Freya Tankini not fit for purpose

lindens

September 2017 my first holiday abroad for over a decade loomed and being large busted i bought a tankini by Freya as they have a good reputation and do underwired designs, from an online store. I also bough a swimsuit at Bravissimo, intending to share the load between the 2 over the week.
I used the tankini about 3 times on holiday doing the usual stuff- laying on the sunbed and swimming in the (salt) pool.
In June this year - another holiday - same usage, chlorine pool.

When i got home i noticed the polka dots on the bikini had rubbed off on the seat of the pants. Considering the little amount of wear and the price i paid, I was dismayed.
I emailed Freya who told me to contact the retailer for them to assess whether it was a manufacturing defect.
I contacted the online store, sent them photos, answered 20 questions about how often i used it, how did i wash it etc.
I had the following reply-

I apologise this has happened through the strength of the chlorine in the pool.
The item does not claim to be chlorine resistant and therefore there is little we are able to do as you've worn it multiple times.

I am astounded.And replied as such - swimming costumes are designed to be used in a pool, pools sometimes have chlorine in. Since they never asked me if the pools had chlorine in, or tested the water themselves to deduce if it was over chlorinated i don't understand how they have come to this decision.

I emailed Freya back with this response, they refuse to override the assessment made by the retailer.

Where next - trading standards? Am I being unreasonable to expect a reputable branded tankini to last more than 1 week?

agrinnall

lindens wrote: »

Am I being unreasonable to expect a reputable branded tankini to last more than 1 week?

No, but TS won't be interested (you can't actually contact them yourself anyway). You have one option, possibly two.


1) Start a small claim through MCOL against the retailer.


https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome


2) If you paid by card it's probably worth considering a Chargeback,and although I think it's likely that the card issuer may side with the retailer it won't cost you anything to try.

marliepanda

I always rinse my bathing suits after contact with chlorine as chlorine is extremely damaging. Did you do that?

lindens

I always rinse them out after use too, that's why i take 2 costumes, so i can rinse out and drip dry and then the next day i will wear the other cossie, rinse and repeat

Fosterdog

marliepanda wrote: »

I always rinse my bathing suits after contact with chlorine as chlorine is extremely damaging. Did you do that?

Same here whether chlorine water or salt water I've never been to a pool that doesn't have a shower for you to rinse off when you get out. If you get out of the pool and go straight to a sunbed or even take off the bathers and put them to dry without washing first they will still be saturated in the water from the pool and it won't take long to damage the materials.

meer53

The sun will also affect the fabric. I never pay a lot for swimwear for this reason, sun, sea, suntan lotion and chlorine are not good for fabric. You say you wore it for a week but say you've worn it on 2 holidays 12 months apart ?

lindens

meer53 wrote: »

The sun will also affect the fabric. I never pay a lot for swimwear for this reason, sun, sea, suntan lotion and chlorine are not good for fabric. You say you wore it for a week but say you've worn it on 2 holidays 12 months apart ?

i had a week's holiday in sept 2017 - but i had another swimsuit so alternated wear
the a weeks holiday in June 2018 - same as above
Just stored in my knicker drawer in between!
Why hasnt the tankini top suffered the same wear?

I can't buy cheap - they don't fit my bust/body shape.

lindens

UPDATE- i emailed trading standards anyway first thing, they already replied
It's up to me to prove manufacturing/fabric fault

So that's the end of that then
I won't be buying Freya in future!

marliepanda

lindens wrote: »

i had a week's holiday in sept 2017 - but i had another swimsuit so alternated wear
the a weeks holiday in June 2018 - same as above
Just stored in my knicker drawer in between!
Why hasnt the tankini top suffered the same wear?

I can't buy cheap - they don't fit my bust/body shape.

The tankini won't have suffered the same amount of friction from sitting/sliding as a bikini seat.

StaffieTerrier

I used to swim competitively and non-chlorine resistant swimming costumes were expected to last 20 hours of chlorine exposure, as a maximum, as stated by the manufacturers. I used to wear them beyond that but the colour would wear quickly and the fabric would start to sag. The first place to wear was the bottom.

I have to buy bikinis from companies such as Freya but I don't expect more than a couple of holidays from them.

lindens

StaffieTerrier wrote: »

I used to swim competitively and non-chlorine resistant swimming costumes were expected to last 20 hours of chlorine exposure, as a maximum, as stated by the manufacturers. I used to wear them beyond that but the colour would wear quickly and the fabric would start to sag. The first place to wear was the bottom.

I have to buy bikinis from companies such as Freya but I don't expect more than a couple of holidays from them.

The sagging i was expecting and has indeed started to happen.
The label doesn't state they are non-chlorine resistant though.