PinupGirl Clothing rant

[horribell]

Has anyone else had any issues with them? I've been a PUG customer for 8 or 10 years now and it seems every year lately their quality gets worse, their customer service gets worse, and their sizing gets worse.
Last year I bought one of those swanky Deadly Dames halter tops after buying the dress of the same style. I am fairly petite and usually wear an XS in PUG brand, so when I bought the dress, I was delighted to find that it fit like a dream. Awesome dress. I liked it so much I wanted to buy the matching halter top in another color, so I got an XS and was sad to find that it was too tight, despite ordering based on their sizing chart and my experience with the dress. The material wasn't the same as the dress and had no stretch, so I wasn't surprised, just disappointed. No biggy, I thought I could easily exchange it for a size small... wrong! I sent them the top back and asked for an exchange, only to be answered with:

"You can reorder the item on the site, we do not do exchanges." (verbatim)

Short and very rude I thought. I HAVE done exchanges with PUG before so I was annoyed for 2 reasons: 1) They charge an overwhelming $9 for FedEx (SLOW) shipping, which I now had to eat TWICE, and 2) i bought the top with a 20% off discount code that was no longer valid, so I couldn't get the 20% off anymore and had to pay full price. So I think I had every right to be a little pissed off.

So FFW a few months. I ended up returning the XS top anyways and buying the size small, which to my dismay, was hardly any bigger than the XS. It was just a bit too tight. I wore it a handful of times in hopes that maybe it would conform to my body a bit and I could deal with it. Well, didn't every time I wear it the zipper burst open out of nowhere! Yes it was tight, but it wasn't like a balogna skin or anything. The zipper is so freaking cheap! So I decided at the end of the season I would just put mine up for auction on ebay and get a new one (and eat another $9 shipping). Last week I ordered the size Medium... which I would be swimming in in any other style of PUG brand style. Annnnnd I am.

Check this out! In this picture I have my top, the small, and the new top, the medium:


The Medium is literally 3 1/2 inches (flat) wider than the small... which if you do the math, is 7 inches larger in circumference. SEVEN! From just one size to the next! The S is hardly larger than the XS and yet the M is ginormous in comparison to the small. Not only that but they changed the zipper. The old tops had a separating zipper that went the full length of the top. The new one has a non-separating zipper that only goes partially up the top. Which, if this top actually fit, I have no idea how I would get it over my ass or tits, because the fabric has no stretch and you have to pull it on to wear it. I imagine the made a sizing change somewhere around the time the decided to change the zipper, but don't you think that's something you should MENTION on the site? It's deceiving to the customer I think.

SO lets rewind shall we.... 3 tops, $56 for each top, $9 for shipping for each top... that puts me somewhere just shy of $200. And I STILL don't have a top that fits. *SIGH*

I'm just so frustrated by this. I've never in all the years I've bought things from PUG experienced this level of disappointment.

Has anyone else experienced anything similar with them?

-END RANT-

[BluDDie_Nukkles_Zanna]

Ugh yes. Their items are incredibly overpriced for the quality. The last time I ordered from them, I ordered a dress for Easter. I placed the order 6 weeks beforehand, and the dress didnt ship until the week after Easter. The whole time I was waiting for a shipping notification I was constantly emailing customer service but I would get ignored or just get some quick answer basically telling me to be patient. Anyways, I got the dress and tried it on, and it was SO fucking tight!!! I even ordered up a size because it wasnt a stretch cotton but it still cut into me. I didnt return it because I didnt want to deal with CS again so I still have this $90 dress chilling out at my house.
I also ordered a bathing suit from them before this happened, it ripped after the third wear, and I ordered 2 homecoming dresses from them, each of them the elastic came loose from the fabric. So dissappointing

[chicagoisdead]

I have not had any problems with returns.I ordered a dress based on the size chart and it was way too small. I ordered a large and had to exchange for a xxl. that made me feel great you need to email them before you return so they can approve it. 14 days for money back, 10-30 store credit. The prices are getting higher and the clothes are getting smaller lol.

[horribell]

i'm glad to see it's not just me (not that i'm happy that you guys are having problems, of course haha). like i said, i'm not a new customer. i've been a devoted customer for many years and each year, like you said, the prices go up and the quality goes down. the hassle i've had with exchanges lately is a new one, and so is the sizing guide issue. i did just get an email back from their customer service, apologizing for the problems (hey, at least they weren't rude to me this time). they also said they addressed the zipper issue and use a higher quality zipper now. so obviously i'm not the only one who had this problem. me, personally, if i issued a line of bad jewelry to some unfortunate horribell customers, i would absolutely issue 1st quality replacements or offer some kind of reimbursement for it. accidents happen, mistakes get made, but i think a responsible company (no matter how small) should take responsibility for these kinds of errors. and for the record, i HAVE had bad batches of jewelry from time to time and that's exactly how i handled it. handmade isn't often flawless, but you can't put out shitty products and expect customers to return. period.

