JJ Hat Center — Local services in New York

To JJ Hats 5th Ave New York City,

If I could give zero stars for this JJ Hats NYC store I would. I bought two small beanies for my two daughters. They were incredibly expensive but we are from overseas (Australia) visiting this magnificent city and it was a present for them to remember NYC.

I advised the salesman that my daughters might not like the weenie beanies (he assured me they were very trendy for young girls and my daughters would love them), further he advised that they could bring them back if they did not like them. At no point did he tell me that they would not refund the purchase price ($230 USD). Of course my daughters did not like the weanie beanies and I gave them the receipt and said they could go back and get the money and spend it on whatever they wanted in NYC so that could remember their trip to the big apple.

My daughters went back to JJ Hats and were told that there was no cash returns policy and that I had been informed of this at the point of sale. This was not the case. They were told the store Owner/manager was in a meeting and that she would get back to them. She did not call my daughter back as was promised and my daughters went back to the store some time later to find the Manager on the floor. Had they not been proactive it would appear that the Owner would have let this matter be ‘swept under the mat’.

In Australia we have strong consumer protection legislation to stop this sort of thing from happening. That said American’s trade practices and consumer protection is some of the best in the world. Unfortunately companies likely JJ Hats are aware that being prosecuted is rare and unsuspecting tourists like my daughters and me, can be treated harshly and the likelihood of any legislative penalty just does not happen.

Having said all of the above the only tangible way to have any effect on JJ Hats is to write a critical review about their establishment and how they treat their customers. Only when their bottom line (profit) starts reducing might this store realize that not treating their customers with honesty, transparency and good business practices will that affect the future viability of their store. This company has a very proud history that seems to be changing fast and not for the better.

The way my two daughters were treated by the female store owner/manager was shameful. She responds to every critical review in person and on line with the same excuses and reasons why the customer was wrong but then proceeds to gives a thank you for the review and states it will make them become a better store and individually better at their job. I am afraid that is just lip service and their customer service is abysmal. The continual stream of critical reviews apparently does nothing to change how they treat their customers. Until JJ Hats 5th Avenue NYC advises their customers prior to the purchase of any item (and not on the printed receipt document after the point of sale and after your money is in their bank account) that they have a no in-store returns policy, their business will continue to dupe innocent customers. They should be prosecuted but won’t be. My advice to people thinking of shopping at this store is, until they change their policy and the way they treat their customers just don’t shop at JJ Hats 5th Avenue New York.

I very very rarely write critical reviews. In fact I love thanking staff when they go out of their way for customers. This case is different. The staff verbally stated to my daughters that they advised me of the returns policy which is incorrect and what upset me most was that the Owner/Store Manger certainly had the authority to refund the weenie beanies but was belligerent in the way she went about denying a refund. Thankfully it was the only unfortunate event we experienced in our five day stay in the most wonderful city of...

The high volume of terrible reviews in the last few months I don’t believe to be a coincidence. I will write about my experience in length but if you do not have the time to read my review then I can only say in short that I will never shop at JJ hats 5th avenue again.

I visited America for the first time last week. I have travelled from Australia and although I came on unfortunate circumstances (we came for a tragic funeral) I was still very excited that I was in New York. My dad, in an effort to cheer up my sister and I, purchased us both a docker hat. Although a very thoughtful and kind gesture, these hats were not something that my sister and I would ever wear. When I went to return them the next day I was informed of the “no returns” policy. After asking to speak with the owner as I hoped there would be some flexibility on the returns policy considering my circumstances, I was informed that Pristhanka, the new owner of JJ hats had just gone into a meeting. After having to wait for 30 mins I decided to leave my number and asked they call me when she came out of the meeting. I was gone for 40 minutes without any call so I returned to seeing the owner out of the meeting and on the floor of the shop… strange because they promised they would call me the second she came out.

As someone who works in retail, Prishankas manner and customer service skills were extremely lacking. She was borderline rude and did not help at all. When she wouldn’t budge on the no returns, even though they do returns online, I exchanged them for two different beanies. I was absolutely disgusted when there was an $8 credit and she said she could refund my card. For someone who said she was extremely firm on no refunds she was more than willing to give me a refund when it was only an $8 balance instead of $220. I can guarantee that she will respond to my review and that will make such a desperate attempt to cover herself and behaviour and try and make amends when she could have easily had solved these problems when I was standing in front of her.

It is a beautiful store but I believe with such a poor attitude to customer service and only focusing on the sale, this brand is heading downhill. This is extremely evident by the large amount of terrible reviews which go into depth about there bad experiences. All I can say is save your...

I went to this store a few years ago and was educated by the well-dressed older employees that gave me good advice about hats. I went there today with a vintage hat that was given to me as a gift that was really sharp. I went back to JJ hat center to see if I could buy a similar hat, but in a different color.

Although they had a wide selection of different hats of shapes and colors, I specifically asked to re-create the fedora that I was wearing on my head. It was very difficult to find the right shape, brim width, and most difficult the size. (7 1/8). The lady asked me what size I was wearing and I told her, she then said “don’t you know what size you are in centimeters? “I said no, don’t you”? She said “I have to get my chart.“

I finally (by myself) found a hat that was most similar to what I was wearing, but it was very flexible and not substantial feeling in my hands. It felt cheap. They only carry one brand of fedora, Borsalino. They didn’t have my size (which is not a special size). I ask her if she can order it. She said she was not able to. I looked at the price. It was $375. I mentioned to her that it was more expensive than I was thinking I was going to pay. She informed me that this model was the cheapest model of this company that they had in the store. I thanked her for her time and I walked out .

I immediately went onto eBay and entered the name of the vintage brand that I was wearing in to the store (Dobb’s 5th Ave.) and I found a similar model (in the original box) for $49 plus $18 shipping. I purchased it immediately.

Now look I’m not here to bash this store. It must be frightfully expensive in New York City to have a retail store could be $50,000-$100,000 a month in rent. However, the sales help was poorly informed, not terribly eager to help me find exactly what I was looking for and their pricing was 100% out of line with reality. Sorry...