![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-64306-100x100.png\")
So did they find them \"on sale again at ... Macy's\" or did they find \"no evidence of this at . . . Macy's\"?
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-542811-100x100.png\")
I watched the video and Macy's did put them on sale again. It was JCrew, Saks and Express that didn't put them back out.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-537475-100x100.png\")
This is why the smart ones make their own at home.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/css/images/default.gif\")
The bottoms aren't so difficult. Bras, however...
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-52435-100x100.png\")
Just for the record, I want to say \"Or go commando...\" one more time. Because I am just that much in favor of it and four people saying so within 30 minutes JUST ISN'T STRONG ENOUGH.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-690585-100x100.png\")
Commando FTW. Undies are just so...confining.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1525540-100x100.png\")
Or go Clammando.
Or go commando...
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1172862-100x100.png\")
... or go commando!
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1411577-100x100.png\")
Or go commando
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-335454-100x100.png\")
I hope those employees thoroughly wash their hands after handling said items.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-492835-100x100.png\")
...I don't want to know what \"made a small identifying mark on each undergarment with a maker\" means. If we're talking babymakers, that's just wrong. ;-)
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-2237-100x100.png\")
it comes down to the managers that are on the floor training and keeping an eye on returns. I used to work for one of the retailers mentioned, and the FEW times we had people return underwear, it was immediately \"damaged -out\" meaning it was deleted from our inventory as saleable and was tossed in a bin of stuff that was to be destroyed. The labels were removed and stickers were placed on the item to ensure it did not go back on the floor. Each \"damaged-out\" item had to be signed off by a manager.
And we were VERY careful with handling returns of underwear and/or bathing suits.
So, so, so gross. Why would a store give a refund on used underwear/with no tag?!
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-422781-100x100.png\")
To prevent an article on the Consumerist from a disgruntled cusomer pissed off because the store wouldn't accept the return of their used undies!
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-97586-100x100.png\")
I can understand giving a refund, putting them out is the problem.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1527987-100x100.png\")
Just Ewww!
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-580834-100x100.png\")
I thought you could not get return underwear to stores? Guess Im behind the curve....
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1523810-100x100.png\")
I see what you did there.
this is why I only buy my underwear in packs. It's not pretty but it's cheaper and it's obvious if the pack has been opened and the underwear unrolled.
Yeah, same. Although, I do admit I do it mostly because it's usually cheaper and neither me nor my boyfriend like lingerie.
I'm actually a little shocked to know that you CAN return initimate apparel. I always thought that things that touched your moist crotch were \"all sales final\".
I think maybe I'll go and inspect my prepackaged undies a little closer next time just in case. This is kinda icky D:
I am going to make sure all the underwear I buy from now on is in a sealed plastic bag. I know that is not a sure thing but it is better than a pair of boxes that are on a hook.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1533077-100x100.png\")
That was what I thought. Stores have re-sealers. I bought some underwear at Target once, the package looked brand new, sealed, and the underwear folded inside. Got home and opened it - the boxers were the wrong size, the elastic on one of them was stretched out and didn't look clean. Brought it back and had to talk to a supervisor to get a refund.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-24730-100x100.png\")
Bought my 4-year-old some underwear at Target. They were sealed - skidmarks and all. They went right back to the store.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-53856-100x100.png\")
So the moral of the story is: 1) wash your \"new\" clothes before you wear them and/or 2) Only buy factory packaged underwear (e.g. sealed in a plastic bag that would be impossible for a store to re-seal).
And maybe invest in a blacklight? Do those work in this situation?
I think a blacklight would work, or at least help. I used to use one to help clean my bathroom. It didn't work as well as I'd hoped for the toilet, but it did help me find all that poop my bird flung halfway across the room (yay softbills!).
It would also pick up all my exboyfriend's acne, which was always good for a few laughs.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1532908-100x100.png\")
what if they tried it on before the factory sealed it like how ipod factory workers take pictures of themselves?
time to go commando!
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1221761-100x100.png\")
+1 for persistence :)
Why are these items even returnable?
