Terrible experience with a return. Felt pretty close to a scam.
I was excited for the shirt I purchased. It was the 1955 Abilene denim shirt. I am both an avid in-store and online consumer of clothing from many high-end companies. This was my first experience with Rowan. I loved the design online and ordered immediately. It took a bit longer than usual to get it, but that was fine. The first issue was the sizing. I wear a classic Large. Every single shirt from every company from which I order is a Large and they all fit. I read the sizing carefully to make sure it wasn't a slim fit. I can wear those, but I don't like the style. When I opened the package and tried it on, it was immediately too small and tight. I was surprised, as this never happens with any other company. But, not the end of the world. I simply put it back in the packaging and opted to return it. That is when things went off the rails and have me leaving my FIRST negative review ever for a clothing company!
When I printed the return label, I was immediately told they would be keeping around $8.00 for the return. Annoying, as most companies do not do this, but I let it go. It's frustrating when it's on me to bring it to USPS to return and that I already paid Rowan for shipping. But, hey, it was my first experience with them and I just rolled my eyes and let it go.
A few days later, I received a notification that they had gotten my return, but need 15 days to inspect the return before refunding my money. I honestly was stunned. I have never heard of such a thing before, not with any other company, and I literally wore this shirt for about 2 minutes and returned it in the same packaging in which it came. This is a $195.00 shirt and the return should have been immediately processed. At that point, I wrote an email to the company inquiring why they would need 15 days to inspect a return and refund my money. It took around 48 hours for me to get a response and what they said was that they are a small company and it takes time to get through them. At that point I rightfully asked, 'Do you get so many returns as a small company that you can't go through them in a day or two? Do you think that is fair to potential customers who purchased from you and didn't get what they hoped for?' After another day, I got a response saying that they would make a note to try to get through it sooner. Well, no. That did not happen and this dragged on for nearly two weeks. I finally sent yet another email expressing extreme dissatisfaction with this process and ultimately got an email back telling me that my return had been processed and I should be receiving my refund notification shortly. And yes, I did immediately after.
Now, here is the kicker! This company had the audacity to charge me $22.00 to return the shirt that I ordered from them, that didn't fit, and that I returned in the original packaging. They took two weeks to "inspect" it and only refunded an amount less $22.00! No explanation, just deciding to keep my money for themselves after their product did not fit me.
In all my years of shopping, both online and in-store, I have never experienced anything like this and it feels pretty close to a scam. What could be the possible explanation for keeping $22.00 of my money after I returned an item that didn't fit?
A quality company is not just about the material they use. It is about the customer service and the integrity of the company itself. The way Rowan did business from the moment I began this return process deserves a lower grade than I can give it here. I would like my $22.00 returned immediately. What is possible justification is keeping that much of a customer's money when their product doesn't fit. Feels like a scam and something punitive for returning their product.
I would never recommend this company to a single person. Period.
I am admittedly very unhappy about this and I believe rightfully so.
