Dave's New York — Local services in New York

Upon entering for the first time, I was taken with the utter professionalism and personable nature of the team. They are eager to help and seem pretty knowledgeable about what they sell. I usually hate clothes shopping, and if I were to judge this just based off the quality of interactions with and social intelligence of the team members, this was probably the best retail experience I’ve ever had. I really wanted to give this five stars and rave about it, but a couple of things threw me off.

Covid-handling: despite the limiting of people In-store, it’s still pretty crowded in there and several people (employees and customers) either had their noses sticking out or had a flimsy piece of bandana cloth or balaclava pulled over their face, which doesn’t prevent the spread of the disease at all. It’s kind of sad that after all this time, people still think this is okay but I think this is a big factor in why USA numbers are the worst in the world and the nyc numbers keep going up. Having just any material kind of over your face isn’t enough, unfortunately. It also sucks that employees have to stay vigilant about this stuff but it is ultimately their responsibility to keep the environment safe.

Reliability of recommendations: When you have a high-touch retail experience and run a place as clearly special as Dave’s, you emphasize the authority and knowledge of your employees above all else, in addition to the fact that you presumably only carry quality stuff. On my visit a few weeks ago, after telling a rep that I was going to Maine for a hiking trip, I got a pair of expensive (but competitively priced) Wigwam socks on the recommendation of a rep. Luckily it was creepy-warm on my trip so I didn’t even need to use them, but I just tried them out in on a chilly NYC day and my toes were freezing, even while wearing wool-lined Allen Edmonds boots. This didn’t happen with any of the other similar smartwool-style socks I have — Costco brand, or even carhartt and Merrill ones I got used (lol) from a thrift store ten years ago. Upon returning home and turning inside out to investigate, I found unlike the other socks, the seam connecting the toe was paper-thin and totally lacked the wool fibers present on the rest of the sock, so the cold air was just sneaking in through there — a pretty silly design choice if you ask me; imagine a wool sweater that inexplicably had a strip of t-shirt material across the nipples 😂.

I also spoke with a different rep about needing gloves for winter biking, and he suggested $30 deerskin ones lined with thinsulate. As it turned out, at about 45 degrees and below, the wind cut right through and I could barely feel my hands — pretty much felt the same as not wearing any gloves at all and underperformed the cheap thin cashmere-lined gloves I got at Nordstrom rack (even with their current holes in lining from wear). Even with no wind I still could barely feel my hands.

So basically, I wanted to love this place, (and still recommend it to everyone I can, because it’s probably still the best in the city) but the off-point-ness of the advice paired with the return policy was pretty disappointing. When you have entire categories of products that cannot be properly evaluated until the packaging is removed, which then disqualifies one from returning said product, the customer is relying on you to really know what you’re selling (i.e. knowing roughly the temperature rating of each thing or whether it’s wind proof), and/or to not sell stuff that’s sub-par to begin with. If this were your average big box retailer I wouldn’t bother writing something like this, but they clearly strive for excellence so I know they...

Will literally never buy from Dave’s again. Mind you I’ve never left a negative review on ANYTHING. I purchased a Carhartt jacket as a gift in early December 2024 that was $99 flat. When checking out, I asked if I would be able to exchange said jacket for a bigger size on the off chance that it was too small. The cashier told me yes I could, and that I had until the end of January 2025 to make the exchange. I even requested a gift receipt. It was a Christmas gift so of course it took some time to get around to determining if the jacket fit or if it needed to be exchanged. I even kept the tag in the front pocket, only because it came off in the gift wrapping process. Today, January 2nd 2025 I tried to exchange the jacket for the same exact type of jacket, just one size up. As I assumed, it was too small. A completely different person began to “check” the jacket to see if it was fit to be exchanged. With my gift receipt, the card used to purchase the jacket as well as the tag inside of the front zipper pocket, I was still denied the exchange. His excuse was “there’s visible wear & tear” which is IMPOSSIBLE considering it was too small to be worn in the first place. He did point out the lint & hair which I admitted to being the outcome of having a short-haired dog at home. Then he pointed out the fading on the inside of the sleeves, which is most-likely the byproduct of people trying things on in store (which is not prohibited & is even seemingly encouraged considering the mirrors everywhere). I assured the cashier that there couldn’t possibly be wear & tear because it had been sitting in a box until Christmas, tried on once and then put into a shopping bag to eventually be exchanged. I was not happy with this outcome considering I covered most, if not all of my bases minus the accidental removal of the tag. I was told that they only take products that look as if that can be put “right back on the shelf” which tells me that Dave’s does not have a cleansing process for returned or exchanged items. I find that to be disgusting if this it true. This also does not make sense considering the store would not be losing any money. I wanted to exchange a $99 jacket for another $99 jacket. Same brand, same type, different size. I have enough courtesy to bring the jacket to a dry-cleaner and then attempting the exchange once more. Overall this experience was not pleasant at all, the manager didn’t even look me in the eyes or speak to me directly. The exchange policies are almost completely subjective. Please consider being more specific with your policies and more hands-on as a staff. Maybe hire kinder managers that will actually speak to you & look you...

Update: In response to the owner. My apologies for being confused about your return policy differing online from the one posted in the store. Perhaps if the entire policy was posted at the register or mentioned explicitly by the employee during the exchange, then there would have been a more mutual understanding. In regards to your unsolicited "your welcome", it seems like you will be doubling down on your passive aggressive customer interaction, it does make the "we hope you would come back" less genuine though.

I really like this store, as the service is normally exceptional, but my last experience here left a bad impression. I went in to purchase gloves for bike commuting. In the past, I've had a lot of success with getting recommendations from the associates there. I described my needs (wind and waterproof, and warm) and I was recommended a neoprene waterproof glove.

After trying the glove, its quality was not up to the standards I normally associate with products normally found at Dave's. Even under my bar-mitts, the gloves were not up to the task of keeping my hands warm.

I went to return the gloves and actually initiated the return with the same associate who recommended the gloves to me. When I said I'd like to return them, he told me "You know, people don't really like buying second hand gloves after somebody wears them around NYC for a few days." It was apparent he would like me to sink the cost myself and walk away. I told him I understand, but then explained that the gloves didn't do the job I needed them to do and I had the receipt and original packaging. The return policy was printed at the register and mentioned that hats, underwear, and other items weren't returnable. Here is the return policy on Dave's website "We cannot take back packaged underwear, socks, or thermals once the package has been opened." I checked and did not see gloves on the "no returns" list. He then told me "I'm not going to argue with you." I didn't feel like the exchange was argumentative, but rather that I was explaining that I purchased something based on a recommendation, it didn't work, and that I was adhering to the return policy.

This exchange was a departure from the normally exceptional service I've received at Dave's over the years. Perhaps, the associate was just having a bad day. However, I did not expect to get a guilt trip for adhering to the stores own return policy. If they do not want to accept returns for gloves, then please make it part of the official...