Banana Republic

I placed an order with bananarepublic.com about a month ago and found out that they're having a 12-hour 35% discount for that same item. Instead of $350, with the markdown and the addition 35% discount, the same item would cost $162. I called BR customer service to have a price adjustment but they did not allow the price adjustment arguing it was after the 14 days period. Technically, my order is still within the 45 days return policy. I could easily placed a new order and return the other to the store the get the price discount. Since my price adjustment was not honored, I will definitely return the item i purchased. Instead of making a small change on their system, they had to spend on the shipping cost to send out a new order and made their customers unhappy. This does not make any economic sense in doing business. I will problably never make purchases from BR ever again.

A crime was committed...ok not quite but spread word about this because my girlfriend and I are completely appauled and disgusted what we witnessed. The store at the corner of Robson and Thurlow in Vancouver, BC, Canada frisks their morning store cleaners before they leave after cleaning their 3-floor huge store every morning for a long time now. Get this, it's a mother and her young son who clean their store. They frisk them every morning! It's like WTF! I'm no longer going to shop at BR at any location or their affiliates and I know my girlfriend is telling all her friends on facebook and twitter. Absolutely disgusting because I don't see them frisk customers or even their own employees, but a mother and son? geesh..

Banana Republic is probably the most conservative, safe brand out there. The sizing is accurate, and the clothing has great quality. However, I never find any piece of clothing that I, "have to have." I very rarely see a change in styles, and most of their clothing (at least for the men) is quite boring. The style for polos are extremely simple - solid color, maybe a stripe here or there. The pants are my favorite - very good fit, and very comfortable. For the price however, which isn't really expensive, I would actually rather shop at a place like American Eagle. The clothes are simply too boring to feel original, or even stylish in. But whenever I need an outfit for a date, night out on the town that is safe and comfortable to wear - Banana Republic is the place I go.

Don't ever get a credit card with them. There's no 5 day grace period to pay your bill. I payed my 2 days after the due date and I got charged $40. That's ridiculous. I can understand that if it was weeks late but not 2 days. You can't even pay on your bill in the stores. So lousy.....my account is now closed and I will never open another one.

Poor quality clothes, worst I've ever seen (and I shop at Winners most of the time). Brought a black belt with silver buckle and the metal belt buckle rusted within 4 weeks. Surprise surprise it's just over their 30 day return policy. !!Never shopping here again!! and other than Urban Behavior this is the only other place I've said this before

When you think of what Banana Republic represents, you would think of sophistication and class. But Banana Republic is most definitely NOT that. They're a bunch of thieves! I was recently on vacation in Vancouver, Canada and my wallet was stolen. Inside my wallet were several gift cards; including one from Banana Republic. I had a gift card inquiry receipt that showed my gift card number and remaining balance. BR did not accept it and said that my only option was to devalue my card. This essentially makes it worthless. So who comes out the winner?! Banana Republic!! Because not only does the thief no longer has access to it, but the rightful owner (myself) doesn't get to use it either. The BR customer service tries to say that they're only "protecting" their customers, but what they're really doing is making it impossible for its customers to reclaim what is really mine. You would think that a big corporation such as BR would look to HELP their customers. Instead, they're greedy a... Read more

I used to shop BR all the time. What happened to them? I still have a pair of gray stretch pants that I bought in 2001. The quality was superb! It was based on these years of satisfaction by both the style and quality of their clothes that led me back there on a shopping spree 3 months ago. Two of the items I bought have fallen apart since purchase. On one, a pair of black stretchies- the hem came out on one of the legs. Also, the right pocket is loose. CHEAP! CHEAP! CHEAP! I also bought a black sweater. The right elbow has a hole in it now! After 3 months, will they accept an exchange? I don't even have the receipt anymore. I am going to the store today but I'm not expecting much (especially based on the other consumer experiences posted here). Whether or not they give me an exchange, they have lost me as a customer due to the major decline in quality. My boss and I had this conversation. He, too, was a frequent BR shopper and agreed that the quality of their clothe... Read more

