Disappointing experience with Joann.com

[Trinket]

Mainly, I'm wondering if this has only happened to me, or if this has been a problem for others as well.

 

I had been pining for some rosewood crochet hooks on Joann.com for a while. They were on sale, and I HAD intended to wait until they went off sale to use a coupon on them, but then I noticed that the rosewood knitting needles also went on sale, so I decided I wanted to go ahead and make a purchase.

 

I noticed an ad that said if I signed up for an account with the site I would get shipping for $2.95. This was actually what sealed the deal for me and made me decide to go with Joann.com rather than createforless.com or some other online shop. However, I found that I couldn't finish the forms while using Firefox. I had to switch to Internet Explorer, which I don't care for. I did finally manage to sign up an account, but by then I wasn't wanting to place my order. The ad specifically said that if I didn't want to place the order that day, I didn't have to. I could sign in and make the purchase at a later time and I would still get the shipping deal.

 

A couple days went by and I came back and was ready to make the order. I signed in, selected my items, and then went to the checkout. But instead of the $2.95 shipping I had been promised for creating the new account, I was being charged the full shipping rate of $6.95!

 

I can't imagine I did anything wrong. The ad claims I don't have to put in any codes or do anything special. My first order is supposed to automatically have that shipping deal with it. But it didn't!

 

I placed the order anyway, because I want the items and I was worried that if I wait any longer they would be off sale before something was worked out. I emailed their customer service, but have yet to hear anything from them about it.

 

Has anyone else had this trouble?

[FosterMom]

I had the same shipping deal with a new account happen to me. I got charged the full shipping amount too. They also double charged my credit card which I had the bank fix and the shipping took almost three weeks! That was my first time ordering and I never will again. I know lots of people love them but its just not worth it for me.

 

Sorry that happened to you too.

[CroJulee]

The last bit of stuff I ordered from them also took 3 weeks. I was very dissappointed with that (I seem to be using the word "dissappointed" alot tonight). But overall there prices are ok. I just wish they had a shipping deal like knitting warehouse does. Just a flat rate. Joanns shipping gets pretty steep even for just 1 very small item that would normally cost around $2.00 to ship.

 

Julee

[chedges1]

where your thing out of stock? i know when i have ha dthings shipped from joanns it came in 10 days... sorry u had so much trouble with them.. thanks for sharing,,, katie

[FosterMom]

If it was out of stock no one told me so I honestly dont know.

[Craw]

Their "new account" deal did that to my husband as well. He figured he'd set up a new account to get the reduced shipping but when we went to place the order, the deal didn't come up. We never bothered with that order. It's the principle of the thing. A couple of weeks later i went back to to that account to see if the 2.95 shipping would be there and it was. But if you'd have waited that long you would have missed the deal. Maybe their customer service will fix things. If they do, let us know.

[Autumn]

I order a lot from Joanns, because of prices/sales. But, I really dislike their mailing. They ship it fedex to the post office and then the post office delivers it to me. The problem is it takes forever, 10 - 15 days and because I live down a private road, (mailbox is at end of our road and the po won't bring packages down due to their insurance reasons) I usually have to go to the post office myself to pick it up (po puts a slip in my mail box to say I have a box to pick up). Urggggggggggggg... Just deliver it ups or the whole way with fedex... so I get it at my door!!!!!!!

 

ONe thing I like about joanns, I go online and google, Joann promotional codes and can usually get free shipping by putting in that code I find.

 

When I order from other places, I usually get my yarn, etc.. in 3-4 days at my door with a smile from the ups guy!

[Craw]

I order a lot from Joanns, because of prices/sales. But, I really dislike their mailing. They ship it fedex to the post office and then the post office delivers it to me.

 

Ugh, Herrschner's does that now too. They split up the mailing with UPS and the post office, UPS can get my package to my main post office within a day or two, then it sits in that post office for 2 weeks in the bottom of a bulk mailing pile! I would be willing to pay a reasonable amount for shipping as long as it's going to get here faster than if I walked there but most places who offer a premium or upgraded shipping will bang you $10-$25 extra for it. That's not reasonable to me.

[grandmabap]

I've been shopping with Joann.com for years and have only had one problem. It would not take my coupon code, said it had expired when in fact it had not. But my problem was quickly solved when I called customer service.

 

Maybe you should have called customer service when you saw the shipping charge was not what was promised, they probably would have fixed the problem before you placed your order.

 

I'm truly sorry for your experience but I wouldn't give up on them I buy 99 percent of my yarn from Joann.com

 

grandmab

[tcandlgmom]

The first few times I ordered from Joann.com, I received my order very quickly. Now, the order I placed last month, took 3 weeks to get to me. Great prices, but terrible shipping time.

[Amy]

Let me make a suggestion that is good when shopping with any online store: if you notice a problem in your shopping cart before submitting your order, in almost all cases it's much, much easier to get your problem fixed if you contact the company's customer service department BEFORE you actually submit the order. Fixing problems after an order has been placed involves a lot of manual work behind-the-scenes and can sometimes be a much slower process.

