Kate Greevy, a 42-year-old stay-at-home mother of three from Kenilworth, Warwickshire, has vowed never to shop with Shein again after discovering a stained thong inside a £17 long green dress she had ordered for a three-night girls' trip to Ibiza. The discovery happened while she was filming her first-ever 'get ready with me' video for TikTok, unpackaging the items she had bought for the holiday.
In the footage, Greevy holds the dress up to the camera when a black object drops from the bottom of the garment. Initially believing it was a free pair of knickers, she soon realised the thong was "stained and contained a pantyliner," describing the find as "disgusting." She used a plastic bag to handle the item and immediately disinfected her hands before returning her entire order.
A Shock Discovery During a Holiday Haul
Greevy had ordered around 12 items from Shein for the trip, which she described as needing "a few cheap items to wear in Ibiza and then probably throw away." She said: "I'm going to Ibiza for a girls' holiday with a friend so I bought about 12 things from Shein and was trying them on. My kids keep telling me to film 'get ready with me' videos so when the Shein parcel came I did it, so it was the first one I'd ever done."
She added: "I ordered a long ankle dress that looked really nice. I didn't get much of a chance to look at it before this happened." When something fell out, she thought it was pants that had come with the dress, but quickly realised otherwise. "That threw me a bit because I'd never ordered anything before that came with pants," she said.
Reaction and Return
Greevy said she was shocked by the discovery, especially given the nature of the item. "I thought 'it must be see-through', then I saw there was a stain on them. I don't wear thongs. People were saying I'd planted them, but I'm 42 with three children, thongs just aren't for me anymore," she explained.
She noted that Shein's returns process includes an option for customers to report a "found foreign object" in their parcel, which she believes indicates the issue is not uncommon. "Shein actually has an option that says 'found foreign object' in my parcel. So I think it's actually a common occurrence now for them to have added that option to their returns," she said.
Genuine Mistake or Quality Failure?
Greevy believes the incident was a "genuine mistake" but said it has put her off buying from the retailer again. "I just don't think their quality-checking for their returns is very good," she said. "I don't know how the girl didn't realise she'd taken her pants off with it. I genuinely don't know what's happened. I think it's a genuine mistake where she's pulled [her pants] off while taking [the dress] off."
She added: "You shouldn't expect to have something like that, especially from such a delicate area. After I disinfected my hands, I sent everything back. Now I've seen that, I couldn't keep them. I was going to keep a lovely dress but couldn't do it. It's put me off ordering them a bit. I doubt I'll order from them again."
Shein's Response
A SHEIN spokesperson said: "SHEIN is committed to providing our customers with high-quality products and a positive shopping experience. Where appropriate, returned products that meet our quality standards may be made available for resale, helping to keep garments in use and reduce unnecessary waste. We have taken immediate steps to review the processes involved and strengthen our checks to help prevent this recurring. We have also contacted the customer directly to apologise for this distressing experience and have offered a full refund for her order."
Greevy has since returned her whole order and confirmed she will not shop with Shein again, citing the distressing experience and concerns over the retailer's quality control for returned items.