I do not normally rate anything online, but I think customers should be aware of Banana Republic's return policy. I very rarely return items I purchase, but in May 2010 I purchased many items from Banana Republic at full price and subsequently decided to return 2 of the outfits. At the time of purchase, I told the sales clerk that I would probably return a couple items that I was not sure about. When I went to return the items 32 days later, I was told the return time frame was 30 days. Shocker, no one warned me about the change in return policy or short return time frame and all signs posted at the very far end of the counter were in microscopic print. Note all signs should be readable and visible from at least 2 feet away or sales clerks should tell customers the correct company policies. Luckily, all items I wanted to return were still for sale at full price and I had my receipt with me. Unfortunately, if any item I wanted to return had been on sale I would have received the ... Read more

I had the worst experience at BananaRepublic.com. Yesterday, I ordered a suit and I received an email telling me to contact customer service to confirm my information. They made a conference call with my bank to verify my information and when the kind of information my bank was asking me got too specific (for example, my full social security number) and I expressed that I was uncomfortable sharing that information with the BR representative that was also listening, she quickly offered to cancel my order. Needless to say, I agreed to have the order cancelled and hung up. That is the last time I shop at Banana Republic.

I've been a customer with BR for many years and a cardholder for the past 5 years. I agree with the reviewers who have complained of quality declining--by "quality," I am referring to the material and workmanship of the clothing, not the design quality. This declining quality trend has coincided with an increase in the general trendiness of the clothing. It is still possible to get suiting staples there, like lightweight wool separates for women and a still very generous selection of separates for men. However, other than these few items it's not very work appropriate, especially for a more conservative office environment. I've written to complain, but see no evidence than anyone there cares even the slightest bit about this issue. Women's pencil skirts are too short--even the stock photos show them hitting significantly above the knee. (Honestly, I don't even think this is a flattering style, but it's trendy, so there will be no escape for several seasons). And you can forget buyin... Read more

I am a long time customer and many dollar customer of Banana Republic. I REALLY like their styles in clothing and they fit me will. HOWEVER, the fabric pulled away at the pocket of my THIRD pair of jeans from BR after the second or third time I wore them. Unfortunately for me, I did not wear these jeans too often and the defect was only visible at the 5 month mark since purchase. The time element for me to run around to the store, then to be told to call the toll-free customer service number for support; where then the toll-free service rep said to go to the store; then at the store to be rejected again for being past the 30 day mark; then call the toll-free again who said "any workmanship issue over any time is replaced;" then go to the store to be told it WASN'T a defect by the store (after an previous subtle acknowledgement that it was indeed)...took a long time! Wasn't a defect....huh. I am not overweight, the fabric is obviously pulling away on its own while wearing normall... Read more

I am dissapointed at BR clothing. They used to have well made clothing: good cuts, superior material on their high-end clothing. I can't find anything that fits me anymore. Their tops are cut so low that are unwearable; poor workmanship with cuts that don't flatter any women unless you are a size zero. Their leather bags are O.K., but nothing really memorable. I hope they get a better head designer at BR so the company can bring back quality clothing that is still chic and wearable. Don't forget your 40's clientele.

I agree with the last reviewer; I purchased two scarves at Christmas, and unlike every other store that I know, BR does not allow any sort of leniancy for returns around Christmas -- I missed the 30 day "expiration" date by 4 days, and they wouldn't do ANYTHING for me. No money back, no gift card toward another purchase in the store, nothing. I will never shop at BR again. Pathetic that they can let a $67 purchase destroy a relationsahip with a longtime customer. [email protected]

I have just had the worst customer experience of my life. I have been shopping at Banana Republic for 10+ years. I bought a dress and it didn't work out so I wanted to return it. The tags were still attached and I had the original receipt. I was informed by the manager that my receipt was "expired" because it had been past 30 days. She refused to give me credit back on my credit card and acted liked she did me a favor by giving me the amount I paid in a merchandise certificate instead of the current selling price. I walked out with the number for customer service and spent 30 minutes on the phone with them not doing anything to remedy the situation. I asked to speak to the supervisor and she refused to help me or let me speak to her supervisor. My entire work wardrobe is from Banana Republic but I will never shop here again. Since when do receipts "expire" like rotten milk?

