Is H&M now stopping customers ordering two sizes to compare?

[Trouserissues]

Has anyone tried to order more than 1 size from H&M recently? I want a pair of trousers, but the measurements make me either 12 or 14. I tried to add both to the bag, but after giving me a message about the environmental cost of returns, it keeps chucking out the other pair! Wtf?

They also charge you for returns now, so I never buy from them anymore

I used to be a Logistics Manager for a large retailer. Online ret7rns are a huge cost to the business. When the return is processed the customer gets their refund and the retailer has to decide how to many those items. It is prohibitively expensive to return the item to the same location number with the rest of that stock of that SKU (line number/size) so we used to put all the return in specific area with a new location code so it can be found when it’s next ordered.

I can well believe online returns are a huge cost and hassle for clothes and shoe retailers. But what's really frustrating is that they set up online shopping as a way to cut down their overheads in the first place. No more rental fees on shops! Lower wage bills! No need for cleaners, interior designers, shop staff and all those other positions that were so useful for women who needed part time work, or teenagers wanting Saturday jobs.

Also, couldn't they have foreseen that people would have trouble guessing the right fit?

If all this means a gradual swing back towards physical stores, and more jobs being created as a result, it might just be a good thing.

Is there an option to order it all to the local store and you can try them on there on the spot?

I'm sure they are a huge cost. But a lot of that is down to their failure to ensure sizing is uniform and understandable, not to mention the lowering of quality while keep prices the same across many brands which also results in higher returns.

That's it. I'm a fairly normal shape and height (e.g. can pretty safely buy a dress in my size and know it will fit) but trousers are impossible to buy without trying on a couple of sizes. I looked at the Fat Face size guide recently which put one of my measurements as a 12 but went ahead and ordered two pairs of trousers in my normal 10. They were enormous - no way would they have been labelled a 10 a few years ago and not a chance am I an 8 in trousers, yet their sizing said I should have ordered even bigger than that. I really miss being able to try on a decent range of clothes in a shop. Stuff like black work trousers it's almost impossible to tell online what they even look like as black doesn't photograph well.

The sizing issue could hugely improved by adding garment measurements to the listings. I guess this would require a level of joining up between manufacturing and merchandising.

Yes, measurements would be so useful. At the moment the retailers are relying on buyer feedback, so they expect you to scroll the comments to work it out yourself - which is useless, as one person will write "comes up short" and the next will say "comes up long"

Well, I hope they all go out of business as any shop not allowing people to order more than one size in any item is utterly fucking ridiculous.

Yes, people take the piss with wearing something and returning it but ordering more than one size just means you want to, you know, try stuff on, FFS.

So that's H&M on the shit list. Zara as well as their customer service is appalling.

I hope Next don't go that way, I bought three bikinis from them in summer. Another one I tried in the same design, same size as the others which fitted well was too small. Sizing is so inconsistent anyway of course you need to order more than one.

I went on Decathlon the other day and put my height and weight in, and they suggested I should be a large.

Thanks for that. I've just bought a small top which fits perfectly and a medium top which I wanted to be a loose fit.

It definitely does let you add both if you click the keep both sizes button. If the website is playing up, try the app or vice versa.
It's very annoying, but I think the reminder is a good thing.

However, I absolutely agree that retailers need to get their acts together about providing information. H&M is a little better, if you click on the description and fit button underneath, it often says fitted, true to size, loose or oversized. I can normally gauge from that what size is likely to be the best (oversized, size down once, or twice in t-shirts!). If it's divided concept, it's likely to be smaller.

Next have just sent me a letter questioning my "94% return rate" ! - "did I not realise they had a size guide?"

WTAF? I click and collect, try and return what doesn't fit - they never have the long versions in stock in an 8 or 10 and their sizes are so random, I never know if an 8, 10 or even 12 will fit!

Same. I won’t order from them anymore. I’m not being judged and told off after making 3 returns in 2 years due to their shitty lack of size controls and also shitty reviews so I can’t even see if people say it runs big or small.

No - the main thing is the ginormous Amazon style warehouse at the back which means everything in every size is in stock all the time. Actual shops at the moment never have anything but must cost a fortune in wasted retail space having to display stuff. In my utopia the catalogue is all online so shops can save all the display space and just rack it high with robots fetching all the different items

I'll cut H&M a small amount of slack as they're one of the few retailers who've bothered to maintain a physical presence on my poxy high street. The same with Next although I don't rate their clothes. But trying to shift responsibility for your lack of consistent sizing onto your customers is very poor business.

(Edited for missing word)

Women’s retailers really need to be asking themselves why there’s such a problem with returns then don’t they.

I really don't understand why you (general you) have such problems. About 80% of what I buy is online. I think I've returned 3 dresses in 6 years and even then it was because I wasn't being honest with myself about the size I needed . I never buy 2 sizes.

Edit, to add I've never bought anything from H&M, ASOS or Next.

We just try to leave enough time to do a second order if the first size doesn’t work. I also have gotten very picky about where I order from. Places with consistent sizing get my repeat business.

For my own body, I have a few go to places and silhouettes that I know are almost certain to work.

There's also not really another option! I recently got fed up with constantly having to return things bought online (it's not like we want to have to do this!) and made a couple of trips to a local shopping centre with most of the main shops. It was such a disappointing experience - not only a very poor selection compared to their websites, but anything I did like was only available in a 6 or an 18. What are we actually supposed to do?

Edit, to add I've never bought anything from H&M, ASOS or Next.

Well there, I think, is your answer! Using my own shopping history, I don't think I've never needed to order 2 sizes from Margaret Howell. I never needed to with Toast until recently. (It's one of several reasons why I don't buy it new any more.) There was even a time when I never needed to with M&S but that was many, many years ago. But with H&M, Uniqlo and shops at a similar price point, I've always needed to.

Exactly, and with bikinis it's difficult to get a good fit. If they'd have griped about my ordering more than one size, I'd have told them about their inconsistent sizing of 34DD tops. The thing is I ordered a 10 and 12 in the bottoms and didn't even try on the 12 as the tens were fine. So they weren't even opened. But at the same time I didn't want to risk the 12 bottoms that matched the tops running out of stock if I had needed them instead.

Also it annoys me as ordering double means you spend more money. Sometimes it takes 30 days to get a refund so they all earn a nice bit of interest in their account, and how many times do people actually forget to return one size anyway?

I generally need to try 12 and 14 long and extra long from Next, also even if I have bought a perfect item of clothing in one colour there is no guarantee that another colour is going to fit in the same size

I click and collect at Next, try on and return straight away what doesn't fit, I am quite tall so they never have the longer length in store anyway so I have order them in.

I have gravitated to ordering most of my clothes from Next - they stock a wide range of brands, and you can order multiple sizes. I collected 13 items this afternoon (it was free next day delivery into the Next store), took them straight into the changing rooms, tried it all on, and then immediately returned 8 of the 13 items as they were no good. The downside is that the payment for all of the items is taken from you, but then you may have a wait a few days for the refund to go back on….

I find Next and M&S best to order from for easy returns if you have local stores to collect and try on. M&S do a lot of brands also now

I thought I was going to be in between sizes for some jeans from a shop I hadn't ordered from before so bought two pairs in adjacent sizes, only to end up having to get a pair two sizes smaller than the smallest pair I'd originally ordered! Ludicrous.

I probably have about a 20% success rate of buying stuff online that fits, was much the same years ago in physical stores, I'd only buy a fraction of what I tried on.