A mammoth undertaking

A few years ago, Jeremy Paxman was in the news complaining about the declining quality of his new M&S underwear. He was of the considered, and somewhat forcibly-expressed, opinion that they no longer provided “adequate support”. Being Paxman, he got a personal reply from the CEO of M&S and was invited to bring the offending items along to a meeting to discuss the issue. I don’t expect that to happen, but I have to say that I too share his concerns about declining underwear quality!

Like many (even maybe the majority?) of women in the UK, I buy my knickers in bulk from M&S. I was most disappointed with the quality of the last lot. For a start, the company has discontinued the supremely-comfortably (and largely VPL-free) “side-seam free” style. That was annoying. The member of staff on the shop floor in the Worcester branch couldn’t tell me when they were discontinued, or why, or what the closest available replacement style was. I thought that showed a major degree of indifference to their stock and customer needs. I ended up buying a pack of five plain knickers for £5. That was a very good price I thought – too good to be true in fact. The cotton is extremely thin, and one pair only survived one wash before the fabric gave way and I’ve had to darn them! That’s absolutely ridiculous – I don’t want throwaway underwear! And nor to I want to spend my weekends darning my smalls!

Come on M&S – no wonder your share price is in the doldrums. Sort out your quality issues, work out what people want to buy, and offer it to them at a fair price. And for heavens sake make sure that underwear – for both male and female customers – provides adequate support and coverage without dissolving into holes at the first wash!