No, you haven’t put on 2 inches around the waist.
And your arms aren’t suddenly 3 inches longer.
Yup. It’s those darn Chinese again.
I was sitting in a bar in Shenzhen, China with
Dave Church’s son. (Some of you in
Battle Creek, Michigan USA may remember Dave’s auto repair business on
Northeast Capital Avenue and wife Sally’s place
in the Festival Marketplace downtown.)
Their son was working in Shenzhen for U.S. manufacturers
. His job was to do spot checks, quality control, on Chinese
apparel before loaded on cargo ships to America.
He was talking about how large U.S. companies, like WalMart,
have strict SPC (statistical process control) benchmarks on
Chinese goods; and station their own people in China to
inspect shirts, pants, shoes, etc. in manufacturing plants all across China.
“What about places like Family Dollar, Big Lots and others
that import Chinese products and sell in the U.S.?,” I asked him.
“Buyer beware,” he replied.
My Chinese family’s favorite weekend car ride was to the
huge open air market, next to the bus and train station in
downtown Shenzhen. Where you could buy aa "Rollex"
watch for $30; and a "Polo" sports shirt for $5. And they
looked just f-i-n-e. Until you get them home and put them on.
A lot of Chinese manufactured products are still a scam in
terms of labels, materials and accurate sizing.
If the price is low, and you’re buying the item in a deep
discount store, look at the “manufactured in” label.
Insist on trying the item on; or getting a receipt to return it.
Chinese manufacturers routinely put the wrong size on clothing.
An adult XL can really be a M. An adult S might fit you 5 year old.
It’s not because of a language difficulty.
The Chinese do it because they save 10 to 20 percent
on fabrics by mislabeling the finished items.
So, you're saying to yourself, this isn't a problem ranking
up there with the end of Moore's Law.
But I want my pants to fit.
I have enough problems with the aftermath of Twinkies
and Double Whoppers, to worry more about those darn Chinese.