5/5

posted Nov-30-2010
The site has a relatively clean and uncluttered design and easy navigation. Most item pages use scene7 for display and zooming. Product reviews are listed on the same page as the item. Easy to select sizes and colors. Some of the color variations are hard to distinguish, even zoomed. Inventory (in/out of stock) notices are usually accurate.
Selection is highly variable. Items seem to sell out in popular sizes and/or colors fairly fast. Don't count on something you see today being there tomorrow. Some of the more popular items are apparently restocked regularly. Quality of apparel is usually very good. Color selection on many items is limited and should be more diverse.
Checkout can be a bit tedious and keeping up with seasonal discounts a pain. Once placed, an order doesn't appear for at least 24 hours. No idea why the delay. They also charge $3.00 for handling on every online order (outside of shipping costs) because "we have to send your order to the warehouse". Well, duh! No idea why it costs $3.00 to send an invoice to a warehouse, except that they probably use UPS or some other shipper to manage their warehouses. Signing up for their email notices results in a flood. During the holiday season, expect 1 to 2 emails per day.
Overall, a good shopping experience with decent prices on quality items. Unusual delay in their order processing is about the only negative I've experienced so far. Have never had to return an item, so no experience with their customer service department. I would recommend Eddie Bauer from my experiences (4 orders).