALLY get one on the off chance someone wants 10% off, my manager on duty will come back and say "So, anymore ONCs?" Me: "I just got one an hour ago!" Manager: "Well, it's been an hour since you got your ONC. You should have another one by now."

Oh and my favourite thing to hear is "You're asking the wrong way. Don't give the customer a chance to say no. Don't ask them if they want to apply; SELL the credit card!" How do you SELL a credit card? Me, personally, I don't care if you don't want a credit card. Its your right. But I HAVE TO ASK you. I have to. My manager is on my butt if I don't. Trust me, just let me ask you and you can say no. Two seconds is all it takes. "Want to apply for an Old navy card? No? Okay." Easy as pie.

What one employee knows, another one might not know. I know a lot of things other associates don't know. That's not their fault. The things I do on a regular basis like give you in store credit instead of a mailed check are actually BREAKING policy. But I do it because I want to help you out. I WANT TO HELP YOU. I'm risking getting in trouble for YOU. I don't even ask that you thank me; just be nice and polite.

Don't just every ON by the actions of one. This is really common sense. Not every employee is awful and rude. I have developed personal rapport with some of my regular customers. Some I know by name and we talk about their kids and family! I've searched every stack of denim in the store (up high on the shelves, some without tags or sizes on them, and the entire store room of over 200 pairs) for ONE customer. I've called 10 stores - 10! - to find a customer's item at another store and ended up clocking out 30 minutes late and missing MY BUS because of it because I wanted to help her.

Some employees are crap; and some GMs aren't any better. I know a bunch of crappy rude employees and I don't agree with a lot of ON policies But don't diss the entire ON and GAP staff because you've dealt with the rotten apples.

I have an ON card. I hate it. One, you can't make more than 2 online payments in a billing cycle. Two, if you pay by phone, they charge you 15 dollars to make the payment. Three, the interest rate is bogus. Four, you can't make a payment in store. Trust me, I would like to go into work and pay my balance. This isn't our fault; it's the company's. Don't get mad at me because we don't take payments in store. It says on the paper when you apply that we don't take in-store payments.

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Thoughts From An Employee
By -

Hi everyone! I just happened upon this site randomly and saw so many people criticizing Old Navy and their associates, and I am a little shocked. I personally work at an Old Navy as a regular associate and thought I would give you a little insight from the other side.

*Old Navy Credit Cards* - We as associates are HIGHLY encouraged to ask and process the Old Navy Card. If a Manager sees you not asking customers, you can get in trouble. Now contrary to popular belief we do not get commission, in the literal sense. The more Old Navy Cards you process, the more hours you are likely to get, and that means a lot when the economy is down and hours are low. There are games occasionally that we play to get associates to talk up the card in which minor rewards can be earned... and I mean very minor, like a candy bar, or a coffee.

Trust me; we do not like asking if you would like to save 10% if you are approved for the Old Navy Card, we have to. So, I am asking you, please do not be rude to us for asking. It is just part of our job, besides, some of the benefits are actually kind of nice, i.e. The Stuff and Save Bag.

*Return Policy* - Store refunds will be issued in the original form of payment for price paid or a merchandise exchange when returned within 90 days of the purchase date. Merchandise returned more than 90 days after the purchase date will not be eligible for a return.

Okay, so you have a return (that you bought) and have a receipt/gift receipt, or the credit/debit/gift card that you paid with the original tags there are intact, then you are fine. If you have the credit/debit card there without any tags... it becomes a little complicated... to find the item on your card we have to either guess the color code (which is not on the little tag inside of the clothing that has the item number on it) or find the item on the floor and get the color code from that.

Okay, so you have a gift you want to return. If you have a gift receipt, great! If not, we can exchange for the SAME ITEM in a different size or color. Even if the item you want is the same price but not the same item, it is not up to our discretion as an associate to go against that policy. Personally I will defer to the manager on duty, if they allow it, OK, if not, then they don't. Please do not get angry if they say no, that is the policy anyway. Many places these days will not take back stuff without a receipt and especially will not exchange without a receipt.

So I beg you, if you are getting a gift, ALWAYS ask for a gift receipt, they take two seconds and save many more. Even if you leave and think, "I forgot a gift receipt!" It is not a problem; we can still make a gift receipt off of the original receipt.

Okay, so you have a return but no receipt, no cards to look at, and dont want to exchange it. All we are permitted to do is a merchandise certificate that is sent through the mail. That is all that the computer will literally let us do, and that is only if the item is of the last few months. If the item is from 2007 and it is currently 2009, then we can not take it back - the number will not even come up in the system. We can pretty much tell if the item is beyond the possible 90 day period.

That is pretty much it with returns and exchanges that I have read complaints about and honestly, our rules are relatively lenient, but here are some tips to keep you from headache: Keep your receipts; Ask for gift receipts, from the cashier, and from those who give you gifts; Try your selections on in-store; If there is a defect or damage in the clothes when you return them, please let us know so that we will not sell it to another customer.

