Comments on: Retailer’s rights to return defective products (shrinkage)

By: Fashion Incubator » Returns policies for defective goods

Fashion Incubator » Returns policies for defective goods — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 16:07:29 +0000

[...] As it relates to wholesale returns generally, you shouldn’t take anything back (ever) unless it is due to defects. Anything else amounts to a consignment agreement. So, on wholesale non-defective goods, no returns [...]

By: stuart_ah

stuart_ah — Wed, 05 May 2010 01:48:01 +0000

The latest faulty purchase – in a long list of faulty purchases –

Well, I guess you are right. I suppose I don’t know either. Previous product faultiness (is that a word?) didn’t end up in painful injury, so I would buy small things like can openers and the like. But you are right. I should have known better and not shopped there at all, no matter how small the purchase.

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Wed, 05 May 2010 00:59:25 +0000

The latest faulty purchase – in a long list of faulty purchases –

I understand your frustration. What I don’t understand is why you continue to shop there if you’ve had such negative experiences. Each dollar is a vote. Don’t vote for them.

By: stuart_ah

stuart_ah — Wed, 05 May 2010 00:35:42 +0000

Bed Bath & Beyond sells products that are below standard. The latest faulty purchase – in a long list of faulty purchases – has caused hundreds of $ in medical bills, and there will be more bills in the upcoming weeks and months. BB&B loves to sell products that are below standard and has no problem saying they will not accept liability for any of their products. They sell cheap products – cheap because of design flaws, cheap because of corner cutting in production. My latest faulty purchase … a shopping cart – by Faucet Queen (all black with plastic back wheels). The front wheels ‘trip’ on the slightest uneven patch in a pavement. I managed to catch the cart from pitching forward several times. Several times, except one. And I went flying forward. I contacted the company immediately. They seemed professional and sincere, at first. But what a croc. As the ‘claims’ process went along professionalism and sincerity turned into rudeness and an ‘up yours’ attitude.

By: Anaka Narayanan

Anaka Narayanan — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 14:35:02 +0000

Well of course a customer should be able to return a garment if it shrinks, or if a garment that says it can be washed in water then bleeds and get stained. BUt just out of curiosity- don’t large retailers wash all fabrics before tailoring to ensure that shrinkage won’t be a problem?
I once had an experience where a customer had washed a garment and then found that it had been stretched at the seams and the darts. The garment had a clear washing instruction “gentle handwash only”, and I suspect she either put it into the machine or she bought a size or two too small and the stress at the seam was too much for the thin fabric. I normally hate to do such exchanges/refunds, especially when I knew we had sold 20 other tops in the same style and fabric and no one else had complained, but I finally did give her a refund because I wanted her to stop yelling at me and I hoped she would come back again (she didn’t !! ).

By: Anne

Anne — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 19:50:29 +0000

I order all my knits preshrunk from the mill. It is worth the extra cost to me, knowing that the shrinkage will be 1% or less (which tested true in my wash tests), and that I don’t have to worry about different colors shrinking differently. In infantwear, a little bit of shrinkage can make a big difference in fit!

By: CDBehrle

CDBehrle — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 17:24:13 +0000

It always surprises me when companies do not allow for shrinkage, or similarly for differences between fabrications that may be used in the same style. Recently I noticed a new designer’s exciting and brilliant looking work (I loved it for the very interesting cuts & complexity of the pattern making) super-super marked down. One trip to the dressing room with a big bunch of garments made it very clear. Not one piece fit properly in more than one fabrication, between the three to four styles in 3 different fabrications (each) maybe 2 or 3 pieces fit. It seemed obvious s to me the designer simply took patterns created for say, a slinky, slightly stretchy fabric and cut the same pieces into say a drapey-no-stretch-whatsoever fabric (and visa-versa) and expected it to work! It made me so sad to see such technically beautiful work on the original patternmakers part, destroyed. When a garment was in it’s originally intended fabric -you could tell immediatley- it was a dream. I cannot imagine this small designer survived the return rate they must have gotten.

I’ve hardly ever have to deal with this issue (thankfully) working in leather, but recently I have had to make a secondary pattern for my stretch leggings, to retain the fit between 2 different stretch leather sources. Big changes.

By: Rocio

Rocio — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:08:39 +0000

I think it’s important to point out the different situations that call for a shrinkage allowance:

A) Shrinkage due to Garment / Piece Dye or wash (applies to both knits and wovens)
The tests provided by the mill become irrelevant, because chances are they didn’t test it with the exact same type of wash, machine, etc

B) Shrinkage due to Heat Transfers or Silk Screening (mainly knits)
This can be accounted for in the pattern after making one sample

C) Shrinkage due to spreading fabrics without relaxing (knits)
The fabrics need to be allowed to “recover” off the rolls before spreading and cutting… otherwise they will recover on the hanger

D) Shrinkage due to steaming or pressing before shipping (knits)
This is usually caught at the sampling stage if the same fabric source is being used for production

E) Shrinkage due to average wash / tumble drying by consumer
We’ve found that in most cases this is consistent with the results provided by the mills in their test results

By: Ken Simmons

Ken Simmons — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:32:19 +0000

I was once a manufacturer and retailer of the clothing I designed. I read at that time somewhere that it was wiser to make existing customers happy (I substituted”Thrilled”) than to spend money and effort trying to attract new customers. In other words, to do advertising that cost 400.00 to try to attract new customers and at the same time refusing to give a customer his/her money back on a 100.00 purchase was a mistake. The old customer was a real customer i.e. in the store, to whom you could communicate face to face and on whom you could practice your salesmanship. The new customer was a figment of hope and imagination. To spend the 100.00 to thrill the existing customer and therefor have him/her probably buy something else immediately, especially after you have called something to their attention and showed them the unique aspects of the item and how and when it could be worn, was a better use of your money than a scattershot attempt to attract a new customer. In other words, have a generous return policy and it will pay for itself.

By: Dana

Dana — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:39:32 +0000

One additional point on shrinkage standards of large retailers. There is generally a separate shrinkage standard for knit and woven goods. 3% would be appropriate for wovens. Knit standards are usually more generous.