All Is Not Good At Goody's
Goodys.com
I ran across Goody's Online Store while doing a general search for something. The site looked pretty good. Decent prices, a homey atmosphere, lots of variety. I thought I had found a new store to buy gifts and clothing from but I was wrong. I have never quite had an experience (Make that three experiences) like I had with Goody's.
What The Site Sells
Goody's is a family store that sells apparel for everyone, accessories, shoes and boots, and home items like candles and small accessories. Lot of variety in clothing, not so much in the Home Shop but enough to keep your browsing. They also rent tuxedoes and formal wear.
Navigation
The front page looks professional. There are photos and indicators of their latest promotions and specials. On the left is a list of categories plus their contact page, return and shipping policies links, and other info that you allows you to access what you need to know from the main menu and not have to hunt around looking for information.
You click on a category and several subcategories come up. From there, you choose the subcategory and brows all their items within it in thumbnail form. If you like an item, click on it and you will get a bigger photo, description, and the prices as well as the size and color options.
The items go into your cart and when you are finished shopping, you go to the checkout. As usual, you need to fill out your personal information and pick a password for future visits and tracking of orders. A major credit card completes the sale. You will get a letter from them immediately verifying the order but it takes a few days or more (I am still waiting) to get one telling you the order was shipped out.
Navigation is wonky! You add one shirt and it adds five. You add two candles and it adds one. You must be certain to carefully check your shopping cart for quantities because, had I not checked, I would have ended up with five of something rather than one and one of something rather than the three I ordered. I had to continually fix the quantities and, every time I added something more, the quantities all changed again. The best thing is to wait until you're done shopping then update your cart with the correct quantities but it drove me crazy seeing the wrong amounts both in my cart and on my total purchases line.
Eventually, I did get the quantities right and ordered.
I have tried to order a total of three times because they were having seemingly great specials and promotions. One order supposedly went through but I have not heard a thing about it since it was placed. The other two were disasters because of major problems with the set up of the site and a very deceptive bait and switch type thing they have going on.
My Experiences
I shopped at Goody's the first time because there was free shipping for orders over $60. I am always a sucker for free shipping and some of their items were so reasonably priced that I easily managed $60 in a short time. I went to check out and was charged shipping. I put the code that they had on their front page for free shipping and was told it was an invalid code. I checked five times to be sure the code was the exact one I entered and it was. They advertised, on their front page, free shipping and gave a code to use yet, when I tried to use it, they said the code was invalid. What kind of nonsense was that? I was angry, having browsed for a long time and carefully choosing items but I refused to pay shipping when they had a free shipping special plastered on their front page.
That wasn't acceptable so I saved my cart in an email to myself and wrote them asking why I didn't get free shipping. I told then that I had a large order I wanted to place and to please advise about the code so I could continue my order.
They never answered me back. They lost that sale.
Next, I went back because they were having a special where the most expensive item in your cart was half off the regular price. There was a pair of l.e.i. boots that weren't worth $34.95 but were worth $17.50 so I did a little shopping and, low and behold, I did get the boots at half off. I was charged nearly $8.00 shipping though so I truly didn't save that much.
I have yet to get a letter saying my items have been shipped and it has been a week. I am wondering if I ever will considering how terrible customer service is. [UPDATE November 22, 2005 - I received my items today in decent shape. I never got a letter telling me they were coming.]
Next, I got a promotional email proclaiming that everything was buy one get one free on the site. I got the email today and, despite my hesitations about ever going back there, I just had to know if that was true.
Well, it is and isn't. You do get the lesser of two items free when you shop. However, the prices on the site are greatly inflated from the last time I was there a few days ago. For instance, a sweater I bought for $7.99 is now selling for $19.99. The boots I got for $17.50 that were selling for $34.95? They're $69.99 now. A candle I bought for $3.99 is up to $7.99 today. That means if I buy one and get one free, I paid exactly the same amount as I always would have. A pair of yoga pants I bought for $8.99 are selling today for $24.99!! Unbelievable! The sale ends tomorrow and I will be most eager to see the adjusted prices again.
This is classic bait and switch. You get nothing for free. In fact, you lose when shopping this sale since the prices are so inflated that, even with free items, you will end up paying more overall than you would if you waited until this sale ended and shopped at regular prices. I have seen some sites raise their prices a bit when having major sales but never that much. Double or triple the original cost! What a rip off!
