Item shrunk in wash

sheramber

What are the exact washing and drying instructions?  Drying is as important as washing.

leonj

All clothes shrink to some degree when you wash them

Ergates

Thrugelmir said:

Ergates said:

Jackim1968 said:

The principle is I washed item according to instructions, I returned item, saying it has shrunk in wash,
they replied we cannot accept this it has been worn,and we cannot resell, and returned it to me,
I returned item back to them, saying I told them it has shrunk and wasn't claiming it was new.
they then proceed to say the sent Pictures of item to Balmain ( they also admitted it has shrunk), and Balmain agreed with them I had washed it incorrectly ( I am sure you can test materials which has been washed to hot)
Don't know how you can decide this from a picture.
I asked for a copy of report/email response from Balmain, also a telephone number, email address and headquarter address to contact them directly
They have ignored me.

I wouldn't pay that amount for am item of clothing and not check the correct washing instructions 
I am furious with there lack of customer service skills 

Your options, at this point, are to send them an LBA, and if they don't respond to that start a small claims proceeding and *hope* they don't defend it.  

Obviously they'll defend with exactly the same evidence that's been provided todate. 

Or they might decide it's not worth the cost of defending it at all.

Jackim1968

Alderbank said:

Sorry, Jackim, I didn't word that well. I don't think they tested your sweatshirt either. I meant and should have said they will be able to produce test data for the fabric used showing it was pre-shrunk.
They won't have tested your shirt because as far as I know there is no test to show exactly when shrinkage occurred.

Even following the instructions, as you did, 100% cotton is prone to shrinking. You have to dry it carefully, stretching, padding and pinning, to restore its original shape.

Well in that case why did the label say to wash at 30degrees??

Thrugelmir

Ergates said:

Thrugelmir said:

Ergates said:

Jackim1968 said:

The principle is I washed item according to instructions, I returned item, saying it has shrunk in wash,
they replied we cannot accept this it has been worn,and we cannot resell, and returned it to me,
I returned item back to them, saying I told them it has shrunk and wasn't claiming it was new.
they then proceed to say the sent Pictures of item to Balmain ( they also admitted it has shrunk), and Balmain agreed with them I had washed it incorrectly ( I am sure you can test materials which has been washed to hot)
Don't know how you can decide this from a picture.
I asked for a copy of report/email response from Balmain, also a telephone number, email address and headquarter address to contact them directly
They have ignored me.

I wouldn't pay that amount for am item of clothing and not check the correct washing instructions 
I am furious with there lack of customer service skills 

Your options, at this point, are to send them an LBA, and if they don't respond to that start a small claims proceeding and *hope* they don't defend it.  

Obviously they'll defend with exactly the same evidence that's been provided todate. 

Or they might decide it's not worth the cost of defending it at all.

Flood gates would open if they did. Wear an item a few times. Get bored with it. Wash and shrink it. Return for a refund. Approach new supplier. Rinse and repeat. 

Some things are as old as the hills themselves. 

Jackim1968

Alderbank said:

Sorry, Jackim, I didn't word that well. I don't think they tested your sweatshirt either. I meant and should have said they will be able to produce test data for the fabric used showing it was pre-shrunk.
They won't have tested your shirt because as far as I know there is no test to show exactly when shrinkage occurred.

Even following the instructions, as you did, 100% cotton is prone to shrinking. You have to dry it carefully, stretching, padding and pinning, to restore its original shape.

if thats the case maybe the labelling is defective as it says to wash at 30 degrees, so they would still be at fault

Sandtree

Thrugelmir said:

Ergates said:

Thrugelmir said:

Ergates said:

Jackim1968 said:

The principle is I washed item according to instructions, I returned item, saying it has shrunk in wash,
they replied we cannot accept this it has been worn,and we cannot resell, and returned it to me,
I returned item back to them, saying I told them it has shrunk and wasn't claiming it was new.
they then proceed to say the sent Pictures of item to Balmain ( they also admitted it has shrunk), and Balmain agreed with them I had washed it incorrectly ( I am sure you can test materials which has been washed to hot)
Don't know how you can decide this from a picture.
I asked for a copy of report/email response from Balmain, also a telephone number, email address and headquarter address to contact them directly
They have ignored me.

I wouldn't pay that amount for am item of clothing and not check the correct washing instructions 
I am furious with there lack of customer service skills 

Your options, at this point, are to send them an LBA, and if they don't respond to that start a small claims proceeding and *hope* they don't defend it.  

Obviously they'll defend with exactly the same evidence that's been provided todate. 

Or they might decide it's not worth the cost of defending it at all.

Flood gates would open if they did. Wear an item a few times. Get bored with it. Wash and shrink it. Return for a refund. Approach new supplier. Rinse and repeat. 

Some things are as old as the hills themselves. 

Would 1) require a very high profile case to get any floodgate effect and 2) there is a key element here that the item was only a couple of weeks old on the first wash

Plenty of people already buy clothes online, wear them to their event etc and then return them as unwanted so no need for the shrunk in the wash claim and then a fight.

Plus, without doubt many items have been returned on that basis and given a refund... as a customer service manager for a mail order company I know I authorised several such free returns but the items wholesale prices were typically sub £5 and the customers were spending £5k plus per year with us so neither worth a fight nor annoying a customer.

If every return opened a flood gate there would be water everywhere by now... remember a case of another CSM agreeing an 8 year old vac could be returned as the bags werent made any more, a 4 year old computer because the mouse broke and yet we still see plenty of stories here of people struggling to have returns accepted or items accepted as faulty

born_again

New washing machine. I take it that it is only fed via cold water. And not as some have done using the hot water tap. Which then leads to the water temp being too high.

Alderbank

Jackim1968 said:

Alderbank said:

Sorry, Jackim, I didn't word that well. I don't think they tested your sweatshirt either. I meant and should have said they will be able to produce test data for the fabric used showing it was pre-shrunk.
They won't have tested your shirt because as far as I know there is no test to show exactly when shrinkage occurred.

Even following the instructions, as you did, 100% cotton is prone to shrinking. You have to dry it carefully, stretching, padding and pinning, to restore its original shape.

Well in that case why did the label say to wash at 30degrees??

I've never dealt with Balmain but typically suppliers of 100% cotton clothes recommend that they be washed by hand in cold water.
Since the label says machine wash at 30 then either 

• the fabric supplier has pre-shrunk the fabric by washing at a higher temperature e.g. 40 degrees
• the garment manufacturer has pre-shrunk the finished article.

In either case the supplier will have documentation of that and would rely on that in court

Jackim1968

I have emailed, messaged, and wrote to Zap Clothing and they are completely ignoring me. 
the label is 100% cotton and says it can be washed at 30degrees 
I have tried and failed to find a email address for Balmain to complain to them direct.

I an not dealing with the supplier as I cannot get an answer to any of my messages to get details for there suppliers 

=any advice  I have never had to deal with such a rude company