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Joann Fabrics Consumer Reviews

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Terrible Customer Service/Long Lines
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

ALBANY, NEW YORK -- HORRIBLE experience. Went in on a Thursday afternoon because I had an hour to kill before my doctor's appointment. I ended up spending MOST of that time in line, both at the cutting counter and the check-out. Why are there not more employees at Both counters?

At the cutting counter, I was 5th in line. There were 2 ladies cutting, so the line should have moved a little bit. But then one of the ladies (I think her name tag said Bobbi) decided that now would be a good time to put bolts of fabric away, instead of just pushing them aside and helping the 10+ people that were in line (and the line was growing). She proceeded to put away not 1, not 2, not 3, but 5 or 6 piles of fabric bolts, taking her time in doing so. Then she came back to the counter and one would assume she would start cutting for the huge line; nope, she decided to fiddle around on some electronic device, ignoring those in line. She didn't even acknowledge us to tell us she was helping the other cutter (she could have easier been texting on her personal phone; I was too far back in line to see).

Then a male employee came over and he started cutting fabric for online orders. I'm sorry, but why is someone cutting fabric in front of all of us for Online Orders?? That employee could EASILY cut somewhere Out of Sight and then the line wouldn't have gotten so restless at seeing Yet Another employee NOT HELPING US. After a good 5 minutes of this (I have now been in line over 15 minutes and I'm getting closer and closer to my doctor's appointment now; this was SUPPOSED to be a quick trip), I finally say, "Excuse me sir, can you help someone in line?" He said something about cutting online orders and then went back to it. Then, FINALLY, Bobbi started to cut, then the male employee (Sean, maybe?) started to cut too.

When it was Finally my turn, the girl cutting for me (Loki) felt it was appropriate to butt in to my personal phone conversation, since I was telling my fiancee about the terrible expierence I was currently gonig through. She said something like, "Oh, he's not allowed to cut for customers, so he's breaking the rules right now". A.) I did not say anything about that to Her and B.) why is she telling me this? It's none of my business. I don't care what he is and is not allowed to do. If he's CUTTING FABRIC at the CUTTING COUNTER and there's a HUGE line then why Wouldn't we (the customers) feel like we are being neglected? He should NOT have been out on the floor if that was the case. Or he should be allowed to cut for in-store customers.

Then I FINALLY got out of the cutting line, making it to the register with 15 minutes to spare. Or so I thought. Of course, they only have 2 cashiers and one of them is far too chatty with her customer. I say customer, because while she cashed out one person the other cashier (Shannon, maybe? Shorter girl with brown hair; very nice) was able to get 3 or 4 through her line. After 15 minutes in line (I'm not LATE to my appointment), a 3rd cashier finally wanders over and starts cashing out. The total time I spent at both counters (when I was actually at them completing a transaction) was maybe 3 minutes. 3 MINUTES!! And I spent OVER AND HOUR in lines because of the complete lack of competence and planning on the part of the store and its manager. The staff are lazy and disrespectful for the most part, aside from the girl at the front, who is always very nice.

I will be going to WalMart now instead of this place...

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Worst "Art"/Craft Store Ever
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

MADISON, TENNESSEE -- Me and Jo-Ann's go way back, it used to feel like an art store but now since the remodel it's all toys and cheap crap. All I can ever think is "This is where the trendy moms come to get their Pinterest fails" (I've been there too. :P). The prices seemed to have tripled, I've gotten entire hoards of fabric at estate sales for less than what they charge for one yard or jersey knit.

The store is so stretched out I can't find anything, and the 40% off coupon has been 30% as of late. I just learned that the glue sticks I paid $8 for were only worth $3 store credit when I found my glue stick stash and wanted to return the ones I bought the day before. Thanks for the platform to vent. It's over Jo-Ann's. I'm breaking up with you.

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Return Policy for On-Line Orders
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

"Returns are Now Even Easier!" This is the tag line at JoAnn.COM. Don't believe it. Purchased roller case for my sewing machine from online store. Case handles were too short to comfortably pull, and I am only 5'2". Was charged approximately $10.00 for original shipping which was reasonable. When I wanted to return it, instructions indicated I needed to call and get return authorization. Turns out this wasn't necessary. Was told to take to local UPS to return ship, this would only cost me $35.00. There is a local JoAnn store, but I couldn't return it there. Are they not the same entity?

The cost return an $80.00 item, turned out to be $45.00. What kind of business operates like this? This was the very WORST online experience I have ever encountered. I will never use the online store again. No other online store has a policy like this one.

