Please understand that my frustration is not based on a single skirt that has had colour transfer issues; it extends to the $500 worth of flash-coloured merchandise I bought my daughter that has bled all over her other clothes, the new XL CRB that is sheer, the many new products that I have tried on that are made with such thin luon that it is see-through, the poor seaming issues.
This is not the lululemon brand that I know and love, and while it may not seem apparent, my comments are made with the hope that this feedback will encourage your corporate office to re-think their current supply chain strategies. I have been your brand's biggest champion in my community, including serving as a lululemon ambassador. I have done so because of my sincere belief in the company, its philosophy, and the technical superiority of its products. When students asked why I wore lululemon, I would show them the features of the products, and explain that while they were more expensive than other brands, they were the best-performing products I had ever worn.
Unfortunately, this is no longer the case. Isolated quality issues have ballooned into a widespread lack of quality in many products over the past six months. Perhaps most disheartening has been the corporate response to customer complaints, which has placed blame entirely on customers with ridiculous excuses like the pH of an individual's sweat causing bleeding. If only lululemon had chosen to step up and be accountable in a transparent way, many customers would not have reached the point of frustration that they are now at. I know many customers (including myself) whose purchases have declined dramatically precisely because of the issues and the near disdain being shown loyal customers.
This also places me in an incredibly difficult ethical position: how can I continue to be associated with a brand that produces sub-par gear and refuses to acknowledge its responsibility to its customers? In good conscience, I cannot. I have been hoping (in vain) that this situation would change, as I am loathe to end my relationship with my local store. The Store Manager and Educators here are hard-working, enthusiastic, responsive, and just generally great people. They do not deserve to be penalized for policies and practices that they have no control over. And yet, they are. By refusing to be openly accountable, corporate lululemon is showing disrespect to its front-line employees in the same way that they are disrespecting customers.
I would welcome a return to lululemon's standard of excellence, and would be pleased to champion this brand again should I see evidence of such.
This is not the lululemon brand that I know and love, and while it may not seem apparent, my comments are made with the hope that this feedback will encourage your corporate office to re-think their current supply chain strategies. I have been your brand's biggest champion in my community, including serving as a lululemon ambassador. I have done so because of my sincere belief in the company, its philosophy, and the technical superiority of its products. When students asked why I wore lululemon, I would show them the features of the products, and explain that while they were more expensive than other brands, they were the best-performing products I had ever worn.
Unfortunately, this is no longer the case. Isolated quality issues have ballooned into a widespread lack of quality in many products over the past six months. Perhaps most disheartening has been the corporate response to customer complaints, which has placed blame entirely on customers with ridiculous excuses like the pH of an individual's sweat causing bleeding. If only lululemon had chosen to step up and be accountable in a transparent way, many customers would not have reached the point of frustration that they are now at. I know many customers (including myself) whose purchases have declined dramatically precisely because of the issues and the near disdain being shown loyal customers.
This also places me in an incredibly difficult ethical position: how can I continue to be associated with a brand that produces sub-par gear and refuses to acknowledge its responsibility to its customers? In good conscience, I cannot. I have been hoping (in vain) that this situation would change, as I am loathe to end my relationship with my local store. The Store Manager and Educators here are hard-working, enthusiastic, responsive, and just generally great people. They do not deserve to be penalized for policies and practices that they have no control over. And yet, they are. By refusing to be openly accountable, corporate lululemon is showing disrespect to its front-line employees in the same way that they are disrespecting customers.
I would welcome a return to lululemon's standard of excellence, and would be pleased to champion this brand again should I see evidence of such.
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