Due to a manufacturers defect. If I buy a pair of undies, wash them 2 times and there is a hole or undone stitching, you better believe I am returning the item! Women get bilked on what they charge for these tiny articles of clothing.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-150038-100x100.png\")
My gf was shopping at Victoria's Secret a few months ago and found a \"lady stain\" on a pair of underwear in one of the sale bins. She hasn't been back since.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-968286-100x100.png\")
Hence placement in the \"sale bin\".
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1470295-100x100.png\")
Just looked at this...
the mall is the SHORT HILLS MALL in Short Hills, NJ. It's also one of the two malls people in our town go to.
Look at 1:42. The Bloomingdale's is visible 2 levels, Macy's visible one level, and VS visible one level. Everything is exactly the same.
This concerns me because it's SO close to hit home.
I can confirm the mall was Short Hills Mall, not only because I go there often, but because the video says they went to an \"upscale mall in New Jersey\". Can anyone honestly name any other upscale mall in NJ? :D
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-410094-100x100.png\")
Cherry Hill mall?
Yuk. I thought most states had health codes that banned things like this.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-371684-100x100.png\")
I can't sell those on eBay, can I?
(puts away car keys...)
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-68204-100x100.png\")
eBay actually did away with the selling of \"used knickers\" some years ago, but there's always Japanese used pantie vending machines!!!
Are you referring to the Judohan Mai-ichi?
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-16063-100x100.png\")
Some people pay big money for used panties.
Especially in Japan and if said to be worn by a schoolgirl
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1525062-100x100.png\")
Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I always wash underwear after I buy them. this is because most womens underwear is not in any sort of plastic wrap or anything like that.
I never thought that stores would accept underwear returns (especially without tags)... but I guess some do.
So nasty...!!
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-505944-100x100.png\")
I sell vintage, so I have a lot of not-new lingerie around and plenty in my own closet too, and I'm *still* disgusted by this. Then again, I have a Nothing With a Crotch rule so it's mainly slips and negligees, and I launder everything whether it's for me or for inventory.
That's why I NEVER buy underwear that have been rem,oved from the original packaging...
also, why doesnt anyone sell womens underwear in packages? I mean, not the regular briefs, but all the other stuff?
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-629756-100x100.png\")
Because the vanity of women prevents real, actual measurements or consistency in any sizing.
If women's underwear was actually labeled in waist, hip and other measurements in real-world numbers, it could be sold in packs like men's underwear.
You don't want such information revealed, so sizing is obfuscated behind numbers that are generally consistent only within a single brand, requiring some sort of trying-on to verify fit.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-207431-100x100.png\")
Yet, my wife is able to buy packages of underwear labeled \"Size 6\" which is recently close to the proper size, but I'm stuck buying packages that say some arbitrary size like \"Medium\" or \"Large.\"
My real world evidence differs from yours! Internet argument commence! :P
Sizing. A man can go and pick up clothing and it will basically fit the same because it's all in measurements. A woman has no idea, because it's all subjective. A 32B bra may fit more like a 38A or a 32C. You just never know. It's incredibly annoying
Because you pretty much have to try it on, if it's a bra or a nightie or whatever, and you can do that if it's sealed in a package.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1314487-100x100.png\")
I've never tried undies on, but you really have to at least be able to hold them up and see the cut and 'stretch' of the fabric and waistband. There's a huge difference, not only between manufacturers, but within manufacturers between styles and fabrics. There is nothing standard about the intimates industry.
My sister works for Victoria's Secret and she says that it's company policy to basically accept almost anything back. She's had people return CLEARLY used and washed items but at the store level they are helpless to say no. Frequent returners are told to shop elsewhere and they scan IDs to keep a database of returns to make sure it isn't fraudulent, but otherwise their hands are tied. It is also corporate policy to RETURN items to the company that are returned, but I think they aren't allowed to send back items that are past season, so that is why they end up in bargain bins.
Always wash your clothes after you buy them, trust me. Both my sister and I have worked retail and you'd be sickened at some of the stories we could tell.
