American Eagle Outfitters Reviews

They sent me an email stating that they will not send the documents I requested, that they have the right to refuse the return and they are accusing me of fraud when I have used the same email, CC etc for the past 5-7 years with AE orders. They are basically stealing my money. I understand that they do not want people returning things they did not buy, but I spoke with them on the phone to confirm it's me and answered all of their questions. This cannot be the first time a return slip is not included. I am disputing this with my CC company and returning the clothing with a letter. We'll see what happens.

Reviewing the receipt on my way out of the store I had been rang up for the wrong merchandise and not what I was walking out of the store with. I then had to go back and have it fixed yet again with the same rude customer service from my original purchase. When I called customer service 1800 number, I was given another number to call back between the hours of 9am-5pm eastern standard time, and they could better assist me with my problem. When I did call that number and get a representative he didn't seem to care about the hard earned money that I spent for horrid customer service or that I would not go back into their stores again and I would be cancelling my credit card with them. He didn't even care that I gave up 1 hour of my time in phone calls just to inform corporate about what is happening in their stores.

What I would like to know is if you have any policy that covers this type of complaint. As it stands right now, I will never purchase another pair of jeans from AE for anyone in my family. Is there something that can be done to replace these jeans? Is there any need to try to take them back to the store? I would appreciate someone advising me on this issue.

I called the 800 number and talked to a Dan and said he would contact the store to make sure it doesn't happen again. I told him that it makes me not want to shop there again and he said he was sorry. I said to the guy, "It makes me feel like you guys don't care that I had a bad experience or that I dont' want to shop there." He said, "I guess I could send you a coupon." I would say that they may have lost my business. I'm so disappointed.

However, this morning I called and spoke to Mary. She assured me that I would receive my items on time. Nate, was not able to give me a legitimate reason as to why American Eagle had not shipped out my merchandise. He did tell me that I would probably not receive these items until several days after Christmas. He told me that he would refund my $5 when American Eagle shipped my merchandise and that he would give me 40% off and free two day shipping on my next order. These were Christmas presents for five different family members that they will not receive on Christmas.

I got in line for another 25 minutes and then the person said 31 dollars, when clearly 40 percent of $50 is 20 dollars. Sorry to confuse you all with numbers. But I immediately got ** off and left the store because of the ridiculous misleading "discounts" of AE. So after I left, I went to Hollister. I got a 50 dollar jacket for 21.99 dollars. It's better quality than AE anyway.

Not to mention that some of the people I spoke to did not write notes on the account and I had to keep explaining what happened. Huge waste of time, lost confidence in this company. I can't believe they could not just send me another hoodie. This was a Christmas gift. This company is worth so much and puts a lot of time and resources into expanding. They need to put their time and resources into revamping their customer service department and take care of their customers!

I found that not to be true and made several attempts to advise the sales associate of such. I explained that the sale price show online could not have included 40% off of the original price, which was shown online as well, because the final cost of the item would be even cheaper. After literally doing the mathematical equation reflecting 40% off of the original price, he finally agreed with my findings. Nevertheless, he proceeded to tell me that I would pay more if I decided to order the items directly from the American Eagle website due to the cost of shipping and handling. I informed him that along with the 40% off at checkout, American Eagle was offering free standard shipping from November 23-24, 2011. The associate disputed my findings to free shipping as well until I accessed the American Application on my cell phone.

Becoming a little frustrated with the customer service, I requested to speak to a store manager. After explaining the situations to the local store manager, I was advised that a phone call has to be made to the customer service department to confirm the accuracy of my findings even though I was asked to show validity which I did via a corporate email sent out to customers. My online findings were confirmed and I was advised that online price will be granted in the store. While shopping for several other items, I requested for availability of a particular size that wasn't readily available on the store shelves. I was informed that the in-store system showed that the requested size was available in stock. After waiting for 15 minutes for the item to be obtained from the store stock room, I approached a sales associate in reference to my request and I was advised that the item was not available even though the inventory system shows differently. Being even more frustrated with the shopping experience, I decided to return all of my items and placed my order online.

