Does JoAnn's Stores Cheat The Public?

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Do JoAnn's Stores Cheat The Public?

Posted September 24, 2011

We have always regarded JoAnn's Fabric Stores to be our last choice to buy fabric. Not only are their prices generally higher than other sources but we have always felt their measuring and cutting of fabric was overly tight. Most stores allow an inch or so at the beginning of the cut to compensate for an irregular edge or frayed fabric, etc., but not JoAnn's. We have long suspected it was a company policy because it appears to happen in every store.

JoAnn's uses a cutting "V" groove at the end of a yardstick to measure and cut fabric. If you look closely you will see that the middle of the cutting "V" is at 36 inches. However, the employees who measure and cut more than one yard tend to "pinch" the fabric at the edge of the cutting "V", effectively shorting each yard by a fraction of an inch. This is more than speculation. One day we complained to a woman at JoAnn's who did what we thought was an overly tight measurement. She copped an attitude and quickly went through the measurement charade again, triumphantly showing us her measurement was correct. When we got home, we re-measured the six yards of fabric to find the 6-yard cut was some 5 inches short. We do not believe that was an accident. We rarely went to JoAnn's again after that.

We stumbled across a blog that supports our opinion. On The Quilting Board at http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-155280-5.htm#4285806, a blog titled Jo-Ann Fabrics Employees.

Sep 23, 11 by luvstitches
I used to work there and they made us pinch the fabric so the customer didn't get 1/16th of an inch more.
Yes,you watch them and count with them.

Sep 24, 11 by quiltymom
I used to work at Jo Anns a few years ago . then we always gave an extra thumb to make sure you weren't cheated BUT corperate came down hard on that they said " they said if they did that for every customer they would loose alot of money". So now there very tight to the ruler.

Sep 24, 11 by grann of 6
I used to work at a Joanns about 10 years ago. One thing we were warned about early on was to cut PRECISELY on the line for correct yardage, no more, no less. They said if everyone got 1" over the correct measurement the store would lose a yard of fabric for every 36 customers. That would amount to quite a lot of money each day. So if you count shrinkage when washing, fabric being crooked from all the sizing, you should get 1/4 yard extra each time you get fabric from Joanns. That is why I rarely get fabric there.

Sep 24, 11 by margecam52
Yep, worked there, as an assistant manager...you pinch..you aren't supposed to go a thread over...makes me laugh to think about it...inventory...we didn't measure...we counted folds on the bolt and estimated..duh!

Former employees admitting what we suspected. Some of the postings defended JoAnn's and some pointed out that you get shorted at other stores as well. But it appears that JoAnn's has a policy of very tight cuts and we believe that that policy is designed to short the cut, effectively cheating the buyer.

Sep 24, 11 by msmariab5
I have complain to the to HQ and I get no responds from them. So its like spitting in the wind!!! they don't care and the next closes joann's is 2 hrs. away. I think we should boycott them until someone responds.

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