Shop at Kohl's. I know for a fact that they don't accept undergarments without tags, as I tried to return a sports bra once. (I had bought it w/o trying on b/c the dressing room was closed, which is a whole other problem.)
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1526654-100x100.png\")
I hope that is true for all Kohl's stores! I buy most of my bras and underwear there.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1527123-100x100.png\")
The other day at K-Mart, I was in the ladies undies section and there was a 3-pack of Hanes I saw, neatly folded in the cardboard \"holder\" thingy. I noticed a slip of paper tucked in one of the folds.
I pulled it out and it was a folded up receipt.
Dated for sometime in the begining of January.
Listed item: A 3-pack of Hanes for Her.
So I guess they returned them, (they did not appear to have been removed from the cardboard sleeve but no way in hell would I have bought them)
Kinda odd.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1524524-100x100.png\")
I hate to say it, but all I got from that video was \"SCARE FEAR SCARE PANIC\".
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-665832-100x100.png\")
The naughtybits are a very delicate region, used panties go beyond an issue of pure ick and into a \"could cause a nasty issue betwixt the thighs\" situation. Sure, they made a lot of flash about it, but it is something to be brought to attention of folks. I'm sure any nasty little critters could be neutralized with some time in the washing machine, but you never know if some people are not aware of the unspoken rule to always wash the panties before you try them on at home.
I've read studies that state that yeast infections can withstand normal washing with bleach and microwaving. No way i'd take the chance personally
Is this legal? I know even the Goodwill won't accept opened underwear and socks, new packs only.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1524268-100x100.png\")
The guys reading are 50% grossed out and 50% secretly turned on when focusing on the black/red panties.
You think that's gross.
I heard of an \"Adult\" store in Tucson that will let you return \"Used\" toys for any reason for a exchange.
They don't resell them, they incinerate them....But I would not like to be the employee handling the return. Ewwwwww
Glad they don't have a used section.
In honesty, that's kind of actually cool. Some sex toys are not what you think they are, and then it's just wasted money. I'm sure the employee doing returns is actually smart and wearing gloves when handling used items that are being returned.
Point.
It always irked me that you could unknowingly buy a total piece of crap from an adult store and they were immune to having to give you a refund. I stand by the idea of destroying the shoddy item afterwards (anything less than total annihilation is unacceptable).
Some people would pay extra for that.)
Of course I am sure there would be an uproar if these stores had refused a refund or exchange.
I immediately think of some creep going into Victotria Secrets and using them to pleasure himself, and after seeing this realizing he can get his money back, along with a load of DNA on some unsuspecting womans new panties.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1264843-100x100.png\")
This is nothing new. IIRC the last expose' about a year ago involved swimwear that had been purchased and returned in the same fashion, and to many of the same stores. (Funny how certain names, like Kohl's, Sears and JC Penney, aren't ever mentioned in these stings. *puzzled*)
FWIW I work for a large retail department-store chain with a fairly liberal return policy. At my particular unit, almost 50% of our business is returns. Of those returns, almost 50% have been used to some degree, and are returned simply because the customer doesn't want it any more. Corporate took the teeth out of our returns policy years ago, so saying \"No\" in these circumstances just isn't an option anymore. Speaking for myself, I make it my point to \"damage-out\" anything that comes back sans tags/labels, no matter what it is, simply because I have no way to prove whether it's safe or legal to sell again as \"new\".
There is a tipping point where the desire to please each and every single customer no matter the cost will slam up hard against profit margins and plain old common sense. So don't believe for one moment that both management and corporate aren't the ones encouraging sales associates to engage in this practice.
And to reiterate: WASH EVERYTHING. TWICE.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-436584-100x100.png\")
It's either new stained underwear or goatse. You choice.
Goatse, really?
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1526377-100x100.png\")
I order my underwear online from Victoria's Secret and it always comes in plastic baggies. Still wash it, though.
I am pretty grossed out right now.
In other news, there's a sudden influx of Japanese coming to America...
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-132529-100x100.png\")
This is just great. I have shopped for Valentine's gifts for my wife at VS before and now you're telling me I gotta pick up the merchandise and check for clitty litter? Ugh. It's bad enough everyone stares at a guy in VS, but what will happen when men start inspecting panties at length [no pun intended]?
