My Worst Customer Experience: A Cautionary Tale

Let me be the first to admit it: I love a good party. In my opinion, throwing a good party requires only three things: free drinks, attractive people, and a clear dress code. 

The one I’d been invited to, a pop-up shopping “experience” for an emerging online-only streetwear brand, had all three. It also had free product giveaways, the chance to try on and purchase new clothes, and the opportunity to meet the brand’s founder (who easily fulfilled my “attractive people” requirement.)

I pulled up the event page on Partiful, looked up the location–predictably, an East Village warehouse–and headed downtown full of excitement. I knew exactly which piece I wanted to buy, exactly who I wanted to talk to, and exactly how much cash I needed to withdraw from the ATM.

Why IRL Still Matters for Online Brands

I’m not a big fan of online-only retailers. Even the most detailed size chart in the world can’t tell me if the clothes will actually look good on me, if the fabric is comfortable, or what size gives me enough room to move without taking away my shape. Inconsistent sizing means what passes for a small at one online retailer might be an XL at another.

I’d been stalking a jacket from the streetwear brand for a long time, but I didn’t want to spend over $200 on something that didn’t fit. This event would not only help me clarify sizing, it would also let me take the jacket home that day–no waiting around to sign for packages or forking over the cash for hefty shipping fees required.

Plus, I like the in-store experience. I like chatting with other customers, watching a purchase get carefully wrapped in tissue paper, and of course, seeing what people are wearing. 

And as someone who works from home? It’s a great excuse to get out of the house.

CX Mistake #1: Long Customer Wait Times

I knew I was in the right place when I saw the line of artfully disheveled people weaving around the block, vaping angrily and complaining about how long they’d been waiting.

While this isn’t unusual for New York City, it was unusual for the event, which was capped at about 100 people and had advertised a strict guest check-in process that required ID. There were easily 200 people in line, and who knew how many were already inside. Worse, it was one of those humid summer days that makes you want to cling to a box fan and use your frozen vegetables as cold packs.

Still. I wanted the jacket.

On my long march to the end of the line, I learned some people had been waiting for over an hour and a half. As I was weighing whether to stay or go, a young woman wearing at least three shades of neon came up to me. She was, she told me, “a brand ambassador,” and offered me a free snack. This convinced me to rethink my frustration.

After all, I was attending one of the first in-person events this new company had ever thrown. Shouldn’t I show some grace? Wasn’t it great that they had drawn such a huge crowd? Didn’t the snack show they wanted to make the wait more tolerable for their customers? And wasn’t I getting 30% off the price of the jacket just for showing up?

CX Mistake #2: Inconsistent Policies

I stayed in line. To pass the time, I started casually chatting with the people around me, mostly about how nervous we were that what we wanted would be sold out before we got in. We were looking for anything to distract ourselves from the fact that the line hadn’t moved. Where was the “brand ambassador” with another snack or, better yet, an estimated wait time?

After nearly two hours, I was up next. I got out my ID, pulled up the invitation on my phone…and was promptly told by an exhausted-looking security guard that they didn’t need any of it. He’d never even been given a guest list.

I was annoyed, but after the wait time, I just wanted to push through, get the jacket, and go. No talking to the founder, no taking pictures for social media, no free drinks (a good thing, since there were none left.) I walked the flights up the showroom, which was, to put it kindly, underwhelming.

CX Mistake #3: A Lack of Brand Reinforcement

Aside from a few inkjet-printed pieces of paper with the company’s logo taped to the front of the plastic card table masquerading as a register, there was little decor.

The room was hot, overcrowded, and only had two mirrors. The glaring fluorescent lights seemed designed to highlight everyone’s worst feature. The whole space looked and felt like a shared dressing room at a sample sale. And the clothes? There were barely any there.

The racks were almost empty, confirming my fear that things would be seriously picked over by the time I got in.

Aside from a few inkjet-printed pieces of paper with the company’s logo taped to the front of the plastic card table masquerading as a register, there was little decor.

