Marn C.

I had the worst experience with the customer service from Lane Bryant. I would like to explain this is not a reflection of the employees from my local store, they have always been great.
I purchased a dress online that was to be worn as a bridesmaid dress. The dress did indicate there was a low inventory, however it was listed as in stock online. My order was canceled. First of all, the notification was handled poorly. I ordered a few items and received notification that one of my items was shipping. At the very bottom of that email, it indicated the shipping for my dress was canceled, no reason listed.
Obviously I proceeded to contact Lane Bryant customer service to find out why. The associate I spoke with could really only tell me it was out of stock. She was not rude or anything, but I was looking for more answers. So I spoke with a Manager. This manager waa polite. I fully admit I was very frustrated and upset, now knowing the dress I was supposed to wear for my sister's wedding was not available. I inquired why items were available for purchase if they were not available. The manager informed it does not always update right away, so by the time my order went through, they could have all been sold out. I was still upset, but can sort of understand this. The manager said it's not real-time and could take sometimes hours to update. She was polite and offered to check to see if it would be in stock before the wedding and would call me back.
After our conversation, I proceeded to look online to see if there was any explanation of low inventory. I was looking for anything to explain that when you purchase and item, even though it is available for purchase and showing in-stock, it may not actually be available and in-stock. I completely searched their website and was not able to locate anything. While I was online, I looked up the dress again, and it was still available for purchase. Now I was very confused. I purchased this dress on Saturday (6/9/18), I just received notification on Tuesday morning (6/12/18) that it was canceled because it was out of stock. However, Tuesday afternoon (6/12/18) the dress is still available. If the dress has been unavailable since the order was placed on 6/9/18, why is it still listed for purchase on 6/12/18? I understand not everything is in real-time, but it is three days later.

I decided to call back to see why this dress was still available for purchase, 3 days later, when I was just informed that it is out of stock. I spoke with a retail sales manager, Thomas. I explained by situation, and was provided the same explanation as before. I mentioned that it was purchased 3 days ago, was still available to be sold online, and pressed for further explanation. He was immediately defensive and became rude and condescending. Now I was already frustrated and will not accept being spoken to in that manner, so I became defensive. Every response from Thomas was done with a rude tone. There were several occurrences where he would contradict himself. For example he said they will hold the order for a little while to see if it will come in stock. Then he told me my order was canceled. When I asked for clarification his response would always open with "I already explained this to you", with a severely negative tone. When I would inquire about how they were listing items to be sold when they have known for 3 days they were out of stock, he wouldn't even respond. He would eventually say "I already explained this to you, we are going around in circles. What do want?". I would respond with, "how does your company think it is okay to sell items, they know are not in stock?. He would be silent, ignore my comment and say "We are just going in circles, what can I help you with?".
I asked him why it would still be listed for sale 3 days later. He stated the inventory changes and they could have received more. I asked if more dresses were received on stock, why did I not get the dress, why was mine instead canceled. Thomas had no real explanation. I asked if there was any way I could be notified if the dress came in stock again, and was greeted with a rude "No". I was informed I could attempt to repurchase the dress (and most likely go through the entire process again). As we all know, orders are handled in the order received. So now I stead of being at the top of a waiting list, I am now at the bottom. Also, I had a deal last time, and am having to spend $30 more for the same dress. Which I was rudely told, there was nothing Thomas could do.

After being treated so terrible, I finally thanked him and disconnected the call. I know it is only a dress, and normally I wouldn't care. However I have a last minute wedding ceremony, and purchased this dress for a bridesmaid dress. So now I have a wedding in 2 weeks and do not have a dress. I just cannot believe it is okay for a company to sell items that they do not have in stock. If you know that "low inventory" means it may not be in stock, that should be well documented on the website. Instead, when an item is listed as "low inventory", the website advertises "almost sold out, so make it yours now". That could not be further from the truth.

This is the first time I ordered from this site, and it was by far the worst experience I have ever had ordering online. Aside from the fact that the shipping takes an insanely long time (they are international, so that can be understood), here is what happened:

-DO NOT PAY FOR THE TRACKING FEE! I did pay extra for it. I have had no tracking on my package, and when I asked why there was no tracking status, I was informed they are not able to track packages. The number you pay for is only a reference # and they have no ability to track a package. This is a direct quote from a customer service representative at Sammydress, Martin--"As this shipping way has no tracking number, it only has a reference number, so you can not track it online." Even though it explicitly says TRACKING NUMBER. I have been informed I will get a refund for this, we will see if that ever happens.

-My order was split up into 2 packages, one of which I have still yet to receive (it has been over a month and well past there business day time frame of shipping) (I did finally receive this package, just weeks after the expected delivery)

-From my first package, one of the items was incorrect (I have been in contact with customer service for weeks, I still have no resolution)

-There customer service live chat (if it even works) takes well over an hour to connect you with a person

-I submitted a ticket for my incorrect item, it has been weeks and I have heard nothing (despite the claimed 24-hour response time)

-While trying to submit my ticket, I tried 5 times to attach a photo of the incorrect item. There site was not working correctly, and I finally had to try saving it to different formats to get something to go through.

-There customer support staff are not equipped to handle most all questions and all they can do is just recommend you wait patiently.

I will never use this site again, and neither will anyone I know. I have also had several friends who have had bad experiences with this site. Unless you dont care about when you receive your package and if you receive the actual items you ordered, then I would recommend to NEVER use this site. You will have nothing but problems, and will spend months trying to get any resolution. NOT WORTH IT!

I will add to my review now that since I have posted negative reviews regarding SammyDress, I have had resolution. Despite the fact that the 2 months I was arguing with customer service with no resolution, it seems as though if you post negative reviews, you will finally find someone who will help you. A customer service representative reached out through my review and I was able to get all my money refunded for my full order. I did receive money for items I received as well. I am grateful for that. However, I will still not be using this site again. It was not worth being lied to, given the run-around, and not even receiving the items I ordered. And I'm sorry, but the legality of charging customers for a tracking number when you have no ability to even track the package... I cannot trust a site like that.

Again, I am grateful for receiving my full refund. I definitely got more than my moneys worth, but I would rather have spent the money and had a good experience.