Jos A. Bank — Local services in Charlottesville

I just finished up with what will likely be my last transaction at Joseph A Bank, in Charlottesville and want to reflect on my experience so people will know to avoid this clothing company.

I purchased two suits and decided to go with in house alterations. I was told I would receive a call when they were done, but that it would be no later than March 28. As of the 31st, I had received no calls, so had to call them myself to confirm the suits were in fact ready.

Here is where it gets good! I arrived at the store today, April 1, to pick up my suits, and was immediately asked if anyone had called me about my alterations. Apparently, when I had paid for the alterations on my last visit to the store, the person checking me out did not charge me for everything I was supposed to be charged for. Mind you, I had already paid over $150 for alterations, and they wanted ANOTHER $80. Luckily, after sensing my displeasure with the situation, they waived the extra $80, and I proceeded to try on my suits.

This is where it gets REALLY good! As I was trying on the jackets, I found that not one, but BOTH jackets had incomplete sleeve alterations! There were pins left in the cuffs, extra string hanging out all over the place, and one sides seam wasn't even completed!

I pointed out the problem and the woman working very nicely told me that they would have them ready by one o'clock at the latest, and they would call me when I could come pick them up (about and hour and a half from the time I was currently there). Keep in mind, we have traveled an hour and a half each way to purchase these suits, this being the third trip (first to purchase, second for alterations, third to pick up after alterations). One thirty rolls around, and guess what....STILL NO COMMUNICATION!

In the end, I returned to the store to find that alterations had been completed, and everything seemed in order. This was my first time shopping at Joseph A Bank, and I am extremely dissatisfied with the entire experience. I had been told by several people that this would be better than Men's Warehouse, but after my experience this afternoon, I promptly returned to Men's Warehouse to complete my needed attire.

Just wanted to let anyone reading this know of my experience so hopefully you can avoid the headache I've had to endure in my dealings with...

To be totally honest this was one of the worst retail experiences I have ever had. To anyone who may be looking to do a group order here for wedding suits. DONT. To give just a couple highlights from our experience:

We had multiple salespeople lie to my groomsmen about what items I requested they order (even though it is explicitly on our order form). I told them we would not be getting our shoes there and they told my groomsmen they needed to buy an expensive pair of shoes there. Our Person of Contact at the store was fired without us being notified so we had no contact for weeks. Multiple groomsmen had their orders lost or misplaced and then were told they never placed them including my best man. During Covid-19, they locked all of our suits in the store with no notice or communication and offered no way for us to retrieve them. The online customer service was incredibly unhelpful and would disconnect when not wanting to answer a question. We missed our original event date because of their choice to close the store with no notice.

This place is not worth the hassle for wedding groups. There are plenty of other places in Charlottesville to get suits from. This was honestly the biggest hassle of our wedding planning experience. For someone who markets themselves as a high end retailer we had a pretty terrible...

If you are in search of complete incompetence when finding a suit, look no further!

After the sales associate took 30 minutes to try and figure out my suit size, it took another 3 hours of arduous work to finally get out of the store (buying two suits, two ties, and two shirts).

At the end of this grueling 3 hour ordeal I was then given the wrong size shirt and rung up for $400 more than the actual price. Upon my further questioning and the help of two other sales associates these issues were finally resolved.

This is where it gets good...two weeks later (the only time frame in which they are able to process suits) I drive back to pick up my suits which were still not ready. Two days after that I called to request my suits be shipped since I was no longer in the area.

After saying they were shipped Wednesday and three phone calls later (they did not leave the store until Friday a full 2 1/2 weeks after ordering, most likely because they were still unfinished) I finally received them 20 days after visiting the store.

If you're interested in wasting hours of your time to be repeatedly disappointed, you've come to the...