off the list

Have you seen the new J.Crew catalog?

“Which one?” is the correct response — so far this year, they’ve already sent 2!

Back in June, they survived my initial purge for one simple reason — my wife loves J. Crew.

Their classic styles, updated with a fun, modern flair, fit her perfectly.

Hell, right now, I’m wearing a pair of J.Crew cords and a long sleeve tee– the official OTL uniform.

And their website — J.Crew.com — for the most part sets the industry standard for style and ease of use.

Their “SHOP THIS LOOK” is a beautiful thing — fulfilling the promise of on-line shopping.

Which makes their catalog policy all the more hideous.

• Order from JCrew.com — you automatically get a catalog, with no way to opt-out.
• Order using any variation of the name J.Crew has on file for you — you get another.

A classic case of catalog overkill.

On 11/15/07, after receiving our 12th catalog in 5 months, I called J. Crew — 800.562.0258; open 24/7.

Megan, my sympathetic and informative customer service rep, offered these choices:

• standard: 2+ catalogs per month, includes special seasonal mailings
• limited: 1 catalog per month
• no catalogs

For the sake of my marriage — I chose limited.

As with all mailing lists, Megan let me know:

“the catalogs are pre-printed, so you may receive 1 or 2 more but after that BLAH BLAH BLAH.”

Megan even said she’d send me a letter confirming my choice.

And here we are – 2 months, 6 catalogs, and 0 letters from Megan later. Wah.

Back on the phone — 800.562.0258; open 24/7 — and into the waiting headset of Anna.

She checked my record, felt my pain, then made my day.

Evidently, I was not alone; other natives were restless.

So much so, that this spring, J.Crew will be implementing an on-line opt-out for catalogs when ordering from JCrew.com.

Anna couldn’t commit to a specific date, or tell me when my limited catalog choice would kick in.

But she did let me know:

“the catalogs are pre-printed, so you may receive 1 or 2 more but after that BLAH BLAH BLAH.”

Then Anna said she’d send me a letter confirming my choices.

Ah, classic J.Crew.