Unleashed Speaks: When Shapewear Bends You Out of Shape (The Conclusion)

 

Hi there! Firstly, I did not mean to have you wait this long for the conclusion. Between the anniversary of my grandmother's passing, the celebration of my best friend's new career, the arrival of her birthday ... well, life has been busy. I am not going to even mention the changing of the guard in the United States and what has followed.

To check out Part One of the Shapewear Saga, click here.

For those who don't want to click away, here's what is labeled as a TLDR (too long, didn't read) on these Internet streets.

1. I wanted to update my shapewear and was bombarded with ads from this company everywhere.
2. There was a promotion so I decided to take advantage.
3. Two of the five pieces didn't suit me; I wanted to return them.
4. Unfortunately, the company only gave me two options: (a) to return the items on my dime in exchange for something else or (b) accept a 20% refund on the total cost of the order.
5. Option two was chosen, but the company is now dodging me.

Got it? Okay, let's continue.

It's now December 18th, and I've heard nothing from any of the company's representatives. I decided to file a dispute with PayPal. Perhaps I could have filed a claim for the full amount I spent. However, I wanted to hold the company to the piddly twenty percent refund they promised. I explained the situation and provided screenshots to PayPal to demonstrate I had attempted to resolve it with the company directly with no results.

I received PayPal's customary, "We will investigate the matter and give the company (insert date) here to respond to the dispute" response.

Okay, bet.

Not even fifteen minutes after I contacted PayPal, guess who decides to finally respond?

Good grief! Not the, "We are a small business; please have pity on us" line.

Look, if said small business had been prompt with their response and honored their word, I would not have even filed the claim in the first place. Going back and forth on the email was my attempt at pity. At this stage, I'm irked because the company is asking me to close my claim and not sticking to what they promised in the original email.

I sent that message along with the screenshots. I heard nothing back for four days.

Then, I received a message from "Joy".

If this company had not put me in a cycle of RTG (responding then ghosting), then I would have been tempted. Getting all of my money back is better than twenty percent.

Unfortunately, because they did not honor their word the first time around, I was skeptical that dropping the PayPal claim would leave me with zero, for there was nothing holding them accountable and preventing them from disappearing once more. Sure, I could have filed a second claim with PayPal to demand all the money (if I took the deal and they vanished again) ... but it's near Christmas and holiday time is stressful enough.

With my understanding underwater and my cooperation canceled, my petty presented itself.

I did not hear back from them personally. They never spoke to PayPal. I did receive my 20% percent refund, so that is a victory in itself.

HeyShape's Customer Service is utter shite. Their refund policy as well.

The partial refund from the total amount spent was less than the cost of the two items I wanted to return.

I also do not think it's right for the sender to be on the hook to return the items. If the sender returns the items, why can't the refund be issued, provided that the tags are still on the items and there were no stains or signs of wear?

I have also noticed that any low rated or unfavorable reviews are suppressed or hidden. There is no way any company (great or small) has excellent reviews on all their products at all times. Every body is different and not every person is going to like your items.

It seems a bit fishy to me ... just saying.

All I will say is to proceed with caution if you decide to deal with this company.

The two pieces I wanted to return will get donated. Not sure what I will do with the other three. They may get donated as well, but I have not attempted wearing them since the whole debacle. This debacle left a sour taste in my mouth for sure.

As for me, the search for updated awesome shapewear continues.

Wish me luck!

Unleashed Speaks: When Shapewear Bends You Out of Shape (Part 1)

 

How is everyone? I hope all have had a safe and happy New Year so far. You may have noticed a "Part One" in the title, a first on Unleashed Truth. I won't give away the spoiler, but trust me, breaking this down into separate parts is warranted.

Before I go any further, I'd like to say the following:

1. If you haven't had this customer service experience with this company, cool. I'm only sharing what I experienced.

2. If you are an individual who works with this company, continue your hustle. My review will solely focus on their customer service as it pertains to conflict resolution.

3. I am all for supporting small businesses. However, small businesses should be held to the same standard in delivering prompt customer service. I believe even more so if they want to keep customers.

Now that the PSAs are out of the way, let's continue.

One way that I decompress is by playing games on my tablet. With some games, they have advertisements. Sure, I could just pay extra money to have no ads at all, but most games I don't play frequently enough to warrant the spend. 

Most of the advertisements in December revolved around bras and shapewear. It felt as if my devices had been spying on me because I was talking to Mini Truth about that very topic. After being bombarded with advertisements on video games and seeing videos on Facebook and Instagram, I opted to try three brands: Understance, ShapeLx, and Hey Shape.

Note: I will cover Understance and ShapeLx sometime later. My focus will be on the 3rd company.

Upon receiving my order, I was dissatisfied with two of the five bodysuits. Although the website and the individuals advertising the brand said to size down for "extra snatch", some bodysuit styles had less stretch than others, meaning it would be better to order one's original size.

After thinking it over, I concluded that it made no sense for me to keep them since the colors I ordered were not staples in my wardrobe.

When I visited the website, they had a link where one could go to a "return portal." (It has since been taken down.) I was provided an e-mail address to use instead. 

I contacted them on December 10th.

I also contacted them on Facebook but received their message that "they don't offer support via Messenger/Instagram DM".

I get a response very late on December 11th.

It was annoying that they just wouldn't let me return the product for a refund as opposed to a blanket 20% refund, which doesn't cover the cost of the bodysuits.

However, since this was during the Christmas season, I did not want to (a) go back and forth over the issue or (b) pay out of my pocket to return the product, even if I had opted for the exchange.

Begrudgingly, I responded to Elizabeth and expressed that I wanted Option 1. This was December 12th.

I never got an acknowledgment from Elizabeth. 

In other words, I was left on read.

On December 14th, I e-mailed Elizabeth letting her know I never received a response as to when my partial refund would be processed. On December 15th, I got a response from a new representative named Britney.

Since it appeared that Britney was handling this herself, I believed the refund process would be expedited. Why would she imply that she's in correspondence with the finance team?

I didn't hear back that day or the next day. 

I have noticed a pattern of the company's customer service representatives being nonresponsive for days, and my patience has been tested. I have this sinking feeling that not only am I stuck with the product but also not getting any refund.

Otherwise, why is it taking so long to give me a partial refund?

Now, this involves more than the money. It's also about poor customer service and principle.

Does Britney finally take action?

Does another customer service representative respond with more promises?

Or do I have to take the next steps?

Stay tuned for Part 2.