Basic scrubs and a crowded homepage, but not bad.
Written: Sep 17 '07
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Because we are in a rural area (and because our Director of Nursing likes us), we have nearby Uniform stores showcase their new styles and patterns every couple of months or so. Often this happens during work hours and,by the time I get there, most styles are sold out, the colors or sizes I want are not available or I simply don't like what they have. The prices these stores offer are competitive, but I've seen the same scrubs cheaper online.
Jasco always supplies us with catalogs, but I really don't have the time to sit and browse through their selection. So I thought I give the online store a try.
The link http://www.jascouniforms.com brought me to their website and, at first glance, a lot of confusion. The Homepage is packed with information. If you know what you are looking for it's not too bad, but if you are buying your first set of scrubs, or just want to look, then it's a typical case of TMI (too much information).
To top of the page gives me nine links to choose from. I can order a catalog (Why? I'm already online), get information on how to order, have my questions answered, can check out embroidery services and so on.
The far left of the site gives me even more options. Not only can I search the site by brand, by type of scrubs (tops, bottoms or sets), but also by brand. Then there aer the accessories. From gifts to watches to kids items, it's all here. A total of 28 links right here. Underneath more links to check my order, find out what Nursing associations are listed and a small box with Brand name logos, just in case I didn't see that in the many links above. Add to that a box to sign up and the bizrate rating and I'm done reading.
The rest of the page is equally crowded. Uniforms from top to bottom, this time in pictures. Eighteen little boxes give me pretty much the same information as the link box on the left, but they do carry pictures this time. Oh boy, where to start.
Searching the site is easy. Once I know what I am looking for, I click on the link or the picture and I'm forwarded to the next page. I'm looking for a scrub top first, then for pants. I like prints more than solid colors, but don't like cartoon characters. Work does not give me any rules as to what I can wear, as long as it's scrubs. I'd recently seen some scrubpants that can be rolled up like capris on some of my co-workers. The boss is okay with us wearing these, so I decided I try to find them on the site.
I now have four options. Scrub pants, all sizes, Page 1; scrub pants, all sizes, Page 2; Scrub pants in petite sizes and scrub pants in tall sizes. I like my scrub pants long, but I'm only 5'5", so the first two options are my only....well...option. I click on the first link. It tells me that I am on page 1 of 2 pages and lets me choose between 13 pants from different brands and in a variety of colors and styles. Each style gives me information in how many colors the pant is available. Unfortunately the kind I want are not listed here.
Instead of having to hit the back button on my browser to go to the next page, I can simply hit the "next" key on either the top or the bottom right hand side of the page.
I do that and expect to be carried to the second page of scrub pants, all sizes, page 2. Instead I am on the site for petite sizes. Hmm, what happened here. They are nice scrubs, but I am not petite. So maybe I have to hit the back button after all. I do that and get more confused than ever. Now I get to see the second page of scrubs for all sizes, but then again I can't get to the petite option. So back button every time. I think I got that now.
I skip the petite section, but note that I would have 11 types of pants to choose from. But since the sizing and proportions are all wrong for my frame, I don't take a closer look.
Back button again and on to the tall sizes. I get one pair of pants to choose from, but it comes in 11 different colors. So the pants I wanted are not available.
Overall the pant selection is good. I can choose from regular, straight leg pants; low riders (nothing better than showing a bit of crack when bending over a Patient); the ones with elastic around the ankle and flared pants. Waists are either drawstring only, drawstring with elastic or just elastic. So not bad, but nothing spectacular.
Having exhausted the pant selection, I move on to the tops. I don't like the Holiday themed tops, because paying for a top that I can only wear once or twice a year is not my style. The tops are laid out in pretty much the same fashion as the pants. I can sort by pattern (floral prints, animal prints, etc.), style or brand. The selection here is also good, but not spectacular.
Through this website I can also order shoes, nursing accessories like blood pressure cuffs, stethoscopes (darn it, I paid $130.00 for mine, I can get it here for $80.00) and day to day necessities like watches and scissors. The watches are either cute (Betty Boop anyone) and mostly have plastic or fabric bands. I'm allergic to Latex, so no plastic for me and I don't like fabric bands, because with the many times I wash my hands each day, the band would quickly become soaked. I could only find one watch with a metal band, but it wasn't what I was looking for, so no deal here.
Eventhough I did not exactly find what I was looking for today, I still want to tell you about the ordering process. I have ordered items from the site before.
To order, I simply add the item(s) I want to my cart, then fill out the shipping information. Because we usually place orders for multiple people, we have the order shipped to our work address and the bill goes to whoever does the ordering. It's nice to have this option, because who wants to lug a huge box (or several boxes) across the parking lot, through the building and then distribute everything to the right people.
Only after filling out this information can I view the shipping charges. They range from a mere $5.50 for orders under $12.00 to almost $26.00 for orders of $750.00 or more. Somehow I always hope that my shipping charges get cheaper the more I order. You know that whole discount thing and so on. But not here. If I order a $30.00 item, I would have to pay almost $8.00 for regular delivery, $19.99 for 2nd day air and almost $27.49 for next day air.
Besides ordering online, I can also order by phone, fax or mail. I assume that is for people who are reluctant to give out their credit card information online. It's a nice touch that they offer this.
If I place a bulk order or order for an institution, I can also submit my order by fax or mail. I don't do that, so can't comment on how easy/difficult this would be.
Nowhere on the site does it tell me who does the delivery. I think we have received our shipments from both UPS and FED EX, but don't hold me to that.
I can pay for my order with the usual major credit cards, Discover Card or by Check. I've never paid by Check, but I believe the check has to clear before my order is shipped.
Delivery times range from just a few days to almost 2 weeks.
Once my order is placed I typically receive a confirmation e-mail. I assume I will also receive an e-mail if an item is out of stock, but I never had that happen, so can't comment on that.
Once my package arrives the items are usually in great shape. They might show some wrinkles from traveling in a box, but nothing that a wash and my iron can't take care of. Depending on the brand, the workmanship is good to excellent. But even if it's not that's not necessarily Jasco's fault.
I've never had to process a return to Jasco, so I don't know what their return policy is. The site tells me that I can return any item within 30 days for a refund or exchange.
Prices on the site range from $5.99 for T-shirts and some scrubs to the mid twenties for scrubs items and the high 30s for some accessories. This is about average for scrubs and only the designer scrubs usually run more.
I was dumb enough to pay almost $60.00 for a srub set one time and I will never do that again. They looked great, but of course a Patient had to empty his stomach contents on them within minutes of me starting work and I didn't have time to change until much later. They went in the garbage the same day.
Overall this is a great site for basic scrubs and nursing accessories. The prices match our low pay (now there's a hint for the Boss) and ordering is easy. I find the shipping charges a bit high and will deduct a half a star for that. I will also deduct a half a star for the home page which is a bit too packed for my taste. This makes it an overall 4.0 stars, but barely. The site really is not above average, but I will leave the four stars simply because the selection is more than adequate as far as basic scrubs go and the multitude of available colors make up a bit for the crowded page.
Recommended:
Yes
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germank106
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Location: middle of nowhere, MO
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