ALICE + OLIVIA — Local services in Washington

Out of town shoppers BEWARE

One extra star because I still love the clothes but the customer service/ return policy is completely laughable. If this review seems exhausting to read, imagine how exhausting it was to live it.

I came to the Georgetown store while visiting town and was hoping to try on a dress that I’d seen online. Unfortunately, they only had the dress I wanted in one-two sizes larger than I am. The very friendly sales lady insisted that they could ship a smaller size to my home (in Denver) for free and if it didn’t work out that it would be easy/free to return.

Well, that’s not really true. Low and behold, the dress came and didn’t completely fit. Totally fine - I knew it was 50/50.

Online customer service: So then I went online to try to return the dress - but weirdly the order number kept coming up as not valid.

Phone customer service: So then I called the customer service number on the website and a pre-recorded message said it was a 3 minute wait. I waited about 15 minutes and then hung up. Then I called back, “3 minute wait” again, and after a while I got a pre-recorded message saying no one was available. Then I called back and again, another “3 minute wait” and I requested a callback. 3 hours later someone called me back. She asked for my info and only found orders from over a year ago and very rudely and unapologetically explained that that was outside their return window. Only after I mentioned that I purchased something in the store did she tell me I’d have to call the store directly. Turns out even though the store had all of my information from my online account which was how they had my address and email in the first place, for some reason they keep orders separate between online and in store (why?!?)

Store customer service: so then I call the store. They seem completely confused by my request to return something and took down my number to call me back in “a few minutes”. No call for most of the day. Called them back and was finally told that I would have to ship the item to the store at my expense. Oh and by the way it must be back within 14 days of delivery so I might want to ship it back immediately (LOL). And when I mentioned that I was told it would be free to return, just a “yeah that’s not true”. Great.

So I just shipped the dress to the via USPS at a cost of $20 to me. The whole experience probably added up to over 2 hours of my time. My guess is if they process the return at all, they will add some sort of fee on top of it and I won’t see my $440 any time soon. I’ll update once everything is sorted.

If you live near the store you probably will never experience this circus, but I have no idea how Alice + Olivia could stand behind such an asinine policy that not even employees at the company seem to...

My go-to for fun office wear and dresses for any occasion. The designer combines flattering cuts with funky patterns that make it a perfect place to find something one-of-a-kind. I work in Tech, so dress code is casual, but I always feel dressed up in one of the designer's button ups. All of her blouses are silk, which make them perfect for the hot and humid summers of DC.

This is also a perfect place for tall women as all of her pants have extremely long inseams. This place is expensive, but worth it if you're looking to add a few unique pieces to your wardrobe. The women that work here are always friendly and attentive without being annoying. Something I don't get anywhere else...

I walked into the Gtown store and was warmly greeted by Anica. It was my first time in the store and I was very impressed by Anica and her attentiveness. I told her the occasion and she was really good with picking out things that suited me. She then followed up with me via text which was very kind. The clothes itself were surprisingly very fitting to my petite frame. Because of the great customer service, you all have definitely gained me as a...