I refuse to shop there again. I don't like head games and I don't like fake sales. If you want to lure people into your store or onto your site, do it honestly. I wouldn't have been upset if the prices were slightly raised but two or three times more than the original price borders on ridiculous.
Naturally, I wrote to them and told them of my findings and complained about the price adjustments but, naturally, I didn't hear anything from them. It is as though they completely ignore their customers. They lost a large sale because they didn't respond to the letter I sent pleading with them to explain why their free shipping code didn't work. Is this good business? I don't think so. I did try calling the number on the website but always got an answering machine even during working hours.
I am going to try to cancel my pending order right now with them. It hasn't shipped although the status on the site says it was shipped the day I made the order. When I go to track my order, I am given an invalid DHL tracking number. I am going to cancel the order and wash my hands of this site.
This website isn't worth the time and effort to even browse. Nothing is special and nothing is unique. They have some Levi's and Lee jeans which are reasonably priced (not included in the buy one get one for special" and many other items are excluded as well. Those prices are not inflated.) but shady, underhanded tactics and no customer service lead me to stay far, far away from this site.
Edit: January 3, 2006: My sister shopped on this site and bought 21 items for Christmas gifts on November 10. Long story short, without any email contact or any information, she did not receive anything so she called on December 14 and was told everything but four items were out of stock and they would be sent soon. She was appalled since she had ordered early and everything she ordered was still being sold on the site. They said they had "mail problems" which is why they never sent any emails. She got the four items right before Christmas with no note of apology nor any word on whether her other items were backordered and still coming. She called and they said the rest of her items were canceled. She had to run around trying to replace gifts she thought she had already bought right before Christmas.
This is the worst store for communication I ever dealt with and my sister's experience proves it even more.
Please, avoid this online store. Their walk in store may be fine but they have no idea how to run a website and their customer service department, when you can get a hold of them, is rude and totally lost. Never have I dealt with a site like this before and I hope I never will again.
Shipping and Returns
Shipping is $5.49 to $22.49 depending on order price. My shipping for a $41.00 order was $7.49 standard. You can opt for express shipping at an elevated rate ($15.95 to $33.95 depending on the amount of your order.) Orders are shipped via DHL@Home services.
You can return items at any Goody's Store. Via the website, you must print out a return label from the site. You pay for return shipping but must have the label on your package or it will be returned. You'll be credited the purchase price minus shipping charges both ways.
They claim you can make exchanges but what they want you to do is to make a new order and pay for shipping then return the items and lose the shipping so, in essence, there is no exchange policy.
Contact Info
I will give it to you but good luck contacting them.
email: service@goodysonline.com
phone: 1-800-417-5872
No hours are given for when someone might actually pick up the phone when you call. So far no one ever has when I tried calling.
Conclusion
Apparently there are Goody's stores in 20 stares in the US. New York is not one of them. Thankfully. I don't know if their policies and price gouging happens in their bricks and mortar stores but it sure happens on their online one.
If you have a Goody's near you, you would probably be better off going to the store itself rather than shopping at the online store.
The navigation is wonky. It adds more items than you want to the cart and sometimes, adds less. You must be ever vigilant about the quantities in your cart.
Their own coupon codes and specials do not work.
Customer service does NOT return emails, even high priority ones (The sale was ending the next day so I really needed that code and they were closed, of course, when I called).
They have voicemail with no ability to leave a message - every time I called anyway.
They claim they shipped items yet there is no tracking number nor any indication the items were, indeed shipped. I never got an email saying my order was shipped.
They price gouge and bait and switch. I never saw a site hike their prices up that much for a sale. It's almost criminal! They have every right to price their items at whatever cost they want but to try to get people to buy items with the lure of buy one get one free -- after marking up the items two to three or even four times higher than usual is shady. Plain and simple.
I would not shop at this site again for all the reasons mentioned.
There are many reputable, similar online stores to shop from so why bother with one that causes such distress from adding extra items to your cart, to not even having the right codes on the site for their own promotions, to price gouging to make it look like you're getting something special when in fact, you're losing money or breaking even.it's all too shady for me.
If they sold anything that was unique, special, or highly in demand, I may consider trying them again. They don't. They are like a bargain basement store and those are a dime a dozen on the web today
Recommended:
No