While attempting to shop online, I noticed that the American Eagle website was moving extremely slower than normal. Being an IT/Telecommunications professional, I knew that the sluggishness of the American website was not a direct result of my broadband connection. It took me 2.5 hours to make it to the checkout portion of the online ordering process. Thinking that I was finally at the end of my purchasing adventure, I quickly realized that I wasn't. Whenever I selected the checkout button to complete my order, I would receive an error message preventing me to purchase the items selected. After repeated attempts, a reply from the website asked me to come back and party with them later. From industry experience, I knew that American Eagle was having server issues and it finally crashed. I placed a call into their customer service department and was advised that their system was "upgrading". I was told to wait about 1-2 hours and try again. I previously waited in the store for over an hour to purchase the items, so waiting in the comfort of my home wouldn't be as bad. Several hours had passed and the same scenario played out and I called into the customer service department again. Of course I was told that the system was "upgrading" and to try again in 1-2 hours. At this time it's 2:00AM and I decided to leave my PC on and try again getting some rest. I woke up at 6:30AM and made another attempt and this time I was able to return back to the checkout section and my previous items were still available in the checkout bag, but the prices had increased.

I thought to myself no way! I guess that system was literally upgrading as I was told. I called into the customer service department again and was told that the system was still "upgrading" and after explaining the noticeable price change, I was assured that I could purchase the item at the previously sale advertised price once the system is done upgrading. Again I was advised to call back in 1-2 hours and I will be granted the previously advertised online price. I waited several hours and called again, and of course I was told that the system was still upgrading. Being somewhat frustrated, I explained my customer service experience from beginning to the present. I was told by my current rep that I wasn't accurate in my findings and that the prices were changed several days ago before the system crashed. I knew that I wasn't provided accurate information again, so I requested to speak to a manager and/or supervisor and was told that there wasn't one available. I followed by asking for the corporate headquarter's telephone number. I was directed to file my complaint via corporate email. I was also advised that the prices did change and the sale items would not have been included in the 40% off discount when applied, which was inaccurate as well. Once the discount code is applied at checkout, a customer is able to see how much he/she saved for each item and the sale items were shown and my savings before this whole ordeal.

I am hoping my concerns are addressed and don't fall on deaf ears. It's only the first day of the holiday shopping season and clearly the employees are not knowledgeable on corporate advertisements and sales. Also some customer representatives seem to have different methods when dealing with customer concerns and/or complaints. I am looking forward to returning all 8 gift cards with hopes of obtaining the cash that I paid for them and start my Christmas shopping elsewhere. I hope no one else has to experience that type of service through the holiday shopping season. Happy Holidays!

Without my permission, my debit card was charged. I was also charged an overdraft fee from my bank. The company will do nothing for me except send me back and forth between departments. At this point, I just wanted to return and refund everything. But since the items have not even gotten here through UPS, I can't do anything. It's not like I have bills to pay or anything. It’s the worst customer service I have ever experienced.

As expected, I got some foreign guy with a heavy accent. Sigh. I hate companies that do this. When a customer calls, they are probably already unhappy. If you force them to try to listen and decipher what some guy in India is trying to say, it gets us more frustrated. I asked him to cancel my request to have that old statement mailed to me. He said he could not. I asked why not? He said it had already been processed. I said, I made this request not even 5 minutes ago. Are you telling me that it's already been processed and put in the mail? He said yes and I laughed. I don't usually laugh at people, but this was just ridiculous. So then I asked if he could at least change the address so that I would receive it at my new address. He said he couldn't do that. Okay, then what can you do? He started stammering and then said his system went down due to maintenance.

Thanks to Mr. ** or whatever his name is, some stranger is going to receive my past statement in his mail in a week. Maybe he'll be a doll and pay it off for me so I don't have to deal with this ** company again. I actually needed to speak to this representative about the weird fees I've been getting ($35) besides the interest fees, but his inability to do his job left me exhausted. I didn't want to speak to him anymore so I will probably wait for a week to call back.

