The Harvard Shop

I hate to have to write a review like this, but I must be honest. I will not purchase from here again. To qualify my review, I’ll start by indicating that I am a MN resident and made my purchase online. I ordered my daughter 2 Harvard t-​shirts for her birthday. She wears a small to medium in almost everything she wears, so I ordered her both 2-​shirts in a Medium. When the shirts arrived and we opened the package, I was dismayed to find that the shirts were VERY small… so small that they wouldn’t even fit my very skinny 12-​year-​old son. In fact, the shirts wouldn’t even fit over a small teddy bear that we had. So, I wrote an email to the Harvard Shop, indicating that the sizing was just not right. They responded by indicate that their return policy was the following:
Our return policy is simple and straightforward: we value your business and support and we will do everything we can to make sure that you are completely satisfied with your purchase!
So, I responded to the email, indicating that I would like to return the shirts for 2 different shirts entirely, and I indicated the sizes (I didn’t want to risk ordering the same shirt and even a L or XL being too small). I also printed the email exchange and placed it in the envelope with the shirts that I was returning. My email also indicated that they could contact me if the new shirts cost more, and I would provide a credit card #.
No one responded to my email until today when they received the shirts, and then they indicated that they only exchange for the same shirt. (Their email only said to let them know what color/​size I wanted to exchange the shirts for). Because they knew that the sizing was very off a typical Adult Medium, I think it was legitimate for me to order different shirts, to ensure we didn’t have the same problem.
To make a long story short, they at first only refunded the shirts and told me I needed to make my new order online (even though I told them what I wanted). I told them they didn’t seem to be following their policy, and eventually they refunded my shipping too.
My point here is that they need to be very specific in what they will do for a customer… if they were only planning to exchange for the same shirt, their policy and email should have stated «we are happy to exchange your shirts for the SAME shirts in a different size.‘
I appreciate that this is a student run business… but I hope they will consider that clarity to a customer is important, as well as friendliness. And don’t send me the line about my business being valued if it isn’t.
In closing, I bought the new shirts elsewhere.