To think this major high street retailer is wrong and the store manager was out of order

[Notalone]

I have been looking for a dress for ages and finally found one on Friday that makes me feel amazing. It is pretty much a bog standard dress really but with clever folds and a belt that sets it off perfectly. Except when I wore it at the weekend I realised the belt is stupidly small and squashed me that much I had to take it off. It didn't look the same without the belt though.

I went down to the shop to ask them to exchange the belt for a bigger one and the cashier said that a lot of people had said the same thing but she would have to check with her manager. The manager comes out and refuses saying that if she gives me a different belt then it would make another dress faulty so no she won't exchange the belt. She can't order another belt from the manufacturer either but would give 20% off the dress. I explained that no, I just wanted a belt that actually fit me because the dress is just not the same without it and I want to keep the dress. She looked me up and down and sneeringly said that SHE had tried the belt on, was the same size as the dress and it wasn't big on her at all. I retorted that my friend who is a size 8-10 struggled to fasten the belt too so therefore it wasn't me buying a too small dress. She then said it was only me with the problem and no-one else had complained. I said that is not what her cashier had said so she glared at the cashier and said she should have fed that back to her.

The end result I that she refused to swap the belt and I now have a dress that just isn't the same. I am sorely tempted to go to another tore, try a bigger dress on and just switch the bloody thing over myelf even though I know this isn't right really.

I know there are bigger issues than this but I feel really peeved because the dress cost more than I would usually spend and I really love it with that frigging belt

[Feminine]

Seems like many of you would swap

Selfish

[TSSDNCOP]

I would have taken the 20% and bought a belt in Next.

[emuloc]

The shop in question gave 20% off which they did not haye to do. YABU go and get another belt elsewhere and next time try before you buy!

[LittleBearPad]

You can't swap the belt. It would be theft.

Call RI head office and explain.

If they won't do anything then what's the belt made of - it may stretch if its leather or if another fabric you could adjust it/get it adjusted. The 20% offered would pay for thr adjustments.

[Golferman]

Buy another one with belt that fits then take orginal one back with new receipt and get full refund, simples.

[Notalone]

Hmm some really good belt suggestions here.

I am still thinking about what to do. We measured the belt in store and it was the same as the other size 12 so not switched by someone else. I did try the dress on but didn't try the belt properly more fool me. The idea of buying another and the taking the original back wouldn't work because the dress would need to be a 14 an I am a 12 so if I did this I would still effectively be switching the belt anyway. I am not sure how it would be classed as shop lifting though if I am switching as opposed to taking another one. I am not trying to be argumentative about this issue, I just don't understand how it would be if I am not taking anything extra, but please correct me as I am genuinely confused.

Wonder if there has been any job with head office yet

[LittleBearPad]

You would be taking something that doesn't belong to you and by taking the size 14 belt off and leaving the 12 you are making the size 14 dress unsaleable. You would then cost RI profit. How is it difficult to understand.

You don't walk into a car dealership with a BMW 3 series and swap it for a 5 series. Extreme example I know.

[fragola]

Of course it would be shop lifting! You paid for the belt that went with the size 12 dress. You haven't paid for the belt that went with the size 14 dress. Whether or not you leave the size 12 belt in the shop is irrelevant!

[mignonette]

I hate all this 'nobody else has complained' nonsense.

Somebody always has to be the first!

Name and shame the company. River Island said the same to my son when a pair of shoes fell apart one week after wearing them.

Ridiculous in this age of cut throat business to not be excellent at customer service. It is an art to be proud of after all.

[Notalone]

Actually to be fair I don't really care about their profit. As Mignonet said - what ever happened to customer service? They produced a dress which has an accompanying belt that is not just the wrong fit but actually totally the wrong size. Other people in the store I purchased my dress from had commented and another mumsnetter who bought the same dress (page 2?) found the belt would not even fit halfway around her waist. She had also been told that plenty of others had found the same thing. The whole, oh well, that's just tough, attitude of the store stinks. Yes, they may have offered 20%, but all I want is the belt that is advertised with the dress to fit the dress. As I said before, a friend who is a good 2 sizes smaller than me could not get it on properly either. I really don't think I am asking too much to want the belt to fit.

[BoredNinja]

But does the belt measure 29 inches round? That's the circumference of a River Island size 12 waist. If it's smaller than 29 inches then yes, it's the wrong size. If not, then it just doesn't suit your shape...

[Notalone]

Sorry Boredninja. You have asked that already and I didn't answer before did I? Erm, I don't know because I don't have a tape measure at the mo (mine went walkies and I never got round to replacing it) Damn. Is there anything else I can use as a yardstick? I am guessing not possibly

[BuntyCollocks]

River island's belts on clothing are ridiculously small. I just bought a maxi skirt with a belt from there and couldn't even get it on the first hole. Skirt itself fits perfectly.

[LittleBearPad]

In which case call head office. That's what you do. You don't swap bits of clothing as and how you wish.

[CockBollocks]

Problem is, if the store manager had given you the belt from the 14 then that dress would have been rendered useless and would have been returned to head office as store faulty, which IME goes against the store.

I assume that she offered you a refund? Being reasonable I think that's all you could expect from the store - although I would have offered to ring head office for you and explain the situation to see if that got anywhere.

[LRG23]

I have had a reply from ri head office. They basically just said I was to return the dress for a refund. That's not what I want. I want a belt that fits the dress properly!! I have just replied to them so will let u know

[Mumoftwoyoungkids]

Can you compare the length of the belt with the size of the dress around the waist? Ie is the belt smaller than the dress?

[Notalone]

Well I went in to the store today and I switched the belt. I took a size 14 and 16 into the changing room. The size 14 belt was a perfect fit despite me being probably a size 11 (if that actually existed) but the belt on the size 16 was smaller than the one I already had on a 12 dress. Either their sizings are totally off or someone else had already switched before me.

Do I feel bad? No, not really. Sorry to all those who said I should just suck it up but RI are a huge chain. I am a lone parent on a very small budget. It may only be a £35 dress but that is a lot of money for me. Why should I take the hit and have a dress that is not as advertised when they were the ones who messed the sizes up in the first place? I will feel bad if another unsuspecting person picks up the other dress without trying it on but the belt is definitely smaller than their miniscule size 12 so if the worst comes to the worst they will definitely be entitled to a switch at minimum. I will probably get flamed for this but as far as I am concerned RI need to review their sizes and I will never shop there again (despite seeing some lovely other shirts and tops on my way out)

[breatheslowly]

I think that is the most logical solution for the retailer. If they have a load of dresses with all of the belts 1 size too small then by switching the belts down a size they will end up with lots of saleable stock plus a few large dresses and tiny belts. Otherwise they just have lots of disgruntled customers and reject stock. It's just a shame you had to do it yourself.

[WafflyVersatile]

Maybe this?
shop.mango.com/ficha.faces?state=she_006_IN

[WafflyVersatile]

Or this.

www.urbanoutfitters.co.uk/triangle-waist-belt/invt/5772432274874/

[ouryve]

People are all different shapes, OP. Couldn't you just accept the 20% and use it to buy a belt that would fit?

[mynameismskane]

Just get another dress abs exchange belt!

[WafflyVersatile]

shop.mango.com/US/p0/mango/new/metal-appliques-skinny-belt/?id=13000039_01&n=1&s=nuevo&ie=0&m=&ts=1375943637014

www.hm.com/gb/product/17279?article=17279-A