JCPenney — Local services in Farmington

I wanted to give ZERO STARS!!!

I accidentally scheduled for JCPenny Portraits studio at P495 Westfarms Mall instead of the P418 Trumbull location. This error caused my family much frustration and confusion but we decided to drive from our home to the Hartford area which is approximately 45 minutes drive. Due to distance learning and other issues we cancelled our 2pm appointment and rescheduled for 5pm.

We really eager, excited and wanted to get our photos done and didn't mind the trip as my parents, grandparents, cousins and extended family always used JCPenny photo studies since I was a child. We arrived at 5:05pm and met Jelisa the assistant manager of the site, she made us feel welcomed and even opted to take photos of our three children individually with the family package deal we opted for. Our children are age 6,4, and 1. We were informed to use the family dressing room, picked out a background and told that after we changed we would be photographed. At 5:10pm after getting dressed we were then immediately told that we cannot take the photos , our session was cancelled because "you took too long and because of COVID-19 I don't have time". I explained to Jelisa that we traveled 45 min with three children, battled through traffic, still arrived on time and I wouldn't mind if she would have informed me of this before heading to the dressing room. She became irate, irritable and frustrated, Jelisa was condescending rude and baligerant stating "I am the assistant manger and this is my decision so you have to rebook that's all you can do I have other customers and it will be 5:30 your session is over".

I continued to explain to her that we would even consider waiting until the last customer to do our shoot even if she would take our one year olds pictures as his birthday was April 11, 2019 and due to COVID-19 we had to wait until this time. To say the least I was in tears, extremely emotional and very surprised as to why she did not forewarn us about this issue before getting dressed. In my sorrow I asked to speak with the store supervisor (Amanda) who was rude, also agitated and frustrated as I was explaining the situation. She proceeded to speak with Jelisa in Spanish for two minutes then proceeded to explain the photo policies and how there was nothing she could do for us and "this is the rule you cannot get it done". As I proceeded to explain to her about our 45 minute drive , lack of communication she immediately silenced my request by staying "policy is policy and there is nothing I can do".

I am a 35 year old, nurse, mother and biggest customer of JCPenny and JCPenny studios. I am appalled by the lack of respect for customers and professionalism. The actions of the team was distasteful and classless for a company I held in high regard. I honestly need answersas even emailed corporate about this. I honestly do not believe that this was the first time anything like this has happened and Jelisa's comfortability and ego driven approach has gone unreported for far too long. Amanda the manager lack of enthusiasm for her job and frustrations was displaced on me (the customer). To have this occur in front of our children was very tastless...

Jewelry Department Lost/Stole my Wife's Necklace!

Update: We contacted the corporate office on our own. At the same time, the location got a new store manager. He decided to do the right thing and refunded my wife for the value of the necklace and the protection plan in the form of store credit.

This is a bit of a long story, but it needs to be told. Several years ago my mother-in-law bought my wife a ~$200 gold chain necklace at JC Penny (different location). It was a special gift, so my wife purchased the lifetime protection plan.

A few months ago, the necklace started catching on sweaters so she brought it in to the Westfarms location for repair. They took all her info (including her drivers license) and the necklace. She also signed a receipt verifying that the info was correct. When she got home she looked at the customer copy of the receipt they gave her, and it was for a different person and a different item in Michigan! She had all her other information though proof of initial purchase and purchase of the care plan, so she didn't worry too much.

After about a month she called to check on the status. The employee told her it was still being repaired and to give it a few more weeks.

Well, a few weeks later she called and was told they had no record whatsoever of her dropping it off. The employee said she would talk to her boss and call us by the end of the day. We never got a call, so we called them. It was clear the supervisor (Anthea) had not been told.

She told us to come in the following day and she would look into it with us. We did, but after over an hour standing there, we had made no progress and she told us to give her until the following Monday, and she would call us. The Monday call never came of course. We were given the runaround for days until we decided to go back to the store. This time we spoke with an assistant manager who told us he would talk to the store manager, and they would have an answer for us the next day. (It is worth noting that while we were talking with Roger we overheard an elderly woman talking to another associate about her toe ring that she had dropped off 7 months ago that they also had no record of.)

No call the next day. Shortly before closing, we called the store manager. She went on to tell us that there was no way the Michigan receipt came from their store (it did), and to indirectly accuse us of trying to steal from them. Ultimately, she said they would do nothing.

What an infuriating experience. The irony that my wife bought a protection plan for her special necklace and now as a result does not even have the necklace.

I'm not sure what is going on, but it is one of two things. Gross incompetence or robbery.

Do yourself a favor and do not...

(2/2022) ETA-- I came back a year later (annual wardrobe upgrade I guess) and it's forever more of the same. Somebody tell corporate that if JC Penny staff spent HALF as much time helping folks out as they do pressuring us into credit cards, we'd probably be more interested in opening cards. I found something I liked the fit of but couldn't relocate it to get a second one. I asked THREE people if they knew, and all three told me they don't sell that item in that size, while I stood there holding out that item in that size with the store tags still on it. Then I still had to battle and barter with the cashier like she was holding my family ransom and wouldn't give them back until I opened a credit card. Clearly should've just walked out with everything without paying OR getting harassed about a card for 20 minutes, since they don't apparently sell those items there anyway 🙄

(2/2021) None of the staff are ever mean to me but only one of them has ever been nice to me. One cashier harassed me so intently about signing up for a credit card that I threatened to walk out, at which point she decided she would let me pay for my purchases without further comment. I worked in this mall for years so I was a regular for quite a bit and that's par for the course here. Only gone twice during corona times (since losing the mall job, go figure), but both times the person folding women's jeans wasn't even pretending to wear a mask. Sizing for clothes is pretty wildly inconsistent, but that's probably not the store's fault. The guy who handled my return made it painless, that was a nice change from the folks who handle the...