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Kiyonna
- Hours:
Mon-Fri. 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
3 reviews for Kiyonna
This company rocks, and not just because there are so few designers catering to plus-size women who want stylish, close-to-couture level clothing. They honestly put mass market places like Lane Bryant to SHAME.
I purchased two dresses via their online site in order to choose one to wear to a girlfriend's upcoming wedding in Texas. Alas, when the dresses arrived, they were beautiful, just way too big in the chest area. (I gained about 30 pounds over the course of a year-EEK! and thus when shopping went up a size or 2 from what I wore 6 months ago.) The wedding is in less than a week, so I called the Kiyonna sales department & asked if it would be possible for me to make my return in person, since I live in California. Its only about 35 miles... YES, I was willing to go the distance to make these returns before my trip so there would be no shipping issues & worrying about finding another dress.... I spoke with a very sweet associate named Vanessa, who said that it would be no problem at all to make my return in person, gave me directions & told me their shop hours.
Fast forward to this afternoon: I get to Anaheim about 30 minutes before the Kiyonna headquarters is to close, and as Vanessa has gone for the day, am helped by the nicest salesgirl I have ever encountered in my life: Michelle. She not only graciously accepted my returns, but then suggested I might want to look at some of the new dresses in their in-house boutique shop to see if I could find a better fit in a smaller size.
Ladies, this store-above-an-office setting is BEAUTIFUL. Large, spacious dressing rooms with full length mirrors, damask drapes & curtains, rich, dark hardwood floors and chandelier lighting. It looks like a loft apartment--I would freakin' LIVE in this shop. Every dress their site offers is hung beautifully by occasion-type, size and color on polished graduated racks. There are even a few rows of sample sale clearance dresses, too.
Michelle helpfully pulled several different colors & styles for me as I tried on a few of their newest arrivals, and even suggested a few dresses that would better fit my body type-to my surprise, I was two sizes SMALLER than I'd previously thought! (Never met a girl who didn't love to hear that she WASN't quite as FAT as assumed!)
By the time I left, I'd found two beautiful, perfect-fitting dresses to wear on my upcoming trip, and even got a little cash BACK as the dresses I'd selected were both on sale for less than I'd originally spent.
So this place gets a solid 5 star rating, from the selection, to the great customer service both on the phone & in person. Shit, if I lived a little closer to Anaheim, I would want to WORK for them! Kiyonna's a winner all around!
So, here's the thing...
I have long been a fan of Kiyonna's wears, while I shop online frequently here, I have never made it to the store, but if the customer service is anything like that of their ecommerce site, its worth a visit.
I had bought a dress from the site awhile back, and after its first washing it ended up ruined, even though I take impeccable care of my goods, and clothing too, a quick email to the customer service website, and I was able to send my dress in and they replaced it for free, that's tits in my book.
Check out their jeans, great trouser cuts and high quality denim, pick up some of their amazing knit dresses and you'll feel like a million bucks.
People thought this was:
- Useful (1)
- Cool (1)
A bit overpriced, but the simple & flattering dress silhouettes are hard to resist. I was a frequent shopper of theirs for quite a while.
The reason I am writing this review is to write about a bad experience with them, hence the low rating. Hopefully this will help other people.
I'm on top of ensuring that my returns are completed in a timely manner, especially from online stores, so last Sept, I noticed that it had been several months and I had not received a refund for an order I returned in July.
I called Kiyonna about it and they were completely clueless - they claimed they never received the package. It was escalated to a "manager" who ranks up there with one of the rudest sales people I've ever spoken to. I was accused of lying even though I had the package tracking # and proof of delivery as well as a signature for the person who accepted the package.
They said they needed to look into it and would call me back. I was never called back. After back and forth for several hours and calls, I finally received the refund for the items I had returned - albeit 3 months later (by law, a merchant must post a credit for a refund or return to your account within 30 calendar days of the date that they received the goods back).
The worst part of the whole story though is that during this time, I checked to make sure I got refunded for all of my other previous orders and I discovered that an order I returned in February hadn't been refunded (my fault for not noticing).
When I asked Kiyonna about the Feb return, they were fully aware: they had received the merchandise and never credited me. The rep didn't know why.
I did get both refunds, but earning interest on my money for 3 & 7 months respectively, AND likely selling the returned items to other customers = unethical & shady in my book.
I honestly have to question whether they were even going to refund me for the order I returned in Feb. They were well aware that it wasn't refunded and never contacted me to let me know it was delayed for any reason.
In short, great dresses but horrible management and unethical business practices.
I would actually suggest checking out http://IGIGI.com for similar dress silhouettes - they're very similar to Kiyonna & I haven't had any issues with refunds.
People thought this was:
- Useful (2)
Comment from Kim C. of
Kiyonna
9/1/2009
Dear L.V., Your experience with Kiyonna should be of the…
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Specialties
Our goal at Kiyonna is to make you look and feel amazing in our line of stylish dresses, separates and lingerie. We specialize in sizes 0x-5x and always have someone here to help you get the right fit, size, and style.
History
Established in 1996
In 1996, Kim Camarella-Khanbeigi was an aspiring entrepreneur with just one problem. She didn't have a business idea. Nope, with the rise of the "dot com" era, revolutionizing how plus size women's clothing was perceived and distributed was not something she could have dreamed up. Well, that is, until she went on vacation.
On vacation with her girlfriend, Kim noticed that none of her friend's clothes had any labels in them. When asked why, her friend said it was her mom who had to make everything for her as no cute clothes were available past a size 16. At this point in the story, picture Kim's face (she's a cute brunette) and then up and slightly to the left a very bright lightbulb.
So armed with her lightbulb moment, Kiyonna was born. Fast forward 13 years and today, Kiyonna can be found in over 100 stores and online business accounts for over 80% of sales. In 2007, the company opened its first Flagship retail location called the Upstairs Boutique in Anaheim.