Erin Wooddell
When I was in high school and college, I wore a lot of clothes from the GAP and Old Navy. Don't roll your eyes—those were the days when the height of fashion for most teenage girls consisted of an outfit made up of jeans, a T-shirt, a cool belt and tennis shoes. Kids in my class didn't have parents who gave in to all our fashion desires, so there were no designer heels or handbags to be found. (Unless you count Vera Bradley, but I saved and bought a lot of that on my own.) Some girls wore a lot of Aeropostale, but as someone who can't pull off much pastel in the pale winter months, I was partial to the GAP.
Nowadays, I don't shop there very often. As a working girl, my closet calls for more grown-up options, and slowly the laid-back style of GAP has phased itself almost completely out of my life. I keep a few basics on hand, because there are still days where I want to put on a comfortable T-shirt, or a perfect fitting pair of worn-in jeans, but it no longer serves as the basis of my wardrobe.
A few years ago as my tastes began to change, I discovered Piperlime, another branch of GAP that offers fancier, higher-end clothes. As a twenty-something just out of college—and in the days before Pinterest internet hoarding—I would drool over the gorgeous threads and bookmark outfits I liked, knowing I'd never really order them. (I mean, I wanted to afford rent and eat more than cereal and grilled cheese sandwiches.) Sometimes, though, there would be an item that I just couldn't forget about. Recently, that item has been a new leather jacket.
I've had the same trusty leather bomber coat since I was 18. Needless to say, it's seen better days. The leather is peeling and fading and I know it's time for me to get something new. With fall quickly approaching, I've been on the hunt, and no matter what else I find, I keep picturing myself in the leather jacket from Piperlime. So I've been trying to devise affordable ways to make the purchase.
When I was in high school and college, I wore a lot of clothes from the GAP and Old Navy. Don't roll your eyes—those were the days when the height of fashion for most teenage girls consisted of an outfit made up of jeans, a T-shirt, a cool belt and tennis shoes. Kids in my class didn't have parents who gave in to all our fashion desires, so there were no designer heels or handbags to be found. (Unless you count Vera Bradley, but I saved and bought a lot of that on my own.) Some girls wore a lot of Aeropostale, but as someone who can't pull off much pastel in the pale winter months, I was partial to the GAP.
Nowadays, I don't shop there very often. As a working girl, my closet calls for more grown-up options, and slowly the laid-back style of GAP has phased itself almost completely out of my life. I keep a few basics on hand, because there are still days where I want to put on a comfortable T-shirt, or a perfect fitting pair of worn-in jeans, but it no longer serves as the basis of my wardrobe.
A few years ago as my tastes began to change, I discovered Piperlime, another branch of GAP that offers fancier, higher-end clothes. As a twenty-something just out of college—and in the days before Pinterest internet hoarding—I would drool over the gorgeous threads and bookmark outfits I liked, knowing I'd never really order them. (I mean, I wanted to afford rent and eat more than cereal and grilled cheese sandwiches.) Sometimes, though, there would be an item that I just couldn't forget about. Recently, that item has been a new leather jacket.
I've had the same trusty leather bomber coat since I was 18. Needless to say, it's seen better days. The leather is peeling and fading and I know it's time for me to get something new. With fall quickly approaching, I've been on the hunt, and no matter what else I find, I keep picturing myself in the leather jacket from Piperlime. So I've been trying to devise affordable ways to make the purchase.
I've never been the kind of girl who can drop a wad of money on a single item—even one that will last me a long time—and not flinch, so I knew I had to either save or wait until the jacket went on sale.
As luck would have it, while visiting my family for Labor Day, my mom handed me a stack of GAP Rewards and coupons. The rewards are basically cash you get back for shopping at the retailer, to be applied with or without the store card at any of the participating stores. That means you can use them for purchase at GAP, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Piperlime, Athleta and all the participating outlets.
Once home, I opened up my computer, researched the reviews and with glee filling my heart, I added the leather jacket to my shopping cart. What a feeling of triumph to find such a great deal on an item you'd normally be forced to overlook! I went through the motions of checkout—entering my payment details, entering the coupon and rewards codes, and they all came back with an error message, stating they couldn't be applied. I was speechless! I turned the coupons over again to make sure I didn't read the terms and conditions incorrectly. I didn't. They can be used without the store card. I tried again. Still no luck.
