I bought my first maternity clothes this week. There was a great sale on at Mamas & Papas, so I decided to go mad with
the old point and click internet shopping.
On receipt, I tried the stuff on and (I don’t know why I was surprised at this) had to package 75% of it back up to be sent back. Apparently maternity gear is no less stupidly misrepresented online than any other garment.
I chuckled to myself as I read the return codes” on the form used to send it all back. “AB/01″ was for “Wrong size” and “AB/02″ was for “Garment not as I expected”. It occurred to me that there should have been a more specific and truthful set of return codes for this particular delivery:
- HA/HA – Garment correct size, but makes recipient look utterly ridiculous.
- HU/UH – Garment labelled as correct size, but clearly manufactured during fabric shortage.
- BE/EP – Garment resembles supermarket checkout uniform, circa 1997.
- TE/NT – Garment completely shapeless in manner of marquee with excess material.
- WH/AT – You don’t seriously expect me to wear this, do you? It’s got shoulders like the strapping on an american football player!
It’s just a thought. I’m quite sure I’d find the process of internet clothes shopping far less stressful if it was acknowledged upfront that at least half the garments would be making their way back immediately.