 

If you place the order with the errors in place, then that effectively means you're accepting those errors as being valid.

 

Another suggestion: if something isn't working right in the shopping cart, it could be related to your browser's cookies. Check and make sure your browser is set to accept cookies from that site. You might even try deleting your browser's cookies and cache (or just that site's cookie if you know how to do that), rebooting, and trying again. A corrupted cookie can make various shopping cart functions not work properly. Clearing that cookie so the site can set another one can fix your problems.

 

Just remember that clearing out your cookie will delete any items stored in your shopping cart, so you might want to write them down first so you won't forget to add everything back in before placing your order.

[The_Virginia_Hooker]

Not with cost, but my last online order it took a little over 2 months to receive an order that shipped out of a Jo-Ann's distro from a neighboring state. Nothing was on backorder, when i spoke to someone on the phone about that, their reaction to that (as they were munching on something crunchy while they talked on the phone) was flippiant-sounding "yeah that happens sometimes, sorry.":angry

 

My previous order had similar problems (no potato-chip-muncher on the phone this time, though), so i thought the second time "Well let's give it one more shot, call right before placing the order, to see if that helps, they might have been having a really busy time)" which i thought would have worked, but nope.

 

Won't be ordering from the site again. Kinda strange how people's experiences with a company can be so polar opposite.

[CroJulee]

I order a lot from Joanns, because of prices/sales. But, I really dislike their mailing. They ship it fedex to the post office and then the post office delivers it to me. The problem is it takes forever, 10 - 15 days and because I live down a private road, (mailbox is at end of our road and the po won't bring packages down due to their insurance reasons) I usually have to go to the post office myself to pick it up (po puts a slip in my mail box to say I have a box to pick up). Urggggggggggggg... Just deliver it ups or the whole way with fedex... so I get it at my door!!!!!!!

 

When I order from other places, I usually get my yarn, etc.. in 3-4 days at my door with a smile from the ups guy!

 

I don't like that Joanns does that either (so does Mary Maxim). I wish the ups would deliver packages to my house more often (the ups guy has a GREAT smile and he's closer to my age too- lol, enough of that).

 

I get my yarn much faster when I order it off of ebay (if I order it off of ebay).

 

Julee

[dobermama]

I've used JoAnn's several times and never had problem. Used it through affiliates and no problem with the free shipping, which on top of sale prices, really helped in the buying decision since I only have Wally World to purchase yarn through.

 

I've noticed many companies are using the shipping via UPS then Post Office. Not sure why that is unless UPS is using this for smaller packages and rural areas, cost is less, whether it's a UPS thing or the company thing. Since I'm rural, I figured that's why they do it. It does take longer sometimes, and I've had their sorting facility send it to the wrong postal destination and that delayed my receiving my package (not JoAnn's).

[HorrorRetro]

I've only ordered from Joann.com once, and while I didn't have any problems using the discount codes, it did take close to a month to receive my order. Nothing I ordered was out of stock either. I think a month to wait for an item is just too long in this day and age. I mean the package is not coming via the Pony Express. Come to think of it, the Pony Express would have gotten it to me in less time. I doubt I'll order from them again.

 

I have run into the same problem when ordering from Yankeecandle.com. I've ordered from them numerous times, as I am addicted, and it's always taken almost a month to get my orders.

[dharts]

I wonder if you aren't misunderstanding the $2.95 shipping deal? What I've seen on their website is if you sign up for an account, you'll get $2.95 shipping on your next order. I take that to mean the order after this one, not this one.

 

That's very handy to know about their shipping process. I won't order from a company that has a shipper take it to the post office. At those shipping prices, they should be delivering directly to your door.

[happy stitcher]

I've been shopping with Joann.com for years and have only had one problem. It would not take my coupon code, said it had expired when in fact it had not. But my problem was quickly solved when I called customer service.

 

Maybe you should have called customer service when you saw the shipping charge was not what was promised, they probably would have fixed the problem before you placed your order.

 

I'm truly sorry for your experience but I wouldn't give up on them I buy 99 percent of my yarn from Joann.com

 

grandmab

 

Ditto.

I have only had one problem with a coupon and called customer service. They placed the order for me over the phone and gave me the discount. I've never tried to join their club, though. I always just keep an eye on sales and try to order with free shipping. If I can get an item on sale and with free shipping, it's worth a little wait to get it. The closest JoAnn's is about 30 minutes from me, and I try not to drive over there any more than necessary to save on gas.

[happy stitcher]

That's very handy to know about their shipping process. I won't order from a company that has a shipper take it to the post office. At those shipping prices, they should be delivering directly to your door.

 

I wonder if the shipping procedures vary according to your location....? I don't think my orders have gone through multiple carriers.

