I really thought I had done my research here. I drew up a list of "pee pants" designed for "moderate-heavy" leakage. I eliminated the huge Granny-pants, and the minuscule briefs which would have been too small even for Jess. I kept to British and European companies.
I chose ones made with cotton. I discarded the most expensive [we seniors need to be careful with our pensions] and the cheapest [avoid false economy. [check out Vimes Boots] I'd decided to shell out for Sloggis, but they had none in stock in my size.
Then I finally found a company which purported to have been reviewed in a number of prestigious magazines, and featured on Loose Women [I don't watch LW but they seem the sort of crowd who chatter, giggle, and frequently experience what cousin Gill always called "Tena Lady Moments"] Its website was British based, with the green stars of Trust Pilot views scrolling across the page. The design showed a generous suzed gusset. And there was a multipack offer in the January Sale. So I sent off my money waiting for my express delivery from Vera
IT IS ALL LIES!
These are incredibly poor quality briefs made from horrid nylon with a thin cotton gusset. I put one pair on the worktop on a piece of kitchen paper. I poured a teaspoon of water on the gusset ‐ in less than a minute the pants was wet through, as was the paper!
I think these two are not the women who founded the company. I think they're just stock photos. Kate and Margaret are probably as real as Betty Crocker and Barbie. If I send the pants back to China [at my own expense, £15+] I may get a partial refund. I am not throwing more money at this.
I am cross with myself for being stupid.
BUT 5000 people look at this blog every day. Many of you are women who understand the issues surrounding incontinence problems. The embarrassment and loss of dignity. The unwillingness to consign thousands of pantliners and disposable briefs to landfill sites.
If this post stops other people falling prey to this Vera scam, I will feel better about my financial loss. My post will have a positive impact
The urge to spend a penny should not cost a woman so many pounds!
I paid quite a lot of money for Jude pants. I'm pleased with them but they are expensive.
ReplyDeleteOh if only I'd asked you first!
DeleteI looked again; the jude company is British but the pants are made in China from tencel with some spandex.
DeleteYou cant win can you, however hard you try
DeleteSorry that those Vera pants were such a disappointment
ReplyDeleteAt least I can warn others
DeleteThis is so sad. This is the difficulty about the Internet. So many awful counterfeit or inferior quality items. Sorry to hear of your bad experience and waste of money.
ReplyDeleteYou win some, you lose some...
DeleteSo sorry you were taken in Angela. I had a similar experience last year with a company callled Grace Bags and did eventually get a partial refund. I came away from the experience feeling a fool for being so gullible.
ReplyDeleteOn the knickers note, I have bought Sloggi for years and found them excellent quality. Yes expensive but they wear and last well. Look out for John Lewis occasional promotions on Sloggi.
Good luck
Jill
I've seen Grace bags advertised, thanks for the warning. Thanks too for the John Lewis tip.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this negative experience. I think I will try Sloggi despite the cost. We don’t have any shops locally who sell them so a trip to John Lewis in Glasgow will be on the cards soon. Catriona
ReplyDeleteSloggi or Jude seem to be top choices
DeleteSympathies with your experience. I had a similar one with a raincoat, it was described as fully waterproof blah blah. It was reasonably cheap but took ages to arrive (should have realized then it was coming from China doh) when it came very skimpy size and no more waterproof than a tissue, very, very poor quality. I felt a real fool and to return it was just not an option so I had to write that one off as a learning curve. I hope you find some panties that fit your brief. Sorry about that! Regards Sue H
ReplyDeleteI like your pun there, just above the bottom line!
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DeleteThank you for sharing. It's so hard to get through all the smoke and mirrors of marketing and false positives.
ReplyDeleteI sometimes say that I don't gamble on horses but shop on the internet. It can feel like the same thing.
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DeleteWhat a shame to get such awful quality. Sadly anything coming from China can be suspect. Sloggi is stocked by several online places, ie Country Collection, Bella di Notte and others and there are often sales.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I knew about John Lewis, not the other stockists
DeleteSo sorry you received such inferior products. That's the problem with buying things online. You never know what you get.
ReplyDeleteDo you remember the old days, when we went in shops and tried things on, and felt the quality?!
DeleteRather not talk or think about posteriors today, thanks all the same!!x
ReplyDeleteπhoping your day goes ok. Thinking of you
DeleteThanks Ang. I won't regale you with the details! I was in the Original Factory Shop the other day and they used to stock Sloggi but they've changed brand to Arista which looked pretty decent and not as expensive.
DeleteI believe Asda do some of these, maybe worth a look?
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DeleteYou said it had green stars on Trust Pilot. Be sure to put bad reviews ( with photos if you can) everywhere you can put them. If you paid using a credit card or PayPal you should be able to get your money back. We have had a couple of instances of internet scams like this and PayPal refunded immediately.
ReplyDeleteI will ring M&S Credit Card and see what they can do.
DeleteJust had another thought. You said the Trust Pilot reviews were on the Vera website. Always put the name of the company followed by the word “reviews” into an internet search. You’ll get the REAL Trust Pilot reviews then, plus several others to consider. It has saved me more than once.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I shall be aware in future
DeleteI agree with Lynda here. I've just googled "vera pants reviews" and the first site listed is the Trustpilot page. 61% of the reviews are 1-star and mostly pretty dire. I'm sure that if you'd looked at this page, then you wouldn't have ordered them. The company has probably carefully selected the good reviews only to put on their own website! Pam
DeleteI think you're right Pam
DeleteI didn't even realise that Sloggis did incontinence style pants, they might have been useful for my Mum if I'd known. As it was we were paying nearly £15 a pack for her Tena lady disposables for months until her NHS deliveries were authorised.
ReplyDeleteI get my regular type of Sloggis via Amazon these days, I used to buy them every couple of years from Debenhams until it closed down.
I used to enjoy mooching round Debenhams [even if I never bought anything]
DeleteOh, and I meant to add, you have most likely done a lot of people a big favour with this post. It's good to learn about inferior products before we fall for scams and rip-offs. So thank you. xx
ReplyDeleteI really hope I have alerted others to this dreadful scam!
DeleteMany thanks for this warning which will help a lot of women. I hope we can hear more about the Asda version ( I think the U.S. equivalent is Walmart).
ReplyDeleteJanF
Yes Walmart does own Asda. I don't know if USA Walmart sells UK Asda briefs [Asda certainly doesnt sell Walmart guns!]
DeleteHave you tried Chums clothing, they do a pack of 3 pairs of Sloggis for £28. Mail order. I've had items from them and they've all been good quality. Xx
ReplyDeleteI've noticed a Chums Catalogue at my neighbours, but never looked inside it. Thank you
DeleteJust had a nosy at Amazon and they do 2 pairs for £19 and no p&p, which is over £5 on Chums. Xx
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DeleteThank you for drawing attention to a fraud relating to this issue which affects many of us. It is bad enough to have to deal with occasional bladder insecurity without getting cheated. I haven't looked into helpful panties yet, still using liners.
ReplyDeleteThe average woman using pantliners may send more than 20,000 bits of plastic to landfill in her lifetime.
DeleteThanks for the warning, Angela.
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