Get Live Help At J.Jill (While They Try To Sell You More Stuff!)

The other night I was trying to get a little shopping done after everyone was in bed. I found this belt at Jjill.com that I liked, but I had some questions I needed answered before buying it--the site indicated "sm" and "l-xl" as sizing options. Did "sm" mean "small" or "small to medium"? Then I saw in the main description said the belt is 50" long, so I didn't get how the sizing would work if the belts were all one length anyways. I sat there trying to figure it out on my own for five minutes--with no luck. Then I saw a note about live help. It said in big letters "Questions? Get answers in an instant! Chat now with our live concierge!" What the heck, I gave it a try.

"May" got on the line to help me. I asked her my belt question and, to my surprise, she said she needed to "obtain the information"--it wasn't just something she knew or could get quickly. So I sat there for a second or two. Then I saw that May was typing so I thought I was about to get my answer, when I got this instead:

"...please take a moment to view our online specials while I research your request."

And, of course, it was followed by a URL. I guess it's the equivalent of hold music or messaging when you're calling the service center.

My gut reaction, when I was sitting there waiting for May to answer my question, was frustration. I'd just made the effort to ask for help, and I really just wanted an answer to my question, not another tangent to follow, especially not another tangent that was trying to sell me something irrelevant to my inquiry.

Sure, I understand that retailers want to leverage the power of that focused attention, and I get the idea of letting people browse while you're helping them, but still, how many things did they really need to try and sell me BEFORE they let me know that the site miscommunicated--there was no "sm" or "x-xl"-- just one 50" belt?