Is it reasonable for a company to demand my measurements before helping me?

[Allofaflutter]

I bought a pair of jogging type trousers from a company that promotes itself to larger sizes, and with not much wear they became faulty. I emailed and complained expecting them to help me. The reply I got had me feeling uncomfortable. The person said before they could help me that I would have to measure myself and give them my usual dress size, thigh size, waist, hips, inside leg and said that they had looked at my previous orders and had seen I had bought 3 different sizes over the orders, which I felt was implying I had caused the fault by being too fat. They said I would have to provide all of these before they could help me. I have never had to do this before for a bit of faulty clothing. Am I being an unreasonable to think this isn’t on? Maybe it’s just me being sensitive but is this standard practice? What do people think? If it’s me being sensitive I’ll leave it but my first instinct was to be upset over it.

OP, how is snag supposed to update their designs and recommended sizing if no one will give feedback about fit on different body sizes/shapes ? If they’re making a size that’s supposed to fit a 30inch thigh and 50inch waist but they start getting feedback that actually their customers with 50 inch waists generally have 35inch thighs and the tights keep breaking at the stress point where the thighs come together - that’s useful feedback and they might change the proportions of the tights in that size.
Reframing the question, it’s not really about whether you are too fat for the tights. It’s about whether the tights can accommodate the bodies snag says they are supposed to. It’s about making better fitting tights for plus size customers.

They can pay for research with different sizes. They aren’t paying me.

And it was joggers not tights.

My point is no other company ever has said before they will help me that they needed my measurements. In fact I’ve never ever been asked for my measurements by a company for any reason so other companies must manage to develop decent products without getting their customers measurements.

That’s awful - and so disappointing from Snag 😢

I genuinely don’t think that email was bad. To me, it’s sounds like they are trying to ensure you get the correct size. I mean, you feel how you feel and no judgement, but on first read it sounds like genuinely helpful customer service.

OP your item from them is broken after 12 wears, they want to work out why that is to see if it is something they can prevent happening in future, if you’ve bought a size too small then that is the reason and they don’t have to worry or make any changes to their products, to know that they need to know your sizes.

I’d argue they actually were trying to help you, because if you have indeed bought the wrong size they will be able to tell you that to save you doing the same thing again.

Well I guess they could have sorted out a replacement and then sent a questionnaire asking for feedback after?

I find their products so disappointing, their tights are very comfortable but they snag quicker than Primark cheapies which is ironic.
I bought five pairs last winter and in weeks 4 had holes in them , they replaced them all but the same happened. They never asked for my measurements though

Gosh that's really disappointing to hear OP. My most recent pair of tights had holes form by the big toe quite quickly. I guess they might ask the length and width of my toe if I complain!

Right… but if the size is the problem and they just send another of the same size, OP will be back on the phone complaining again when the new pair rips.

The item was not faulty when OP received it, which means part of the business “helping” is establishing what/how it is faulty. If I bought a top and 6 weeks later spilt wine on it and stained it, I can’t get a replacement because it’s my fault. If you order the wrong size clothing, it is naturally going to show wear & tear quicker, that’s not the businesses fault. They are trying to establish if that is the case here, and if it is then they will be helping OP by giving the correct size for future.

Which no one would fill out?
They want to know if they should replace or not. Which does depend somewhat on whether the size bought was sufficient for OP’s measurements. And that’s not necessarily a yes or no question because there are lots of measurements involved in a pair of joggers. Waist, hips, low hips around the bum, rise, thighs, inside leg.
12 wears is also a bit of an issue. I agree it’s not very long and indicative of crap quality but it’s not nothing either. Most clothes will break after say 50ish washes.

That is shocking from Snag!

Asking if you're sure you have the right size is not fat shaming.

if you're a size 10 wearing a size 4 and they wear out faster, it's not fat shaming to ask if you're sure you have the right size. Just the same as if you're a size 26 wearing a size 20.

Making sure your customer has a good fit is good service.

They can’t do that. Under the consumer rights act 2015 they should replace or repair your item.

they can’t ask that you measure yourself. I would say the above and say that they can’t ask you to measure yourself and if they can’t help you. You can I’ll ring citizens advice and get them to open a case with trading standards.

I did this when a skate company wouldn’t refund my daughters skates that came broken.

They know the size.

they saw the order.

I stopped buying from them a year or so ago. I just didn’t find the tights great quality, but the colours were so good that I overlooked it for a while.

The level of questioning goes way beyond acceptable. Even if you think they need to work out if the op is in the right size, this isn’t the way to go about it.

Trustpilot!

I think as long as she ordered between f-g-h then she’s covered.

Actually under the Consumer Rights Act, once over 30 days (which OP is, they have had them a few months), if you purchase a product which becomes faulty within 6 months the retailer must determine if it was the customer who caused the fault. If not, then yes they would replace/repair. The business is simply trying to figure this out, it’s really no big deal.

I fb messaged them and asked why they did something to my fb messages and they said it wasn’t their department that did that but they mute customer service posts as they can’t deal with them!

They know what size was ordered… they need to ascertain if it was the correct size for the customer. Because if not, then OP has bought the wrong size and that has caused the damage.

I’m a size 8, if I order a size 4 jeans, they are going to rip open because they will not fit me, that’s not my size. It’s not the shops fault that their size 4 jeans didn’t fit my size 10 body though, and it would be pointless the shop sending me another pair of size 4 jeans as a replacement because they will also just rip open!

I did try to get my point that I felt this way of doing things was making me feel fat shamed but they weren’t interested. All I got was that’s the way we do it

I can’t see the problem. They are trying to determine if their product is faulty and if it will happen to someone else who buys them or if the buyer actually underestimated their measurements and caused strain on the item due to it being too small for them.
By rights the buyer should have measured themselves and compared it to the sizing chart provided to make sure they are the right fit.
Like if I buy a pair of jeans and don’t check the size and they are too long and trail on the ground and fray. I would have no problem with them asking me to measure my leg length to make sure that I ordered the right size and they don’t have 200 pairs of jeans in stock that are faulty.
If they don’t ask me and send out the same ones the same thing will happen. It’s very simple really and I cannot see how it is fat shaming.

Snag have behaved appallingly to you, OP. These performatively woke companies are often really judgemental in reality and totally uninterested in providing decent customer service.

I'd say I won't be buying from them again after your experience, but I already ditched them after the attached.