How did protest get so bad?!
I have been shopping at Protest Uk for swimwear for nearly 20 years. As someone who is incredibly critical about the quality and durability of bikinis, they used to stand apart from other retailers on both of these points. I honestly have no idea what has happened to this company in the past year. I can’t speak for the quality and durability of their recent swimwear because I am not willing to part with my money for such horrendous designing and styles. I am a 39 year old women, who has a body she is proud to put into a swimsuit, but even I am unwilling to swim and relax on the beach with the constant risk of my private’s flashing to the general public. I have been buying the same size every year for nearly 20 years, and suddenly that size is unable to decently cover my body enough to avoid a criminal record for indecent exposure, not to mention how insanely uncomfortable this style is to be active in the water.
As you can imagine, this recent decline in product quality has resulted in multiple returns being made to Protest, but also emails after orders have been made, informing me that items are now sold out so refunds will be automatically processed. Weeks have passed with no sign of refunds and no responses whatsoever to my customer service enquiries. If it wasn’t for eventually getting a reply from Tamara in the Netherlands, asking for my bank details so she could refund me manually, I don’t think I would have ever received it(thank god for Tamara!) A refund that wasn’t due to a return remember, due to the company not realising they had run out of stock before accepting the order. Refunds from returns are even worse and again require constant reminders and emails before any money reappears.
I don’t know what’s happened to this company but I’m so sorry to say I cannot trust their service or products again in the future. Which is a shame because they were the only bikini’s I would ever consider buying. Avoid at all costs, or until they do some serious rethinking and improve their customer service & styling.
