Banana Republic

I’ve only ever shopped at this particular location once, and it was to buy a gift certificate for someone else.
Walked it, greeted by no one, could here two employees very inappropriate conversation with a customer who appeared to be a friend, walked around for a second, walked right up to the counter, waited to be greeted again, and asked for a gift card.
…then it all went downhill from there.
I asked to purchased a $ 250 gift card; however, the sales representative that was helping me, although very nice, had no idea how charge a gift card. Not only that, but she informed me that the store only had Christmas gift cards. I needed a birthday or plain gift card as it was going to be a birthday present. Well, they didn’t have any so I just got a Christmas gift card. But, I didn’t understand how they could only have Christmas gift cards. It was a Tuesday, granted they may have been busy during the weekend, but come on!
After paying for the gift card, the floor manager (I presume), walked behind the counter and said, «Oh, you’re looking for gift cards, we have a whole draw here.» She opened up the draw next to the draw with the Christmas gift cards. It was full of other gift cards so I was really annoyed after that because the sale rep that was helping me didn’t even know… How do you not know what you have in store? You work there!
So, then she asked me if I wanted to switch the gift cards and of course I said yes. She again had no idea how to do the transaction so she asked another manager to help. The manager told her to swipe the new gift card and then pay for it using the Christmas gift card that had my money on it. It «worked» and I walked out of the store happy to be done with it.
I give the gift card as a present that night and the person tried to use it about 3 weeks later and found out that there was no money on it to begin with! I’m informed of this and immediately call this location and talk to a manager. She was no help at all as her response to my complaint was, «well you can come in but I’m just going to have to call the corporate office or you can do that yourself.» Well, I figured why even bother dealing with the middle man, so I called corporate customer service line. How embarrassing do you think that was for me? To have someone tell me that there is no money on the gift card I gifted to them! And how embarrassing do you think it was for them when they had a handful of items at a Banana Republic store, ready to check out and realize the gift card they have has no balance on it? Thank GOD for the WONDERFUL customer service rep who couldn’t apologize enough for the mistake! Not only did she inform me that the store CANNOT make a gift card to gift card transaction. The only way to go about this is to call the corporate office and have them take care of it. HOW does a manager not know something like that? I realize that this situation may not happen often, if ever, but come on. If you aren’t sure, call your corporate office!
Well, after this debacle, I will be expecting a full refund and never buying a gift certificate from Banana Republic again.
Can you tell I was really annoyed at this situation because now I have to wait THREE months to get my money back!!! Apparently, corporate has to do a full investigation into this situation to make sure there is no fraudulent activity that occurred on the part of the sales representative who helped me at this location.

Only one clerk working register when other clerks walking around when customers are waiting to check out. Gee, perhaps you should open another register to expedite the sale.

Open letter to Banana:
You may think by ignoring my email that my complaint would go unheard. I’m afraid it isn’t so easy nowadays.
I had written about my experience visiting the Banana Republic while I was transitting through Dulles. I had a layover, and remembered I needed a bag. There weren’t that many places selling men’s bags, so I dropped in at Banana.
Browsing around was as normal as I could’ve hoped for. I had my large suitcase (apparently airports don’t allow you to store luggage anymore. «Security» reasons, obviously) but the clerks were pleasant and greeted me with a smile, asking if I needed any assistance.
I found a bag, and went to pay for it. The girl at the counter didn’t pay any attention to me initially. She was doing something with a pile of clothing in front of her. After a few minutes (but what seemed like an eternity) she finally asked if I wanted to pay. I responded that I did (indeed, why else would I be there? I could be there for a return. Either way, I think the standard operating procedure is to put aside what one is doing, and help the customer). She told me to go to the next register (somewhat rudely), and proceeded to ring it up.
During the sale, she offered to sign me up for rewards (I declined. I forget if it is membership thing or a credit card). At the end, without so much as a thankyou, she handed me the bag in a bag.
I know that isn’t normal service at a Banana Republic. I’ve been to them before, in California, and just a few weeks ago went to another one to return the bag and had perfectly acceptable service (the bag has big zippers that are rough and can easily break the skin, if you run your fingers along them, like when you are trying to zip something up. I guess that particularly bag was designed for the «manly men» who drive Ford F150’s, work on ranches, and have thick, calloused hands). I’m not sure why I had such horrible service. Maybe cause I was rolling a big bag. Maybe cause I was wearing a windbreaker. Maybe because my hair wasn’t done, and was wind-​blown. Or maybe because I was Asian and she was black. After all, I guess it is very different in the South still.
Either way, I emailed Banana Republic and got no response. Which I guess means they don’t plan on looking into this or improving anything. Or maybe it just means they don’t care how I feel. I’m just one customer.

