Victoria's Secret review: say bye-bye xl panties and large bras.. 55

Victorias Secret has the worst customer service, I have ever experienced. The changed my mailing address because they got mail forwarded back to them from usps. Then send me to collections for $10.83 & they called me 3 months later to tell me that my account was past due and went up to $34.83. My credit was affected due to this matter. The supervisor I spoke to which didnt seem to care what was going on was extremely rude. In fact everybody who I spoke to was rude I ended up calling them 10 times in 1 hour. They treated me like a criminal, the only thing they wanted to know was when I was going to pay like I am trying to avoid $10.83 please.

Recently, I ran into the exact same thing you did! I am a 40 DD and I was told they will no longer carry the larger bras in the store. It was like being slapped in the face. Most women need to try bras on to be sure that the cup size works because some styles require going up or down in either the band or the cup for proper fit. Unlike the previous poster I am larger than a size 14. Why can't my bras be pretty and sexy? Why should that be a problem? I have a pretty good disposable income and I my assets require a bra; however, given this treatment I might not choose to shop online and be Victoria's Secret. Lord forbid your precious size 2 customers with no boobs might have to shop next to me! V.S. Angels? Not so much.

I am sorry but I think that the comments from GBN78 are not only uncalled for but are idiotic.

1st of all size 12 - 14 is not obese or a manatee, and you also do not have to be a big woman to where a bra size that big, huge breasts run in my family.

I do agree that if something does not sell the store has the right to take it off the market. I personally don't shop at VS it is not for me, I would prefer to wear comfort over sexy on an every day bassis, if I have a situation where it calls for something sexy I do not feel I need to spend extra money for it. But I can understand why the OP would feel offended.

Congrats on your marriage! That being said, I do have to say that I disagree with your posting that Victoria's secret is purposefully neglecting your sizes in bras and panties. I actually work at a vs in Chicagoland and know that the size 40 C, D, &DD in bras was discontinued in stores to very low sales on those sizes as a company whole. Same thing with the size XL panties. I can't think of any companies that are able to keep spending money to produce a product that will be sold in very minimal quantities in their inventory. It just doesn't make sense to a business, large or small, to do this. Victoria's secret isn't going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to produce a product that doesn't sell, and that's the bottom line. Just so you know that your size isn't being actively discriminated against, we also discontinued several bras in size 32 band because of the above stated reasons, as well as completely eliminating the size 32DD from our line as well. There are not as many size XS panties as there used to be either. I just helped someone looking for XS panties the other day, and we had a hard time finding any in the styles that she liked . I had to tell her the same thing that I have to tell my loyal size 40 band customers: as a company whole, it just wasn't selling. Please don't feel discriminated against. Victoria's secret is just doing what any other company would do/ consider doing based on the circumstances. I also have to say that whoever told you that 38DDs aren't being carried in the store anymore was dead wrong or misinformed at least. In strapless (multiway) styles in size 38DD you can still purchase the body by Victoria multiway and the biofit 7 way bra. As for regular bras, you can do the new Incredible bras, the Very Sexy pushup, the Body by Victoria full coverage and demi, the cotton full coverage, the Nakeds full coverage, and the Biofit demi. I may have missed a couple in there, but as you can see, there is a selection. What may have happened to you when you wanted to purchase your strapless bra was what happened at my store as well: they just had no more 38DD multiways in stock. We have had this problem on and off all summer with our multiway styles in ALL sizes due to the high demand for multiway styles in the warmer months. I do think we needed to forecast that demand as a company and in doing so produce more multiway units. It's hard for me to have to tell a customer that I'm out of what she's looking for. Also, it (obviously) makes customers angry. Finally, I would also like to tell you that I don't agree with your statement that you cannot shop at VS if you are a size 12/14 because guess what...yep, you guessed it, I'm that size. I gave birth to my second daughter last year but gained a lot of weight and ended up being a size 14 after the pregnancy. Though I have lost maybe 10-15 lbs since then, I'm still at least a size 12 sometimes 14. I fit very well into size large panties from VS. In fact, we have a size scale that goes: size 0/2= XS, size 4/6=S, size 8/10= M, and size 12/14=L. I believe that our size scale is pretty generous for the most part, to compare, a size L at Forever 21 clothing stores coordinates with only a size 10, which is a medium for us at VS. I understand your frustration, all of it, but please don't say that we cannot fit size 12/14 woman when I am living proof that we most certainly can. Also, try not to take the the whole 40 band size, size XL panty thing to heart. It's not a personal thing, it's a business thing. Get an updated measurement and see if your local VS can show you some styles in the 38DD (if that ends up being your correct size). There are definitely plenty of bra styles in that size. Good
luck!

