What would you do?

[Dave271069]

Today i completed a order for 9 t shirts and 11 polos but when the customer came to pick up the order she looked at the sizes of the polos, and said that they would not fit any of the girls in the team. now this was not a nasty conversation and for the sake of loosing a possible 20 customers ive had to take this on the chin. The problem ive had is they ordered S M L XL OR 8 10 12 14 The polos were from B&C and were a ladies fit. when two of the girls came to the house they could not get the sizes they ordered over there heads. They said that the t-shirts were a much smaller size than there normal sizes. What do people do in this situation, i know if i ordered a standard polo say from fruit of the loom they would of fitted. Ive said i will redo the polos for the girls that dont want them but ive learnt a massive lesson in this game!
whats your opinion everyone?

[socialgiraffe]

I had this ONCE as well :smile:

There are a few things you can do.

Firstly, when you supply a quote always make sure you give the measurements as supplied by the garment manufacturer. These will be available through the website of the reseller (i.e. BTC).

Another thing I did was purchase every single size for both tees and polos for the make that I sell and recommend (in my case Gildan). That way, if the customer is unsure you can always say "try this on". This only works if you only stock the one make. If you are going to offer a range of garments across a range of manufacturers then the first method of supplying the chest sizes etc is your only option.

I, like you, just replaced them the first time round. But I did argue with the reseller who gave me a nice discount.

[purpledragon]

lesson learnt i think . know what you are selling and if its the first time you use abrand/supplier then check with the customer first where possible get sample sizes and get the customer to che k the sizes are correct. unfortunatly sizes vary greatly from brand to brand , a small fruit of the loom maybe differnt size to a small gildan and so on. also peoples perception of their size is not always a true reflection on reality id still buy myself a large tshirt my wife would soon tell you i need xtra large.what did you print on the shirts have you considered taking it off with vinyl remover spray and pressing a design over the top tou still may be able to sell them as one offs with your own designs.
take it on the hin mark it up to experiance and move on it wont be the last mistake you make such is life unfortunatly

[jennywren]

As you say its a learning curve, so there is no right or wrong of handle this, its a difficult one, but next time you'll give chest sizes of the item and then the onus is on the them, womens sizes are funny, I know it primark it might say a 12 but I need a 16 only because primark make them smaller. Don't beat your self up abut the decisions you make as your business grows so does the learning curve. Different brands have different sizes so it might may to keep a list of the ones you use so your not put in this position again. At at the end of the day I think you did the right thing and it does mean 20 women won't be moaning to everybody how crap your business is. In the end a good reputation goes along way.

[Dave271069]

i was going to have a chat with ralawise tomorrow, the shirts were sold on the site as XS - 8, S - 10, M - 12, L - 14, XL - 16 , 2XL - 18 , *2XL so when the customer ordered size 8 it looks more like a 6, worst thing about it was i spent all day designing and pressing the buggers, i feel a little gutted but ive learnt a very good lesson today, i think i will now narrow my selection down or at least i can now advise how small the b&c tshirts are. I dont have a shop or unit just yet so storage for stock is a problem, especially when i can get it in about 2 days after a order.. oh well back to the drawing board....;-)

[Dave271069]

think my next job is to choose several makes fol/gilden/b&c and like socialgiraffe says keep some stock, so if i order 6 tshirts from 3 companies thats 18 i can keep at home with different designs on eg flock flex and use them as display items.

[purpledragon]

with alarge order i do what social does buy 1 of each size and get the customer to take them away and check which sizes they want that way if there is aproblem its down to them not you

[Renniwano]

I have just had similar with a customer of mine.. she ordered a size 18 t-shirt (I purchased from BTC) but to be honest when I received it - it could have easily been more like a 14/16

From now on I will be giving the chest/length measurements and NOT the sizes..

[smo]

We had a similar problem with a job for a farm/caravan/campsite - they are all rather "large" gents and despite getting an identical make/model of fleece in as their existing ones they are much much smaller!

Thankfully we did as others have suggested and got in 1 of each size first to check the sizes before going ahead with 20 fleeces and 20 polos embroidered.

[mrs maggot]

I have just done an order for a local chain of Gym's they wanted the same shirts that they have used in the past "Kariban" now they have different shirts, so i ordered a medium of each and a large of each and took them to the gym, then we worked out what we would use from there, we have not used the ladies polo at all, as it was not a flattering fit, and it turned out that the previous printer had always used the mens anyway as when i saw the ladies, they were wearing the mens tops ! so printer beware.

Always ask the sales desk how do they size up - most will tell you which size up smaller than others etc, use the distributors experience, that's why there are middle men - use them.

[accdave]

It always amazes me how many ladies don't know there is a major difference between ladies t-shirts and standard t-shirts. More often than not if they say they want a medium ladies t-shirt and I show them it against a standard medium t-shirt they realise they wanted the standard one.