1 /5 Noah Chloe Swindle: As a 6month pregnant woman, let me tell you I WILL NEVER do an ONLINE INSTORE PICKUP EVER AGAIN. I can provide dates, times, texts and proof.
I had an extremely upsetting experience at Aerie that left me feeling embarrassed, accused, and disrespected. I was treated like a CRIMINAL.
I made an ONLINE order for IN-STORE PICKUP while 6 months pregnant, ordering elastic-waist jeans. I arrived with my order number, receipt, and email confirmation.
An associate took me to the dressing room area, unlocked the pickup locker with her device, opened the sealed package herself, and did not hand it to me unopened. She removed the jeans from the package and handed them to me directly.
I asked if I could try them on before leaving due to my pregnancy, and she said yes. She took the jeans back from me, unlocked a fitting room, and hung them up herself. I was wearing maternity leggings and a maternity top at the time.
I tried the jeans on, changed back into my clothes, and let her know they were too tight and that I wanted to return or exchange them for a larger size.
At that point, she examined the jeans and said, “Oh my gosh, you must have stolen these because there is no white tag on them. This is a big deal. You can’t even exchange them.”
I explained (again) that this was an online in-store pickup and that she herself opened the package, handed me the jeans, and hung them up in the fitting room. She agreed that she had opened the package and handed them to me — but then accused me of removing the white tag, despite the fact that the jeans were never in my possession before she opened them.
She then stated the jeans were “no good” and that a manager would need to be involved.
Being accused of theft, especially when the associate controlled the item from the moment it was opened, was humiliating and unacceptable. I was treated like a criminal for something that was completely out of my control.
This experience has made me very hesitant to shop at Aerie again unless serious retraining is done on customer service, in-store pickup procedures, and how to treat pregnant customers with basic respect.