Catbird Georgetown, DC — Local services in Washington

Used to cherish this company but my recent customer service experience was a joke. During the holidays, I noticed I was overcharged for a gift. When I called the store they realized their mistake but said I should email the corporate customer service team to be refunded (there is no phone number to communicate with!). The email customer service folks said I had to contact the store... Called the store again and they said I had to return to the store for them to be able to refund me my own money. Seemed weird. I was traveling and luckily still in town, but if I couldn’t return in person, they would have what… Keep the money? So I took 2 hours out of my holidays and journeyed back just to have them tap my card to give me back the money they rightfully owed me. The employees were nice and handled the return quickly but said I should reach out to customer service again if I wasn’t happy with the process. When I emailed their customer service team to say how this process was not ideal they had the audacity to specifically blame my woes on the associate who checked me out: “We have discussed this error with our team, and explained that this issue should not have happened, that associates need to take extra caution when ringing customers up so this will not happen again.” Huh? This feels written by AI, but needless to say, I was not asking them to remind their team to be careful… that’s the job. I was asking them to review their own policy. Mistakes happen, what wasn’t cool was how Catbird made it hard for me to be reimbursed — which was insulting because it was my money, I was the one who noticed the mistake (do they not have an inventory process?), and yet I was also the one asked to spend even more of my time driving back to the store/finding parking during the holidays…just for them to tap my card? Maybe this all would have been ok if they correctly communicated and were apologetic from the top… but at this point I was very frustrated and couldn’t believe they were trying to shovel the blame on an employee who made an honest mistake. Did they offer me anything for my troubles? No, they said “we do not have a standard procedure to compensate your effort for doing this” but offered me 15% of a new purchase — but I had to hurry! This offer would expire in 30 days! The absolute gall of this company to offer me an amends that requires me to spend more money on their products, after all this? Anyway, they said they’d escalate our conversation to a manager and though I followed up twice, no one has ever...

Let me start by saying I am a diehard Catbird fan and have been shopping from them for over seven years now. Prior to the Georgetown opening, I only ever had the opportunity to purchase from Catbird online and at one pop-up in a city I just happened to be visiting. Despite living two and a half hours away, I made it to the Georgetown location as soon as I could after their grand opening because I was so excited. I had a ton of pieces I’d had my eye on and I was ready to try them on and go home with a nice haul.

Unfortunately, the store associate seemed irritated from the start, almost like my excitement was somehow off-putting. Each time I asked to try something on, she looked more impatient, as though I was inconveniencing her just by being there. At one point, we were standing right in front of a piece I’d been eyeing online for weeks, and I accidentally referred to it by its online name. She snapped, “I don’t even know which one that is, just point it out” I felt SO embarrassed for being too excited.

When I expressed interest in a forever bracelet and said, specifically to my husband when I was trying them on to get his opinion, “I really want this one,” she responded with, “If we even have it,” as if she didn’t want me getting it done. I ended up trying on a total of seven pieces, everything I went into the store wanting to try, but her attitude made me feel like I was out of line for even asking to try or buy anything.

I still bought a few pieces (I opted to say never mind to getting zapped, even though they did have the one I wanted in stock), but every time I look at the pieces I did buy, I remember the feeling in the store that day and cringe all over again. I can barely stand to wear them and haven’t really touched any of them since June. Jewelry should feel joyful to put on, not make you feel uncomfortable. I hope the staff keeps that in mind for future customers who come in...

UPDATE (because I can’t leave another review): I visited the store again on Christmas Eve to get a bracelet rezapped and Tyler, who helped me out months ago, remembered doing my stack!! It was so so so sweet that she even remembered I came with my mom and husband too. She’s incredibly thoughtful and took so much time to make sure my new bracelet was absolutely perfect.

Everyone, literally everyone, in the store greeted me and chatted with me (it was not super busy) to make sure I was having a great experience. Many of them even took the time to complement my outfit and other jewelry I was wearing. It makes me sad to see not everyone has had the same experience since they truly have been the sweetest people ever, even months after my initial visit.

I can’t wait to come back and get more fun pieces 🥰

THANK YOU ALL!! And special thank you to Tyler!! 💓

I live in Columbus and was overjoyed when I heard they opening up a spot in DC. I have loved Catbird and have been wanting to get zapped for forever!! My husband and I made the drive and it was so worth it. The store is lovely and the people were incredible. I got zapped!! YAY! I got three bracelets and the experience was so fun. TYLER took her time and made sure I saw all my options so I could feel comfortable getting permanent jewelry. She was also so good at styling! I ended up getting a bracelet I did not think about but I’m so glad she showed me because it brings my stack together. She was the best to have this experience with. I also got zapped with Bailey, who was lovely and so thorough. Seriously, so worth it!!! The jewelry is extremely high quality and I get SO many compliments all the time.

Thank you TYLER...