I had one of the worst shopping experiences at your store today. I tried to return an $80.00 sweater with the tags intact, and you wouldn't except it. Not only would you not take the return, you wouldn't even offer me a store credit for the purchase. I spend hundreds of dollars at your store annually, and you can't give me anything in return. It was a gift for somebody that didn't work out. Tags still on it and the receipt.....I have never heard of such poor Customer Service in my life. I am in the Industry and would do whatever it took to make one of my clients happy. Also, I got no satisfaction telling my entire story again to one of your Customer Relations Representative at 1-888-BR-Style (which was what I was suggested to do). I got absolutely no where. What a waste of my time. I can tell you that today, you lost a good client. I will not shop at BR again!

I have bought three items in BR in the last year and all have fallen apart within a few months. I spent almost $200 on a dress, wore it three times and then the hem came out completely. This can be fixed but it irks me to pay for quality products and get garbage. A blouse that I bought started coming apart at the gathers on the front after four hand washes and the plastic insets in the buttons started to fall out. A sweater that I had got a hole in the neck seam after about six months. It was easy to fix, but again, you don't get what you pay for!

I am another dissatisfied BR customer that was unable to return Christmas items because of the 30 day policy. It is a ridiculous policy. The sales clerk and manager admitted it's a problem and that they have had many unhappy customers. Last year they gave you until the end of January which makes sense. Also, if I see something I like for my son April 1 and his birthday is May 15, I can't buy it in case it doesn't fit. Stupid. They don't even give store credit. These are practices that low quality stores or outlets practice. I'm telling everyone I know. I'll stick to the better stores that care about customer satisfaction.

After my last experience with Banana, I cannot give a singe star. POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE! I attempted to return an item which was originally purchased as a Christmas gift. I had the original sales receipt but wasn't allowed to make the return without the 'gift receipt'. I could not exchange nor receive store credit. NOTHING without the gift receipt. The store clerk explained it would do no good speaking to the manager. She was correct! My attempt in calling Banana Customer Service also provided no results. I will no longer shop at Banana Republic and I will share my story with every Banana shopper.

I can sympathize with other shoppers. The clothes are nice, but have become SO overpriced in recent years. It's mostly the customer service that stinks. Years ago I had a pair of sandals fall apart after a few wearings and they refused to take them back. But after awhile, I started to shop there again, largely because they carry nice stuff in size Small for my husband and son. Smalls are hard to find in Fatty America. But last year, I tried to return a blouse for myself and was a day or two past the 30 days, they refused to make an exception and take it back. OK you say, Fair enough that's their policy. But really, 30 days? Most expensive stores don't have a policy like that, and for a regular shopper, what's the difference to them. But that's not really the problem, more of an indicator of how they feel about their customers. A few months back, I found a nice sweater marked to $4.97!! Wow, I talked to the salesgirl about the fact that it was a Medium but for that price, I guess... Read more

They have terrible customer service. I was basically ripped off by them when I made a return and the woman gave me some used BR cards rather than a store credit. I still don't understand why. When I went to redeem the cards I was told they were only good if I had a BR card, which I don't. So my return was worthless. I ended up contacting the BBB and when they contacted BR, they basically said "we need to see her receipts". They did nothing to help me and were rude to me. I will NEVER shop there again.

The quality of the clothes are decent, the prices of the clothes are NOT. Banana Republic a couple years back had really nice quality clothes. Now, it's average but noticeable signs of distress from normal washes (with care label instructions followed). I really love their clothes -- especially their fitted pique polos and patterned argyle sweaters, but now the new batches of their clothes are noticeably thin. Only shop there when they have 30% off sales, otherwise it's a waste of money: especially in this harsh economic time.

