I'm #thrilled that one pieces are IN! I've never been able to find a bikini that fit me quite right, and in my opinion one pieces are generally more flattering on me. That is, as long as they're made well.
Que ZAFUL:
I've seen so many bloggers and Instagram influencers wearing Zaful. Though Zaful.com carries clothing, they are definitely most well known for bathing suits. During my pre-Miami trip shopping rampage, I was looking to get the most bang for my buck. So, all of Zaful's super cute bathing suits for only $15 ish a piece sounded pretty good to me.
After reading the reviews on each of the suits, texting a friend who had bought from the site, and making all of my co workers look at everything in my virtual cart to help me choose... I was ready. After paying $10 extra for express shipping, I entered my card info and ordered $80 worth of one pieces.
When my package arrived... I was AMPED. At first, everything seemed to be going well. Each bathing suit came in a reusable, zip pouch with ZAFUL printed across the front. "Oh, what a nice touch" I thought. ha. HA!
I don't know who these suits were made for, but IT AIN'T ME!
I'm a short, curvy girl. I don't have a model's body, but I also don't find that I'm very abnormally sized. But WOAH, these suits were fitting me badly in ways I didn't even know could go wrong. We're talking straps falling off my shoulders, seams digging into my booty, bra cups that held nothing in, and lace-up backs that never seemed quite right. To top it all off, they sent me a random bikini and didn't send one of the suits I ordered.
But for some reason, I told myself it was fine. Why? Not quite sure.
So, I packed my new suits, convincing myself the next time I put them on, they would magically fit better and I would fall in love.
My first full day in Miami, I wore this suit to the beach:
This suit fit me the best out of my order. I was mainly planning to relax on the beach for the day, so I figured nothing could go wrong. Even if the suit didn't fit well, as long as I could lie down comfortably in it, it would be fine.
Well ladies and gents, after a day of relaxing at the beach, I returned to my room to find MY BODY WAS DYED BLACK!!! Without even getting this thing wet, it managed to stain my skin for 2 days.
That was the final straw.
"It's fine. I'll just return them and never order from the site again."
Another roadblock: As the queen of reading reviews before doing basically anything, I had neglected to read reviews of Zaful as a site (though I did read reviews of the suits before buying them). Turns out, Zaful doesn't give you a full refund, makes you pay to return your shipment, and has even been known to accept returned items without ever issuing a refund. YIKES!
Still, I tried to persevere. First, I tried calling their service number. I spoke to a pretty uninterested guy who let me say my bit, and responded with a simple "I can't help you with that" before basically hanging up on me. WTF?
Apparently, unlike any normal website ever with a 2018 appropriate return policy, you have to submit a message to Zaful explaining why you want to return each item. Then, about a day later, they will email you back asking for photos of each suit you want to return, and photos of the item#... What? Even after sending photos, they asked me to send more before letting me know what they could do for me.
After emailing back and forth with their so called "customer service" department over a span of maybe a week... I called it quits. The return process had become more frustrating than losing out on $80 (which, for a girl on a budget, means it's REALLY frustrating!).
Have you ever ordered from Zaful? What was your experience? Hopefully better than mine...