[Trinket]

where your thing out of stock? i know when i have ha dthings shipped from joanns it came in 10 days... sorry u had so much trouble with them.. thanks for sharing,,, katie

 

I don't think any of the items I had ordered were out of stock. I didn't see any evidence to that on the pages, and they didn't tell me, so I guess they weren't? Though I'm not sure how that would have affected the shipping rate deal...

 

It's been several days now. I still haven't received any word back from them about this. Once I had emailed them about something, and I received a reply within a couple days. I figured this would be the same, but I guess not... Also, I didn't receive any kind of update on my order until the other day. Turns out that even though I had ordered the items two or three days before, they didn't ship until YESTERDAY! I may go ahead and call them and ask them why it all happened in the first place, but I'm resigned to having been partially dooped. I could have backed out of it when I didn't get the rate I was promised, but I didn't, and I do accept that I likely will not receive any kind of apology or consolation for it.

 

On a somewhat related topic, I had an issue with some Lion Brand yarn, so I emailed their customer service about it this morning. Not even 12 hours later I received an apology note and they were offering to send me a new skein of yarn to replace the bad one I had. If they could get back to me that quickly, I just don't see why Joann couldn't...

 

Unless I simply can't find the items anywhere else, which I don't really see happening, I believe I'm done with Joann.com. Now, that isn't to say I won't visit the local Joann Fabrics store here in the area. But I won't order anything from their website again.

 

I wish I had some good news to report, but I don't.

[Autumn]

At those shipping prices, they should be delivering directly to your door.

 

Exactly !!!!!!! That's one of the main reasons I order online. I want it at my door.

[dharts]

I wonder if the shipping procedures vary according to your location....? I don't think my orders have gone through multiple carriers.

 

I will say I always ask how an order will be shipped. Some companies will send UPS if you ask even if that's not their standard method and in fact, some will even put a notation on your account that you always want orders shipped UPS or whatever method you prefer.

[crochet freak]

Mainly, I'm wondering if this has only happened to me, or if this has been a problem for others as well.

 

I had been pining for some rosewood crochet hooks on Joann.com for a while. They were on sale, and I HAD intended to wait until they went off sale to use a coupon on them, but then I noticed that the rosewood knitting needles also went on sale, so I decided I wanted to go ahead and make a purchase.

 

I noticed an ad that said if I signed up for an account with the site I would get shipping for $2.95. This was actually what sealed the deal for me and made me decide to go with Joann.com rather than createforless.com or some other online shop. However, I found that I couldn't finish the forms while using Firefox. I had to switch to Internet Explorer, which I don't care for. I did finally manage to sign up an account, but by then I wasn't wanting to place my order. The ad specifically said that if I didn't want to place the order that day, I didn't have to. I could sign in and make the purchase at a later time and I would still get the shipping deal.

 

A couple days went by and I came back and was ready to make the order. I signed in, selected my items, and then went to the checkout. But instead of the $2.95 shipping I had been promised for creating the new account, I was being charged the full shipping rate of $6.95!

 

I can't imagine I did anything wrong. The ad claims I don't have to put in any codes or do anything special. My first order is supposed to automatically have that shipping deal with it. But it didn't!

 

I placed the order anyway, because I want the items and I was worried that if I wait any longer they would be off sale before something was worked out. I emailed their customer service, but have yet to hear anything from them about it.

 

Has anyone else had this trouble?

 

 

I had this same problem. I emailed customer service, it took a few days to hear back (almost a week maybe), but they finally told me that there is an issue with their website that can't give the discounted shipping for the first order. They instructed me to call and place my order and they would be able to give me the $2.95 shipping rate. Hope this helps anyone having this issue!

[bjc1050]

I haven't ordered anything from Joann for several months, but have always gotten my order within a week. Don't know about the new account deal, so can't comment on that. I've had an account with them for a couple of years. Have had no credit card problems with them.

 

Beverly

[onfire4Jesus]

I too use to like ordering from Joann's ... not anymore. It seems to take forever and there's just too many other places to order from that have much better service. I'm getting ready to try Hobby Lobby's online site; CraftsEtc.com But Joann's; no more! Sorry for your problems.

[Trinket]

I had this same problem. I emailed customer service, it took a few days to hear back (almost a week maybe), but they finally told me that there is an issue with their website that can't give the discounted shipping for the first order. They instructed me to call and place my order and they would be able to give me the $2.95 shipping rate. Hope this helps anyone having this issue!

 

Hmm... That's kinda strange. I wonder why they've left the ad up if they know they're having difficulty like that. Or... why have they not made a better effort to fix the problem altogether?

 

I hate to be a sour grape about the whole thing, but... *sigh* After my experience in the store today, I don't even know if I'll be going back there, either. Every time I go, the items I need are out of stock. I joke that it's some conspiracy, but truthfully, it irks me quite a bit. So I figure I'll focus on Michaels and the local craft shop instead from now on.