Why I Won't Shop At Saks Fifth In Boston Anymore.

Hmm...  Little bit peeved.

There is this Joie blouse that I have liked for a few months at Saks.  Only I had decided not to buy it, for the following reasons:

• It was $228.
  
• It was cream-colored. (I don't do well with light colors.)
  
• It was Dry Clean Only.  (Which means I really shouldn't wash it by hand.)

I liked it because it was flowy and bohemian-esque.  And it was totally my style.  But the color and the Dry Clean Only issues made it too expensive at the original price.

Then, last weekend, I was out with The Husband.  We were at Saks browsing all the great sales they were having.  We saw the blouses on the "Take 50% Off The Ticketed Price" rack.  Which made the blouse now $114.

"I love it," I told The Husband.  "But I am not ready to buy it yet.  If it's still here next weekend, maybe I will get it then."

We agreed that I should think about it some more.

Then, I went to Saks yesterday to look at some bubble bath, and I saw the blouse (in my size) still on the sale rack.  But I wasn't looking for a blouse, and I told myself, "I will just wait a few days."

Well, today I had to go to the grocery store, which is right next to Saks.  So I popped into the store.  And for a Saks Fifth Avenue store a few weekend before Christmas, the joint was dead...  Not completely dead... But it wasn't hopping like it normally is on a Sunday afternoon - regardless of the season.

So I walked to the rack and saw the blouse was still there.  But I noticed something different this time... There was a new price sticker on the blouse.  It was marked $135.90.  And that caused me to wonder...

"Is it 50% off of the $228 price?  Or is it 50% off of $135.90?"

Well, I decided that the blouse would either be $114 (50% of the original price) or 50% off of $135.90.  Either way, I was ready to buy the blouse at $114 or less.  So I took it to the register.

And I waited.  

That's pretty typical at Saks.  The sales help there moves very slowly.  Usually, they sit around chatting while one of them works pretty hard.  I was used to this, so it didn't bother me much.

And finally, it's my turn at the register.

"Was anyone helping you today?" the young woman asks.

"Nope," I said  "You're the first one."

"Okay," she said.  Then she asked, "Would you like to apply for a Saks credit card for an extra 10% discount today?"

"Nope," I told her.  "I only pay with cash or debit."

"Alright," she said.  And then she stared at the price tag on the piece.  "Hmm...  I don't know."

"What don't you know?" I ask her.

She continued looking at the tag.

"It's ringing up at full price, but it's market $135.90," she said.  

"Yep," I confirmed for her.  "I was here yesterday and saw that piece, and it wasn't marker.  Today it's marked."

She continued to look confused.

"I don't know if I am supposed to charge 50% of the original, or 50% of the price on the tag," she said.  "Let me go find James."

I assumed James is the manager.  And while she went away to find him, I had to listen to the two useless sales idiots who were at the register chatting.  (Rather than helping other customers who were also at the register behind me.)

Eventually the girl comes back.

"James says it's $135.90," she says.

"You mean it's 50% off of the $135.90?" I ask, thinking I really scored.

"Nope," she says.  "It's $135.90.  The price on the tag."

"But it's on the 'Take 50% Off of the Ticketed Price' rack," I informed her.

"Yeah," she confirmed.  "But it's not supposed to be there.  It's supposed to be on the regular sales rack."

"Um, no," I inform her. "I know for a fact that that very blouse was on the 50% off rack last Saturday and Sunday.  It was there on Wednesday when I came in to check on it.  And it was there yesterday.  Every single time I saw it, the price was $228, and it was on the 50% off rack. Additionally, there are multiples of that blouse on the rack."

  

"So if I had bought it any time before now, it would have been $114," I told her.  "Now you want me to pay $20 more for it than it was yesterday?"

She looked at me like I was a stalker of the blouse...  Which, let's face it, I am.  In this economic environment, I am very selective with what I buy.

"James said it's $135.90," she maintained.

I wanted to inform her that this was a questionable business practice.  And that in certain states, that is illegal.  (Not sure if it is in Massachusetts.)  It's a "bait and switch."  They post it at one price, and then when you get to the register, it's another price.  And they think you either won't notice or won't walk away from the sale.

They are wrong though.

"No thank you," I told her.  "I don't want something that's Dry Clean Only that badly."

Shame on them.  I won't be going back to the Boston Saks anymore.  Such a shame for them too.