So he placed an order, which was confirmed, and his UK-issued U.S. Dollar debit card got authorized. Then, the troubles began. A tale of zero customer service, of emails sent but unread, and standard replies sent--ignoring questions and concerns that lead to the conclusion that AE don't want to do business, and like to discriminate against a large portion of their client base.

"First, I got an email claiming to be from American Eagle to advise that my order had been pulled," explains an exasperated Jason. "It was a little odd as there was no AE branding, no logo or legend, no visible sign that it was a genuine email from AE."

The email Jason received was a standard one, talking of fraud concerns, and asked him to fax a copy of his card statement, and his U.S. ID card or U.S. Driving License. Now, Jason being a British person, over here on vacation, surprisingly doesn't have a U.S. ID card or a U.S. Driving Licence. Also, just like most people on vacation, he doesn't come travelling with his bank, credit, debit card statements--and no, he didn't pick up the fax machine from home either!

He replied via the website that he didn't have any of those items, explaining the situation. Guess what? He got the same standard email back, asking for the same information again. Thinking that his reply had got garbled by the website, he replied to them again, advising the situation. Hey, guess what? Yes, he got the same standard email again, you know, telling him that his order had been pulled, asking for his U.S. ID and so on.

To cut this story short, so far, he has received five of those standard emails. That would be bad enough, but it doesn't stop there. But nope, there is more. Jason has had a number of other emails from AE, three of them said, "Due to the regulations set forth by your financial institution, we are unable to obtain the necessary verification over the phone." Wait a moment, he did it online. He also checked with his card issuer, and they wanted to see a copy of the quoted regulations, as did Jason. He asked for a copy, but the same email came back to him, twice!

Another email has come from AE informing him that the billing details did not match between AE and the card. Well, Jason was alarmed, so he checked, but the information did match. He also checked with his card issuers. They've not received any contact from AE regarding his account. Jason replied to AE, confirming the details were correct but, you know, guess what? Yes, he got another standard email, the same one in fact, telling him the details didn't match. Then, in reply to his request for the financial regulations, he got a new email--the ever elusive AE which read, "Your order has been considered cancelled per your request."

Jason did not request any such thing. He called the customer service line, who told him that the "order was processing" so Jason replied to that email telling them that Jason had not cancelled the order, also asking for proof of his request to cancel. Well, such proof has not come from AE, but three times the same--"your order has been considered cancelled per your request." An email has been sent to Jason's inbox.

"It's so very bizarre, I have never had such difficulty in doing business with a company before. It's crazy and I'm actually trying to give them money," he tells. "I have told them I don't have U.S. ID, being a Brit, I wouldn't have. I have sent them copies of my passport, photographs of me with my passport and card, clearly showing they match, that I am the real person. I have been giving them a link to my blog which also proves that I'm here on holiday, that I am who I say I am, but still it's not good enough for them. American Eagle Outfitters seem not to want to sell to people, especially people who are not U.S. residents, even though the website claim to ship to 70 odd countries!"

But Jason has another more sinister worry. "Maybe it's because I'm a Brit overseas that they don't want to do business with me, maybe it's the accent, after all, they can't understand me on the phone," he jokes, but with a more serious tone. "Or it could be the fact that I'm gay, that I write mainly for gay websites and magazines that stops them giving me service." Could it be that AE is actually practicing it's homophobia that's often felt in stores online as well?

What's AE got to say for themselves? How can they treat a customer, in such a disrespectful way? How can one of the leading brands in affordable clothing get it so wrong with their customer service?

I found the sweatshirt the only one in my size an XL. I proceeded to the counter and when I asked the price of the sweatshirt, it was not on sale. I told the clerk that I had received an email with the sale advertisement for this sweatshirt. She looked on her computer and said it's not on sale; she also mentioned that it may have been if you ordered online and I would get that price. I decided to ask if she could hold the item until after 5 pm so my husband could go in and pick it up. I was going to have him pay the full price since I really wanted the item and AE only had one left in my size.

