To think Next are up their own arse

[Rawtinhail]

I swear Next used to be pretty well rated, decent quality. Now it's just a load of over priced, cheaply made tat.
I have to shop in the petite section, which is a joke because at 5"2 (not that short I don't think), I still struggle to find any jeans/trousers that aren't a good few inches too long still. But it's so hit and miss because even in identical styles the sizing is all over the place. I can fit in a size 14 in one colour and the size 18 is too tight in another colour but has a saggy crotch chucked in for good measure or a waist so high I could tuck it under my tits.
This is the same even with their exclusive brands. Bought two identical Lipsy dresses in different colours. One fit ok but a little loose around the bum. I couldn't even get the other over my head for fear of ripping the waistband.
Their own clothing is so often just frumpy crap in horrible fabric with some big tacky sparkly star shoved on the front to "jazz it up". The stuff that is actually nice is horrendously overpriced.
Then you get to the furniture. It's all MDF and oak veneer. AKA cheap tat. But it's not cheap, it's expensive. You could literally buy the same quality of furniture for half the price in Argos.
And there are never any discount codes available or cash back affiliations like Quidco. (other than their quarterly sales where they roll out the extra crap crap). Even John Lewis isn't so stuck up that they aren't willing to chuck out some cash back offers or release little discount codes.
Oh, and you can't review anything, you have to be invited to leave reviews!
I get this is first world problems but Next happens to the be only department type shop anywhere near where I live and I keep trying with them, but I'm hacked off that I can't find a single pair of trousers that fits my dumpy ass properly.
Is it just me? Am I just being to unrealistic about what to expect from a major retailer?

Is this not the pattern with most companies though? Have great quality products for a decent price, get snapped up by a private equity firm and everything goes to pot.

I visit Next occasionally but I always wonder who it's marketed at, it really is a last resort place for me now. As I've got older I look for quality and have a bit more money to spend on clothes but I still love a bargain pair of jeans - Uniqlo get my custom for that now rather than Next.

A lot of its crap although I don't think it's more or less crap than anywhere else tbh.

I don't know where to shop anymore, I spend far too long browsing online and end up buying nothing.

@mizzo

A lot of its crap although I don't think it's more or less crap than anywhere else tbh.

I don't know where to shop anymore, I spend far too long browsing online and end up buying nothing.

I agree it's appalling pretty much everywhere right now. Next was one of my go to's for work wear but it's really disappointing. Is it pandemic related perhaps? Retailers have struggled to plan and supply chain issues globally many also have been impacted.

I’d like to know whether the French, Italians and Germans are putting up with crap quality clothes on their high streets. I bet they wouldn’t. I wish that we were more like them!

I've not bought anything from next in a long time. It's bland and overpriced.

@Iamthewombat interesting point and yes I do think there is some crap available on the continent. However your post has jogged my memory. I am of teutonic descent and have a teutonic build. Next clothes, even when I was 9st (am 5'7") were cut far to narrow across the shoulders - even if I upsides they still gaped across the chest. Similarly they were utterly hopeless for my broadly built children who were broad rather than overweight.

I haven't bought anything in Next for ages.
It is as one poster upthread said - "a sea of polyester" and add cheap plastic shoes to that. Yuck!
It's like BHS was before it closed down.

20 years ago I used to get great stuff that wore well and lasted. Now I struggle to find anything not horrible.
We have a family member who loves it and sends us vouchers which we struggle to spend there now.

@TheGratefulBread

YANBU

I'm tall, and Next was one of the first high street to introduce a tall collection for women (at least to my recollection), and although the tall range wasn't great, the stuff they did do was decent. I was just grateful I could actually buy something in a shop, and not online!

These days, their tall range offers lots of choice, but it's mainly crap. Last time I looked, there were over 500 dresses in the tall range, but most of them were awful, with some really unflattering patterns and fits.

Very disappointed with how standards have gone down.

Totally agree

Yes yes, yes! Bloody stars and lightening bolts. Or Be Kind

Next has not been decent quality for about twenty years, it’s cheap crap now.

@hennybeans

I don't think I've ever bought anything for myself at Next. It just doesn't appeal. I used to buy baby clothes there around 10-12 years ago because they had beautiful, bright colours.

Now I think the price point is too high for what they are selling.