The clothing is perfect for young professionals. Fashion forward without being too trendy; classy not trashy, as in feminine but not showing too much skin. The price point is slightly high at regular prices which says to me that they are targeting the younger working people and not students. I especially love that they sell petite sizes since we can't all be 5'10" and the cost of tailoring gets prohibitive. That said, I will no longer be shopping at any of the Gap co. stores (Banana Rep., Old Navy, Gap) due to a recent experience involving a return. I live in a remote area and it is difficult to get to and from shopping areas often. When in BR I purchased a number of items totally nearly $500. Upon returning home I was informed that my work conditions would be changing (remember, we are remote) and therefore I would not be needing the business casual clothing I had purchased, but rather would be going with jeans and knit shirts. I realized that I would need to return the items within ... Read more

I am a young, fashionable, attractive, college graduate who wanted a second job as was considering BP. The $7.75 an hour sucked, naturally, not to mention them providing zero incentive for employees to sell their ass off for them (no commission). However, the deal breaker was when the manager informed me that in order to be hired I was going to have to change my red hair back to its natural brown color because "my particular shade" of hair color did not look natural enough for her/the store. This was kind of a riot, since my hair pretty much looks like Grace's from Will and Grace or Bree from Desperate Housewives, quite chick and sophisticated, not a HotTopic nightmare. Message to redheads...or I guess they would call us gingers to insult us: Banana Republic hates you! I've seen plenty of bleach blond peroxide trips in there working and no one was complaining about how unnatural they looked. F*** you, Banana Republic! You can get some mousy-hair, listless, high school Jr to pedal you... Read more

I have had many bad experiences with BR's clothing. I have shopped with them for years and many of the articles of clothing I purchased have fallen apart in less than a year. I actually just had a pair of suit pants fall apart and the store manager told me that was general wear and tear. I guess when you buy BR's clothes you can expect to bring home junk, and should not expect them to last more than a couple years. I thought buying BR clothing meant quality???? I will never buy another piece of clothing from any BR, Gap or Old Navy Store. My kids won't even wear their Gap Kids collection. Total junk I tell you..

Ad on NYTimes.com on 9/10/09 hawked men's chinos for $49.50 and women's for $59.50. I asked them why women get to pay 20 percent more? Their answer: Thank you for your inquiry regarding our chinos pricing. Although we appreciate your interest in our chinos, we are unable to address your specific inquiry at this time as this information is proprietary and is not currently available for public consumption. We apologize for any disappointment you have experienced and we appreciate the time you've taken to contact us to share your thoughts. We'll be sure to pass your message along to our merchandising team, as customer feedback is an important consideration when planning for the future. We appreciate your business and look forward to shopping with you soon. If we may be of further assistance, please contact us at [email protected] or by calling 1-888-BR-STYLE. Sincerely, Jessica Customer Service Consultant

More for what reactions I see in my lady. . . Kudos to the other reviewer who gives a great maxim - wait for sales. In the land of overpricing, I swear that BR takes a gold or silver medal. Anyways, my lady claims the clothes fit well and the styles are (usually) nice. The BR outlet stores (at souless factory outlet malls near you) do offer quality buys at good prices. I once snapped up a quality leather jacket for under a hundred bones- nice catch. It also isn't a place that crushes my soul while I stand around and alphabetize great football players while impatiently waiting for her to finish shopping. . .I can usually find one or two items I might be interested in.

Banana is outstanding! Great clothes at maybe not so great prices but you are paying for fashion foward, top notch stuff so the price can be easily overlooked. I love that they carry sizes in petite and extra extra small really helps for ladies like me that are under 5'4. If I would I'd give it 10 stars!

Banana Republic reminds me of wallpaper. I think they actually pick wallpaper prints to be made into fabrics. So, if you like to dress like or blend into a modern professional office, BR is the way to go.

I've never had anything I've bought from this store fall apart on me. If I had, I wouldn't continue to shop there. Very nice clothes for working professionals. Definitely not for anyone shopping on a tight budget but I can't really complain about the prices. You get what you pay for and I want nice looking clothes that last for a while. In my opinion, that's what I get. I also look at it this way; I can go to Neiman Marcus and pay $900 for a wool blazer or go to BR and pay somewhere in the ballpark of $150-$200. Not expensive at all if you look at it in those terms.

