Tip of the Week - Ask about price adjustments

I went to Club Monaco to show my friend the new suit I bought last week. I wanted to try the skirt on again along with another one size smaller because I wasn’t sure I ended up with the right size. Well, I’m between two sizes. I’m keeping the larger one and having it altered.

Lucky I stopped by. Last week they told me they’d be getting new merchandise in this week. I asked if the suit would be going on sale. I was told absolutely not because they didn’t carry a lot of women’s suits and it was a hot item.

Of course the skirt was on sale (the jacket stayed at regular price). The salesperson who helped me told me they didn’t offer price adjustments. What a pain because I could buy another skirt in the same size at the sale price and return the one I bought last week. Seemed a bit dumb for several reasons – more paperwork, inventory removed from the floor etc.

She was wrong! I went up to the cash and there in black and white was the store policy. Price adjustments are offered on regular-priced merchandise if it goes on sale within 14 days and you bring in your bill within that time. I went home, got my bill, went back and sure enough within minutes, $45 was refunded to my credit card.

Bottom line:
Hold on to your bills. Chain stores in particular often offer price adjustments on newly marked-down merchandise.

Meet my new friend Marc as in Marc Jacobs

I needed a new full-length winter coat. I have the great big, warm hooded down coat and I decided it was time to get something more stylish that I could wear day or night, for casual and more formal occasions.

Maybe I left if a bit too late. Maybe with the sagging economy, manufacturers and retailers didn’t think people would be laying out the bucks for new outerwear this season. Whatever it was, the pickings were slim.

Kathryn and Rayanne were exchanging tweets about where they bought their new winter coats. With no time to go downtown, I searched all over Yorkdale. I had seen a nice looking coat on the rack at Banana Republic. Unfortunately, it didn’t look good on me. I’d seen some nice coats on the cheap at H&M. The fabric felt a bit scratchy though. I debated whether or not it was worth buying on for $100 that I’d be tired of after a year and passed in the end.

Zara had some great looking coats in the same price-range as Banana. Problem is by mid-Saturday afternoon, they’re all picked over and several coats had buttons hanging by a thread. Sorry, Zara, sloppy merchandising even on a busy day is a big turn off, particularly when it comes to high-priced items.

So, on a whim, I dragged Mr. B. to Holts. Except for my Bobbi Brown make-up must-haves, I haven’t shopped there in ages. I took a quick look around at the sale racks scattered throughout.

Then I saw it, hanging on a sale rack behind the cash in the contemporary fashions department.. I found the perfect navy coat on sale for 30% off. It was Marc by Marc Jacobs. Believe-it-or-not, on sale, it didn’t cost much more than the coats I had seen at the chain stores. Well worth an extra $100 for a designer coat with far more attention to detail. Don’t ya think?

I usually stay away from navy but I liked it and besides, the same style in black wasn’t on sale. I decided to splurge. I’m glad I did.

What have you splurged on lately?

FYI, Holts had another markdown a few days after I bought my coat. I was surprised to learn they don’t offer price adjustments. (I wonder if their policy will change as Canadian retailers start feeling the hit of the recession?) On the bright side, my coat is still selling for the price I paid and now the black one is on sale too.