As I was scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed yesterday, one of those “suggested app” ads came up for a company called Jack Threads which bills itself as a “members only online shopping club serving up the freshest brands in street, skate, surf and contemporary fashion daily, all at up to 80% off.”
I nearly wet myself with excitement as my eyes latched on to the pair of shoes featured in the creative. I clicked the “install now” button, downloaded the app and immediately went to the shoe section to grab a pair.
In an instant, excitement turned to disappointment as the shoes were nowhere to be found in their store. Now determined to find a pair of these suckers, I went through each pair of wing tips they sell to see if they’re a color variation of one that’s not being displayed.
No luck.
By this time, my instant love affair with Jack Threads turned into a hate so strong I uninstalled the app and said, “screw you, it’s over.”
Was I a victim of a bait-and-switch tactic? As a consumer, I feel as if I was. I was shown something enticing that led me to the store only to be told, “sorry we don’t have that, look at what else you can pick up while you’re here.”
I felt betrayed.
If I take my consumer hat off for a moment and put on my marketing one, I can say it’s not bait-and-switch. When the ad was created and the imaging selected, those shoes probably were in stock. But somewhere along the line, they sold out and nobody bothered to change the creative.
Both scenarios are inexcusable in my book – both from the consumer and marketer side of things. A consumer should not be led to a store under false pretenses and a marketer should be aware of the creative that’s out there and when it needs to be changed. The latter may require cooperation between multiple departments, especially when inventory is involved, but that communication is important in order to ensure customer satisfaction and to avoid the specter of a bait-and-switch.
Jack Threads could have gotten an order from me and possibly more, because they do have some cool stuff. But, like a blind date with bad breath, I’m turned off before the first kiss.
So Jack, it’s been nice to know ya. Too bad we couldn’t have been better friends.
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UPDATE – 5/20/14 – Shortly after this was published, the following tweet was sent via JackThreads Twitter account:
@scottsanfilippo We hear ya! Actually, that shoe is one of our private labels, so we try and restock pretty often! Since we have marketed…
— JackThreads (@JackThreads) May 20, 2014
@scottsanfilippo …that way, they tend to fly off the shelf! We do have other color variations in stock though: https://t.co/C5o8eZCxHS
— JackThreads Help (@JackThreadsHelp) May 20, 2014
Additionally, Jason R., head of customer service operations at Jack Threads reached out via LinkedIn, “I wanted to make sure that you received a satisfactory answer from my team regarding the Hillsboro shoes.”
Thanks to both the social media team and Jason for the response, and while I’m still disappointed the shoes aren’t in stock, I’ll keep checking to see if they do come back.