this post was submitted on 11 Nov 2023
309 points (97.8% liked)

Technology

59135 readers
2878 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
all 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] marshadow@lemmy.world 115 points 1 year ago (4 children)

So companies will stop lying in the sizing charts, right? Right?

If the sizing chart says size M fits a 28” waist and the size M is actually 32” in the waist, their lying ass should pay the return shipping.

[–] Telodzrum@lemmy.world 25 points 1 year ago

Mankind will die out before vanity sizes do.

[–] Pxtl@lemmy.ca 11 points 1 year ago

I'd argue that in those cases the product is straight-up defective. I mean it was falsely advertised. Expecting me to pay returns in that case is absurd.

[–] nutsack@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

if it's a cheap brand it's possible that their supplier made them incorrectly and they don't even know about it or they don't care enough to throw the product away

[–] kent_eh@lemmy.ca 10 points 1 year ago

or they don't care

It's usually that.

[–] Plague_Doctor@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago

Design ease and wearing ease are necessary for garments. That said, at least 1-1.5 " in the waistband is the average for wearing ease. Also that depends on where the waistband is designed to sit on the body. Low rise jeans have a larger waistband than high rise jeans just by nature of where the band sits. This has a lot to do with the fact ready-to-wear clothing sucks at fitting the diverse range of bodies out there.

[–] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 56 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I will continue to only deal with companies that offer free returns.

[–] nutsack@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

an understandable personal policy, but a lot of small businesses can't compete with these companies. my margins are thin and my products are expensive, so if I accept a return from a customer i am losing money. the cost of producing the item that got returned is not recuperated it's just gone.

[–] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I am not sure what to advise. It isn't personal.

[–] nutsack@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I just think it's something interesting to think about. there's a lot of things that gigantic companies do in order to eat small business that can't afford to.

[–] Vorticity@lemmy.world 40 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I do buy some items without free returns but I will NEVER buy things like clothes or shoes without free returns or an option to take them to a physical store for free.

There is a reason that brick and mortar stores have changing rooms.

Likewise, there is a reason that, back in the day, mail-order clothing companies like L.L. Bean had ridiculously good return policies. They wouldn't have gotten any business without them.

[–] wjrii@kbin.social 39 points 1 year ago (2 children)

To be clear, what’s under discussion is free shipping on returns. And fine, whatever. It will be annoying, but if the price of returning in the same packaging is known at purchase time, I’ll survive and adjust my shopping with that vendor as necessary.

[–] shatteredsword@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If free shipping on returns disappears, I won’t shop online anymore

[–] Odelay42@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Easier said than done for a lot of folks. Online shopping put a lot of malls and other stores out of business. Good luck finding clothes anywhere but Walmart and the Internet.

[–] CoderKat@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

At least the malls in my city seem thriving. A massive number of clothing stores especially. It's hard to picture clothing stores having issues since being able to try them on is still more convenient than free returns. And all those clothing stores have survived decades of extreme competition, since any given mall has a dozen to two dozen stores that often feel near identical.

[–] shatteredsword@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago

I can see this being true for small towns maybe, but I do most of my clothes shopping in stores anyway. Most of my online shopping is electronics

[–] makyo@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

The thing I'm most likely to stop buying online without free returns would be clothing. Online clothing retailers should 100% know that a purchase is never final until the person gets it and tries it on. It's too common to have to send items back for fit - I'd just start going to the store and trying it on there again instead of paying for each return.

[–] AlexWIWA@lemmy.ml 25 points 1 year ago

Guess I just won't buy online then. Not worth the risk

[–] realitista@lemm.ee 25 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Not in the EU it's not. It's law here.

[–] mca@lemmy.world 27 points 1 year ago (1 children)

No, it’s not. You have the right to return it (Dutch: herroepingsrecht) but the cost of returning can be at the expense of the buyer when stated on their webshop. Check their ToS

[–] realitista@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Okay yes if we are talking about shipping then that's true.

[–] mca@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The article and the referred articles are about the return shipping fee, not about handling and so. For example, fashion retailer H&M are beginning to charge European countries too, perfectly fine with the law :)

[–] realitista@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Before the EU law, in Czechia where I live, most places wouldn't take a return at all. Most brick and mortar retailers still won't. So for me it was a big step up to be able to return at all. Losing a few bucks on shipping is small compared to having to keep a whole product you don't want. It's one of the big reasons I buy almost nothing from brick and mortar stores any more.

[–] krush_groove@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

Where consumers and employees have rights.

[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 20 points 1 year ago (2 children)

63% of consumers said they order multiple sizes or versions of the same item, with the intention of returning what they don’t want, according to Narvar.

Holy fucking shit. The degree of waste is astonishing. I can't believe this number is so high. Fuck everyone who does this.

[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 21 points 1 year ago (1 children)

But that's what happens when you make your clothes to sizes that have no relation to the bodies that go in them. Especially for women. What the fuck is a 12?

When I go to a shop, I try on maybe ten pairs of shoes that are all my size before I find a pair that fit my feet and I can actually walk in.

There's no waste there, it's like one extra journey to your house when you buy something, no matter how many things you're sending back. The real waste is when the shop just throw it away because it's cheap shit not worth processing back into stock.

If it's such a hassle, maybe don't sell clothes online. Put it back in the high street where it belongs.

[–] Alexstarfire@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

I'm a guy and bought various kinds of 32x32 jeans from Old Navy. None of them fit the same. Some were too tight, some needed a belt, some fit perfectly. If a company can't even have consistency there is no hope for it in an entire industry.

[–] FaeDrifter@midwest.social 7 points 1 year ago (3 children)

That sounds like more effort than just going to the fucking store.

Or better yet a thrift store. There is for a massive surplus of clothes and even Goodwill's have brand new brand name clothes for a few bucks, all over the place.

[–] MrBusiness@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 year ago

Maybe where you live. Every thrift store within a 20 mile radius of me rarely has anything in my size. And even more rare anything brand new brand name at all. Haha maybe cheaper, but our thrift stores haven't been as cheap as they used to be before Macklemore.

[–] Plague_Doctor@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Usually I go to a store to try on sizes then order the size I need.

[–] Pxtl@lemmy.ca 20 points 1 year ago

Okay. We need to get clarity here -- if a product is being returned because it just wasn't compatible with the purpose I had in mind? Like pants that don't fit? By all means, charge me for return.

But if the product is defective? No, you pay for that. You sent me garbage, you owe me 100% money back.

[–] danielfgom@lemmy.world 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

We don't have this issue in Cyprus. Here there is no such thing as a return. Once you've given them your money they aren't giving it back. Even if the item is faulty, they'll just send it for repair or blame you.

But you are definitely not getting your money back.

[–] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Dang. You can't review bomb them or something?

[–] danielfgom@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

No. It's literally ALL shops. Cypriots don't like to give back money

[–] DolphinMath@slrpnk.net 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Sounds like y’all just don’t have consumer protection laws at all.

[–] danielfgom@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

Nope. Not in Greek countries. Lol. I'm not even native. I'm married to a Cypriot so it takes some getting used to.

When you buy something you better be sure you want it and it meets your needs because you'rev stuck with it.

[–] BlackSkinnedJew@lemmynsfw.com 9 points 1 year ago

The end of everything for one dollar shops at the border haha

ITT too cool Europeans not reading the article, not realizing they have it worse than Americans lol.