Try before you buy!

Bit late joining in here. Still have a tape measure in my handbag from when we were posted in Hong Kong and needed to measure everything in the markets as the main reason for stuff being there was mis-labelling

cathieb I have had just that problem - I bought three pairs from M and S a year or so ago, in a linen mix. A really good fit, and having a silky lining around the pockets and waist area to avoid the slightly scratchy feeling you can get with linen - I thought I had struck gold. Sadly they stretched so badly that at one event I kept having to haul the trousers up and eventually had to use a safety pin to make the waist smaller. When washed they reverted to a good fit, but half an hour of wear, and especially sitting in the car and they were at least two sizes bigger. All three pairs went to a charity shop.

Buy trousers from Ambrose Wilson or Chums they do lengths from 25 27 29 etc.I am 5 ft 1 l am not going to spend more money getting clothes shortened. I can't understand why manufacturers can't do different lengths.

I’ve been buying M&S trousers (small length) for years, the latest pair I bought are over three inches longer.

Put on a brand new pair of trousers from M & S yesterday morning - the fit was so good that I thought 'I'll buy another pair of these tomorrow'. Well, by the end of the day they were so baggy and shapeless they were falling off me. That's the last time I am buying summer trousers in Marks!

PS: You say or imply you bought the clothing online. If you did and they were sent to you - i/e you did not meet a person face to face and see the items - you would have been entitled to a full refund and you DO NOT have to give a reason. But you altered the items which show your acceptance of them and they are damaged goods.

If you bought them from a website - under Distance Selling - you have the right to return the item and you do not have to give a reason.. you are entitled to a refund. But as you altered the clothing you are not entitled to a refund. You may get some goodwill deal but you have no right to a refund. just force your argument, politely, and hope for the best.

I think you need to be careful with online retailers. If they don't have a uk contact address and telephone number I don't use.

Send 'em back, glammagran. The distance selling regulations mean you have 14 days from date of receipt to change your mind for any reason.

In this case, the dresses are unfit for purpose - the sizing isn't correct and what you ordered - so you should email the seller ASAP to let them know you will be returning the items for a refund and why. Ask them to email you a returns label so you can send the clothes back at the retailer's expense.

As a point of information, if you simply change your mind about something but it is not faulty, then the cost of returning it falls to you. (Sorry, I sound like something from You & Yours but I had to mug this up very recently when we had a problem with some expensive electronic stuff.)

Absolute rubbish quality too

I think I’ve been conned. I bought 2 casual dresses from an online retailer. They took 6 weeks to arrive (came 3 days ago). One is really tight and the other is like a tent even though they are the same size. There are no labels in the garments and no returns labels. Have no idea what I can do.

Just send them back. Say nothing. See what happens

Oh dear. I hope you get the refund - you should have been able to trust they were the same. Sadly we can't nowadays.

I bought a one size fits all dress recently. The first 2 which I tried were tight across the bosom but number 3 was fine. I was warned by the sales girl that I should try several as they were all different!

It has got to the point we can't just take the label as fact. A tape measure to check the actual size would be useful.

I bought a lovely cotton sweater from M and Co in size 18. Okay it wss meant to be loose but measured 60 ins at the bust!! Ended up with a size 12 - I haven't been a 12 since my teens .

Sizing is insane now; we have all banged on about M and S on here, and I fear most manufactures are the same. GreenGran I had a friend whose firm made outdoor clothing for Marks; I agree completely, they would reject an entire batch if the number of stitches per inch was out by a fraction. How times have changed - my husband bought two identically styled pairs of shoes, one brown suede and one navy suede; one pair fitted and he couldn't get the other pair on.

A friend worked for a company that supplied M & S, many years ago. She told me that standards were so strict. If the underarm, where the seams met, was as much as one stitch out of line they were rejected by quality control.

Many years ago I worked for a U.K. clothing manufacturer. Although I wasn't on the production staff I was very aware that if orders for a particular size could not be met the labelling department were instructed to upsize and downsize identical garments to complete the order! Disgraceful practice I know, needless to say I never bought their products without trying them on, not even from the factory shop!

This manufacturer is no longer operating but used to produce most of the knitwear for that very popular high street store with an 'M' and an 'S' in the name ?

I think this just shows how the quality of M&S stuff has gone down. Many years ago, when their clothes were still made in Britain, I used to be able to get very cheap M&S ‘seconds’ from our local market. All that was wrong was that the size had been wrongly labelled.

This is very common with M&S trousers also. Coincidentally, I tried on a pair of trousers in M&co yesterday. I usually wear a size 10, sometimes a 12, but even their 14 was too tight on me. I think they just grab a label and sew it in!

BradfordLass 72 [GRIN,] me too

You can never assume that two items are the same size and fit for anything these days - with so much being made overseas, their idea of quality control is negligible!
I can well believe the M&S attitude - they have always erred on the side of customer service as far as returns are concerned and wonder if they wouldn't be in such financial trouble if they weren't so lenient!

To be fair, I have bought cotton trousers in M&Co and been very satisfied with them. The size was as stated and the quality was infinitely better than that of a similar pair of trousers at M&S bought at the same time.

The M&S trousers barely saw a season out they washed and faded so badly and went to textile recycling . I donated the M&Co trousers to a charity shop this summer having grown tired of them after 3 years of frequent wear. They still held both their shape and the fabric kept its body.

It's just as likely the 2 pairs were made in different factories so may turn out quite differently. It shouldn't happen but I know it does.