Brooks Brothers

Holy. Freakin. Cow. This place has some BAD customer service. I received a gift card to go to Brooks Brothers and thought, I’ll take a look around the Upper West Side location! I showed up and asked a salesperson for assistance. Immediately, this guy treats me like garbage. Literally any retail store would have better service: GAP, H&M, hell even Walmart probably couldn’t find somebody worse than this man. He was a combination of patronizing and antagonistic with an air of smugness and self-​importance rivaled by the most spoiled of little brats. Except this brat was around 45 years old.

This store has terrible service. I’ve been there twice in the past few months and found the staff to be bovine in attitude. They are really slow and gruff in terms of helping me with returns. At times, I’ve wanted to browse around, but the staff were so slow in finding me the right sizes, plus I found their salesmanship to be so poor I didn’t want them earning commission off me. If I were you, I’d avoid this store and just buy online instead.

I have a lot of Brooks Brothers clothing. In fact when I brought 6 dress shirts to the store today that I felt had worn out too quickly (four had rips in the sleeve and two had frayed collars and sleeves), I was wearing Brooks Brothers clothing.
The sales person looked at my shirts and said that she had to call the manager. The manager came down and said that my clothes were too old for her to do anything for me. I explained that I have a lot of Brooks Brothers’ shirts and sometimes I don’t start wearing them right away (in fact sometimes for years). It made no difference. Brooks Brothers would not stand behind their product (unlike LL Bean who has always stood behind theirs’). So I left the shirts with the manager and left the store.
Over the years my family and I have spent literally thousands of dollars at Brooks Brothers but as of today, I won’t shop there anymore.

I love BB. I hadn’t realized there was one closer to me at this location. While it’s not as big as some of the others in the city, it has a lot of the basics. I will say that the people here are friendly and eager to help for the most part, even for long-​haired, shabby-​looking dudes like me who do most of the their new clothes shopping at this pricey place.

This review is not for Brooks Brothers’ clothes, which I quite like, but for this particular store.
While I am always entertained by the laughably bad service at this location (sadly the closest to my home), yesterday took the cake. I stopped in to exchange a belt for a larger size, something which should have taken all of one minute. Unfortunately, at the moment I approached the desk the salespeople were in a heated argument over one lady taking all the «paying» customers, while leaving the other gentleman to deal with «everyone else». Next, the male associate stormed away from the desk, saying that he refused to take another return. The woman then shouted across the floor, «This man looks like he has a return,» and walked away without saying a word to me.
I went over to the belts, switched the sizes myself, and walked out of the store without anyone ever saying a word to me. I guess I should have helped myself to some other stuff for my troubles. Perhaps then someone would have noticed me. ..

Great store, especially when they have a sale. Great chance to add some classic items to the wardrobe and live out your Biff and Buffy at the country club in West Palm Beach fantasy. Or to buy a nice cardigan and pencil skirt for work. Either or…
Sales floor is nicely laid out, easy to navigate and uncluttered.
Sales staff tends to be really courteous, helpful and knowledgable whether I’ve been browsing or making a purchase.

I love this place! What keeps me coming back to this store is the customer service experience. My family can call Sal and ask about my size what have I been looking at in my last visit etc. Even the door man remembers my fiancé and I. If they do not have in stock Sal will find it at another store have deliver at my house or I can pick up at the store. The grumpy tailor is great. He will not let you out until he believes the suit, jacket, shirt fits you great!

