or does everything feel like a scam these days?

[InPraiseOfBacchus]

Getting ripped off is nothing new. But lately I've been feeling more and more that I can't trust legitimate companies to provide goods and services to an expected quality, or without some kind of dishonesty behind it.

Clothes brands that used to sell decent pieces are now selling plastic tat that falls apart, often bought in from cheap external manufacturers with their label slapped on. Even "posh" brands like Reiss have started selling polyester and poorly finished goods in among their rails. Karen Millen is selling old Oasis stuff with the names scrubbed off and the prices inflated. Not to mention online brands who steal other designers' product pictures for their own websites, and send ugly knock-offs to customers.

It's not just clothes - I feel like I have to put more effort into making sure things I buy for my home are what they say they are. Established names like Le Creuset and Doc Martens are churning out lower quality versions of their time-honoured goods and dressing them up (and pricing them!) as the real McCoy.

I feel like I'm being gaslit into expecting/enduring a lower quality of goods without complaining.

I really feel for people who are more disadvantaged than me, who don't have the time or money to shop around, or who might not have the experience to sniff out a bum deal. The cost of living crisis is only going to make this worse.

Am I the only one? Has anyone else lost faith in a beloved brand because they've pulled the quality out from under their customers' noses? On the other hand, is there a company or manufacturer out there that's still worth their good rep?

Yes - life is like a game of Minesweeper constantly having to dodge scams and rip-offs.

Hunter wellies - used to be made in Scotland years ago and used to last decades.

Then Kate moss wore a pair to Glastonbury, BOOM - they became super fashionable overnight, couldn't keep up with demand. Outsourced the manufacture to China and now they're shit 🤷‍♀️

I used to work in a shop who stocked them, a customer bought a pair for dog walking as her pair that were 15+ years old had finally given up. She brought them back within 6 weeks because they split - phoned Hunter who said "well what does she expect? They're fashion wellies!" 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

I've just saved up to buy some designer trainers. They were a lot of money and they have come today.

Like anything I save up for I look after it so I can re sell later down the line as they will go for a decent price on eBay.

Opened the parcel today and the box is all tatty. No shoe cases (should be supplied with these trainers) and no dust bag for the box. Again should be supplied. I know these are little things and the actual trainers are fine but it will affect the re sale value when I eventually sell them.

Flannels where I bought them from are no use at all.

Recently bought my sister something from Gucci, for her 40th birthday. Even their customer service wasn't crash hot!

Ugh, that's such a shame - I was thinking of buying a pair!

"Fashion wellies" indeed!!! Their website tagline even says "designed to last"!

Yes I've noticed this. My biggest bugbear is not designer goods, but toiletries. I used to religiously use Sure deoderant, but it has been shit for years now. I used Dove now but the antiperspirant seems to run out before the spray does, but it's the best one out there.

Razors are shit.

Hair dye lasts a week, even if permanent.

Cheap shower gels used to be ok, but are some weird jelly like substance now.

Some toothpastes promise all this weird stuff for your teeth, but melt your gums and are painful to use.

Mascara, concealer etc not as good and runs out really quickly.

Yes we are royally being shafted by these companies. I have had enough too.

I guess I'm just impatient for it to be "a thing" for the general public to sit up and take notice of this, and take companies to task for it. That way, there might be a tiny chance that one or two brands take pride in their old-school quality again, even if it is as a bandwagon gesture.

It's kind of happening on social media already - people are sharing their attempts to suss out poor fabric choices for expensive goods or shaming people who buy huge Shein hauls.

@Notlosinganyweight I’m glad you said that about home dye. I used to use it all the time in my 20’s, changed my hair with my mood. Didn’t for years because kids and life but gave it a go recently and despite there being hundreds of colour options they all come out much the same. I have thick hair so always used 2 boxes and know what I’m doing dividing and blending. But it’s either just darker or patchy. I don’t care enough to spend hundreds at the hairdresser.

Barbour coats are another. My mum wore one through her 20’s and 30’s. I have lovely memories of being wrapped in it on cold days. I got her one for her 60th and I would have been as well at TK Maxx! Plastic, no durability and no warmth.

Next clothing is now shapeless and often see-through polyester that doesn't wash well. See also: River Island and Dorothy Perkins.

Wayfair furniture has arrived damaged for my last two orders.

Hellman's Mayonnaise now comes in a new "100% Recycled" bottle where the mayonnaise refuses to come out, even if you take the cap off.

....and they call this progress!!

I was thinking of Dorothy Perkins too, I guessed quality would go downhill as soon as they were bought by Boohoo (or the company that runs Boohoo).
Next is a bit of a gamble for me, some things are okay and some are just awful quality, with inconsistent sizing.

A lot of the exact stuff Wayfair sell can be found on Amazon and eBay from no-name manufacturers (still pretty crappy, but it means you can get Wayfair stuff a lot cheaper if you go looking)

Christy bedding. Have some from years ago that still looks brand new - don’t know what they’ve done recently but everything I have bought in the last 3 or 4 years has been awful, definitely not as luxurious feeling and three separate sheets have worn through.