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Price Increases on Fabric, Horrible Quality, This Store Is Going Downhill
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

ILLINOIS -- I am done shopping at Joann Fabrics. The prices lately have been through the roof, while the quality of fabrics have dropped significantly. The service has always been terrible so that's the same. Their fabrics is as thin as tissue paper now and has no recovery (if you stretch it out it stays just like that), then they want to charge 2XS as much for that horrible quality! I recently found an online store with amazing prices and superior quality and I am so happy I never have to deal with Joann again!! I hate this store. I will NEVER shop there again.

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ADVICE: Always Re-Measure Before You Leave the Store!
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE -- I asked for 1/4 yard of fabric. I measured it myself, after it was cut, and it measured 8 inches at the selvage. I asked for a new cut of the full 1/4 yard and was told (unkindly), "Technically, it is 1/4 yard because it's 9 inches at the folded end." I'm sorry, but TECHNICALLY, 1/4 yard means 9 inches the whole width of the fabric! She did, grudgingly, cut a new piece for me, but this same thing happens 90% of my visits to JOANN. I guess I need to stop putting myself through the misery and stop shopping at JOANN.

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Dr
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

CUDAHY, WISCONSIN -- I went in for "leatherette" to cover a recliner. I asked where the leatherette was and the woman cutting fabric first acted like she didn't hear me because she was cutting material for a man. I repeated this a couple more times and she told me "We don't have leatherette." As I turned to leave she said "We do have faux leather" and told me where it was.

I found a bolt but it didn't have a price on either end. I brought it to the cutting desk and asked her what the price was, and she rudely "It is on the end" so I let her look for it. Then she said "Well somebody didn't like that price I guess" as she scanned for the price. So I asked about upholstery "faux leather" and she pointed out where that was, I found some on the 50%-off rack and brought it to the cutting desk.

Now the other bolt was gone. When asked she said she had removed it to the return cart so I went to get it. There was another woman also at the cutting desk now and I asked for the price of the 50%-off. She said "Oh no, that is not 50% off, that is full price, only the brown one is 50% off." She couldn't explain how it was that they had material "on sale" that wasn't on sale and at that point I just walked out and asked to see the manager, who I was informed was the woman at the cutting table. I am so not into bait-and-switch, or total rudeness.

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Two Clerks Did Not Want to Honor a Jo-Ann Coupon
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA -- I went to Joann's yesterday in Asheville, NC with a coupon for a $79.99 Ottlamp. I was told by two clerks it was on sale for $139.99 and a coupon could not override a sale (even though the coupon said 'for regular and sale priced items'). I objected. They said the coupon must be for a different Ottlamp. They called corporate and was told it was the correct lamp. The clerks still said the price could not be lowered to $79.99. I said, "You mean you won't honor the coupon?", hemming and hawing on their end. The regular price was $279.99, and they said they could not do a $200 discount. I objected.

They called another office who told them I should take my coupon to the register. The price would come up $139.99 initially and after the coupon it would be lowered to $79.99. The clerks were shocked. They don't even know how their system works! And, they did everything thing they could to convince me the coupon was invalid! They are all for Jo-ann's, not the customer. No, I won't go back, ever. After a half hour of discussion and several phone calls later, I did get my lamp for $79.99.

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Idiotic Corporate Policies
StarStarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 2/51

COUNTRYSIDE, ILLINOIS -- I am a long time Joann's customer (15+ years) and visit their stores an average of once per week (sometimes much more). I also spend several thousand dollars per year on both fabric and craft items during my visits. I find most of the employees to be polite and helpful... I know most of them by face if not name and they, in turn, know me. Unfortunately, they are handicapped by corporate policies that make absolutely no sense and only serve to irritate loyal customers like myself. Today is the perfect example. I visited the Countryside, IL store fully prepared to drop several hundred dollars on curtain fabric and framing.

First the framing: I had never used their framing services as I have a very good framer that I use for all my artwork but I had seen the coupons and the piece in question was an inexpensive poster so I decided to bring it to Joann's. I had a coupon for 60% off the regular price so imagine my surprise when the price I was quoted for a simple metal frame/no mat was $150! This is more than I would pay to take it to my usual CUSTOM framer - never mind about the cost comparison of Joann's "regular" price.

I was prepared to pay about $75 for said frame so, needless to say, chose not to leave the piece with Joann's. Based on past experience, I will probably have to pay $100 at my usual framer but I know the quality will be top notch and there won't be anything shady about the pricing structure.

Now for the fabric: I brought my daughter with me to the store today so that we could pick out fabric for bedroom curtains. Unfortunately, as is so often the case, there were almost no precut samples in the plastic pouches attached to each bolt. Nevertheless, we went around and identified approx. 5-6 samples that looked like potential candidates. I then approached the employee behind the cutting counter and asked her if she would cut samples for us. She replied that no, she couldn't do that and I would have to bring each of the bolts up to the cutting counter.

