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I sent this to corporate- I am not expecting to hear anything but it was nice to get it off my chest :D
I am extremely disappointed in the Victoria's Secret company. I am 28 years old and have been shopping there for about 9 years now. I buy lotions, perfumes, body sprays, bras, panties, etc. All of this has come to a stop and I will not ever step foot in the store again.
About one month ago, I was going on my honeymoon and was trying to shop for a strapless bra - I went to VS and asked for help in purchasing it in a 38DD. There weren't any in the store. I asked for a 40DD and there weren't any in the store. I ended up buying a 38D which was too small, but I was hoping to exchange it at another store nearby. I called six stores within a 50 mile radius. None of them had the bra. The last store I called, I talked with the manager and she told me that they are no longer selling 38DDs (in many of the bras) in the stores and I would have to go online to do that. I was leaving in 3 days for my honeymoon and did not have enough time.
Three days ago, I got a "free panty" coupon in the mail and went to the store to get it as well as purchase some of the 5 for $25 panties. I searched high and low for the X-Large size, but there weren't any. Oh wait, there was one white cotton brief left...not flattering or sexy and not for someone who is 28 years old and a newlywed.
I asked the very friendly woman at the counter about the X-Large panties and she told me they were no longer carrying any XL in the store (except for styles like the hi-cut and brief). I then asked her about the larger sizes in the bras. She told me the same thing the other woman did except that they are no longer selling 40s in any of the bras. She apologized and told me she too wears the XL panty and now she can't even purchase the product from the store she works at.
I asked about purchasing things online and then having them shipped to the store. She told me that you can't even return items to the store- that VS.com and VS are two separate entities. Wow- mad doesn't even begin to describe how I feel.
It's not fair that X-Small is being kept, but X-Large is gone. What message are you sending to people? "You were good enough to shop here, but we changed our minds and you are too fat now?" I am specifically appalled in the amount of pre-teens and teens that are able to shop in your store. Yet, a WOMAN that wears a 12 or 14 cannot buy your panties or someone that has a larger bust cannot purchase a bra from your store.
This is ridiculous - I am telling everyone I know. Not only are you making it inconvenient for women who have shopped there for years, but you are also making them feel bad about themselves. I am not large enough to shop at the Plus Size stores and now I am too fat to shop at VS.
I know I am not the only woman to feel this way and you are wrong for getting rid of these products. YOU SUCK VS!
Is anyone going to comment on the poor quality of VS? Their panties and bras tend to start falling apart on me inside of a year, and no, I don't put the bras in the dryer.
If I have to get these things in a namebrand store, I'd rather go to the Gap. The underwear is higher quality and a little more practical too, while still being pretty.
I worked at a VS in a mall in Massachusetts for a few months a couple years back. One of my worst work experiences ever. $7.50/hr to start. And to even get hours, you were supposed to compete with your co-workers to get customers to sign up for the VS credit card with a 26% APR. And that was just to get put on the schedule. We all had to wear walkie talkies and the floor manager would bark in your ear when she saw a stray customer "Get her! Ask her to sign up for the credit card!"
When I started they told me that when selling the lotions I had to offer customers free hand massages to give them a feel for the lotions. I asked what I should do if a man asked for one and they said to give it to him. I don't think $7.50 an hour is enough compensation for me to be giving out hand massages, especially to strange men.
If clothes or products were damaged in any way, (a fold in a bra or a dent in a bottle), they were taken out back at the end of the night and either cut up or spilled all over the ground, to make sure they were disposed of and not given out to employees. So wasteful.
When I worked there, there was no way I could afford to shop there.
Also my purse was searched when I left every night.
I've shopped from the catalog my since I was a teen and occasionally the store. Now I avoid the company at all costs. I am not impressed with their ethics.
I went back to VS a year or so ago with my husband to get a nightie. They were so weird and bizarre. The sales person kept knocking on the dressing room door and trying to see me in the nightie. She was really paranoid about me letting my husband into the dressing room, which I wasn't. He said he couldn't believe I ever worked there.
And my bras? I get high quality affordable bras at TJ Maxx at less than $10 a pop. I really like the Marylin Munroe brand.
OMG ! I HAVE SHOPPED THERE FOR YEARS...WENT THE OTHER DAY TO THE MALL...THEY DONT CARRY SIZE 40 ANYMORE...I WAS SO MAD...I AM NOT REALLY THAT LARGE OF A WOMAN, JUST A DECENT THICKNESS...I AM NOT SHOPPING THERE ANYMORE...DONT THEY KNOW WOMEN ARE THICKER ALOT MORE THESE DAYS? ALOT OF BREAST JOBS TOO? I AM DONE THERE...THANK GOD I FOUND A NICE BRA MADE BY BALI AT JC PENNY...
some of you obviously may not know it, but being a size 12 or 14 or 16 or whatever does not make someone fat. yes, someone who is that size MAY be fat, or they may be curvy. a girl size 12/14 may have way hotter curves and be multiple times sexier than a girl in a size 6. i like big butts and i cannot lie, you other brothers can't deny. give me a thick girl anyday!
whaaaaaat, are you saying that we are not in farmville?
yeah, they are, but they can't get rid of us for good
How can they ban the most entertaining people on CB?
That is just ridiculous.
wow, someone dislikes you. Maybe that is what happened to me about a week ago, I had to e-mail the editor and they allowed me back in.
lol. brenda.
i hear ya, sometimes its just easier to wear a t-shirt...lol
So I guess that big busted women who are not overweight should get a breast reduction too? Thats ridiculous.
tmgbrown speaks truth. Over 30% of the American population is overweight so chances are most of the flamers/trolls are also overweight. Besides having a big bust does not have to mean you're fat.
