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Andover Shop: Dingy den of scumbags

NukeMeSlowly

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So, I am in Boston for the first time. This morning, I went to Cambridge with a list of places to check out. First up, the Andover Shop.

In a phrase - my worst shopping experience, ever.

I was surprised how small the place is - my hotel room is actually bigger. I started to look around and immediately started to pick up a weird vibe from the staff. I don't know the names so I will give descriptions. First guy, looked like a shorter version of Fred Gwynn of Munsters fame. Second guy, harried looking weasel faced gent. Last guy, short, old, has artificial voicebox (owner I believe). Turns out, asking questions at the Andover Shop gets you thrown out.

I am not kidding.

Now, I am not talking about questions about their wives' favorite sexual postions or if they screw goats. I mean questions like "Do you have the Thurston braces in boxcloth?", "Is this suit made by Samuelsohn?" and "Do you have a measuring tape I can use?" [I wanted to get some pocket squares but I wanted to make sure they were big enough and Fred Gwynn didn't know their dimensions] That last question got me tossed from the store. Weasel face guy started yelling at me and cancer throat guy told me to leave. I kept my composure and asked if I had somehow offended them. What exactly had I done wrong? Cancer throat just kept muttering and shaking his head in disgust. Despite wanting to burn the place to the ground (verbally, if not literally), I kept my composure and left.

What the ****?! I have never received this type of treatment before - anywhere. For the record I am not a skinhead with a swastika tattooed on my forehead. I walked in on a snowy morning wearing cords, AE bluchers, a Jantzen shirt, a Navy Peacoat, and a Borsalino trilby. Hardly a cause for alarm.

Fuming, I walked 10 blocks north up Massachusetts Avenue to Drinkwater's and got precisely the opposite treatment. Gary has a great shop, is a consumate professional (he, gasp, measured the pocket square I ended up buying), and even let me vent about the scumbags at the Andover Shop.

So, in closing, when in Cambridge take a pass on the Andover Shop unless you are into humiliation and abuse from geriatrics with bad shoes and worse hair.
 

itsstillmatt

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They've always been friendly to me, and they have terrific merchandise.
 

DNW

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I suppose it's all about how you're dressed. If you don't fit the trad/preppy WASPY look, then you are an inconvenience to them. I went in there with my gf once. I wore regular summer street clothes--polo shirt, trovata khakis, driving loafers. I swore the older dude looked at me for a good 4-5 seconds without saying a word, then going back to folding/fixing whatever the **** he was doing. I made precisely one round around the room and left. Needless to say I'll never step foot in that miserable little shop again.

+1 on Gary's shop.
 

FidelCashflow

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Originally Posted by NukeMeSlowly
"Do you have a measuring tape I can use?" [I wanted to get some pocket squares but I wanted to make sure they were big enough and Fred Gwynn didn't know their dimensions] That last question got me tossed from the store. Weasel face guy started yelling at me and cancer throat guy told me to leave.

That's some random bullshit treatment you got. I would not make a polite quiet exit if I were you.
 

LabelKing

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This is a store that bases its business on whether or not they like how you're dressed or your general personality.

There's a nice article that the late member Horace posted about the quirks of the Shop's owner--he has something of a **** You attitude. And indeed, he does smoke.
 

Thomas0302

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I've never shopped there in person but I've made phone orders from their magazine before and they always act like it's a big inconvenience.

Maybe my voice isn't waspy enough...
 

ghulkhan

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I love getting terrible customer service treatment as much as getting great customer service...

I like being a dick to the terrible


Example:

I saw this V neck at Jil Sander earlier in the year. Called in later to buy it however I wanted to have a picture sent. Spoke to the same guy helped me before (he was being a complete douche the whole time but not nearly as bad as the people described above, very unattentive...i told him id call him if i wanted it) So I call and ask for a picture to be sent (for a friend who was interested in the same sweater and i just wanted to see it again) So he says "Look do you want the sweater or not. I dont have the time to send a picture. Asking for a picture doesnt make any sense..." At this point I told him yea i do want the sweater but not from you so give it to someone else so I can buy it through them. At this point he hangs up the phone on me and I call back talk to another girl who sends me a pic and the sweater and a consignment with other things....
 

SoCal2NYC

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From the Jil Sander store or...?
 

whnay.

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Sad to hear, sounds like a terrible experience.
 

Ambulance Chaser

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That's the Andover Shop's style.
 

gehrig

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what possible use could you have had in mind for the pocket square that required you to determine its exact dimensions via tape measure??? couldn't you have held it up and looked at it, or plopped it into one of the jackets in the store??? it's hard for me to imagine someone laying a pocket square down flat on a table and meticulously measuring it out when they can just look at the thing
 

macuser3of5

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Originally Posted by gehrig
what possible use could you have had in mind for the pocket square that required you to determine its exact dimensions via tape measure??? couldn't you have held it up and looked at it, or plopped it into one of the jackets in the store??? it's hard for me to imagine someone laying a pocket square down flat on a table and meticulously measuring it out when they can just look at the thing
Does the reason matter? Of all the odd customer requests I have gotten over the years, I would put a measuring tape on the very bottom of that list.
 

gehrig

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point taken i can't decry a request for a tape measure in a haberdashery as being totally off the wall
 

taxgenius

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Originally Posted by macuser3of5
Does the reason matter? Of all the odd customer requests I have gotten over the years, I would put a measuring tape on the very bottom of that list.

+1..
 

Get Smart

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Originally Posted by NukeMeSlowly
For the record I am not a skinhead with a swastika tattooed on my forehead.

that explains why you didn't get good service.
 

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