Please note that there was next to no one in the store this afternoon and nobody at the cutting counter waiting to be served. I was less than pleased but what really frosted me was her insistence that I could not have more than 3 samples (this in spite of the fact that if there had been samples precut as there should have been, I could have taken one for each bolt that we were interested in). Fine. We selected 3 bolts and brought them up for cutting which, by the way, took almost 10 minutes thanks to all the paperwork she had to fill in.

When I finally got my samples, they were so tiny that they did not include all the colors in the fabric (never mind about any sense of what the pattern looked like). To her credit, she sorted through all the samples to find the "best" ones but this was little consolation when the end result was so useless!

As someone who sews full-time, Joann's is not the only store I frequent. One of the other stores I like to shop at is Calico Corners. Unlike Joann's, they provide customers with an unlimited # of samples that are generous enough to actually be of some use when making a final selection. They also cut the samples in situ with no lengthy delays while employees fill in tedious paperwork. Their prices are similar to Joann's but the service is in a completely different league.

Unfortunately, none of the three samples we brought home from Joann's was quite the right thing but, rather than going back for another 3 samples (a 40 minute round trip), I will be making the 20 minute round trip to Calico Corners. The net result was that instead of the several hundred dollars I intended to spend, I walked out with $1.50 in embroidery floss! Although I have never filed a complaint before, I decided that I have had enough of this nonsense (especially since employees have asked me to give them a good review to boost the store's ratings - something I can't in good conscience do even though the problems I regularly encounter are not their fault).

To add insult to injury, the website is set up to make filing a complaint virtually impossible... Customers are expected to have full contact info, including phone and zip code, for a store in order to file a complaint and comments are limited to so few characters it is impossible to adequately describe the problem. Hence my decision to post my complaint on this and other websites.

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Jo-Ann/Jo Ann/Joann Fabrics' Shady Policies
By -

MICHIGAN, MICHIGAN -- Although Joann's stores claim to have a clear, well-defined return policy which they post over the customer service stands, what they don't tell you (or advertise, for good reason) is that different items have return policies specific to themselves. Recently, Jo Ann has also changed some of their policies.

1.) SPECIAL ORDER RETURNS: Special orders on their designer fabric samples in the home decor department ARE NOT returnable. Period. Even for FLAWS, which would be a legitimate reason to most retailers. Buy special orders at your own risk. They USED to check items in one-by-one in home decorator fabrics at my local store, to check for weaving flaws, etc.- they NO longer do. 2.) CLEARANCE ITEM RETURNS: Clearance items and seasonal items are now non-refundable. Don't even try, because I have.

3.) "RED TAG" aka "FLATFOLD TABLE" FABRIC RETURNS: Many larger stores have a section in the back of the store with odd ball bits and ends/remnants of various types of materials, from home dec/upholstery, quilting cottons, fashion fabrics, etc called "RED TAG" fabrics. Now, since Jo-Ann has instituted a no-return policy on ALL clearance items, these materials are also lumped in with "clearance" merchandise. Red tag fabrics are NOT RETURNABLE any more. They USED to be. It's not posted on the racks, and also for obvious reasons they rope you in and then tell you, "the new policy is printed on the back of the receipt."

4.) SPECIAL ORDER POLICIES: a. They used to allow you to put down 50% as a deposit on special order fabrics - not any more. You now have to pay all the balance up front, including SHIPPING even though they are not even shipping the merchandise to your home. It arrives at the store you ordered it from on one of their TRUCKS which, by the way, arrives on a weekly basis anyway. Jo-Ann's is making YOU pick up the tab for their fuel costs!

b. If you fail to come and pick up your special order within 30 days, you essentially forfeit your order (including the amount you paid for it!) and it is placed on the rack for sale AT FULL RETAIL PRICE. The special order form thingy has a chronological process of informing the sales clerks to call you and remind you at 30, 60, and finally 90 days (corresponding to the final extent of their return policy time frame).

However, I have witnessed orders going out to the floor after only 30! So, make sure your phone number is correct, and if at all possible, GIVE THEM MORE THAN ONE CONTACT NUMBER! They will NOT try to "look you up" in the phone book, etc. It's your responsibility to GO IN AND CHECK, physically, with the people at the front desk and ASK them if your order has arrived yet.

c. Keep your receipt! When you check out on a special order, you get BOTH a copy of the register's receipt ALONG with that big form you had to fill out at the front desk that describes what you ordered. Not having this with you could jeopardize your order!

