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Inevitably, after the holiday whirlwind, you're going to end up with a gift card or two. And you might consider spending that gift card in a practical way, on something rather utilitarian -- like, say, underwear! Hey, everyone needs new underwear sometimes! Hence why it's more important than ever that we deliver to you this imperative public service announcement: Quite a few popular stores are selling USED underwear.
As you may recall, back in 2010, Jeff Rossen did an investigation for the TODAY show that found some retailers were taking used underwear back from customers and putting it back on their shelves. Among the original offenders: Outlets of Victoria's Secret, Nordstrom, Walmart, Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Gap, and Marshalls. But when TODAY dropped this gross-out bomb on the public, the exposed retailers said they would "re-educate" their staff.
Well, fast-forward to this year, and a new investigative report from Rossen found that most of the stores caught selling used undies had reformed their bad behavior. But NOT all. Sales associates at Victoria's Secret, Marshalls, and Walmart all ended up retagging the items and putting them back out for sale.
It bears noting that Walmart gets kudos for at least asking first if the undies had been worn before, but the undies still landed on a rack for sale the next day, so ... ew.
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After hearing about the investigation, all three retailers released statements to NBC News:
Walmart said that what the reporters found is "absolutely unacceptable." Victoria's Secret said that what was captured on hidden camera was a "clear violation" of their policy. And Marshalls said they were "disappointed" that their "procedures were not followed." All three are vowing to re-educate their staff ... again.
But who knows how well that'll go over. Considering that used undies for sale seems to be an ongoing issue, it's probably safe to say we would all do well to wash any sort of underwear or bathing suit before wearing it! Otherwise, we're probably playing a serious game of sanitary Russian roulette.
How do you usually handle buying underwear? Or returning it, for that matter?
Image via iStock.com/South_agency
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