Better service at Filenes than Neiman Marcus

[fatherseanfan]

I went shopping in Washington DC last weekend at the sales. At Neiman Marcus in Friendship Heights, an overbearing woman salesperson in the men's department was overly aggressive and committed one of the worst possible sartorial salesperson sins: she tried to sell me a suit that she knew didn't fit right. I am a 38R, this was a 40R and it was clearly too big in the shoulders, and too long. She tried to claim that because it was Paul Smith it fits smaller (I guess she thought I knew nothing about clothes) and that it looked great and that the tailor could touch up whatever. She then even brought over the tailor, a European man who could barely speak English, to try to play along with this game. This is inexcusable. I would never go back to that Neimans again just because of this woman.

I got decent, but still not great service at the Saks store next to it. Total opposite of Neimans: where Neimans was too aggressive, I couldn't find anyone at Saks who wanted to help me.

However, at Filenes the staff were very helpful. I got a new pair of PLRL Bucks for $80 and a Hugo Boss suit for $275 (I know, its fused, but who cares for that price.)

Go Filenes!

 

[kronik]

You're probably talking about Mazza?

Either way, I agree that Neimans has some of the worst customer service. I get fantastic customer service downstairs in Saks at Mazza.. but if I go into the suits/slacks section.. I get funny looks. Last time I was there I brought a Brioni shirt and some Zanella slacks down to my saleswoman in the shoe dept. (Daryl, she's awesome) because they're such jackasses. High-end department stores 4tw.

Edit: My knowledge of DC has definitely shown through... I had no idea that Mazza was in FH.

 

[kitonbrioni]

Nope, it's just real hard to beat Filene's Basement. For NM what works for me is to get a sales person who knows what you want and have them call you when the price and the suit fits.

 

[fatherseanfan]

Yes, Mazza Gallerie, which is in Friendship Heights, no?

 

[LA Guy]

I have to say that I've had mediocre to poor service from Neiman Marcus everywhere. I get consistently poor service at the SF Neiman's (in contrast with the great service at the SF Saks Mens), had a bad experience at the Houston Galleria NM, and essentially got cold shouldered at the Wilshire (LA) NM. The NM in Boston is just uninspired even for Boston, which is saying a lot.

On the other hand, I've always had good experiences at Barney's, even during sales.

 

[DocHolliday]

My last stop at Neiman saw exceptional service in the shoe department -- the salesman even showed me Neiman's intrastore distribution catalog -- and mixed service in the suit department. One guy in suits was fairly friendly, while the other was alternately patronizing and unhelpful. (Perhaps this was because I was wearing casual clothes but fairly nice shoes.)

 

[aybojs]

Originally Posted by LA Guy

I have to say that I've had mediocre to poor service from Neiman Marcus everywhere. I get consistently poor service at the SF Neiman's (in contrast with the great service at the SF Saks Mens), had a bad experience at the Houston Galleria NM, and essentially got cold shouldered at the Wilshire (LA) NM. The NM in Boston is just uninspired even for Boston, which is saying a lot.

On the other hand, I've always had good experiences at Barney's, even during sales.

What happened at Houston and when was this? Just curious since that's the ony one I've ever been able to patronize with regularity.

 

[stach]

Isn't Filene's turning into Macy?

 

[LA Guy]

Originally Posted by aybojs

What happened at Houston and when was this? Just curious since that's the ony one I've ever been able to patronize with regularity.

Just general indifference, ignorance, and arrogance. I guess that they didn't like my hoodie or something (my guess is that The Cast hoodies are not well known in Houston). I was looking for a pair of dress socks (I had a wedding to go to that evening, and had forgotten to bring dress socks), and ended up getting a paisley pair from Saks, where they were ignorant but friendly, instead. I think that I posted about this, but that post may have been lost in the great crash.

 

[shoreman1782]

fatherseanfan, I'm with kronik. I've shopped at a handful of NMs, and service/sales at the Mazza Gallerie store (which is indeed in Friendship Heights) is consistently worse than elsewhere--it's awful. Service-wise, you'd do better at JC Penney.

 

[DocHolliday]

Originally Posted by stach

Isn't Filene's turning into Macy?

The Filene's nameplate is being retired, but the Filene's Basement stores remain as a separate entity. FB even has several new stores opening in the fall.

 

[thinman]

I get great service at a local Neiman-Marcus Last Call store. Two of the salespeople know me by name. Of course, I've visited almost every two weeks since January. In that time, I've bought 4-5 pairs of shoes and numerous ties and I _always_ make time to chat.

 

[drljva]

For what it's worth, I've never been anything less than entirely pleased with the service I've received at the Tyson's NM. When I used to live in Houston (some years ago), I was similarly pleased with the service at the Houston Galleria NM.

PM me if you'd like the name of the person at Tysons that tends to my needs there.