If you have a Body Mass Index of 25-29.99 percent, you are considered overweight, and if you have a BMI of 30 or above, you are considered obese. Currently, 26.5 percent of the US population are obese, and 36.6 percent are overweight. With these statistics we can come to the conclusion that 62.1 percent of the population of the United States are either overweight or obese. So, "GBN", you can clearly see that, in America, overweight and obese adults are in fact "the norm" since they make up 63.1 percent of the ENTIRE US population. In reality, Victoria's Secret (and every other clothing retailer located in the United States for that matter) should have an ABUNDANCE of large and extra large clothing available to consumers. No matter how big a corporation becomes, losing customers is not a good thing, and unless 63.1 percent of Americans decide to shop online for bras and panties, Victoria's Secret is going to see a stiff decrease in revenue. In addition, according to the US Census Bureau, only 54.7 percent of Americans have internet access in their homes, which makes shopping online quite difficult for the other 46.3 percent who don't. Eventually Victoria's Secret will bring back large and extra large clothing in their stores, it's only a matter of time and complaints. They are probably doing this because they want to target a different consumer and are afraid of becoming a "less sexy, " "plus sized" store.

sources:
http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/defining.html
http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20100210/percentage-of-overweight-obese-americans-swells?src=rss_usbariatric
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity/calltoaction/1_1.htm#fig1
http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/p23-208.pdf

tmgbrown speaks truth. Over 30% of the American population is overweight so chances are most of the flamers/trolls are also overweight. Besides having a big bust does not have to mean you're fat.

I think the reason for the decrease in demand has to do with our currently bad economy. Maybe a few women can spend hundreds of dollars at VS but many others can't and shop at cheaper places for bigger bras and panties so VS is loosing money in the bigger department. I was recently at a VS store and did see a lot of XL panties and thongs but who knows how long that'll last here.

So I guess that big busted women who are not overweight should get a breast reduction too? Thats ridiculous.

i hear ya, sometimes its just easier to wear a t-shirt...lol

lol. brenda.

wow, someone dislikes you. Maybe that is what happened to me about a week ago, I had to e-mail the editor and they allowed me back in.

How can they ban the most entertaining people on CB?
That is just ridiculous.

yeah, they are, but they can't get rid of us for good

whaaaaaat, are you saying that we are not in farmville?

some of you obviously may not know it, but being a size 12 or 14 or 16 or whatever does not make someone fat. yes, someone who is that size MAY be fat, or they may be curvy. a girl size 12/14 may have way hotter curves and be multiple times sexier than a girl in a size 6. i like big butts and i cannot lie, you other brothers can't deny. give me a thick girl anyday!

OMG ! I HAVE SHOPPED THERE FOR YEARS...WENT THE OTHER DAY TO THE MALL...THEY DONT CARRY SIZE 40 ANYMORE...I WAS SO MAD...I AM NOT REALLY THAT LARGE OF A WOMAN, JUST A DECENT THICKNESS...I AM NOT SHOPPING THERE ANYMORE...DONT THEY KNOW WOMEN ARE THICKER ALOT MORE THESE DAYS? ALOT OF BREAST JOBS TOO? I AM DONE THERE...THANK GOD I FOUND A NICE BRA MADE BY BALI AT JC PENNY...

