A Pea In the Pod

Please avoid this location if you can help it. The other reviewers were absolutely right when they described the staff as pushy, dismissive and rude.
I bought 4 items here last week– 3 pairs of pants and 1 shirt in order to get their current deal– «get 3, 4^th item for free».
The pants that I put on this morning for the first time proceeded to get a large tear along the side hem line as soon as I got on the train.
I spent the entire morning trying to walk as if the hole on the side of my brand new pants is not there. Fun times. Then on my lunch break I went to the store and asked for a similar pair at the same price that I can change into.
I was met with a blank stare– no one offered any words of understanding whatsoever.
The associate gave me a few pairs to try on and I quickly settled on one of them as I was super short on time. I noticed the pants were more expensive and asked if the exchange will be ok as I specifically wanted an item priced as the item that was defective. I was assured it is fine.
I changed into the pants and proceeded to leave, however, the associate stopped me at the door and informed me that the difference would be $ 20.00.
I was told that I need to pay the difference as I had not picked an item that is from the current collection, but an item that was from last year’s.
Wow!
Please save yourself the trouble and humiliation that you will be served for buying on sale at this store and go to another location.

Zero stars. Bought a coat from them for $ 180; wore it five times, and three of the buttons have already fallen off, and it’s unwearable. They are refusing to refund or exchange. Two sweaters I bought there have unravelled and look awful already, after two or three wears. Unbelievably crappy merchandise for the amount of money you pay. Avoid, avoid, avoid!!! Go down the street to Old Navy and H and M, pay a third of the price, and get a better product! This place is just a total rip off. Here is the email I just sent their customer service department:
«I have already reviewed the return policy. I think it is grossly unfair.
You are selling to pregnant women. Their bodies, as you better than anyone should know, are changing enormously from month to month. Most women are buying your products well in advance of when they will actually need them. By rigidly enforcing a 30 day return policy, you are effectively telling these women that by the time they’ve had a chance to actually use their purchases, their chance to return faulty and defective merchandise will have expired. Too bad for you, suckers!
This is particularly egregious given that I now know how shoddy your garments are. The workmanship is non-​existent. Of the four items I bought, three of them are already falling apart after only a couple of washes. (And yes, I know how to take care of my clothes). Given that you market yourselves as a high-​end boutique AND charge the prices to match, it is deceptive and unfair of you to pass these cheaply-​made garments off as high quality when they are clearly anything but. I am now stuck with a coat that cost me $ 180 that is unusable after FIVE (short) wears. And am going to have to pay even more to have it repaired just so I can wear it again.
Frankly I think your business practices are disgusting. It is clear to me that your unreasonable return policy is intended to cover your butts so you don’t have to pay out when your cheap and crappy merchandise inevitably starts falling apart. The fact that you are preying on pregnant women, who are already a captive audience due to a lack of choice in the maternity clothes market, makes it even more offensive.
Lucie’s List warns that your clothes are poor quality AND overpriced. I wish I had read that before I visited your boutique. As it is I have no choice but to spread the word far and wide on my social networks and on review sites, and make sure all my friends know about this experience.»

One word: Rip-​off.
So I’m starting to shape more like a basketball and since I can’t squeeze into my old jeans and shirts I decided it was time to buy a few maternity clothes.
Obviously these clothes are only for the next few months and maybe if I have another child will they be more useful, so I wasn’t planning on spending a whole lot on them.
I was greeted as I walked into the store and the sale associate that helped me was quite nice, but not nice enough for the overpriced items she kept on pushing on to me to buy. Perhaps I should not have told her I was new to the store and this was my first time shopping for these type of clothes.
There was a 50% off Sale section in the back of the store, but it wasn’t much of a sale at all. A non-​designer summer top starts at $ 100 and with the 50% off that’s only $ 50. Pants were also way overpriced. The cheapest were their own pea in the pod brand but they were still $ 70 after the sale and they werent even that comfortable or flattering.
The Worst thing was after the fact I purchased a bunch of items at the counter was I told that I WASN“T ALLOW TO RETURN any of it because they were on Sale!!! I didn’t have a lot of time to decide and wanted to try it out in the comfort on my own home and now I’m stuck with clothes that might not fit well and a very, very heavy bill!!! She said that I was still able to exchange clothes I don’t like within 30 days at their store only, however given the price and the time constraint and their limited selection/​size I really doubt I would be able to find anything I like that would also fit me.
Never will I step into this store again.

So it’s an overpriced – very overpriced – maternity boutique in the middle of Macy’s. But it’s there. And it has clothes when almost nothing fits.
I cannot, CANNOT stomach the idea of paying full price for anything here. I don’t spend $ 215 on a sweater that I’d plan on cherishing for years, much less one that would only fit me appropriately for a couple of months. They do, however, have a decent sized clearance section that’s worth flipping through. They also have preggie pops (egads, that’s an awful name) and Boppy body pillows and other maternity needs within close jaunting distance of my usual commute.
Best of all, the salesgirl was extremely helpful and accomodating when I needed to try on suits the other evening. Suits! I don’t even *own* a suit. Business formal attire is not a typical category of apparel for me and I really didn’t want for my initial foray to cost $ 480 and only fit at this one time in my life. She gave me a few other suggestions and merrily sent me on my way. Now that’s excellent service!
Quick warning: the Pea in the Pod tummy tubes, or whatever they call them, do not work nearly as well as Bella Bands.