I’m not the only one! If I thought for a moment that the lousy customer service that I received at this Brooks Brothers store was an isolated experience, I see from the other commentators on this board that it is not.
My ordeal started when I ordered a pair of pants online that costed over $ 300.00. The pants were mislabled. Although they were labeled as being the same exact size and style as the other 15 Brook Brothers pants that I currently have in my closet, pants that I comfortably wear daily to work without any problems, I could not fit into these pants. I couldn’t even button them without sucking air in. When I placed them up against my other pants, the new pants were visibly smaller. For this reason, I was hoping to get the pants altered at no charge, since Brooks Brothers had very clearly made a mistake. As others have pointed out, this is not a cheap store. It may not be Bergdoff Goodman’s or Saks, but neither is it JC Penny or Walmarts, so it’s reasonable to expect certain considerations and a decent level of customer service. I was wrong.
When I entered the store, I was approached by a sales rep and I explained my problem. He told me that the manager was the only one who could decide whether to alter the pants at no charge. The moment that the manager came in through the door, you could tell that she was peeved and I sensed that this was not going to go well. I explained the problem to which she quickly and predictably told me that there would be a charge for altering the pants! She would not do it free of charge. Mind you, all the pants needed was for the waistline to be slightly loosened, but apparently this was beyond the realm of customer service possibility. Instead, she told the tailer to measure my waistline and then told me that I was a larger size. She then told me to go to another location where they might have larger sizes [in fact, when I earlier called Brooks Broothers customer service line, they had told me that they could not verify if the store in question had the larger size]. I explained to her that I like wearing the size that I always buy and I was only asking the tailor to fix the pants, so that they would actually represent the size that was printed on the label. I was wearing that very day, a pair of Brook Brothers which I showed her with the accurate size. All the pants in my closet are of that size, so what’s the problem, I thought? If they’re a tad bit tight on me [according to her and her tailor], but they still fit me and I feel comfortable with them on, that’s my prerogative. But no, she was unmoved. Little did it matter that I had already been inconvienced with a mislabled pair of pants and that I had to come all the way to Manhattan to have them altered. She wanted me to waste more time going to another location on a wild goose chase. Her inflexible attitude was one of «I am not going to give in to you and I am going to prove that you are wrong and I am right.» It was one up’s man at its worst. I ended up so disgusted that I just asked her to refund me. I wasn’t going to pay extra to have the pants altered, when the store made the mistake [not I], a mistake that inconvenienced me, and I didn’t have the time to go running from location to location trying on other sizes in order to take care of the problem that Brooks Brothers created in the first place.
So, she refunded me and put the mislabled pair of pants back into the inventory to no doubt end up being returned by another customer whom they will similarly not fit. How smart is that?
There used to be another manager at that location that was much friendlier and much more accomondating. I am sure that I would not have had any problems with him.
I am very disappointed. This lady needs to be retrained. Poor customer service is apparently endemic at that location from top to bottom and all around.

Everyone pretty much knows the Brooks Brothers look: solid, preppy American classics (some might say boring) — so this review is for the service at this location. The store is fairly big with a wide selection. I walked in looking for a wool overcoat. I browsed a bit, tried on a few coats, picked the one I liked best, and then walked out. This was a perfectly fine retail experience. My only problem was, no one offered to help me find something or suggested an opinion on how the coats fit. I know this isn’t Saks, but I expect (and have gotten at other locations) a higher level of service than that if I am going to spend the money on an expensive coat.
No one on the staff was actively rude or unpleasant, but no one helped me either. Not bad, not great, simply «A-​OK».

In reading over the reviews I agree with both sides those being Good Marks and the Bad one’s. My Uncle shops maybe 1x a year and is Pretty much loyal to BB and J. Crew, he is far from a Snob but we are both in the Retail Industry and expect certain things, especially in the Best City Ever! That being said we were Rushed which is not always a great start for a salesperson (in their defense)…but to work in NYC you need to be prepared for all types of clientele and situations. We were shopping for a Navy Blazer, Sport Coat, Summer Suit, Classic Suit and several pairs of Chinos… Nothing seemed to be in stock, no Biggy, but the HELP PART was pretty poor. Not going to mention the Salesperson due to some loyalty but Management should be the Culprit and be more process driven. I don’t care the status of the Customer because everyone should be Wowed and Have a Great Experience. We did take the Business down the Street.

