I have decided to publicly smite Jos. A. Bank after mailing them this complaint letter regarding the tux I had fitted for my 2-year-old who was in my brother's wedding party this fall, and not hearing back. To anyone thinking of using them for their groomsmen... RUN, don't walk, in the other direction! Furthermore... what kind of store name is Jos. A. Bank? They couldn't spring for the second half of the name on their sign? Some of my friends refer to them as "Jose Banks." Also, the lack of an 's' on the word Bank is confusing. Just saying. So, here's the letter.
Jos. A.
Bank
P.O. Box 1000
Hampstead, MD
21074-4000
October 4,
2013
Dear Joseph
A. Bank,
I am
writing to express my dissatisfaction with the service I received at your store
located at 100 Reaville Avenue,
Flemington, NJ.
The store
employees were pleasant and said all the right things. However, it was clear
from my experience, that, behind the scenes, things were not going all that
smoothly. In other words: even though I was given all the info up front and
asked all the right questions by the sales people... the folks who were
actually procuring the tuxedo for us did not seem to care about these details.
Let me
explain further.
My 2-year-old-son
was scheduled to be fitted for a tuxedo to be worn at my brother's wedding on
Sept 14, 2013. We live in XXXXXXX,
NJ and my mother-in-law (his
babysitter) is located in XXXXXXX. So I determined that, based on this
proximity with his babysitter, it would be wise to do all my pre-wedding
shopping in Flemington (I, too, was in the wedding party). Thus, I opted to use
your Flemington store location which is about 40 minutes from my home.
I called
about a month in advance of the wedding date. I was told to bring my son there
on the Tuesday prior to the wedding, so that they could measure him. On Tuesday,
Sept 3, I called again to be sure they knew we were coming.
When I
arrived at your store with my son, we were greeted warmly and enthusiastically
by a male and female employee. I did not get their names, but this was probably
around 3 p.m. They were extremely nice to my little boy, measured his neck,
arms, legs, waistline, and feet to be sure he'd get the correct fit. At the end
of the measuring, they gave him some candy, which was also very nice of them.
My little boy had a great first-time at your store. However...
A day or
two later, I received a call that my son's tuxedo was ready to be picked up.
Now, mind you, I live 40 minutes away (more depending on traffic), and this is
a little boy of two. So... battling traffic and a willful toddler at the same
time is not my idea of fun. Anyway, we arrived there for the actual tux fitting,
and lo and behold... the pants are swimming on him. Also, the sleeves of the
jacket are much too long. It does not appear as though anyone has actually
looked at the measurements which were written down. In fact, it seems as though
someone has randomly selected a tuxedo that they figure will fit a 2-year-old.
I would
also like to add that for the fitting, I was sort of left to my own devices. I
actually had to ask someone to help me
put the tux on my son and check the fit. Okay, on the one hand I'm happy that
my privacy was respected in the dressing room. But on the other, an "If
you need anything, give a holler" would have been nice, or how about
"Once you get the tux on him, let us know and we'll have a sales rep check
the fit." Perhaps your employees don't know a lot about getting a toddler
dressed, but likewise I don't know anything about tuxedos. Either way, a little
concern would have been nice.
The next 40-minute
drive to and from your store was made I think on Thursday (2 days before the
wedding), to pick up the smaller-sized pants and check to see if the sleeves
had been altered. This time, I got there later in the day because when I called
at around 11 a.m., they told me the suit wasn't ready so they'd call me back.
Great. So I sat around waiting for most of the day, then made ready to battle
rush-hour traffic with my little son in the car for yet another long ride there
and back.
When I got
there, no one was manning the desk at all, so I had to poke my head around and
say, "Is anybody here?" before someone finally emerged from the back
of the store. I was handed a small bag, which I then opened and inside was just
one pair of pants. "Do you have the rest of the suit?" I asked.
"Don't you have it already?" said the salesman. "No, it's been
here for alterations."
I think at
this point, the silver-haired man at the counter tells me that the suit was NOT
altered even though it should have been?? I want to say that they forgot to
shorten the sleeves. I apologize for being unclear on this, but remember that a
lot goes on the week before a family wedding that both you and your son are
part of the bridal party for. All I know is, I had to make yet another trip to
your store because something wasn't the way it should have been.
Somewhere
during all this, I realized that shoes were a necessary part of the
presentation. I am not sure if I spoke to someone on the phone or in the store
about this. Perhaps I wrongly assumed that the measuring of my son's feet would
result in someone procuring a pair of shoes that were the right size. I know
that they did measure his feet during the initial fitting.
Anyway, no
one at the tux fitting had mentioned shoes, and I had left the store not even
realizing they were in the bag because I was distracted with all of this
unfamiliar business. So now, at home, I find the shoes in there, but they are
two sizes too big. My son wears a six and these are an eight. So I call Jos. A
Banks yet again.
I hate to
say it, but I don't even remember now which day I was told to come back and get
the correct-size shoes. Was it the day of the rehearsal dinner, which was
Friday? Or was it Saturday, the actual wedding day? All I know is that I was at
your store, attending to various mishaps related to the tuxedo fitting for my
son for nearly every day of this week, and with everything else that goes on
the week prior to a wedding, that I don't even know. And I should have written
it down, but I didn't. Anyone who has ever raised a child will know how
stressful life can be at the toddler phase.
If you look
into your record of this purchase, you will see the Fedex bill from the day
that the shoes were overnighted. Based on this, you can likely tell me which
day I was told to come in for the shoes which should have been the right size
from the get-go but were not, and which none of your employees thought to ask
about.
In summary:
NONE of this should have been happening so close to the wedding day! As far as
I'm concerned, this is how the process should have played out:
Trip 1:
Arrive at store, have tux measurements taken.
Trip 2:
Return for complete fit of tuxedo and shoes.
Trip 3:
Drop off tuxedo the Monday after the wedding.
THAT is ALL
that I should have had to do, and yet this is far from what happened. I drove to and from your store no less than
SIX times (including the day I dropped off the suit post-wedding). I am
completely dissatisfied with the service based on this alone.
I will
admit that some of this fiasco could have been avoided if I had been a more
proactive customer. But I arrived not knowing the details of how to purchase
and get a tuxedo fitted. I do not feel that I was given adequate help in this
area, by the people who were assumed to be the experts – the people who get
PAID to sell and fit tuxedos! And the fact that nobody "behind the
scenes" was paying attention to the necessary details – like my son's
measurements, the size of his feet, the number of pairs of pants in the bag...
just absurd.
I would
like a refund for the total of $96 plus tax that I paid for my son's tuxedo,
plus any additional amount that you feel would be adequate compensation for the
inconvenience this has caused in my life. I would also like to remind you that
a lot of gas money was spent driving an hour and a half each way to and from
your store every time "yet another issue" wasn't addressed.
Please send
your mailed response to XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.
I can be reached by phone at XXX-XXX-XXXX.
I appreciate
your kind and prompt attention to this matter.
Warm
regards,
Name Withheld