The room was hot, overcrowded, and only had two mirrors. The glaring fluorescent lights seemed designed to highlight everyone’s worst feature. The whole space looked and felt like a shared dressing room at a sample sale. And the clothes? There were barely any there.

The racks were almost empty, confirming my fear that things would be seriously picked over by the time I got in.

Luckily, I spotted my jacket, and even saw they had one of all three sizes in stock. I made a beeline to the clothing rack, tried on the options, and held the medium in a death grip. Dizzy with victory and relief, I wove my way through the crowd and made my way to the register.

“I AM READY TO CHECK OUT WHEN YOU ARE!” I yelled over the blasting EDM beats.

“Great,” said the cashier, taking the jacket. “Medium, right? I’ll just hang this back up for you and put in your order–and we’re giving everyone 20% off today.”

CX Mistake #4: Intentionally Misleading Customers

“20%?” I asked. “I thought it was 30%. I get a 20% discount on the website just for signing up for the newsletter. Part of why I came was for the higher discount.”

“Nope, it’s 20% today,” the cashier said, a tone of finality in her voice.

“OK,” I replied. “Well, I’m just happy to get the jacket, I’m wearing it tonight.”

“Well, we’re actually just taking customer orders right now,” she said matter-of-factly. “These are our samples. We let people try them on so they know what size to buy, but we can’t actually give you this jacket today. We’re online-only, we don’t have a lot of stock. Everything is made-to-order. So, you place your order with me now and we’ll ship your jacket to you in about three weeks. And you get the 20% off, so it’s a win!”

It was not a win.

“So I just spent two hours of my Saturday waiting in line for nothing?” I asked, trying not to take out my frustration on the cashier. “It wasn’t at all clear that this was the process from the event description. Is there any way I can come back after the sale ends today and buy this sample, even at full price?”

At this point, it became obvious that the cashier had spent her day hearing slightly different versions of my reaction.

“I’m sorry,” she sighed. “Our founder has to take them to a shoot tomorrow, so we have to hold onto them.”

I felt tricked, yet another victim of clever corporate wordsmithing.

The intentionally vague “try on and purchase” phrase in the invite didn’t technically say people would be able to leave with their new clothes that day. But clearly, the company knew that if they were up front about that, far less people would show up. So they simply didn’t clarify, knowing full well that everyone would interpret the words to mean “have the rare chance to try on a piece of clothing from an online retailer and take it home the same day at a discount.

“Thank you,” I said. “I’ll pass for today.”

CX Mistake #5: Wasting Customers Time

As I made my way towards the exit, another shopper ran up to me. “I’m sorry,” she asked. “Are they not actually selling the clothes?” “Correct,” I replied.

“Then what was the point of even having this sale?” she said. “I wasted half my day for this? No one ever said we wouldn’t be able to get the stuff today. I could have done this online! I’m out.” She stormed to the exit alongside me.

“Just so you know,” I said to the people still in line as I passed them on my way out of the building, “You can’t actually buy any clothes today. You can only order them and wait. It’s not worth it. I wish someone had told me that.”

A loud series of groans and sighs of frustration were the last thing I heard as I rounded the corner and headed, empty-handed, back to the train.

CX Mistake #6: Betraying Consumer Trust

As I stomped up the avenue, I thought about what really frustrated me about the experience. The obvious things were not getting the jacket and wasting my part of my weekend boiling to death in a long line. But the real problem was that I felt lied to, let down, and stupid–I’d been had.

Before the sale–my first in-person customer experience with the company–I was an enthusiastic supporter of the brand. I’d shared it with friends, followed their social media accounts, signed up for their newsletter, and happily handed over my contact information. I liked what the company stood for, I liked that the clothes matched my lifestyle, and I liked that the founder was authentic and funny on social media.

Now, the trust was gone, and I was the living embodiment of an infamous CX statistic: between 32-63% of customers abandon a brand after just one bad customer experience.

And these days, when the same company sends me yet another Partiful invite to their next “pop-up?”

I decline.