Some stores are nicer and let you come in and get your order without it, because they are supposed to have a binder with all the special orders carbon copies in it going back AT LEAST 2 years. Now, if you go to one of those "ghetto" stores with lazy, apathetic workers who will not put forth the effort to dig this binder out AND/OR tell you they don't know anything about special orders, bring your order form and receipt!

5.) RETURNS WITHOUT A RECEIPT. Here is one that a lot of people on here just cannot seem to wrap their heads around. Jo-Ann's WILL accept returns without a receipt, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF FABRICS, TRIMS, OR THINGS THAT HAVE TO BE CUT. If it's cut, and you try to return it without a sales receipt, the nice folks at the return counter will ASSUME you are returning the item FRAUDULENTLY. In other words, let's say the more shady character buys ten yards of something, and only uses five, and tries to return the rest - being that you cannot present a valid receipt for only five yards, then you'd have to go without a receipt. Bingo! They caught you.

No receipt, no return. PERIOD. I did this legitimately on the full yardage on trim once, and got asked to LEAVE THE STORE. They do not want you there. NOW, if you have non-cuttable items like general merchandise THAT WAS NOT ON CLEARANCE, then you CAN return it without a receipt with a catch. ALL items bought without a receipt (EXCEPT CUT YARDAGE ITEMS) will be charged 50% off of the current selling price. Why? Well, the more shady customer could have used one of those lovely coupons they make you sign up for then you'd be getting back more than what you paid. BINGO.

Well, what if you, the honest customer says, "Sure, I used a coupon, but it was ONLY a 40% off coupon, or a 30% off coupon!" So what? Because you could be potentially trying to defraud the store, and they DO issue 50% ones. So, BECAUSE they do issue 50% coupons and they are readily available, they keep HALF of what you originally paid EVEN IF you paid full price under the assumption that you are attempting to DEFRAUD them. Great customer service attitude, huh? This is how one of their store managers explained it to me.

BOTTOM LINE: When the clerk asks you if you want the receipt IN the bag, say no. Why? Because you are MORE LIKELY TO LOSE IT if it's in the bag, rather than your wallet therefore lowering returns for Jo-Ann's stores. That's retail chain mentality for you.

6.) GENERAL STORE POLICY: Jo-Ann's store managers train their employees to treat every customer as if he/she is a POTENTIAL THIEF. Why? Because big-box retailers lose millions of dollars of merchandise to shady customers as well as shady employees. In order to protect from this, they cover their backs to the nth degree. So should you! Playing innocent of their policies won't absolve you of them. The second you select merchandise and agree to pay for it, you are bound to that retailer's long (and often unpublished) policy handbook!

SUMMARY: Jo-Ann's used to be a store that never took ANY returns, and coupons could NOT be used on any special order items or specialty things. Now, at least, they DO accept returns (although Jo-Ann's is getting back to being much more selective on those.) SO what can you do? Always ask the customer service person at the FRONT DESK (more likely to be a manager or supervisor) "WHAT IS YOUR RETURN POLICY ON X PRODUCT?" BEFORE buying or checking out or having them cut anything. Protect yourself, and be proactive. Don't get on these complaints boards if you failed to inform yourself beforehand.

Keep in mind, businesses are out there to MAKE MONEY. They are going to protect THEIR interests not yours. *The reviewer has spent several (heartachingly bad) years in the retail and retail management fields. I have gleaned much of this info DIRECTLY from ACTUAL store policies and am presenting it here for you - THE CONSUMER, because retailers DON'T want you to know this information!*

***Stores in Michigan to avoid if you want decent customer service aka "ghetto" stores: Lansing (west side near Lansing Mall), Waterford (near Summit Place Mall), Bloomfield Hills (Long Lake & Telegraph - TERRIBLE customer service, run by lazy rich people who argue every policy detail to the minutest), Roseville (at 13 Mile Road) Very dirty and bad service.

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Exchange Yarn
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

BRADENTON, FLORIDA -- Daughter had 3 packages of Caron One Pounder in white, still sealed in shipping plastic. We wanted to simply exchange the 3 skeins for the same exact Caron One Pounder except in the Claret color. We had no receipt. The store wanted to refund the yarn at half price, and then have us re-buy the new color yarn at full price!!! This is idiotic! It was an even exchange but nope, that's not the way it's seen at Joann's. What a ridiculous policy. I could understand if we wanted to return the yarn, but an even exchange???

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Joann Fabrics Rating:
Star Empty star Empty star Empty star Empty star
1.1 out of 5, based on 19 ratings and
36 reviews & complaints.
Contact Information:
Joann Fabrics
5555 Darrow Rd.
Hudson, OH 44236
1-888-739-4120 (ph)
www.joann.com
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