I really like Sainsbury's for clothing! I'd say 80% of what they have isn't my taste at all. But when I do find something, it can be a real gem. The latest thing I've bought is a navy and black gingham dress for £22. No, it's not natural fibre but it fits fantastic, looks really good on and I've worn it at least twice a week since I've bought it. That dress would be closer to £50 in Next or M&S and still would be the same fabric and quality.

I also like Sainsbos clothes

I like them because they stock 28" mens trousers as standard

I've got 2 jumpers that came from Next in the early 90s that I still wear, and a denim jacket of similar vintage that I would still wear if only I could be arsed to replace the buttons.

If anything in their current range is still wearable after 3 years, never mind 30, I'd be surprised. The nearest branch to me is full of vile polyester shite that would look shoddy compared to stuff in New Look.

The majority of Next clothes are shapeless and unflattering. Their 'party' dresses look dated, like circa 2005-2010 when peblum and bodycon dresses were all the rage.

I am unsure which age group they are trying to appeal to. The women I know in their 50s and 60s would not give Next a second glance.

I have thought of something positive to say about Next - when DD needed a new one-piece swimsuit in January it was the only place that I could get hold of one in her size. It is a good swimsuit too! That’s it, I’m afraid.

Yesterday I contacted Next customer services to say there was some great feedback for them here, they've come back this morning to say they welcome feedback but won't visit any other websites to read feedback.

Says it all.

@Catswhisky you have just reminded me of something nice I can say about next.. The lighting. I had a very high vaulted ceiling in my bedroom and was renovating and wanted something stunning. I went to variety of websites and lighting shops and was seeing things like Italian glass for about £5k - I liked the look but not the price. I went to Next on a big retail park one afternoon to kill some time and bought two stunning light fittings. One especially was gorgeous which had long wires with glass balls on the end at different lengths (difficult to explain but it really really worked and looked ££££££). So many people were amazed when I said it was Next, the lady who bought my house recently was gobsmacked, thinking it was something really expensive.

So that's one good thing I can say about them..

@Tinkletwat

Yesterday I contacted Next customer services to say there was some great feedback for them here, they've come back this morning to say they welcome feedback but won't visit any other websites to read feedback.

Says it all.

Did you really? How funny. I'm half tempted to copy and paste the 200+ replied to the thread and send each one to them but I suspect even then they couldn't give a toss.

There must be some people who think Next stuff is good though. The insane people who queue up for the sale from 3 am on Boxing Day. I’m always intrigued by it.

I could sort of understand if it was the Next of old, late 1980s, when they sold really good stuff and you could get some well-made clothes in good fabrics for a bargain, but their clothes have been increasingly crap since the mid nineties.

Is waiting outside a shop in the dark in the early hours of boxing day some sort of participative experience or something? Do they see the same people for a queue reunion year after year? I’m not buying the ‘we can’t afford clothes ordinarily so we have to go to the Next sale’ story: you can get cheap clothes of similar quality all year round.

So somebody must still think that the stuff is worth having. I’d go and interview them in the queue to find out why, if I could be arsed.

@Rawtinhail wonder how much text their comments field would allow on their feedback form if you did a couple of pages?!

I've got quite a few pairs of Next £22 tapered jersey leggings. They're great for yoga and flopping around the house.

About 3 years' ago their Gatwick Next were selling very nice TShirts in lots of different colours that are still going strong.

But their other stuff is very throw-away fast fashion I don't enjoy.

@Tinkletwat

Yesterday I contacted Next customer services to say there was some great feedback for them here, they've come back this morning to say they welcome feedback but won't visit any other websites to read feedback.

Says it all.

I bet their PR and marketing companies are interested though. I wonder which ones they use.

I have a Next account but tend not to buy clothes any longer from Next. I am happy with my new tea towels though as I just had the kitchen decorated.

I still like them for kids clothes. I've recently had my third baby (second girl) and she is referring her sister's stuff from Next. It has all washed beautifully, not shrunk or faded. Compared to the stuff I bought from Asda which had to be donated as rags to a charity shop.

15 years ago I used to buy interview clothes from Next. I recently pulled out a pair of trousers I had worn to my uni interview that still look great today(no longer fit though) and compared them to a pair I bought a year ago which have bobbles. The quality at least with adult clothes just isn't there now. I'd have paid their prices previously as the quality was higher than places like New look but now it's on par.