I love your products but hate your brand. I frequently visit three of your locations (the one in Dadeland Mall most of all) and every time I leave the store I ask myself why I keep coming back. Loving to hate and hating to love your brand has become somewhat of an ongoing joke for my friends and I. There can never be one smooth visit. If it weren't for my sheer adoration of the products you provide I would run away in horror and never look back! Maybe the problem lies with the employees (though I find it hard to believe every associate and manager I've come into contact with in the Miami area is just a bad apple) but shopping in your stores is never an enjoyable experience. My most recent experience is what has prompted me to write a this letter. The day of the Incredible bar launch I stopped into one of your locations. I was just there to buy a lipstick but after a very persistent employee went on about the bra for a while and dragged me three rooms over to where they were housed I cracked and decided to try on one of the five styles (don't worry, you'll be proud to hear she pushed for me to try all five). The real problem began when I was asked if I had been measure by one of you "bra experts" recently. I told a little white and said yes because every time I have allowed one of your so called experts to measure me I've practically needed a valium to calm me down after the experience. I'm a somewhat busty girl and generally wear a 34D. Maybe this is hard to believe because my breasts are real and therefor not perfect and I don't look much like the beautiful Victoria's Secret Angels so many women try so hard to emulate. I'm not super thin nor am I tall but I'm comfortable in my own skin which is very fortunate because if I weren't this experience could take years of psychiatric help to cope with. The last time I was measured in your store I was informed that my accurate bra size was indeed a 38A. I looked at the girl, puzzled, wondering how on earth she expected me to fit into A Cup. After realizing she wasn't kidding I politely told her that though I appreciated her help I was going to go ahead and try on a size I felt more comfortable with. She began to argue with me about the importance of wearing the proper bra size and the rest is history. Anyway, back to the story at hand, As your associate was getting ready to pull the front closing demi Incredible bra for me she and the woman who had brought me over (I later found out she's the store manager) asked what size I needed. I, of course, answered a 34D. "You? A 34D?" The woman who had asked to measure me questioned rudely, "How recently ago, exactly, did they measure you?" I was shocked by her rudeness and said I didn't remember the exact date but knew I that was my size seeing as I was wearing a perfectly well fitting and comfortable Body by Victoria Demi Bra at the time. I must have been visibly aggravated by her rudeness yet the manger just asked if I was sure I didn't want to be measured again. After a couple of minutes of insisting I know my own bra size she finally gave me the bra I'd agreed to try on in the size I wanted, though she did hand it over with reluctance. "Take the 36, too, just in case." She told me before walking me over to the fitting room. Here things only get worse. Before being let into a room I had to tell the associates what sizes I'd be trying on which I found a little invasive. Everyone has loss prevention policies and I'd have been perfectly fine with her counting my bras and maybe even asking me what style I'd be trying but the question of size seemed irrelevant. None the less I told her and she raised a brow at me and said I should start with the 36. Once inside me room I head her and the other woman who was working in the fitting room area begin to speak in spanish, which I assume they thought I couldn't understand. "No way she's a 34D! Maybe the 36 if she's lucky" one woman said and the other agreed. I tried on the 34D and was amazed by it's comfort and magical self adjusting straps. This was truly a perfect bra. I then took it off, got dressed again, and informed the sales girl that I wouldn't be buying it. If I was less comfortable with my appearance I would have been terribly insulted instead of just annoyed by the level of rudeness I had to deal with from not one but four different employees.
To me leaving the store without the bra of my dreams in hand was like taking a stand for woman around the world. Victoria's Secret claims that their products will make you feel sexy and look great but how can anyone feel even remotely close to sexy with a bunch of people telling them they look larger than they actually are? Weight and appearance can be such extremely sensitive topics and I'm shocked by the way employees of a store I always thought wanted to empower woman and make them feel great about the way they look handle these things. I honestly believe the physical pain of breast augmentation surgery would be easier to deal with than the emotional strain and scaring that the behaviors of your employees can cause. Unless I see a great change in your costumer service I'm going to have to have to say goodbye to your brand. I simply can't support a company that thinks it's okay to insult it's loyal costumers the way you do.