Banana Republic Store---3 stars. Bananarepublic.com ----1 star. The layout is fine, the clothes are great, but the shipping times are terrible! The standard shipping is listed as 6-9 business days. It takes over 2 days to even SHIP the item. This isn't acceptable in this day and age. I expect online orders that are in stock to ship within 24 hours, no matter what shipping option is selected. I understand that ground delivery can only go so fast--and the customer controls the shipping option. BUT, the "order to ship" time can be controlled by Banana Republic and it is entirely too long for standard delivery.

FROM SOMEONE WHO KNOWS. LISTEN. FIrst off, yeah the company has had some serious quality issues, but the prices aren't that bad and especially this season (Fall 2008) quality issues are being addressed like never before. People talk about what the brand used to be, but honestly who the hell wants a safari get up. BR would be ridiculed for still selling products like that, and when they try to infuse those styles and cues from those styles, no one buys them. People saying they aren't what they were confuse them back into making unmarketable safari styles. Besides in case no one noticed the company has been bought out by Gap Inc. since its inception in the late 70's. Everyone who criticizes it here, for the most part just doesn't understand what the company is. It is mid-range retail. This means that when you act snooty to a sales associate because you think they are less than you because you shop at Banana Republic, you just look foolish. When you can't return something without a recei... Read more

A little bland, but good for traditional classic pieces.

I wish I could give no stars. I was a long time Banana shopper until a rather expensive shirt I purchaed (I only shelled out the cash because I thought I was getting quality) fell apart. Even though the sales clerk said she had a ton of these shirts being returned for the same reason she wouldn't refund my money. While their clothes are stylish they don't stand behind their merchandise! Just another big corporation that is out to maximize profit by lowering quality

... found my favorite pants of all time there!

freakin love it

generally like there stuff...fun to shop outlet

i dont really shop there, my mom does...

WTH is banana republic

Another store that I wouldn't even set foot in.

Really expensive stuff in solid bland colors that looks like it's made by the same guy who dressed the cast of Friends.

I love all of Banana Repbulics' clothing. all the wokers in the stores are very nice, and the clothing is classic. But I would like to see some more sales.

I have a very bad expediency shopping Banana Republic on-line. The Banana Republic closes is usually not right to the size and it is virtually not possible to get the entire amount of money back after you find out that you need to return the purchase. The package does not contain all the necessary paperwork in order to return the items in stores. Also store does not have original credit card info, so this way is also does not work. They can only return the amount of the current price which is usually 30-50% less then price that you originally paid. So the only way is to send package back, pay for shipping again and hope they will accept it. It is better to find more customer friendly store ...

I like Banana Republic clothes. They are stylish and inexpensive. They are also distinctive from other brands. They may not be of the best quality but for the price...good stuff. Remember you get what you pay for. You could do a lot worse than BR.

the quality of the clothing is terrible. They seem to be cheaply made, and of flimsy fabric. Especially their sweaters and knitware which seem to quickly pill or tear or stretch out of shape. And the prices seem high given the low quality.

Great for more mature young adults. They have great business clothes for both men and women. Their prices are not outrageous and the quality of their clothing is great!

While the clothing is certainly nice - has anyone shared my bad experience on shopping sales there? I shopped at Miromar Outlets Banana Republic Factory Store on 6/24/07. Almost every rack had a sale sign on it and the items I chose were on racks of same and similar items marked to take an additional 30% & 50% off. I double checked signs and items before heading to check out only to be told that if I had checked the "back of the signs" I would have seen that it was sweaters (?!?!?!?) on sale, not the items I chose. There were no sweaters on either rack....... Has anyone else become familiar with this "back of the sign" practice? In my 50+ years of shopping, I've never had to climb around or dismantle a display to check on the sale terms.....

What happened to Banana Republic? They used to have distinctive, rugged clothing. Now, they have bland offerrings. Don't get me wrong, there is a place in the world for quiet, tasteful clothes however the clothing they sell now has nothing in common with the store name any longer. How dissapointing that the demographic has shifted from worlld travelers to average suburbanites. Well, that IS a larger market, still, how sad to see a retail icon like Banana Republic become another "me too" store.