Before anyone questions my motives to write this post, I’ve got to say: Long Tall Sally are not paying me for this, OK! Honest. Not that I wouldn’t love them to advertise on my blog one day…

I am simply doing it because I was impressed and want to share my experience.

In my fashion posts, I don’t aim to please (too much reading “50 Shades”, I know, sorry!). What I try to do is be honest and, thus, of help to those tall women out there who, like me, struggle to find clothes to fit them.

Last week I decided to compile a list of clothes and shoes I sent back for all sort of reasons. So far, my posts have never had any response from brands I blogged about. I tweet them my links just as a matter of principle and out of habit.

To my enormous surprise, a couple of hours later LTS tweeted me. They thanked me for my feedback and assured me that they’d pass it onto their buyers.

This is where the story could have ended. Except it didn’t! If you’ve read the post, you know that I ripped a pair of bottoms and didn’t bother send them back, as I was convinced that would be a lost cause.

It wasn’t. They wanted to replace them. Didn’t even ask me to send the ripped pair back, so effectively I ended up with a freebie from their new collection. I received it within a couple of days.

To say I was impressed, is an understatement. This is when you know what customer service really means.

I do ask myself some questions. Would I have been heard and understood if I was just another customer? Could they have gone an extra mile because I am a blogger, so potentially my negative feedback could affect their reputation? I don’t know.

Or maybe they genuinely care?

What I have noticed is that they monitor their customers’ purchasing patterns by taking their address when processing payments in store. This makes me think they keep a profile for their customers, including the history of their online orders. Mind you, I’ve been a loyal customer of LTS for over 14 years, so it is a long history…

Market intelligence? Maybe. What matters to me is that they genuinely seemed to care about my disappoinment. Their US marketing representative exchanged a few lovely e-mails with me, assuring me that they absolutely care and want their customers to be happy with what they receive.

They thanked me for my honesty. Whether this is a publicity stunt or not, it’s not for me to say. As a blogger, I felt listened to. As a customer, I felt valued.

No one can argue that the tall fashion market is increasingly competitive, with a lot of new brands fighting for their place under the sun. It’s also true that Long Tall Sally keep their ground. As tough as the market is, despite shutting down some of their shops last year, they still maintain branches around the country, and even expanded their presence in the US and Germany.

No one is perfect, so I will probably keep sending more clothes back in the future. But at least they want to know our opinion.

The moral of the story? You need to be a blogger to be heard? Or simply be brave enough and reach out to the brand – even if you have ripped up your bottoms? They may be just understanding to you as they were to me.

And what I will keep doing is blogging my honest opinion.