Crockett & Jones NYC - Lousy Experience

[Knowledge is King]

The current manager's name is Kevin. I've got his business card in front of me after a visit two weeks ago (PM me if you want his full name/contact info). 348 last fit me decently in G width but it was a bit too wide so he said he would call me that same day or the next day to tell me if he could get an F width for me to try on. I am still waiting for my phone call. Today I gave up waiting and I ordered an F width Hallam from Bodiley's...for $200 less.

Edit: I should add that I did not have a poor experience in the store. They did not fit/measure my foot at all though which I found odd. Instead they just asked me what size I wore and I tried on several shoes to see which last felt best. Would have bought one pair if they had gotten that F width for all the shoes they had me try on. Also, they need to start making more F width shoes on the 341 last.

 

[Infrasonic]

http://www.crockettandjones.co.uk/contactus(usa).html Email them and let them know that the service sucks...I did it with Harvey Nichols here in Manchester a few years ago and got a reply within two days from the head of HR telling me they had a dept. meeting with all the SA's discussing the issues I had raised about the appalling service.

 

[bbhewee]

This actually reminds me of a story when I was working as a SA at LV in Paris (summer job 10 years ago

)

Anyway, this Chinese person walks in, sandals with socks, big camera, shorts, tee: your basic tourist in Paris... All the old SA are dismissing him and ask another summer SA to take care of him.
To make a long story short, he starts saying he needs a couple of handbags to use as gifts. Then says he needs some luggage for himself. And finally he'd like to take a look at a hard case for his house...
When all is said and done, he pulls out his AMEX Black, with his business card for his details... 5-figure invoice (in euros), and the guy was basically one of the top dogs at one of the big fours in HK.

 

[taxgenius]

Originally Posted by bbhewee

This actually reminds me of a story when I was working as a SA at LV in Paris (summer job 10 years ago

)

Anyway, this Chinese person walks in, sandals with socks, big camera, shorts, tee: your basic tourist in Paris... All the old SA are dismissing him and ask another summer SA to take care of him.
To make a long story short, he starts saying he needs a couple of handbags to use as gifts. Then says he needs some luggage for himself. And finally he'd like to take a look at a hard case for his house...
When all is said and done, he pulls out his AMEX Black, with his business card for his details... 5-figure invoice (in euros), and the guy was basically one of the top dogs at one of the big fours in HK.

Did you earn any commission?

 

[Cant kill da Rooster]

Email them and let them know that the service sucks...

+1000, I absolutely agree with this philosophy. If I get ****** service, I wouldn't hesitate to tell them or write them. 90% of the time you will get a response (if not something free thrown in).

 

[bbhewee]

Originally Posted by taxgenius69

Did you earn any commission?
It wasn't me but my colleague who took the sale... And LV isn't commission-based per se: targets are set on certain "hard-to-shift" items (or they were for us summer jobbies). I guess it makes sense since selling "standard" LV goods isn't that tough a sale...

 

[PoundSand]

Originally Posted by Bull

When I shop for suits/shoes, I dress up a bit. Have to. No tie, but maybe a navy sportcoat, tailored khakis (slim fit, no break, 2-inch cuff), sloops/loafers (no socks), checked sportshirt, etc. The business-guy-on-holiday thingie. As was stated earlier in this thread, sure, you get guys in flip-flops buying Brioni suits. It happens. But I don't want to have to prove myself to get attention from a sales associate. I want to look the part so that I'm fighting them off. I've been on the other side of the equation, so I know how it works! Not endorsing the model, just explaining it from my perspective.

i don't dress up when shopping. and i don't want to "prove myself to get attention" either- if i don't get help from someone, i'm not going to ask- they're not getting my sale. easy enough. but i find this isn't much of an issue in california- too much money running around from a variety of people (hollywood, dot-com, etc) that you can't judge by appearances, and the salespeople know that.

 

[Raralith]

Customer service doesn't cost money unless you need to hire more people. I can understand that if a sales associate is busy, the most they can handle well at once is 3 customers and there are 4, the odd one out will probably be the poorly dressed one; how else can you really judge in the few seconds they all came to you? If the store is empty though or if there is obviously more help than customers, that's just poor customer service. Don't get me wrong, people have bad days, and sometimes I'm a total asshole when I have a bad day, but I'm not a sales person.

As far as the C&J experience for the current sale, while I live in California, I called the NY shop and Kevin Hill picked up to help me. He took the time to take pictures of 12 shoes in my size, and emailed them to me. My experience, even though I am 3,000+ miles away, is a good one. Hit or miss.

 

[OffTheRack]

I've also worked with Kevin and had great service and thought he was extremely nice. I get the impression he's learning the ropes of managing a retail store, and it's unclear how much/how decent his help is. I thought there was another co-manager, a swarthy looking older fellow, in the store when I stopped in. His background is not in shoes, either, as he came from T&A previously where he was a fitter.

He let me try on several pairs of shoes, he did measure my foot, and seemed happy to help and reasonably knowledgable. He seemed like a good guy to me, and I expect that service at the NYC shop will improve. Perhaps it won't, but I think this has gotten a bit harsh.