[9876511!]

I've been hearing way too many complaints about PUG lately. It's mostly with how they handle customer service due to their lack of quality items. Also, they've been answering e-mails very unprofessionally. I'm not dropping any names, but a girl online wrote about PUG in her blog about a miscommunication and they attacked her so unprofessionally and threatened to sue her! It got out of hand, but it wasn't about an order. Even so, the situation was poorly handled and it made me lose respect for the company.

Every time I ordered from them, I would wait forever to get my damn package. The sizing is way off from their sizing charts, so I wasn't surprised when I read your sizing dilemma.

I feel like most vintage reproduction clothing companies are lagging it lately in the quality of their items. I don't know if it's due to the mass production or what, but I agree, the fabric feels cheaper and the construction is weak. I'm about to start buying a bunch of vintage patterns and making my own dresses because I refuse to drop $100+ on a cheaply made dress.

[horribell]

I sent my complaint to as many of their avenues as I could hoping that my pesty emails get to someone of importance. I realize my efforts are probably in vain, but a simple "sorry" doesn't make me feel any better.

"Sorry" our products are overpriced and low in quality." "Sorry our customer service was rude to you." "Sorry our sizing guides caused you to have to order 3 shirts of inconsistent sizing and none of which fit even remotely." "Sorry we have price-gouging shipping rates and you had to pay almost $30 in fees." "Sorry the zipper of the shirt you paid $56 three separate times bust open repeatedly at very inopportune moments."

UGH.

I even sent them a link to this thread because I know lots of girls on here buy PUG.

[miss.hell]

5 or 6 years ago i bought some stripper shoes from them about 4 months later a box comes that i forgot all about because it was ordered 4 months before no apoligies in the box nuthin after one thing like that ill never order from them again

[ZsaZsa]

This is such valuable information to have. I was seriously considering ordering a dress from these guys, but the shipping put me off (first class international to NZ = not cheap). Now I'm definitely not going ahead with it - what if it didn't fit??!!! I can't be sure they'd accept an exchange and heaven forbid I had to eat the shipping costs again!

Thanks ladies. I'll think I'll take my business to etsy instead.

[horribell]

the customer service rep i just dealt with assured me that they will do exchanges, despite my last experience in trying to make an exchange. sizing.... that's obviously a craps shoot as you can see through our experiences that their sizing guide is not always reliable.

it's a shame, once upon a time they were a great company.

[BluDDie_Nukkles_Zanna]

I'm about to start buying a bunch of vintage patterns and making my own dresses because I refuse to drop $100+ on a cheaply made dress.

This right here. You could probably make a whole new gorgeous wardrobe for a few hundred dollars instead of buying one for a few thousand.

[shotgun_solution]

the customer service rep i just dealt with assured me that they will do exchanges, despite my last experience in trying to make an exchange.

I've never dealt with them BUT I do work in customer service. If that was an email that you received that info from, save that email! If in the future you do decide to try ordering from them again and they give you shit regarding returns, shoot that email back to them.

[KelleyCarnivore]

i bought a swimsuit from them in 06', and have been boycotting them since.

i ordered an xs top and a small bottom. i received a large top and xs bottom. they refused to cover the expense to send it back to be exchanged, and the way they talked to me was very rude, as if i had done something wrong. if they would have done their job correctly in the first place i would not have needed them to cover anything. i sold the pieces separately on ebay so i wouldnt be out $69. i refuse to give them my business. I also warn everyone i know who is thinking of ordering from them.

[horribell]

the customer service rep i just dealt with assured me that they will do exchanges, despite my last experience in trying to make an exchange.

I've never dealt with them BUT I do work in customer service. If that was an email that you received that info from, save that email! If in the future you do decide to try ordering from them again and they give you shit regarding returns, shoot that email back to them.

i do still have the email... i save everything. i told the girl who responded to my complaint (hailee is her name) that i have the email and i can forward it to her if she wants. the return email just reads "info@pinupgirlclothing" or what have you, so i don't know if they can track down the particular person who handled the email at that time.

[JohnnyQuid]

This sort of stuff is to be expected. In caseit's not evident, the whole pinup/rockabilly thing is REALLY FUCKING POPULAR right now. More demand for these things. It's mass production and cutting corners while raising prices. I'm amazed anyone would look at a dress that was 150 bucks and say "hell yeah I'll buy that".

No way in hell, no matter how cute it is.

[thejovialflesh]

I was thinking of buying a dress from them for 8th grade promotion (I know, right?), but they weren't very helpful.
I asked about sizing and their reply was pretty rude too.
At that age, I didn't have a sewing machine, nor did I know how to sew, so having XL boobs and XL hips with a S waist is kinda confusing.
They weren't too nice.
That sucks though. I fucking hope you complained. That'd piss me off.