Is anyone going to comment on the poor quality of VS? Their panties and bras tend to start falling apart on me inside of a year, and no, I don't put the bras in the dryer.
If I have to get these things in a namebrand store, I'd rather go to the Gap. The underwear is higher quality and a little more practical too, while still being pretty.
I worked at a VS in a mall in Massachusetts for a few months a couple years back. One of my worst work experiences ever. $7.50/hr to start. And to even get hours, you were supposed to compete with your co-workers to get customers to sign up for the VS credit card with a 26% APR. And that was just to get put on the schedule. We all had to wear walkie talkies and the floor manager would bark in your ear when she saw a stray customer "Get her! Ask her to sign up for the credit card!"
When I started they told me that when selling the lotions I had to offer customers free hand massages to give them a feel for the lotions. I asked what I should do if a man asked for one and they said to give it to him. I don't think $7.50 an hour is enough compensation for me to be giving out hand massages, especially to strange men.
If clothes or products were damaged in any way, (a fold in a bra or a dent in a bottle), they were taken out back at the end of the night and either cut up or spilled all over the ground, to make sure they were disposed of and not given out to employees. So wasteful.
When I worked there, there was no way I could afford to shop there.
Also my purse was searched when I left every night.
I've shopped from the catalog my since I was a teen and occasionally the store. Now I avoid the company at all costs. I am not impressed with their ethics.
I went back to VS a year or so ago with my husband to get a nightie. They were so weird and bizarre. The sales person kept knocking on the dressing room door and trying to see me in the nightie. She was really paranoid about me letting my husband into the dressing room, which I wasn't. He said he couldn't believe I ever worked there.
And my bras? I get high quality affordable bras at TJ Maxx at less than $10 a pop. I really like the Marylin Munroe brand.

the bras were taken off the shelves because not too many people buy that size bra. in todays economy even victorias secret is suffering, it was costing money to keep these bra's on the shelves. the company doesnt mean for people to take it so personally

im sure u wont die...u will live

This same thing happened to me this past weekend...XL panties no more... except for high leg brief...I agree unflattering. I have shopped there for years and this is frustrating. I haven't always been and XL either. Funny that the employee of VS said that the XL didn't sell...I had a hard time finding XL in thong on occasion...I find it hard to believe that they weren't selling. I "USE" to love to shop there...guess I will find some place else. I'm very disappointed!

The first time i washed a pair of pants i bought online, the letters melted and stuck together. Made of Cheap lettering.

followed all the directions on tags and the lettering still got destroyed

Victoria's Secret NOW takes catalog purchases back at the store. I'm employed at VS- when we have our semi-annual sale twice a year, guess what we had the most of? The big bras. We have a limited amount of space, and keeping a product that doesn't sell much doesn't make good business sense. I too wear a 40 and can no longer buy my size in the store-- and though we get an employee discount, it cannot be applied to catalog purchases. I think it's like anything else, if it sells, you will find it. If not, it's hit or miss. Sucks for us busty ladies, but is simply good business sense.

Have your considered looking at other brands. VS lingerie is pretty, but the competition is huge, and there are plenty of other brands that are sexy. Also, the quality of the bra's are not very good, for what you pay for.

I agree with you i am not a 2-3 but not a huge nasty thing and i just wanted to be able to buy Victoria secrete yoga pants like all the other girls at my school. I guess im just not pretty/skinny enough for Victoria secrete but i am hot and curvy enough for torrid

Victoria's Secret Pink yoga pants will fit up to a Woman's size 16. I'm in an 18 and many still fit me. If you want "Torrid" plastered on your butt, go for it. =)

I find this extremely overwhelming and frustrating! I am a 30 year old SINGLE woman who wears a natural 32 DD ( now 34 DD since they discontinued it) I'd always shop at VS because it was the only place I could find young, sexy and comfortable bras in my size. I had the same experience a month ago while shopping for a new bra. Just because I have big breasts, doesn't mean I have to wear a bra that looks like something my grandmother would wear 50 years ago or some trashy bra fit for budding adult film stars. I just want a normal bra and swim suit! If and when you find a place where you can find our sizes please let me know! Til then, I am boycotting VS and working towards getting all of my friends (even the smaller sized girls) to do so as welll!

