JC Penney Review

I have a "love-hate" relationship with JC Penney.  Love the store - hate the website!

JC Penney-The-Store is a traditional department store that can usually be found anchored to one end of a sprawling suburban mall.   Although they have recently introduced a mini-Penney in my neighborhood strip mall, its offerings are still quintessentially department store ho-hum.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.  One of the reasons I still shop at Penney's is that I'm generally not looking for trendy, upscale attire or deeply discounted, lead-paint poisoned toys.  I just want a set of towels that won't fall apart in the washing machine.  Or a trash can.  Or a chip-and-dip set.  JC Penney is my primary go-to source for buying the basics like bedding and housewares.

JC Penney-The-Website is a totally different story.  Spending time at jcpenney.com is like visiting the home of a dear old friend who--without warning--suddenly morphs into an obnoxious boor.  I start out pleased with the comfort of familiarity, but quickly become frustrated by the experience and vow never to return.  But, somehow, I invariably attempt giving it another try, hoping that this time, the online experience will not frustrate.

My main problem with the online version of Penney's is that on any given day they stock a fraction of the items I want to buy.    Want a 6-pack of socks in denim blue?  Sorry, that item is no longer available.  Click on a cotton capri pajama set?  Sorry, cannot find server.  How about that baby bib in yellow?  Unavailable.  

Why, oh why, must JC Penney's web wizards sadistically insist on showing me a picture of something that I will never possess?  It's hard to believe that the ability to design an accurate inventory database is beyond the grasp of human intelligence.   Here's a hint:  If you have the technology to instruct me that an item is no longer available, then perhaps you could go a step further by simultaneously removing the item from the website at the moment it becomes unavailable.  It's psychological.  I can handle an item being out-of-stock if you don't show it to me when I'm browsing.

Finally, by the time I find something in stock that can actually be shipped to me, my shopping cart has developed a tic and has repeatedly added a quantity of 20 mop buckets instead of just one.   So, before I completely lose my mind to frustration, I close my web browser and ask my dear husband to drive me to JC Penney-The-Store.   

At least in the real world, what you see is truly what you get.  I love it when it works out that way.