the tale of the j.crew bowdelaire ballet flats

hello! let me catch you up on a little story about the perfectly pretty bowdelaire ballet flats from j.crew.

aren't they pretty? just enough girly (well maybe more than enough) but overall a simple, versatile flat. loved them. (you know i love sparkle and bows. i couldn't resist.) but $158 it was just too steep for me. so i exercised patience for a sale or coupon. luckily i recieved a 20% off discount last month. i don't know why i waited until the last day to use it on these, but i did. magically, there was a pop-up of the size 7 in the lavender and i delightfully checked out with in my cart. this was approximately 2-3 weeks ago.

when the box arrived, i  tried to open it in the elevator on my way to my apartment i was so excited! and then.. i was confused. when i first pulled the shoes out of the box they looked a bit large, but i slipped them onto my feet. the box said 7, but these were a good size too big! i looked at the bottom and they said 8!
imagine my surprise and dissapointment. of course, the shoes were no longer online in my size and my coupon no longer worked. so i headed over to my local store to return and explain and see if they could locate. (this was on a friday night.)

luckily, i live near some amazingly kind and wonderful j.crews with just as lovely associates. i returned the shoes and they did an online look-up on the shoes for me (a 6.5 and a 7 because based on the 8s, i was concerned the 7s were going to be a little too big). the online service said they would locate them at a store, overnight the shoes (though it was a weekend, so Monday arrival) and the stores should charge me only my 20% off price. a sigh of relief! or so i thought.

on monday, there were no shoes that arrived. i checked the tracking the online customer center sent and it looked like both pairs would arrive on thursday. oh well, thursday was just in time for my trip for easter, so it would still be okay!

on tueday, the shoes were marked down to $99 along with some other items on my wishlist. i placed an order for the 6.5 and 7 in the green just to be safe. i liked the lavender better, but i was still worried about the order.

on thursday, i checked tracking again only to find out that one of the two boxes was left behind at the UPS center and didn't make it onto the truck "out for delivery" by UPS! aaaghh. i called UPS and they were unable to let me swing by and pick up the shoes before my trip because they were "legally bound to make an attempt at my address one time." so frustrating!

anyways, i knew i could get a price adjustment (within 7 days) from the $126ish price to $99 on my shoes  so i took the one pair of 7's to j.crew (2nd trip to the store) to get a PA, explain the saga, and see if because i wouldn't be back until monday from my trip they could honor an additional PA on the other pair of shoes whenever they arrived. again, being the kind and lovely j.crew associates that they are - they apologized for all the confusion (none of which was their fault!) and the manager would honor a PA when i stopped back in.  (on a side note, neither the 6.5 or the 7 were given to me at the $126ish price, both charged me full price. since i was getting a price adjustment either way, it wasn't a big deal - but clearly the communication from the online service to the stores of overnight shipping and honoring my special discount was not a win.)

cue my return from my trip. got in on monday. the 6.5's finally arrived at my home along with another box of delights arrived from j.crew. yay! i tried on both sizes and it was the 6.5s that won out. LOVE the lavender ones. (i promise, the lavender color is a little different than my "lavender-white" winter skin in the below picture)


 tried on the green ones. surprisingly, loved the color in person, too!

the sparkles were more green than white on the green pair. i could see myself wearing both pairs equally. but needed to return the 7s (and the other delights in the box from j.crew needed to go back too. i decided i would rather have both pairs of shoes!)

went back to j.crew (3rd times the charm) to return the PA'ed lavender 7s, the green 7s, the other items, and to get a PA on the $158 lavender ones. whew! still following? this was exhausting to keep track of but don't worry it still ends happily ever after. :)

i explained the whole story, gave her the note from the manager, and she completed all the transactions.

with the PA on the lavender shoes, the sales associate also honored the additional 30% off on sale items that had started that day! wahoo! it made all my trips (all 3 of them!) and the inconveniences totally worth it. thank you! thank you! also goes to show that sometimes being super polite and understanding is the best.

oh and the shoes? highly recommend. i think they are sold out online now, but you'll be seeing me in them a lot more!

until next time,
S