Neiman Marcus — Local services in Newport Beach

NM Gift Card Approval Claim-It was dishonesty experience.

On February 10th, I was a very happy customer, happy with my purchase($5075), happy with the deal I was getting (with the gift card value $750) and happy with the service Debbie offered. Four months later, today, June 18, 2021, I am no longer a happy customer. I hope this matter can be taking care by the store in a timely manner, I am tired of waiting or spending my time on this. On February 10th, 2021, Debbie, the sales representative kindly notified me about the exclusive sales and promotional deal. It was a 3-days only event, so I made my purchase ($5075) on the same day with Debbie’s assist and after she confirmed my purchase qualification of the event. The package delivered few days after the purchase, I’ve contacted Debbie regarding the status of the $750 gift card and she told me that I will receive the gift card in 6-8 weeks. On April 6th and 15th, Debbie checked status of the gift card, but no update. I was getting inpatient, so I requested to return the goods, but denied by Debbie due to the 30 days return policy. Within the next weeks, per Debbie, she kept contacting the Operation Department, then she told me, “… we are working to get you the gift card as soon as possible.” Finally, on May 19, 2021, more than 3 months after my initial purchase, Debbie messaged me the status of the gift card: “Your gift card was approved. You will receive card in the mail within 14 days.” I thought I will finally receive the gift card that Neiman Marcus promised, unfortunately, no gift card in the mail when I last checked on June 9, 2021. On June 15, 2021, Debbie sent another message to me and told me the purchase I made did not qualify for the event and there will be NO gift card of the $750. Then she also told me she could do me a favor by offering me $350 off on my next purchase. I was so confused and mad when I read that message. I am spending my time to write the whole story is because I can’t believe this happened to me while on February 10th, I checked with Debbie if my purchase was qualified, she walked away to checked with her manager and confirmed my qualification before I swiped my card for the purchase. Then Debbie told me the gift card had been approved and will send to me on May 19, 2021. One month after the “approval of my gift card”, my purchase did not qualify? I am very disappointed by the service Debbie provided in the past months on resolving the gift card issue, it was unprofessional and dishonest. I think I should get what I paid for. The reason I purchased the goods on that day was because of the gift card event. If I was told my purchase wouldn’t be qualified, I wasn’t going to make the purchase, because it wouldn’t be a good deal. Therefore, if no gift card will be issued, I would like to...

If you like snooty salespeople and poor customer service, this is the place for you!!

I have had a few experiences at this location and they have never been good. I swore I would not return here but had no real choice today. I hoped it would be better...I was wrong.

I recently received a gift (shoes) from one of my employers/clients for my birthday, she is 80 years old and although her heart was in the right place, the item was just too outlandish for me to wear. She was so excited to give it to me, so confident that I would love it, that I did not want to hurt her feelings by asking if she had gotten a gift receipt.

I honestly did not expect there to be any trouble exchanging the item for a similar priced item, one that I would wear. The merchandise was unworn, tags intact, full-priced, current, and from what I could see online quite popular, as they were almost sold out in all sizes at the time of this post. I guess that criteria does not matter to Neiman Marcus. I can honestly understand a store not wanting to take back merchandise that would/could result in a loss, such as discontinued, unpopular or sale merchandise, and worn/used items. However, those reasons did not apply to my item.

However, what I encountered was salespeople trained to do everything possible to avoid a return/exchange. It seriously felt like the Spanish Inquisition. I was drilled on possible purchase dates, my clients name, address, phone numbers, all this just to make an exchange! I was on my lunch break and asked if this was going to take a while. The salesperson shoved the box back towards me and told me to come back when I had more time - rude! I knew at that point they were a lost cause and were not interested in helping me and were going to just stall until I left, so I did.

I ended up calling NM customer service from the parking lot and learned that without any 'validation' of purchase nothing could be done. So, my question is how long were those salespeople going to make me stand around before telling me what the phone representative told me in 60 seconds?

I understand that if that is Neiman's return/exchange policy then they should be more upfront about it both on the website and in store and not waste people's time.

Like I said at the beginning of this review, I only went there because that is where the gift came from. As someone with years of experience in customer service, I can honestly say anyone new to working retail should go there and see what NOT to do and how NOT to treat customers.

I'll stick to shopping at Barney's, Saks, and Nordstrom, where you can find 90% of the same merchandise with 100% better...

Updating this review to reflect current service levels. While once one of my favorite shopping destinations, the Fashion Island Neiman Marcus is now a bane of my existence. Having to shop in this store for gifts available nowhere else is more of a chore than a delight. Recently, I had over ten bottles of food product lined up on a register, searching for someone to ring me up. When I finally found an associate, she directed me to a different register, then offered no assistance in shuttling the merchandise across the department. She also bagged the heavy products in such a manner that the bag ripped apart on the first floor, where I just sat down and cried from frustration over the entire encounter. Later the same week I made three entire laps of the beauty department searching for an associate without their nose buried in a phone to ring up a quick purchase amounting to several hundred dollars. I ended up in a nearby clothing department, and had to "interrupt" two associates engaged in trash-talking the client they'd just been assisting. "Do you need something?" is not a great opening line to a client holding product they'd like to purchase. I'll drive to the San Diego store and back before visiting Fashion Island again. Do better.

Previous review: It's Neiman Marcus - what more do you need to know? This store has a huge selection of product and attentive staff at every turn. It seems that there is always some sort of exciting event occurring, so the store always feels energetic and enticing. Beautifully styled - be sure to pay attention to the art on the walls...