I love Banana Republic but the other day I went in there with my husband and 1 ½ year old. My son who was on his best behavior but laughing a bit caught the attention of the sales clerk. She came up to my husband who was looking for ties and immediately questioned him. He explained that he was here with me (as I was in the other room looking at dresses). The sales clerk then told him that he could go in the back because of our son. When my husband ignored her and continued to look at ties she went back up to him and said Why don’t I show you where the back is. It was completely unacceptable to basically refuse service because we brought a child in the store who was not causing any issues! I will not go back here again.

Great customer service, good value for organized and well-​merchandised apparel, and seemingly constant 30% off sales make this place an attractive option. I find that no matter how busy the store, I get fantastic customer service and the ambience is clean, crisp, and neat. I feel I must mention that Patricia has provided consistently admirable customer service each time I’ve visited!
Now if they only carried tall sizes…

One of the very few stores that close at 8PM. We just wasted our 40% Wednesday coupon when we placed our item on hold in this store. I will save myself time and hassle and shop at Tyson’s corner store. They have much better selection as well.

DO NOT SHOP HERE!!! They do not stand behind their expensive clothes. I bought a pair of suit pants in late summer, wore them to five business meetings and now the seams are coming apart in 3 different places. The store manager refused to exchange them for a new pair, as Im in a time crunch and need to wear them for the holidays. He only offered to send them off to a tailor, which didnt meet my need and would have left me without suit pants to wear. These guys wont stand behind costly product — for the price of this clothing, I’d expect an exchange to meet the customer’s needs w/​no questions.

This BR has a bit of limited selection, but I like it still. It has a petite section if that’s what you fancy (I will never fit into that category… story of my life!)
The staff can be helpful sometimes, and all together disappear other times.
The clearance is pretty spotty and picked over, so go there for the regular priced stuff you want. And as always BR can be expensive, so watch the tags closely!

Yay, this is one of my top 3 Bannana Republics in the country, and trust me if there’s a Bannana Republic somewhere I must stop and look. Its a nice sized store with a great selection and isn’t quite as messy and picked over as some of the locations inside malls.

This is a review of the Petites department specifically…
Petites are located in a separate room within the larger Banana store. The space is bright and airy and easy to shop. There is a decent-​sized selection — nothing as spectacular as the freestanding store (aka the holy grail of BR Petites stores) in Chestnut Hill, MA, but nowhere near as paltry as the complete lack of petites you find in Pentagon City.
If you don’t mind paying full price for BR wares, then you won’t be disappointed with the full-​priced selection here. If you’re a budget-​conscious shopper like me though, then the sale/​clearance racks will leave much to be desired. Those racks were small, few, and relatively bare, but still there were some occasional deals to be had if you looked hard enough.
The best part of the experience though was the customer service. An associate named Ashley was super nice (without the fake, sickeningly and syrupy sweet niceness that can be annoying in a salesperson) and very helpful (without the clinginess and every-​move-​tracking that is also unappreciated when I shop). And what’s more, she was petite too and was impeccably clothed in a gorgeous dress that I ended up buying *full price* (holy moly — stop the presses!!!) just because it looked so great on her.

Yes, I am ultra cheep, but I just don’t like buying pants that I have to tailor the minute I purchase them. So I buy a new suit once in awhile here for that reason. This weekend I bought a jacket and matching pants for $ 160, and I could wear it to work the next day. I like that.
These suits work well if you work at a place where you need to slap one on every day. I also bought a suit from the JosABank store because it was ridiculously cheap, but their suit pants here are only come pleated, (not my favorite), and I have to get the pants tailored.
I would avoid the weekends here, but who can really do that? Try timing it during a Redskin’s game on Sunday so the place is more manageable.

One of my go to places for clothes for work. This is my favorite store in the area — large store and helpful sales associates.

I ran in due to a fashion emergency. I was going to a party and forgot to put on any jewelry.
The sale prices are excellent! I was able to find earrings and a necklace to compliment my outfit really quickly with the help of the very friendly staff. I was in and out of the store in less than 10 minutes and still got to my party on time!

This is also my favorite non Factory Outlet Banana Republic in the area, as well. It’s never crowded, the Sales prices are somehow lower than the store in Tysons (for the same item!) and customer service is attentive.
Don’t forget to look for deals and coupons online (
) or in the mail before heading here. The coupons are usually good on top of Sale prices or any current promotions. There’s bound to be a staple item you’re likely to purchase and you should never pay full price.

This Banana Republic is my favorite in the area. Not only is the store large, the selection is great. Customer service at this location is superb! They also have a petite department which is an added bonus!