About half my wardrobe is Brooks Brothers, so the one star has nothing to do with the quality of their clothes. It’s all about the disastrous customer service — the reason I do all my BB binges online now.
I came in to this store because I had lost of the silk knot cufflinks from my BB shirt and needed a replacement pronto as I was on my way to a meeting.
Scene: First floor. One associate is folding sweaters in the front of the store. Another is on the phone at the desk in the back. I walk in and approach the sweater-​folder. He puts up a hand in my face and says he’s busy and can I wait? He keeps folding sweaters. I go up to the desk where I can hear that the ongoing phone conversation is of a personal nature. The associate puts his hand over the receiver and mimes «Just one minute!’, then continues on for much longer than one minute.
There is a jar full of cufflinks on the desk. I just want to grab one.
I go back to the sweater folder and just tell him my problem. He interrupts me and says, «This is the men’s floor. I don’t do women’s clothes. You need to go upstairs».
Guess what’s upstairs? NO ONE. Not a single salesperson to be found.
Return to Mr. Sweaters and tell him the new problem. Deep, exaggerated sigh. Instead of just giving/​selling me a cufflink from the jar upfront, he calls upstairs to summon the female sales person. «She’ll be down in just a minute». I know what that means, and finish War and Peace.
Finally I have someone in front of me who wants to hear what’s going on. She tells me all she can do is sell me a set of silk knot cufflinks for $ 20. Are you kidding? I only need one, they cost a nickel to make, and I KNOW you have a bajillion spares in the back.
I was dressed in suit and shirt that were recent and recognizable BB purchases, so they should have clued into the fact that I’m a loyal customer and cut me some slack. Nope. No budging. I gave in and bought the most overpriced, unnecessary set of cufflinks ever.
This transaction/​frustration took 45 minutes. NEVER AGAIN.

Having shopped in this BB three times, I have to believe that the complaints about customer service here are out of date, at best. I found the service wonderful, especially when delivered by Sandy. She knows fabrics, she knows nuanced differences among the BB offerings, she listens, and she is patient. When I was at the register with a shirt, she noticed a small spot that I could barely see when she pointed it out to me. She arranged for a substitute to be sent to me at BB expense. Sal (mentioned in another review) was once very helpful to me in tracking down an out-​of-​stock item at the Madison Avenue BB. I think this Brooks Brothers has excellent service.

I’ve worn Brooks since they dressed me in short pants many years ago. I just experienced first-​hand some of the many disappointing reviews that I’ve been reading for a few years. In NYC for a few days of shopping, I was looking for a Harris tweed jacket. The Broadway store tried to fit me one size too large (I’m short in the torso) so lots of work would be required — too much, in fact — and on my dime. I declined. I then walked to the Madison location. Although they didn’t try to fit me in something on-​hand, they weren’t very helpful. Headed back to the hotel, I passed Paul Stuart which I’d heard of but never experienced. Great tweedy window. I walked in, and up to the third floor. The jacket I tried on for size — a 39S — was almost perfect, but $ 1,994 (!), about 3x what I had budgeted. Based upon the quality of cashmere & silk and the service, I bought.
Sorry, Brooks Brothers, but your standards have fallen too far. I hope for a turnaround.

I don’t know what the other reviewers here are talking about. This store is hands down the best Brooks Brothers store in NYC and frankly, the best Brooks Brothers store that I have ever had the pleasure of shopping at including D.C. and California stores.
I always work with Sal… he is a king and always goes well out of his way to make sure you get what you want. Even if you don’t buy it from him, I’ve personally seen him spend 20 minutes on the phone with the warehouses and other stores to find me what I want.
Also, the tailor here, I think his name is «Fahdi» is absolutely wonderful. I’ve only ever once in my life experienced a store tailor at his level and it was at a Neiman Marcus in Socal.
The manager of this store even went so far as to replace a blazer for me that I bought from the D.C. store a whole year later that suffered from a botched tailoring job by the D.C. store. He even went so far as to not charge me for the alterations on the replacement blazer.
If that’s not good customer service, I don’t know what is.

