If you thought catfishing only happened in dating, think again. A woman on TikTok says that she received a knock-off coat from a “catfish boutique.”
“These catfish boutiques gotta go. Because this aint right! #whatiboughtvswhatigot #allwrong,” Taylor (@tayst.ofchicago) captioned her video.
@tayst.ofchicago These catfish boutiques gotta go. Because this aint right! #whatiboughtvswhatigot #allwrong ♬ Surround Sound – JID
The video shows a screenshot of the $60 coat she ordered from XPluswear, a plus-size clothing company. “Let me show y’all what I ordered,” she began. “Take a very good look cause what I got is insane.”
The video cuts to show a disappointed Taylor wearing the knock-off version of the coat, with entirely different colors and fabric than the coat in the picture, barely comparable to the one she ordered.
“Y’all, I’m going to stop shopping online. This should be illegal,” she said. “What is this?”
By Monday, the video received over 401,500 views. Commenters were equally confused and shocked by the poor product quality.
“Not them sending you a tablecloth with arm holes,” one user wrote.
“I almost spit out my drink! Catfished,” another wrote.
There were many jokes cracked at the coat’s expense. “They sent you the bathrobe version,” another user commented.
“They just sent you the lining.. the rest is sold separately,” another quipped.
Many urged Taylor to complain and get a refund.
According to the company’s website, they have a 30 days return warranty. “Xplus has built our own clothes factory which strictly controls the products’ quality as well as providing our customer with maximum peace of mind, we accept return demands within 30 days after delivery, details as follows,” they wrote.
Taylor uploaded a follow up video to update viewers on the return process. She began by saying that while she had a feeling that the order wasn’t going to be exactly like the pictures, she didn’t think the coat would be as bad as it actually was once it arrived.
@tayst.ofchicago Replying to @BalloonKIMistry now let’s see if I actually get the refund 🤷🏾♀️ #catfished #wintercoat #whatiboughtvswhatigot ♬ Desire – RetroBands
“So I started the return process,” she said. They asked for pictures, I gave them pictures, and this is what they told me.”
She shared a screenshot of the email she received from the company— in it, they wrote, “Instead of returning the clothes, we would like to offer you a direct refund of 30% of the item’s value, which is equivalent to 14.27USD,” they continued. The company also offered her a discount code to use for future purchases.
Taylor wasn’t happy with this response. “No, baby, I paid $57. So then they sent me this,” she said as she showed another email that says that they will refund her the full amount once they received the coat.
She also shared that the company removed the coat that she ordered from the website. However, a similar coat is still for sale. Upon searching the image of the coat online, it can be found on several commerce websites, such as this Amazon page.
In the comments, people shared similar experiences with the company. “Girl!!!!! I ordered from another website and they pulled the same thing! offered me 30% refund. like WHAT?!!” one user wrote.
“They got me one time two years ago. Never again,” another commented.
“Had a return offer like that,” a third shared. “Said no then had to keep asking where my refund was. Got it TWO months later.”
The Daily Dot contacted Taylor via TikTok comment and XPluswear via email.
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Source: https://www.dailydot.com/irl/catfish-boutique/