Generally women with DD breasts need more support than the "cute" bras can offer- so when VS was making them, they weren't selling. It's simple economics- they're in business to make money- if they're manufacturing bras that are just sitting on the drawers, they're wasting money. There wouldn't be a store to shop at if they did that for long.

Sounds like to me that someone needs to create a store where bigger chested women can find good bras with a variety of types. Then vs would have some competition.

@nessiewolfe: How would that create competition for Victoria's Secret? They aren't customers as it is, so they wouldn't be losing customers.

I could discuss many issues with VS. One of the biggest ones, and most relevant to me, was touched upon here in this complaint.

MareBear615:

Totally agree with you. I am a 40D, size XL for underwear. 40D, 38D, XL, that is a normal woman in the U.S. now. It makes no sense that they are excluding a major demographic that is only going to increase.

Stealth Pilot:

Women "should" learn something from "the fact that stores are going away from those sizes"?

Oh yes, clearly! That argument makes sense. Because the messages private corporations send about women's health and well being are THE standards by which all women should abide and live their lives by!

Not.

Tammy Weyler:

You are correct in that you don't have to be a big woman to wear a bra that big. That's why this whole issue is causing so much frustration for me and other women.

FrustratedwithVS made this point well- we are primarily being offered grandmother bras.

VSWoman and J&Jplus 2 and anyone making the argument for low sales:

If VS is getting rid of these sizes due to "low sales, " it is not because there is a shortage of women with the need for larger sizes than VS stores now offer. Low sales are because the bras marketed and sold to women with bigger busts at VS are ugly designs.

Most of the big bras at the semi-annual sales go unsold not because they are big, but because the bras available by VS in big sizes are ugly. Nudes, pale colors, cotton bras, or push ups (which, news flash, most women with a size 40D bust don't need the extra inch of padding).

If they sold equally attractive bras for women with big busts as they do for women with small busts, it would not be an issue. That's why they aren't selling. So VS has bad business sense in that it is trying to sell a product that won't sell, not due to the size of the bra, but due to the unattractiveness of it.

VS IS in fact actively discriminating against women of larger sizes. Having your cold hard cash rejected because you are not a certain size is a very personal thing. It makes bad business sense, because all 40D customers, as this thread proves, will tell probably 10 other people about their horrible experience.

VS needs to work on this issue and a number of others, not least of which is the need to unify their website, catalog and stores. Their website, in particular, is a piece of crap.

The larger sizes offered at VS are IDENTICAL to the smaller ones in style, color and pattern. I've spent many a pre-SAS-sale overnight sorting them into bins... the big bras are just as colorful, lacy and sparkly as the smaller bras. Also, we always have fewer push-ups in larger sizes for just the reason you mention. Interestingly, the most commonly sold bra color in ANY size is nude... followed by white, and then black, even in the itty-bitty sizes. They aren't selling because people aren't buying them. Women with large breasts need more support but they also want their bras to look tiny and delicate. When you enlarge a bra, EVERYTHING has to get bigger. You cannot hold up DD breasts with tiny straps- they dig into the shoulders like cables and yet we think somehow Victoria's Secret has some special magic to counter this.

Victoria's Secret isn't prowling this site for ideas- if you have complaints, you should send them to Victoria's Secret. Nothing's worse than complaining to someone who can't do a thing to help you or to make changes.

