L.L. Bean Meets the Internet Frontier
Written: Aug 13 '01 (Updated Aug 13 '01)
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The Bottom Line
Beanerific browsing is delightful, but for focused ordering, phone is faster than online.
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I admit: if I had a larger budget, I would order everything in my home from L.L. Bean. Quilts, sofas, backpacks, sandals, coats, wreaths: you name it, L.L. Bean has it, excellent quality and sterling customer service. When I heard L.L. Bean opened an online store, I knew I had to surf on by.
The site is well laid out and easy to navigate. Users can register and create a password for easier ordering. Items are arranged logically (women's clothes, subheadings of shirts, outerwear, shoes, etc.), and the sale section is nothing to sneeze at. Users can also sign up for e-mail updates on promotions or new products L.L. Bean is introducing.
Like I said, I love L.L. Bean; my Campus Carryall from 1992 is still one of my favorite bags, and my anorak from 1993 still looks great (I think!). Unfortunately, L.L. Bean's quality comes at a price, usually far exceeding what I can spend. Therefore most of my time in the online store has been browsing the sale section. The online store often has sale items not advertised in the print catalogs, so it is worth checking every so often.
I recently ordered my favorite sweater in a different color from the online store. I proceeded through the ordering process without event until right before I got to the second to last checkout screen. At that point an obscure (to me, at least) error message popped up. I tried to begin again, refresh the page, do any of my tiny handful of computer tricks, to no avail. Then I discovered one of the great amenities of the L.L. Bean online store: live (real-time) technical support. Within a minute of signing on, a tech support person named Leah came on and asked me a few questions, then told me I had to log in to avoid that error message. She profusely apologized for any inconvenience.
Well, then I went to log in, and couldn't remember my i.d./password. Unbelievable. Sadly, L.L. Bean will not e-mail absent minded folks like me their password: you have to call to retrieve it. At this point I decided to forget the whole thing and just call to order using the online order number. The lady I talked to on the phone was courteous and laughed at all the right places when I retold my tale of woe. Within two minutes my order was taken care of.
Subsequently I used the online store to order another sale item (again without logging in, since I felt too stupid to ask for my password), and had no problem. My lovely jacket arrived today, at 55% off!
So, if you spend a lot of time online and enjoy browsing online stores, L.L. Bean can be a rewarding site to visit. The technical glitches aside, it's still faster (and more fun) to talk to the very friendly folks up in Maine.
A note: I have an L.L. Bean Visa, which I generally save for L.L. Bean purchases because it offers free shipping and monogramming. This way sale items are not offset by the price of shipping.
Recommended:
Yes
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About the Author
Member: Kristin
Location: Warren, NJ
Reviews written: 36
Trusted by: 7 members
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