I have been getting my clothes from Brooks Brothers since I was, oh, I don’t know, 5 years old, when I got my first navy blazer in kindergarten. I have shopped at Brooks Brothers all over the country and even the shop in Paris. Brooks Brothers service can be hit-​and-​miss, but man oh man, this store has THE WORST SERVICE hands down.
The last time I was there, I’ve given it several chances, I asked a 1^st floor sales lady a basic question about some item and she literally just stared at me wide-​eyed, shook her head no (it wasn’t a yes/​no question) and just stood there with her mouth open and eyes wide. So I followed up with, «No? No response… You don’t know or… what?» And she just stood there staring in some sort of trance-​like state and shook her head no again. Do your drugs off the sales floor lady.
Everyone else in the store is rude as well. I had a huge pile of clothing that I was ready to purchase, but wanted to make sure the fit was right and asked a sales person who was just hanging around for a fitting room. He huffed and puffed, made no response and walked away. I went up to another sales person and asked for a fitting room, without saying anything, he charged over to the first guy I asked and they got into a tiff over who was going to let me in the fitting room. The first guy walked abruptly toward the fitting rooms without saying anything or even looking at me, so I followed and he opened the door and then states, «Be sure to clean out the room when you’re done» and walked off. Everything fit so I headed over to the register and the sales people were either standing around or fluffing sweaters and no one would ring up my sale. So, with pile in hand, I started walking over to the guy who let me in the fitting room, he literally walked away on me. I turned toward some other sales people and said, «Does anyone want a sale?» and they either continued their conversations or kept fluffing away. I walked back in the dressing room, threw down the clothes and left.
I am done with this location.

The staff here is rude. The staff has an attitude and feels that you are essentially just inconveniencing them. I walked in this week and came in to discover an empty store. I appeared to be the only one there on the ground level. I asked questions like «do you have this pattern in my size?». The lady immediately gave me an impression that I was inconveniencing her somehow. Any question was answered in such a way to project that she was very busy and that she was doing me a favor by agreeing to help me.
Brooks Brothers, that’s not the way sales is done. Some may be turned on by this, maybe they will be fooled into thinking that Brooks is some sort of incredible elite because they can act so arrogantly. But of course, that’s not the case for most.
People go there to buy, the sales people should be friendly, positive and helpful. That’s all that’s really needed to sell and sell well.
Brooks brothers staff, get over yourself.
Two stars because actually, the shirts are nice. The service isn’t.

I’ve come here three times within a one year span. And each time, I’ve never been given good service. More specifically, the staff seems to try to avoid me at all costs.
I thought it was in my head, so last week I decided to make sure I wasn’t being ridiculous. I spotted a salesperson hanging around a table near the top of the escalator, so I went to examine a pair of gloves that were on that table; I was standing next to him. I expressed my interest quite visually and even said, «Hmm!» as if I wished to purchase it. The saleman quite handily moved away, rounding a corner so that he was out of sight.
I repeated the same experiment in the suit section. Same old story.
Now, there must be a good reason for this. Maybe I was dressed shoddily, in ratty baggy jeans and a T-​shirt proclaiming my allegiance to hip-​hop.
But no. I was dressed in a three-​piece bespoke suit, a suit that exceeds the quality (and price, not that price is an immediate indicator of a suit’s merits) of a Brooks Brothers suit. Well groomed and well dressed, I was there to spend some money, so I was irritated at how nobody seemed willing to help me part with my cash.
The staff are helpful (enough) and polite if I actually go up to them, but they will try their best to avoid acknowledging my existence by turning away and walking around corners. I’m not greeted at the door. For crying out loud, even Best Buy and Blockbuster greets their customers at the door.
The odd thing is that they seem quite happy to help other customers who have no indication that they are well-​monied. Rather, I always see them happily helping fellows who appear to be less financially fortunate: the shaggy haired tourist who wears a shoddy leather jacket, the working class man who wears jeans and a denim jacket.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m not judging people on how much they have in their bank accounts (I only *look* like I have lots). But it just seems odd that they would prefer to help a man who looks like he lives paycheck to paycheck rather than someone who looks to be well off. Regardless of how I look, I should be given the same level of service as every other person who comes into the store.
On the whole, the service has much to be desired. Perhaps it is not the status quo, but they aren’t very knowledgable about online merchandise; I wished to purchase the one piece stick umbrella in person so that I could save on shipping, but they had no clue what I was talking about.
I am not sure if my experience is unique to me, so by all means, please visit this Brooks Brothers location. But please do report back about the service, because this is rather befuddling to me: everywhere else I go (particularly on Fifth Avenue), I am treated rather well, with people calling me sir and tending to my needs with great courtesy and respect.

This is definitely one of the best Brooks Brothers I’ve been to, mostly because the tailor there is fantastic. I’ve been coming here for about two years now, since around the time the store on Fifth Avenue closed. If you need to have your Brooks Brothers suits or pants altered, this is the place to go to.