Remember, it is already about 3:45 pm. She tells me that they have a no-hold policy. I told her that I shop all the time at your store and have held items anytime I needed to have them picked up by my husband. She told me we are not supposed to hold items. I asked if I could speak to a manager and a young man stood up from behind the counter with a real attitude. He goes: “I am the manager and we don't hold items.” I describe the sales clerk who has held the items the previous week and he just looked at me like a so-what look. He said, “Just put it back, it will still be here,” as he continued to work on whatever he was working on. Then he said something like he can only hold it for an hour. I looked at the time and it was 3:45 pm and that was over an hour, so he didn't want to hold it 15 minutes longer than an hour!

I was in customer service for 15 year. I was a customer service manager for an airline. If something similar had happened to a customer where an agent made a decision a week prior but was not our ruling, I made sure if it became a problem, I would solve it in the best interest of the customer. Then, I would have a meeting with all the agents on what to do or not to do.

In this case, the store manager and sales clerk did not care to even wait for 15 minutes longer to hold for me. It is easier for my husband to go into the store and ask for a hold with my name. He knows that he has picked up the correct items. When Shannon said just put it back and it will be here after 5 pm, he wasn't thinking how my husband or anybody for that matter would know what I am describing. A sweatshirt is a sweatshirt!

I would greatly appreciate to hear back from you on this matter. This incident today makes me not want to shop at AE. But I do realize that it is not AE at fault, it is the employees that work for AE. Not all are with attitude. From the day the store open here on Maui, I have shopped and bought thousands of dollars worth of clothes at AE and have never been treated so badly, with attitude.

I called AE customer service asking for the local area director to call me. She never did. After many phone calls, the AE customer service said the person had been given a good talking to about how to treat customers. I was very unhappy, but tired of fighting. Leaving it alone and being afraid to reenter the store, my daughter and I stayed away for months. My daughter and her older sister went back one afternoon. To their horror, the store manager started up on her harassment again this time running around the store pointing at my daughters and talking to employees along with giving looks to my daughters. My older daughter called me and was in shock. She'd never experienced anything like this.

I called AE customer service and asked to speak to the director's boss as the director had been unable to correct the situation. AE had the director call me who left a voice message for me to call her. I lost her number and have yet to have her follow-up with me. I just got off the phone with AE Customer Service where I asked for the Director's boss to call me. I would much rather have any other support on this matter as AE is unable and unwilling to take it seriously. Public embarrassment for myself and my daughter is the main consequence, loss of work time to follow up and call and call AE customer service, continued uncomfortableness when even entering the mall as memories of this experience come to mind.

But my complaint is that the employee treated us real bad and was really rude about the situation. After what happened, out of respect, I addressed it to the manager. The manager did not handle the problem right at all. She didn't even apologize for their rude behavior. I'm from out of town and I had never experienced such bad attitude from any of the other stores. I'm really disappointed with the customer service they have in this store. Because American Eagle is one of my favorite shopping stores, I hope something is done about customer service in this store. Thank you. I would really want an apology.

However, the first of about 11 people I encountered over 6 days was immediately dismissive and basically told me I had to let the system run its course and that it took 2 business days for the verification process. Her name was Valencia. This was the evening of 12/10/2009. On Saturday, 12/12/2009, I was concerned about the order and the charge for the two items. I called and got a hold of someone whose name I did not catch. This person told me that I might be best served cancelling the current order and reordering. She even performed the cancellation transaction for me.

I resubmitted an order using a different form of payment - PayPal. Again, I received an email telling me the order had been pulled pending further verification. I called American Eagle Outfitters and spoke with LaTonya. LaTonya advised me to not cancel this order and explained the process to me again. She stated I should receive an email from AE with further instructions or confirmation of shipping and that based on the date the last order was placed, I should hear something by 12/14/2009.

