Buckle

Full review
Buckle has vastly improved their website over the past year! I worked at a Buckle store for about a year, so I know quite a bit about what the store in general has to offer both in the areas of merchandise and customer service. The most disappointing thing to me was always the website. It lacked most of what the store had to offer. It made mention of only some of the customer services and showed very little of what a store would actually have in stock.
The online store has now finally caught up to the real store! It still does not include everything that is available in the realm of merchandise, but a wide selection is available nonetheless. All the wonderful customer services are mentioned.
Buckle is a store that is on the upper end of quality and brands. They cover all spectrums of clothing, including brands ranging from their own name brand, to Lucky, Billabong and Hurley, Ecko/Ecko Red, Fubu, and so on. They carry accessories such as Fossil and Kenneth Cole watches, and shoes like Dr. Marten's, Skechers, and KSwiss. Any style from "preppy" to "urban" can be found.

Buckle's fabulous customer service is what always impressed me about the store. The online store now offers these. I'll make mention of some of them:

*The actual Buckle store provides layaway. This is something that I very rarely see in non-department stores. Their policy is 20% down, 60 days for the rest. There are no fees to put something in layaway and a reminder is sent out if your deadline is closing in. However, if the 60 days do pass without complete payment or refund of your purchase, the money put down toward the purchase becomes store credit. I must note that I am not sure this option is available on the online store. Chances are it would be a very risky procedure for the store to offer this online, though I do see it as an important enough service offered by the store itself to make mention of it.

*Buckle offers FREE gift wrap. It does not have to be Christmas and no money is required other than the actual purchase. Believe it or not, we are even trained on how to make it look professional!

*They offer a service called the "primo card." Every $10 spent on a purchase receives a punch on this card. This card will be sent with your online purchase. Once the card is filled, you receive $10 off your next purchase. I will admit that it takes 30 punches to fill the card, but note that the card does NOT expire. So for example, if you buy a pair of Dr. Marten's shoes that cost $130.00, you receive 13 punches on your card. The punches really can add up.

*Buckle, like most other stores, does offer its own credit card. Details and an online application are available on the site.

*Buckle has its own mailing list. Periodically, a small catalog of the latest styles may be sent to you. These catalogs usually have coupons on the back of them as well. This is not something where you receive lots of junk mail. The mailings take place about 2-4 times a year.

*Buckle offers a wish list. This allows you to go onto the site and simply put on a list the things you would like to get. This is especially helpful around holidays and birthdays. For example, a son/daughter may go onto the site and make up a sort of Christmas list. This list can be made to be shared so that parents and friends may view the list and have easy gift ideas. Complete it with the free gift wrap and a parent's shopping has just become much simpler. Not to mention, the son/daughter is ensured to get something they actually wanted.

*Buckle offers a gift card. This is also common to many stores now. The card is reusable. Money can be placed on it at any time and used at any time.

I'm sure that I'm forgetting some of the services offered, but this already puts Buckle ahead of most other stores. The online store tries to make things very easy to follow. All the links are listed right along the side making it easy to find what you're looking for. It's particularly hard to figure out your size when shopping on any online store. Buckle tries to make this as easy as possible. It even includes a page devoted to how to measure yourself for jeans to ensure you get the best possible fit.
All return/exchange policies are stated on the website. For example, if something does not fit you need to return it to your nearest actual store. You cannot receive cash back for an online purchase (because you did not pay in cash for an online purchase). Therefore money would either be returned to your card, or an exchange can be made at the store. The online store pretty effectively states all the policies involved in doing business, including payment options (all major credit cards and their own Buckle card).
The one main criticism that I have of Buckle is the pricing. This store tends to be more expensive. I do have to give them credit though, because the clothes and accessories are very high quality. This comes from experience. From working there, I have everything from jeans and tops, to a watch, to shoes/sandals, and jewelry. My collection started June of 2000 and I have not had a problem yet. The things that cost more, are higher quality. That's not to say that the things that don't cost as much are of poor quality. When dealing with brand names, things will always get more expensive. When they put their own brand name on it (i.e. BKE--men, BKLE--women), they are able to sell it for less. Overall, I recommend this site and this store in general. You should not be disappointed.

On a final note, I do want to make it clear that I no longer work there. I have no way of benefitting from giving them such a good review. I am just particularly knowledgeable about the services I myself was impressed with and was glad to be able to pass onto others during my time of employment there.

A customer service numbers is also provided on the site to take questions.