Neiman Marcus Complaint - Lousy Store Policies and Snooty Salesclerks

Posted by Weedwhacked on 2010-09-14:

Online prices never qualify for price matches at any store!

Posted by Dryad on 2010-09-14:

NWASR

Posted by Venice09 on 2010-09-15:

If you can spend a thousand dollars on a shirt, why would you argue over a price match amounting to $69? I'm not going to bother looking up their price matching policy, but the only bet I'm willing to take is that it does not apply to online purchases.

Posted by bob932304 on 2010-09-15:

You either shop online or in a regular store - prices are different. I don't of any bricks-and-mortar store that will match an online price at their own website or any other store's websit. This isn't just Neiman Marcus.

Posted by disgusted shopper on 2010-09-15:

@venice09: it's not the $69, it's the principle. just because i have the money to afford a $1,000 shirt doesn't mean i want to pay an extra $69 for a pair of jeans if i don't have to. it's because i'm smart that i have the means to afford these things. you completely missed my point.

@bob932304: in fact, neiman marcus would honor the sale price had it been their online store that i found the sales price. it was actually on the website of the brand of jeans that i bought that i found the sales price. nordstrom is excellent in this matter and has price-matched in similar situations. my point is that no matter where the cheaper price is found, neiman marcus should honor it because they've now lost me as a customer. i will no longer step in their store, but rather search online and it won't be on their online store. they will forgo my future dollars for refusing to understand my point and refund me the $69. people, it's the principle. ever heard of excellent customer service?

Posted by disgusted shopper on 2010-09-15:

@dryad: and your point is?

Posted by Venice09 on 2010-09-15:

Didn't miss your point at all, disgusted. It's just that people who make that point appear to be greedy. I'm not saying you are greedy. It's just the way it appears.

Posted by singsing on 2010-09-15:

I have a feeling that the type of people that shop at Neiman Marcus will continue to shop there. They probably don't care that much about comparison shopping. If they did, they wouldn't be shopping there at all. We don't have a Neiman Marcus in my area, so I guess it won't be a problem for me. I do agree that Nordstrom has great customer service though.

Posted by jktshff1 on 2010-09-15:

+100 Dryad

Posted by PepperElf on 2010-09-15:

"whether or not the $99 sale price was found on neiman marcus online or any other online merchant shouldn't be an issue; "


Um wrong. it matters where you found the sales price.

and most store websites even say that they cannot price match the online sales to in store prices

1) Found it on their website? Sorry but website pricing WILL be different than store pricing. MOST stores do this because the online store and the brick/mortar store are two separate entities with different storage

online, they have a giant warehouse so they can store extra.... thus they can sell it for cheaper
at the physical store they have a LIMITED storage which means they can't stock giant amounts of every item ... so they can't offer the same prices


2) Other stores online - same thing.

Posted by rockfishing on 2010-09-15:

I am horrified that Neimam Marcus would do such a thing and will never buy another thing from them.

Posted by Venice09 on 2010-09-15:

My curiosity got the best of me so checked the website but couldn't find a price matching policy. Why would I be persuaded to boycott a store just because a customer thinks it should honor a non-existent policy? I don't think too many people will be jumping on the boycotting bandwagon in this case. There are reasons online prices are lower, and I don't know of any store that matches an online price, and certainly not the online price of another retailer.

Posted by clutzycook on 2010-09-15:

I witnessed a similar thing at TRU last week. The customers in front of me were asking the clerk if they still price matched with their online price in-store. The clerk said that they didn't. Fortunately the customer didn't raise a fuss but my first thought was that I have never seen a brick and mortar store match the price of their online counterpart.

Posted by disgusted shopper on 2010-09-16:

@singsing: that's where you're wrong. just because i have money and can afford to shop at neiman marcus doesn't mean i want to throw away money...

@pepperelf: you didn't read my comment carefully. neiman marcus does IN FACT price-match their in-store prices with online prices. your comment on online vs. store pricing may be so where you live, but it's not so here in honolulu. i've also shopped both louis vuitton online and at the ala moana center. in fact, the in-store prices are actually cheaper than the online prices. how do you explain that? and everything i purchase online from nordstrom is the same price in-store here.
@rockfishing: like your sarcasm!
@venice09: no, neither neiman marcus nor nordstrom advertise a price-match policy, but both of them have them in place. i happened to read about it and now always ask. try calling their toll-free number and ask yourself. re online vs. in-store pricing: see @pepperelf above. don't assume that the way things are where you live is the same every where; things are definitely handled differently in hawaii.
@clutzycook: see @pepperelf above.

the other more poignant issue is the snotty salesclerks...@venice09: i don't know where you live, but people in hawaii don't get all dressed up to go shopping, but for some reason, the salesclerks---even tho they're often local and non-white---have this stinky attitude and treat you as if you can't afford their merchandise. why would i walk in their store for then? don't they want to sell me their goods? venice09, maybe you're white, attractive and dress well, so you're treated with respect and are given lots of attention when you walk in to high-end stores. i'm an average looking local chinese-american and we aren't treated as well, yes, even in hawaii. i've even been ignored by salesclerks who kiss-ass to the white customers. that really pisses me off and i never go back.

Posted by singsing on 2010-09-16:

disgusted, you misunderstood. I wasn't talking about you. The people I am referring to are the people that have so much money they really don't need to worry about where they do or don't shop. When they see something, they buy it. There are many people like that out there in the Neiman Marcus world--you excluded. There are exceptions to every rule.

Posted by Venice09 on 2010-09-16:

I wouldn't shop at a store that had hidden policies only for people who ask. Where did you read about this price matching policy? Maybe the information is incorrect.

I'm sorry that you think your appearance is excluding you from this policy that may or may not exist. I've been to Hawaii, but only as a tourist, so I doubt the service I received was affected by my appearance. I live in New York and am rarely well dressed, which sometimes causes me to receive less attention from salespeople. But I can't say that a store ever refused to honor its policy just because they didn't like the way I looked.

Posted by singsing on 2010-09-16:

Okay, I found a couple of web sites for you:

It looks like Nordstrom does price match, but NM does not, according to the women on this blog anyway (2nd web address). There were several replies that said they do not--all shoppers at NM. I could find nothing on the NM site regarding this one way or the other.

shop.nordstrom.com/c/pricing-policy
forum.purseblog.com/general-shopping/does-neiman-marcus-price-match-479294.html

Posted by PepperElf on 2010-09-16:

You do realize NM has sales that are listed as "Online Only" yes?

A lot of them actually. I searched for "online only" specifically at their site (using google) and found over 600 hits. That means over 600 times they've used the phrase "online only" for an online sale

online only means... well online only.


as for why you sometimes find things available cheaper in store?
simple. Some items are priced lower imply to get rid of them if they weren't selling, or if they had few left and more popular merchandise is being placed out.

that's why stores have clearance racks too.



as for my search i'll make it simple for you
eh... gotta tiny URL that link so it doesn't stretch the page out lol


http://tinyurl.com/3accr8m

Posted by shootingstar1284 on 2010-09-16:

disgusted shopper, per your first comment:

@bob932304: in fact, neiman marcus would honor the sale price had it been their online store that i found the sales price. it was actually on the website of the brand of jeans that i bought that i found the sales price.

you resolved your own issue. Per your own admission, NM would have price matched their own website (though I am unaware of many places that do PM online prices), but you state that you found the price on the website of the jeans brand. That's outside of the scope of their policy, and you're not entitled to the price match.

Posted by Venice09 on 2010-09-16:

Exactly, shootingstar.