to get really fed up with the shoddy goods we have to put up with?

[Dorothyredboots]

Having already returned a belt to Monsoon this week as it was failing after about three days wear, I find the coating is coming off some beads bought in M&S about a week ago. Add that to having a replacement bedstead delivered last week (with all the attendant lologistical nightmares). Is it really so great to have all these cheap things available if you can only use them once? Works out quite pricey IMHO. Sick of taking stuff back...Stuff seems to be cheap as chips & lasts (literally) five minutes or cost £££S. AIBU?

Yabu if you think MOnsoon is cheap!

...but obviously no, not u to be scunnered at having to return stuff, no.

YANBU. I've got to the point where I expect to have to pay more if I want quality and to expect it to be crap, if I've got something cheap, not a bargain.

Well, the belt from monsoon was £12.00, so cheap in comparison to the L K Bennett £90 (!!!) one I'm swooning over. Perhaps IABU - how long should a £12 belt last - perhaps that is the question. If the L K Bennett one lasted 3 days I would be . I'd like to pay somewhere in between and have the belt give me a chance to wear it out rather than it falling to bits on day one. Rant rant.

You should return any faulty itesm. I'm buying moe and more stuff on etsy - made by craftspeople and not really any more expensive....and beautiful quality, and unique, and you can event have stuff made to order...I love it!

Price isn't a guarantee of quality though. I shelled out on some very expensive Karen Millen boots last autumn only to find they started leaking after 3 weeks. Took them back and exchanged (after quite a lot of opposition from the girl in the shop). The new pair started leaking even sooner, so I went back again.

They said, no, they won't give me another pair, and given there's a recession on, don't I know that manufacturing costs have to be kept down? I was gobsmacked - it was pretty much like saying, yes, our stuff is cheap and badly made, what do you expect?

Grr. But it might make you feel better about not having the 90 quid belt because that's not necessarily worth it either.

Manufacturing costs are being squeezed and squeezed, and then the quality is crap and nothing lasts (or is worth repairing). It's not sustainable surely?!

It's crazy isn't it, but while people still buy it no company is going to change.

I've got a vintage 50's housedress which is still fantastic quality, the seams came a bit loose but had enough give for me to restitch them. Whereas modern dresses use the minimum amount of material so they are really difficult to fix, so they go in the bin instead.

I need to make more clothes myself, they last longer (and I'm no expert at sewing!)

YANBU.I used to work in the garment industry an d it is surprising how many expensive labels use cheap overseas labour and skimp on fabric.

A friend who owned a dry cleaners said that he often wouldn't accept clothes from Karen Millen and Jane Norman for cleaning,as they were so poorly made that he couldn't guarantee they'd stand the cleaning process.Another thing modern clothes tend to have is a 'dry clean only' label,even if they are made of a washable fabric.I've washed all my dry clean only stuff and only ever had one disaster,and that was a cheap lining fabric shrinking,not the garment fabric.

If something isn't fit for purpose,the shop have to refund,providing you have proof of purchase.