I think the reason for the decrease in demand has to do with our currently bad economy. Maybe a few women can spend hundreds of dollars at VS but many others can't and shop at cheaper places for bigger bras and panties so VS is loosing money in the bigger department. I was recently at a VS store and did see a lot of XL panties and thongs but who knows how long that'll last here.
If you have a Body Mass Index of 25-29.99 percent, you are considered overweight, and if you have a BMI of 30 or above, you are considered obese. Currently, 26.5 percent of the US population are obese, and 36.6 percent are overweight. With these statistics we can come to the conclusion that 62.1 percent of the population of the United States are either overweight or obese. So, "GBN", you can clearly see that, in America, overweight and obese adults are in fact "the norm" since they make up 63.1 percent of the ENTIRE US population. In reality, Victoria's Secret (and every other clothing retailer located in the United States for that matter) should have an ABUNDANCE of large and extra large clothing available to consumers. No matter how big a corporation becomes, losing customers is not a good thing, and unless 63.1 percent of Americans decide to shop online for bras and panties, Victoria's Secret is going to see a stiff decrease in revenue. In addition, according to the US Census Bureau, only 54.7 percent of Americans have internet access in their homes, which makes shopping online quite difficult for the other 46.3 percent who don't. Eventually Victoria's Secret will bring back large and extra large clothing in their stores, it's only a matter of time and complaints. They are probably doing this because they want to target a different consumer and are afraid of becoming a "less sexy, " "plus sized" store.
sources:
http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/defining.html
http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20100210/percentage-of-overweight-obese-americans-swells?src=rss_usbariatric
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity/calltoaction/1_1.htm#fig1
http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/p23-208.pdf
Congrats on your marriage! That being said, I do have to say that I disagree with your posting that Victoria's secret is purposefully neglecting your sizes in bras and panties. I actually work at a vs in Chicagoland and know that the size 40 C, D, &DD in bras was discontinued in stores to very low sales on those sizes as a company whole. Same thing with the size XL panties. I can't think of any companies that are able to keep spending money to produce a product that will be sold in very minimal quantities in their inventory. It just doesn't make sense to a business, large or small, to do this. Victoria's secret isn't going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to produce a product that doesn't sell, and that's the bottom line. Just so you know that your size isn't being actively discriminated against, we also discontinued several bras in size 32 band because of the above stated reasons, as well as completely eliminating the size 32DD from our line as well. There are not as many size XS panties as there used to be either. I just helped someone looking for XS panties the other day, and we had a hard time finding any in the styles that she liked . I had to tell her the same thing that I have to tell my loyal size 40 band customers: as a company whole, it just wasn't selling. Please don't feel discriminated against. Victoria's secret is just doing what any other company would do/ consider doing based on the circumstances. I also have to say that whoever told you that 38DDs aren't being carried in the store anymore was dead wrong or misinformed at least. In strapless (multiway) styles in size 38DD you can still purchase the body by Victoria multiway and the biofit 7 way bra. As for regular bras, you can do the new Incredible bras, the Very Sexy pushup, the Body by Victoria full coverage and demi, the cotton full coverage, the Nakeds full coverage, and the Biofit demi. I may have missed a couple in there, but as you can see, there is a selection. What may have happened to you when you wanted to purchase your strapless bra was what happened at my store as well: they just had no more 38DD multiways in stock. We have had this problem on and off all summer with our multiway styles in ALL sizes due to the high demand for multiway styles in the warmer months. I do think we needed to forecast that demand as a company and in doing so produce more multiway units. It's hard for me to have to tell a customer that I'm out of what she's looking for. Also, it (obviously) makes customers angry. Finally, I would also like to tell you that I don't agree with your statement that you cannot shop at VS if you are a size 12/14 because guess what...yep, you guessed it, I'm that size. I gave birth to my second daughter last year but gained a lot of weight and ended up being a size 14 after the pregnancy. Though I have lost maybe 10-15 lbs since then, I'm still at least a size 12 sometimes 14. I fit very well into size large panties from VS. In fact, we have a size scale that goes: size 0/2= XS, size 4/6=S, size 8/10= M, and size 12/14=L. I believe that our size scale is pretty generous for the most part, to compare, a size L at Forever 21 clothing stores coordinates with only a size 10, which is a medium for us at VS. I understand your frustration, all of it, but please don't say that we cannot fit size 12/14 woman when I am living proof that we most certainly can. Also, try not to take the the whole 40 band size, size XL panty thing to heart. It's not a personal thing, it's a business thing. Get an updated measurement and see if your local VS can show you some styles in the 38DD (if that ends up being your correct size). There are definitely plenty of bra styles in that size. Good
luck!
I am sorry but I think that the comments from GBN78 are not only uncalled for but are idiotic.
1st of all size 12 - 14 is not obese or a manatee, and you also do not have to be a big woman to where a bra size that big, huge breasts run in my family.
I do agree that if something does not sell the store has the right to take it off the market. I personally don't shop at VS it is not for me, I would prefer to wear comfort over sexy on an every day bassis, if I have a situation where it calls for something sexy I do not feel I need to spend extra money for it. But I can understand why the OP would feel offended.
Recently, I ran into the exact same thing you did! I am a 40 DD and I was told they will no longer carry the larger bras in the store. It was like being slapped in the face. Most women need to try bras on to be sure that the cup size works because some styles require going up or down in either the band or the cup for proper fit. Unlike the previous poster I am larger than a size 14. Why can't my bras be pretty and sexy? Why should that be a problem? I have a pretty good disposable income and I my assets require a bra; however, given this treatment I might not choose to shop online and be Victoria's Secret. Lord forbid your precious size 2 customers with no boobs might have to shop next to me! V.S. Angels? Not so much.