I called my mom and she gave me the card number to see if that made a difference. It didn't. The joy I felt not ten minutes before was wiped away. We frustratedly resigned ourselves to the fact that this purchase just wasn't meant to happen. My mom, a woman who loves a good deal as much as the next person, was equally—-if not more—disappointed than me.
This past weekend, I tried again, wondering if maybe their computers were experiencing difficulties. Again, no luck.
Yesterday this injustice nagged at me as I worked. How dare companies make promises on their discount opportunities and then not follow through! It just didn't seem right. Knowing the deadline for several of the coupons was slated for today, I felt I needed to take action. I couldn't let that "free" money go to waste. So last night as I got ready to settle in and do some light reading, I decided to pick up the phone and call Piperlime's customer service line instead.
To me, ordering things over the phone feels less secure than typing my information into an https site. I know that's silly logic—-and the reverse is probably true. People have placed orders by phone for years, but it's a method I often forget about.
After listening to my plight, the very nice Piperlime representative agreed that something was amiss and proceeded to help me process the order. We verified the item, the color, the size, and she took my card number and all my discount codes.
As we waited to see if she would run across the same issue, I held my breath. The minute it took for the codes to process felt like an eternity. Finally, she broke the silence:
Piperlime Lady: "Ah, there we go. They went through. Looks like with all your coupons and rewards, you get $85 off the jacket. Plus free shipping. Your total cost is now $44.03. Wow, good job!"
Me, with a voice ten octaves higher than usual: "THANK YOU SO MUCH!"
Elated, I hung up the phone and flipped to my email to double-check the order. Everything was correct and I couldn't be more pleased.
Finding discounts while shopping is not a skill of mine—this rarely happens to me. But this time, on an important item I'll wear for years to come, I found a good deal, fought for it and won.
As luck would have it, while visiting my family for Labor Day, my mom handed me a stack of GAP Rewards and coupons. The rewards are basically cash you get back for shopping at the retailer, to be applied with or without the store card at any of the participating stores. That means you can use them for purchase at GAP, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Piperlime, Athleta and all the participating outlets.
Once home, I opened up my computer, researched the reviews and with glee filling my heart, I added the leather jacket to my shopping cart. What a feeling of triumph to find such a great deal on an item you'd normally be forced to overlook! I went through the motions of checkout—entering my payment details, entering the coupon and rewards codes, and they all came back with an error message, stating they couldn't be applied. I was speechless! I turned the coupons over again to make sure I didn't read the terms and conditions incorrectly. I didn't. They can be used without the store card. I tried again. Still no luck.
I called my mom and she gave me the card number to see if that made a difference. It didn't. The joy I felt not ten minutes before was wiped away. We frustratedly resigned ourselves to the fact that this purchase just wasn't meant to happen. My mom, a woman who loves a good deal as much as the next person, was equally—-if not more—disappointed than me.
This past weekend, I tried again, wondering if maybe their computers were experiencing difficulties. Again, no luck.
Yesterday this injustice nagged at me as I worked. How dare companies make promises on their discount opportunities and then not follow through! It just didn't seem right. Knowing the deadline for several of the coupons was slated for today, I felt I needed to take action. I couldn't let that "free" money go to waste. So last night as I got ready to settle in and do some light reading, I decided to pick up the phone and call Piperlime's customer service line instead.
To me, ordering things over the phone feels less secure than typing my information into an https site. I know that's silly logic—-and the reverse is probably true. People have placed orders by phone for years, but it's a method I often forget about.
After listening to my plight, the very nice Piperlime representative agreed that something was amiss and proceeded to help me process the order. We verified the item, the color, the size, and she took my card number and all my discount codes.
As we waited to see if she would run across the same issue, I held my breath. The minute it took for the codes to process felt like an eternity. Finally, she broke the silence:
Piperlime Lady: "Ah, there we go. They went through. Looks like with all your coupons and rewards, you get $85 off the jacket. Plus free shipping. Your total cost is now $44.03. Wow, good job!"
Me, with a voice ten octaves higher than usual: "THANK YOU SO MUCH!"
Elated, I hung up the phone and flipped to my email to double-check the order. Everything was correct and I couldn't be more pleased.
Finding discounts while shopping is not a skill of mine—this rarely happens to me. But this time, on an important item I'll wear for years to come, I found a good deal, fought for it and won.
Have you ever had issues with online shopping that had to be resolved in person or over the phone? Comment below or tweet me @adventuringMISS ushing #shoppingprobs.