On 12/14/2009, I called because I had not received further word from AE on the status of the order for two hoodies that were ordered. I spoke with Melinda. Melinda told me that it took two business days and that they usu. contact the source of payment institution if there is a verification issue (making sure there is no fraudulent ordering on your account) and that I should receive an email that evening. I explained to Melinda that I was getting short on time as I had to mail these items to the person for whom the gifts were and that they live in a different state, several states away. Melinda told me I could change the shipping address to have them sent to the intended person. She added this info to the verification notes. I received no email.

I called on 12/15/2009 and asked to speak to a supervisor. I got Annie who is not a supervisor, but she told me she could help. I told her the story and told her what Melinda had told me. I was told I was misinformed and that the shipping address could not be changed and that the process had to work through. Keep in mind I had to place a second order after cancelling the first order and we are on day 3 of order 2. I was a little put off by Annie, so I called back again and asked, no, insisted on a supervisor.

I got to talk with Tonya, who identified her self as a supervisor. Tonya confirmed what Annie had told me, and she also apologized for the misinformation in the process and had told me that in my case, I should not have cancelled the order. Tonya stated she sent emails upward to the verification team to try and escalate the process and told me she was going to give me free shipping because of the misinfo and misunderstanding.

On 12/15/2009 in the evening, I received yet another email stating not only was my order through PayPal not verifiable but that I would have to reorder. I called PayPal and spoke with Toby. Toby told me this was not true and that I had been verified and that what they were waiting on was for American Eagle to capture the payment for the merchandise and that was all he could do, but that as far as they were concerned, I was golden.

I called American Eagle back and got Christine, who tried hard to help me. Christine told me that sometimes when they receive PayPal orders that verified with PayPal, they show to them as unverified. :( She stated I would need to reorder as the email said and use a different method of payment. Christine told me the only way to receive this order or a order was to reorder. So she cancelled the order for me, and she also told me she would give me upgraded free 2-day shipping. However, because of the problems with verification, I decided to have my husband do the order and pay on his credit card. He did this. We got a confirmation email and everything seemed kosher.

This morning, I had received an email stating the order was not verifiable. It needed further verification. I called American Eagle on 12/16/2009 and spoke with a young lady who did not and would not give me her name. She did tell me that her manager was going to call my bank and verify the payment and our billing info. I said, "Great, except that the particular card you're verifying was the method of payment with the first order and we had to cancel that one." I also told her that they were welcome to do this, but I needed them to verify the actual order, which was the third order, and it had been placed under a different method of payment. She hung up on me. Yes, she did.

I called back and got LaTonya, someone I had talked with in the past. I told her the situation and gave her the order number. She became rude and told me that I seemed to like to talk and she had let me but that that order was confirmed and would be shipping. I said really. She said yes. She said, "You seemed to want to tell me the story (and I did because they should have to hear it after all this)." She was not very nice, and then I asked her if she could confirm the shipping address it was going to. She did. She told me I would receive an email confirming this.

However, I had my doubts, so I called back to talk to CS about LaTonya and her attitude and reconfirm the fact the order was finally successful. I spoke with Linda, who realized I was not a happy camper but somehow felt the need to become rude. She confirmed what LaTonya had told me. To include the confirmation email - an email I have yet to receive from American Eagle.

I have strong concerns that American Eagle has received payment in 3 forms and that I will pay hell, trying to retrieve what will end up being $86 X 3 times. I bet I don't receive 3 sets of hoodies, though.

Then, the sales person walked away and walked up to a co-worker and they started talking behind her back, mocking what she said and basically implying that she was not intelligent. I was very upset by this. At first, I was just going to leave, but decided I needed to say something to her. So, I told her that I overheard the conversation she had with my daughter and the mocking conversation she had with a co-worker and I thought it was extremely rude and unprofessional. She seemed quite shocked and said she was sorry. She then walked away. I thought it might be good to get her name and complain to her supervisor. I noticed that she was not wearing a name tag.