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1378135-100x100.png\")
+100 for clitty litter.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1533815-100x100.png\")
I used to work in a clothing store. We allowed returns on underwear (within reason, if there were visible stains or something we would not take it back), but ALL of it was damaged out immediately, regardless of how clean it looked or if the tags were still on, because that shit is gross.
However, we did allow customers to try on underwear and bathing suits in the fitting rooms, with the stipulation that you were supposed to keep your own undergarments on underneath. Even most of the regular clothing you buy in a store has been tried on before, though, and probably has someone else's sweat, deodorant, or makeup on it, so you should just wash everything before wearing it. People are disgusting when they shop for clothing.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1162726-100x100.png\")
My mom gave me good advice when I was younger that I still follow to this day: When trying on a bathing suit, or underwear at a store, keep MY underwear on underneath. And always wash in hot water (and bleach, if possible) before wearing intimate items.
Limited Brands, including Victoria's Secret and GAP seem to care only about making a profit. They have factories in countries like Sri Lanka where the government is involved in war crimes; where their business supports the military; where 100,000 civilians including children are held in barbed wire enclosures. Profit must look sexier to some than human rights or just basic cleanliness. Thank you NBC for exposing their dirty linen to the public!
It's common sense, but I always wash before wearing.
The thing about packaged underwear is when they're returned, and have been opened, you can tell right off the bat. The reason is because the underwear are folded with a cardboard slip, and when you unfold the underwear and fold it back, it's difficult to get it to that flat, squished before-i-opened-them feel and look.
Panties you get that are not packaged... they're a bit more iffy... Is it horrible to assume that the ones that are packaged in at least threes and hung are the best bet as they have a cardboard that folds them together? >_>
Ah, underwear.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1004969-100x100.png\")
\"Our next item on the block, a pair of woman's panties.\"
\"100 bucks!\"
\"She had 9 STDs.\"
\"...50 bucks.\"
\"And when we caught her, she soiled herself.\"
\"...75 bucks!\"
Who else but Quagmire?!
I found this whole story kinda insulting. They waited until the very last minute to mention washing new clothing before you wear it. Stop treating your audience like we are all morons.
Yeah stores probably shouldn't be accepting returns on this stuff but when you pay your clerks $7.35 a hour, they don't want to deal with someone yelling at them when they won't take a return.
Perhaps they take the items back because they are afraid the Underwear Nomes will clean out their stock.
I used to work at a large clothing chain. We always accepted lingerie for a full refund--otherwise, a lot of people wouldn't be willing to buy the items in the first place, I'm sure. However, once those items were returned, they were supposed to be marked as \"damaged\" and sent out for disposal, NOT get returned to the floor.
Of course, my store was always over-busy and under-staffed, and we had to make the lines at the register go as fast as possible, so some people would just toss those returns aside--I always at least stuck a blank damage sticker on them, to fill out later--and the unlabeled returns certainly did get mistaken by other employees who thought that they were more unwanted clothes to go back out onto the floor.
...I tend to buy underwear in sealed packages since working there.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-958161-100x100.png\")
Who the hell DOESN'T wash new clothes before wearing them? Even if the clothes are pristine and new-out-of-the-package, I still wash them for softness and to remove that icky chemical smell.
I only buy underwear that comes in sealed plastic bags. I don't wear lacy fancy lingerie because it's itchy and tacky-looking, and now I have another reason to keep avoiding it!
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-170263-100x100.png\")
ewww this is why i only buy underwear sold in packs and always wash before use!!!
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1526689-100x100.png\")
What about when you order online. I thought it might be safer when it comes from a warehouse but now im worried...
Way back when I was a youngster, you couldn't return undies, bathing suits or anything else that was made to wear on your \"untouchable\" places. You couldn't even return a bra, and that's only (usually) touching your boobs! Geez, this is beyond gross!
after this report aired, the underwear sales at the gap, vict's sec, bloomingdales, and macys; the new buyers: pervs.
Advertise as lightly soiled and increase price by 500%.