VSWoman

I am with you guys. I had been buying my bras a VS for quite a few years. I am over 50 and not the same size that I was when I was 20, but I don't consider myself fat. As a business woman, I'd like to have clothes that fit well and the bras really improved the way my clothes fit. I am not out shopping to find someone who makes size 40 bras that are similar. I haven't had any luck. I think that this is a niche market that VS didn't market to properly. They are too busy trying to attract the teenagers into their store. They should be more concerned about we older gals that are bringing home the six figure paychecks. We can actually buy the stuff!

I have worked for VS for a few years and I understand where you ladies are coming from. I often work in the fitting rooms and I meet customers of all shapes and sizes. I know we can not accommodate every customer, but I sure as heck try. As soon as VS discontinued the 40 band size, they started selling bra extenders (although they are not highly advertised by associates and most customers don't even know they exist). I have made a 38DD bra fit a girl who was easily a 44 band size by using some creativity. I know not all of the associates care as much as I do, but maybe that's because most of them didn't grow up with a mom who wore a 40 and I don't know how many of the girls struggle with sudden weight gain like I have. I know what it's like to feel like having an emotional breakdown in a fitting room, but I try to create an atmosphere where my customers never feel like that. I want them all to love their bodies and realize that I will do what I can to help them feel beautiful, even if it is making suggestions for them to shop at another company who can provide them with the products they need.

As far as the panties go, it sucks that we discontinued XL, but we also altered a lot of the panties so they have more "give"... especially the cotton panties. As soon as they discontinued XL, they redesigned the panties to include a small percentage of spandex so they can accommodate larger sizes. We also have a few one size fits all panties that have extreme stretch in them.

I hope you will all give this company another chance. VS is not full of stupid skinny girls... There are real women who work there that would love to make you feel good about your body.

I suppose I'd be more irate if stores ever actually carried my size (32C- I'm talking an actual built-for-32C bra, not a downsized 34B), but be careful before making it an issue of size ladies- despite what the anorexic commercials portray, being of genuine smaller sizes 0-2 (XS) presents issues also. Just 2 days ago I visited VS looking to try on a 32C (I called ahead & they said they had it) in a particular style & found that not only did they not have the bra, very few if any bras in-store are now 32Cs period. VS has never carried a panty that could fit my 32-33" hip measurements (properly w/o slipping), but I understand that it's an issue of production & inventory. I don't take it personally that apparently VS thinks all petite individuals have 34.5" hips. Stores stock what sells. Really big and really small just don't sell in volume; it's just the way the ball bounces.

I so agree, my hubby asked me to get something sexy from victoria secret and show case it for him but I am an Xl in panties and a 40 c in bras and I can't find my size come to find out when I went to the store out by 34th st the lady tells me they don't sell plus size then she reffers me to lane bryant and ashley stewart I felt disrespected I just walked away. I feel as if victoria secret is being very unfair I give that store 12 thumbs down

I witnessed the manager embarrass and employee for laughs. The comments she made to the employee was horrid. I'm sure there is probably some abuse in that environment. I was so disgusted I stopped shopping and left.

individuals tend to enjoy watching a slinky fall down stairs as karl put it for fun...this is not fun and it is a not a good kind of critical it is mean and juvenile.

I am a curvy person, but all my curves are in the right place, but i feel we all have the right to feel sexy, and all retail stores should understand that, Also the last few times i have bought VS bra's with underwires guys what the underwires have snapped, within just a couple of months. I am a 38 DD and I really thought paying top dollar for my bras they would last longer than that.

I dont know if i was just shopping at an odd VS or what, but for the last 10 years I have been shopping there, I have never once noticed the XL panties. and I have looked. I have searched high and low, and always go with the Yoga size L panties. they fit amazing, but now it seems that the YOGA panties are going away too. I cant find them in store or on the website.

We do now take ipad orders for out online store, at least they do at my vs. And the shipping is free to your house and you should also check out our semi-annual sales. We only have so much space on the floor and during those sales, in December and either June or July, I forget, we have a lot of 38dd's. We don't ever have any 40's though.

Sounds like there is more going on then you are stating..