So, I thought I saw someone who might be the supervisor or manager on duty, so I went to talk to her and told her what happened. She told me she overheard what I had said to the sales girl and that she hasn't had time to talk to her about it yet. That surprised me because if you have an unhappy customer, you need to address it immediately. I have shopped at this store in particular before and other American Eagle stores and never have had any issues or problems before. I wasn't looking for the sales person to lose her job. I just wanted to make her think twice before possibly doing something like this again. I have never put in a complaint before. I was just very upset by this. Thank you.

I tried calling the AEO customer relations, and they hung up on me, too--every time I tried asking about where my money went. I've been calling for months, and either they give me false promises that they would call back in two business days to resolve this issue (never got a call), or they would hang up on me (both Gift Card customer service and Customer Relations service). I regularly called the gift card customer service line to check up on my balance. It was always $0.

However, recently, I checked my balance online, and now it says they do not recognize my card number. I think they deleted the card's account. I'm just fed up with American Eagle Outfitters, and I don't know how to get my money back!

I lost about $50 and a lot of valuable time when I tried to talk to them. The customer service usually hung up on me and was treated extremely rudely by the service phone lines. It has been five months, and nothing has been solved yet.

In November, I went back and used my gift cards. They accepted my original card, but they told me that the other card had a balance of $0. Since then, I have been calling and emailing AEO. They always refer the same number for me to call in each email. I have called Gift card Customer Service, which has promised me EVERY time that I would be getting a call in two business days by a representative to solve my issue. However, I have called at least ten times and they always promise me the same thing and I never get a call. The only successful call i got was the second time when they told me the card was canceled by someone (probably when the cashier canceled my transaction)and the representative told me I should have $47.15 on the gift card.

Finally, I called their Customer Relations headquarter, and they hung up on me after a few minutes! Customer Relations hanging up on a customer. I emailed them one last time and this is what they replied to me with:

Dear AE Shopper,

We apologize for any problems that may have occurred with your order. Please call our toll free number, 1-888-232-4535 (24 hours daily, 7 days a week) to speak with a representative. We will try to assist you as quickly as possible in correcting your order. Please have your order number available when calling.

Thanks for being a part of the American Eagle brand!

My issue has nothing to do with an order! I am fed up with dealing with their representatives and emails and false promises. I just really want my money to be issued back to me.

I have wasted time and energy calling and waiting for calls. I lost about $50.

There was a problem with my billing address so straightened it out But they never sent me an email to let me know about the problem!

Did not get my order in a timely fashion nor did I get an email regarding this or any problem with my order!

Why does a company take your email address and telephone number for to contact you no? well they never contacted me AT ALL !

I then proceeded to write to the company and find out what these charges were for. They told me it was a late fee, of which I was not aware of. They also proceeded to keep on adding late fees and finance charges onto my account. I wrote to them in January, February and and again in March, telling them I was not paying any additional lates charges. I sent them a check for the $11.00 late fee and stated that no other late charges would be paid. Why should I be penalized when I wasn't aware I owed them anything. They removed part of the late charges, and now they are added more late charges onto this account.

I don't feel I should be penalized for their mistake. There late fees go from $10.00 one month and jump to $25.00 the next month. When I sent my $11.00 check it was marked account paid in full and they cashed it, because it cleared my bank on 2/8/05. I disputed this account and they continue to add late fees and service charges.

The balance keeps growing on this account, which I feel I do not owe. I have written to them numerous times, but nothing seems to get through to them.

when i finally received a phone call, i asked for the amount of the original charge - told them i would not be paying their late fees or interest charges. they agreed to credit those charges back. i immediately sent them a check for the amount i charged -$287.43 along with their credit card - cut up in tiny pieces.

since that time i have been inundated with phone calls dunning me for their late fees and interest charges now totalling $127.37. obviously their collection department has been outsourced because these people do not understand english or good business practices.

i have received numerous irritating phone calls from this company , 7 days a week all hours of the day and night. they refuse to listen to what i try to explain to them - they just want me to pay these charges. i feel they are exorbitant and unwarranted. i have done a bit of research and learned they are part of monogram credit card bank of georgia. and according to this website - i feel i am not alone in my feelings toward them.