Oh I am so sad to hear about the Barbour Jacket. I had one about 30 years ago, don’t know what happened to it but it was a fabulous coat. Lots of memories with my Barbour 😀

"If the general public want cheap, then shit is what we'll give them".

Next is a bit of a gamble for sure, but one or two good bits are still hanging on in there.

Dorothy Perkins shops and similar just smell like plastic the second you walk in there now :(

A lot of companies are trading off the good reputation they have built up in the past. It's a conscious business decision; brand equity is an asset and by buying in cheaper stuff you can trade off that reputation for a bit pushing up sales or profit margin.
By the time the general public reranks you mentally that CEO is gone and has cashed in the share options.

i was browsing the Karen Millen website earlier. I haven’t bought anything from there in years but I used to have a couple of good quality items for special occasions (wouldn’t fit now!). I was surprised at how garish and cheap looking their stuff is now but not cheap prices. I didn’t realise so many of these established clothing brands are now all owned by Boohoo (appropriate name!).

Wasn’t there a story a while ago about the same jacket being sold in Dorothy Perkins and Coast with the Dorothy Perkins one a fraction of the price?

Interesting about the Hunter wellies. It’s like things are deliberately made to fall apart now so you have to keep spending.

I really wish I’d kept all my quality clothes from 20 plus years ago. Especially as it’s now back in fashion!

My sister works in high end fashion and pointed out that, as soon as the quantity is increased, the quality decreases. Since she said that, I’m seeing it everywhere! Even here innit.

Glad you said that about hair dye, I thought my greys were just more stubborn.

i'm not much of a consumer so can't really comment but this weekend, I went by a clothes store I find pricey and popped in just to look...nothing nice to look at and all polyester.

I agree that the quality has gone south but I think consumer sentiment and fast fashion has a lot to do with it. If a large sector of consumers want to buy cheap and often, then companies will facilitate that. People also started to use physical shops to look/ try on/ get advice and then go and buy online for less, without thinking that when the physical shops didn't exist, you'd have nowhere to check the quality/ fit before buying.

The majority of people dont want winter boots that last 10 years. They want new boots every year.

I still have jeans from 2014 but they were 100 quid not 10 quid. But that means I still wear skinnies so am sure I look hideously uncool.

I’m not sure that quality has gone south in all countries, though. Some still have pride. I loved shopping in supermarkets in France a couple of years ago - I distinctly remember buying some lavender hand wash (just normal hand wash) which smelled divine. It was just a French brand but it had real lavender essential oil in it a the quality between that and our fake scented ones was miles apart.

Another one was supermarket chocolate ice cream. It was rich and delicious, just a standard brand but with proper ingredients: real milk/cream and real chocolate, none of your reconstituted milk powder rubbish like we put up with in the U.K.,, chocolate “flavour” (instead of actual chocolate) and then crap like palm oil and tapioca starch. The French have rightly been proud of their cuisine and beauty/perfume products for years and a lot of that is down to quality of ingredients. They simply wouldn’t stand for accepting cheap shit as a replacement and being charged the same price as before. I just think they wouldn’t want to accept the inferior replacement full stop actually.

Ive been banging on for a few years about declining quality in clothes. When you don’t buy clothes regularly you do notice such decline. (M&S, I still haven’t forgiven you for your crap knicker quality these days)

I bought the same make and model of tumble dryer as our old one had worn out but we had been pleased with it. It was just an “updated” version, maybe about 10 years between them. But Jesus, the difference in quality! New one is cheap, flimsy, rough edges and joins, noisier, and to top it off, it DOESNT EVEN DRY THE CLOTHES as well as the previous incarnation did.

All I am left wondering every time I experience something like this is “is this some kind of counterfeit product that’s somehow got into the supply chain?”, it has got that bad.

for some clothing items eg proper warm naturals fibre stuff like merino wool or cashmere I’ve started looking to shopping in catalogues I wouldn’t have gone near years ago. Eg I’ve had a lovely cashmere poncho and a hoodie from Woolovers. Most of it in the catalogue woukd only look decent on a Granny but there are some decent bits in there and it’s all actually warm and cuddly, not like the recycled plastic sweaty jumpers you get now that feel nasty and look constantly creased.

i don’t want to have to shop in specialist individual online shops though depending on what item I’m looking for. It’s a pain in the arse, so time consuming looking for decent stuff

Yes, and this is why I buy nearly all my clothes in charity shops. I’ve just bought a velvet jacket, vintage M&S and the quality is incomparable with what is available today.

Brands will change or go bust if people stop buying, but until manufacturers make clothing to last, textile waste will remain a massive global problem. Complaining, and supporting bloggers who highlight this problem to build a movement that demands better will also help.

I buy new for underwear and shoes, but finding good quality is a challenge I agree. I’ve stopped buying footwear online after the expensive branded hiking boots I bought were slippery in wet conditions and I fell over on a walk and hurt myself. Totally not fit for purpose. I thought they might be counterfeit, but on investigation they were the genuine item! Totally agree about Hunter wellies and DMs.

I've never got over the demise of Hunters. I thought this as soon as I saw the thread.

I had a blue pair as a teenager that lasted me into my twenties mucking out horses and traipsing through mud every day.

They now split after a few uses and are about £150.