I know service is important to folks, but some people act like a sales associate slapped their wife or girlfriend when one doesn't bend over backwards or makes a mistake. Relax folks and cut people some slack once in a while. I'm sure there are times when you'd like for people to afford you the same courtesy. Now go ahead and take all of your frustrations out on me for suggesting this idea.

 

[Siggy]

Originally Posted by OffTheRack

I know service is important to folks, but some people act like a sales associate slapped their wife or girlfriend when one doesn't bend over backwards or makes a mistake. Relax folks and cut people some slack once in a while. I'm sure there are times when you'd like for people to afford you the same courtesy. Now go ahead and take all of your frustrations out on me for suggesting this idea.

The customer is King. People tend to forget that.

 

[Knowledge is King]

Originally Posted by OffTheRack

I've also worked with Kevin and had great service and thought he was extremely nice. I get the impression he's learning the ropes of managing a retail store, and it's unclear how much/how decent his help is. I thought there was another co-manager, a swarthy looking older fellow, in the store when I stopped in. His background is not in shoes, either, as he came from T&A previously where he was a fitter. He let me try on several pairs of shoes, he did measure my foot, and seemed happy to help and reasonably knowledgable. He seemed like a good guy to me, and I expect that service at the NYC shop will improve. Perhaps it won't, but I think this has gotten a bit harsh. I know service is important to folks, but some people act like a sales associate slapped their wife or girlfriend when one doesn't bend over backwards or makes a mistake. Relax folks and cut people some slack once in a while. I'm sure there are times when you'd like for people to afford you the same courtesy. Now go ahead and take all of your frustrations out on me for suggesting this idea.
Generally I agree with this sentiment but I've had enough bad experiences all over New York, even during or after a purchase, to think that (a) stores and their employees are incompetent or (b) they don't think they need to pay attention to me. I'm done giving stores the benefit of the doubt. For example, currently I'm waiting for Paul Stuart to finish the tailoring on on a tuxedo I purchased at the beginning of April. They told me it would be ready in 7-10 days. I've been back to the store twice since then to remind them and still nothing. So in the grand scheme of things, I wouldn't consider the service I received at the C&J store to be poor by any means -- in fact my experience in the store was better than most. In my case, it was just a shame that they didn't follow up. Who knows, maybe they'll call me the next time a shipment comes in? But I'm not gonna hold off on purchasing from elsewhere to give them the benefit of the doubt.

 

[OffTheRack]

Originally Posted by Siggy

The customer is King. People tend to forget that.

King is rather ambiguous--I have a feeling Henry V would have a little more patience with sales associates than, say, Henry the VIII. And I think we can all agree that we'd be a lot worse off with everyone walking around thinking they can behead some poor SA who hasn't held the position for very long. Lord knows what else they're thinking.

SA's in shops like C&J, and other high-end men's stores, have to put up with being treated like shite by all manner of people, and try to be corteous to even the most obnoxious customers. They're not exactly making a killing either, and not tell me that they should just be happy they have a job at all. Human psychology just doesn't work that way. So if you're giving off the impression that you expect absolute fealty from the SA just because you have a wallet, the fact that you're a jackass might be hard for the SA to disguise.

Granted--I've dealt with my fair share of snoody SA's given my age in NYC, and I hate it too, but I've found often that if you smile and have some manners yourself, courteously explain that you're just browsing, that tone will quickly disipate. And then when you do have questions you'll be treated like a potential client, rather than someone just wasiting the SA's time.

I think this approach applies a lot more to small men's stores and boutiques than large outfits like department stores or Paul Stuart. That's one of the reasons why I prefer not to shop in large stores though.

 

[AyJay]

I've also worked with Kevin and had great service and thought he was extremely nice. I get the impression he's learning the ropes of managing a retail store, and it's unclear how much/how decent his help is. I thought there was another co-manager, a swarthy looking older fellow, in the store when I stopped in. His background is not in shoes, either, as he came from T&A previously where he was a fitter.

He let me try on several pairs of shoes, he did measure my foot, and seemed happy to help and reasonably knowledgable. He seemed like a good guy to me, and I expect that service at the NYC shop will improve. Perhaps it won't, but I think this has gotten a bit harsh.


I stopped by C&J earlier in the week, and met with Kevin. I have a tough foot to fit (13+ B or C), so I wanted to make sure that I had the right last before I make the plunge and pick up a pair or two. Kevin was curteous and very helpful, even though there were a couple of other gents in the store at the time.

PS: They are currently running a sale, and the Westbourne (my 2nd favorite model after thumbing through the catalogue 1,000 X) was down to the mid $400s.

 

[SpooPoker]

Originally Posted by Mr.Big

That's an English E which is a US C. You may need a smaller size but I doubt they make anything smaller for that 1 man in a 1000

An English E width is a US D, not a C.

 

[chet31]

Yes, usually I go into a clothing store just to browse, and get accosted by SAs left and right. But when I actually want their help, they are nowhere to be found.

I was @ the NYC C&J store about a month ago, also had a nice-looking female SA w/ an English accent. She was helpful and nice. I was smitten w/ the Rosemoors, on paper. But in trying them on, they were, in technical terms, a bit "pointy" for my tastes. Dammit, I love the broguing.