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Nov 19, 2003 11:52 pm US/Eastern
NEW YORK (CBS) What CBS 2 found that some of the most famous stores in our
area are doing is not only disgusting, it's dangerous. Selling used
lingerie. Shame On You went undercover and what we found is shocking. CBS
2's Arnold Diaz has more on this dirty little secret.
Our hidden camera investigation of Victoria's Secret and some other major
retailers has uncovered a dangerous and appalling practice that shocked
customers when we told them.
"It's just disgusting."
"I just think it's pretty gross."
"This is serious. This is real serious."
John, not his real name, is a disgruntled former employee of two Victoria's
Secret stores. He came to us with the revolting allegation that it was store
practice to take back used underwear and then resell it.
"When women would come in, I would be disgusted. I knew they were returning
something they wore out to a date or just wore out to a club and it's like,
you want another woman to buy this?" said John.
Diaz asked John if there were there times that he put back underwear that he
was pretty sure was used, "Yeah, all the time, all the time. I don't even
like touching it, I hold it by the tag because I don't want to put my hands
on that."
Could this be true? To find out we bought thong underwear at two Victoria's
Secret stores, and at Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdale's. We took
them home, cut off the sales tags to suggest they'd been worn then marked
each pair with two tiny black dots on the labels.
Every store took back our thongs without the tags, never asking if they'd
been worn. Next our hidden camera caught the sales clerk at a Victoria's
Secret attaching a new price tag on our returned thong, hanging it up and
then putting it back on the floor for sale. We know it's the same thong
because our two dots were on the label. Unbelievably, it's not illegal in
the tri-state area to sell used underwear, but "It could get someone sick."
Microbiologist Dr. Lori Daane says dangerous bacteria like yeast and ecoli
can survive for weeks on lingerie and can be easily transferred. "Given the
fact that you can get these organisms on this clothing, especially thong
underwear, it's pretty likely you're going to get some fecal contamination."
We also found our returned thongs back on the sales floor at another
Victoria's Secret, at Saks Fifth Avenue and at Macy's. Bloomingdale's was
the only store where we didn't see our thong back on sale. Lingerie
customers were horrified at our findings.
"Who the heck wants to wear someone else's underwear. That's not a good
thing."
"I don't think they should take them back at all. I mean I think it should
be, you buy them once and they're done."
One woman approached us claiming to be a customer of Victoria's Secret but
turned out to be an employee.
When asked why she put used underwear back out she responded, "I don't think
we would do that. We would never do that."
But when Diaz pointed out that there were pictures she said, "You do? I
don't think that's fair what you're doing."
"I don't think it's fair you're putting used underwear back out," asked
Diaz. "We would never do that," was the employee's answer.
In an official statement Victoria's Secret says "Our policy is to not sell
used merchandise. Rest assured, we will investigate your allegations
thoroughly."
Bloomingdale's, where we did not find our returned thong back on the sales
floor says, "...any garment that shows any sign of wear, including no
ticket, is marked out of stock."
Macy's East says, "...we have guidelines and practices for merchandise such
as intimate apparel, we train our sales associates to thoroughly inspect all
merchandise [that is returned]. This should insure that only clean, sellable
items are on our selling floor."
Saks Fifth Avenue says, "if merchandise looks like it's in saleable
condition and has not been worn, we do put it back on the sales floor. We
trust our sales associates to make good judgments about the saleability of
returned merchandise and in most cases they do."
But john says it's not always obvious what's been worn, "The only way you
could, like, damage it out, is if it's ripped or if it's really, really
stained and, you know, where it's really noticed. But sometimes you can't
notice it."
So into the CBS 2 Hall Of Shame we induct Victoria's Secret, Saks Fifth
Avenue and Macy's for a filthy practice that puts their customers' health at
risk.
Interestingly, in New York it's illegal to sell hats that have been returned
but not thong underwear.
Some stores do refuse to take back underwear, a policy that should be
posted. But the best protection for consumer s is to wash, wash, wash your
underwear before putting it on.
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