*Messy Stores* - This one always makes me laugh, if I am not angry or crying instead. People complain so much about messy retail stores, and I find it a tad bit crazy. If you as a customer take accountability for your own personal impact on a store then maybe the store wouldn€™t be so messy. I mean, I personally feel the priority of the associate is to help the customer, to answer questions, locate items, and do what we can to make your shopping experience a good one. However, and that is a big HOWEVER, customer service will sometimes, and by sometimes I mean a lot of the time take backseat to refolding and recovering the store.

We are usually trying to get as much done as possible as fast as possible so we do not have to stay late closing. Most of us are college kids and have exams, papers, homework, and class in the morning, and can€™t afford to be working until midnight and having to finish schoolwork before class bright and early at 7 am. That is a slight exaggeration, but sometimes, it honestly isn€™t. If you shop at a store, and would like it to be neat, be neat yourself, let the change start with you, put forward the same energy you want.

What may take you a few seconds to fold a shirt that you picked up and looked at will take me hours to fix as well as the shirts that everyone else has picked up and looked at. A lot of people generally do not care about their personal impact on their surroundings and do not respect others enough to pick up after themselves. It is a shame really. So many people come into a messy store and act like it is the store's fault that it is in such disarray. I hope you see the absurdity in that as much as I do. Moral of the story: please take accountability.

If anyone has any comments, topics, complaints, let me know! I am more than happy to converse about the store and policies. I hope this has informed you all a tad via the view of one of the ones a lot of you seem to despise. I hope you have a great day! =D

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Important Information
By -

After reviewing the complaints over the past two years, I have several things to note - not only about Old Navy -but retail, in general. While, in certain instances, there can be terrible customer service (rude employees, false advertising, etc.) but it is important to note the difference between an actual flaw in a business and basic retail strategy.

First of all, an important aspect to retail (in any form) is run by psychology. Yes, the more expensive items will be in the front of the store - it's good marketing. If customers were first presented with clearance items than those will, undoubtedly, sell more. It reduces profit margin which, as we all learned from the recent economic developments, affects everyone.

Not only will clothing experience a larger mark-up, but less items will end up going on clearance. It's common to find, in any store, that the items that cost the less are in the back of the store. If you are committed to a certain budget, you will have to go to the back of the store (Old Navy stores aren't very large - it will take a matter of seconds).

The Old Navy return policy is more strict than most. This can be difficult to honest customers who did, in fact, purchase the merchandise but did not hold on to their receipt. However, those that lost their receipt can still be compensated - Old Navy can research previous purchases by looking up the credit/debit card, check, or even a gift card. For those who paid with cash, however, cannot offer valid proof of purchase without a receipt.

If one is an experienced shopper, it is common knowledge one must hang onto their receipt. Otherwise, Old Navy has no proof what you had actually paid for the item (sales fluctuate about every week) as well as proof that the item had been previously purchased. In order to reduce shoplifting (which does affect the common customer because the more items are stolen, the more Old Navy has to makeup for their loss through the use of "marking up" their clothing), they must require some type of proof of purchase.

The 90 day limit for return policies also aids profit margin. The store is losing money if they decide to return items past that date because their sale price has been significantly reduced. I firmly believe that the 90 day return policy is valid because three months is plenty of time to decide if an item is worth keeping.

If you are buying items for Christmas or birthdays in advance, one might even consider waiting to purchase that item - the longer an item is in the store, the better chance that it will become further marked down. If you are buying clothing in advance (as a "savvy shopper would) then that said "savvy shopper" should make note of the 90 day limit - which is clearly stated on the receipt.

As far as the false advertising, it does, again, have to go back to the psychology aspect of retail. If read, the signs indicate exactly which items are on sale. While I believe that some signs can be interpreted as misleading, the goal is not to do so. When signs are located in a certain area, customers are naturally drawn to that area -introducing them to more than just the sale items. This allows for a better customer experience because the customer is then able to see all of the items on display - allowing outfits to be put together, or even introducing the customer to the new season's clothing. At any retail store, the signs must always be read properly.

It is an agreement between the consumer and the business - almost a contract. If the sign indicates an item is on sale, the business must guarantee that it will be followed. A business does not, however, have to oblige the customer for simply reading the sign wrong - it's a misinterpretation of the contract.

Old Navy dedicates many training hours to its employees in an effort to guarantee that they will be properly represented. However, human error does occur, and one rude employee does not represent the entire business. It is always a good idea to speak to a manager about any concerns because a rude employee is bad for business - and the customers are ultimately the most important aspect of the company.

Respect is, however, a two-way street. If one does not display kindness or understanding, then one should not expect it from anyone else. Treat others the way you want to be treated is not only an essential aspect to humanity, but it is also what we want our children to learn. "The customer is always right" motto can only go so far, it does not cover disrespect. Being a rude customer is almost as bad as being a rude employee - it's just clothing, so we might as well act like adults.

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2.3 out of 5, based on 18 ratings and
90 reviews & complaints.
Contact Information:
Old Navy
1 Harrison St
San Francisco, CA 94105
415-427-2000 (ph)
650-874-7828 (fax)
www.oldnavy.com
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