New York woman buys shorts from Old Navy. Then she takes a closer look—and will be washing all her new clothes from now on: ‘It was in the pocket’

Online shopping has become a convenient method to browse new clothes without ever stepping foot out of your home. At the click of a button, you can order whatever catches your eye. Like any clothes shopping, there are some concerns. Perhaps the possibility that they don’t fit properly, or a mixup occurring in transit resulting in delays. Regardless, there’s peace of mind knowing the clothes you’re checking out are brand new, right?

At least, that’s what the majority of customers assume when shopping a big-name company’s virtual racks.

However, one pair of Old Navy shorts delivered to this woman’s doorstep revealed otherwise.

What Did The Woman Find On Her Old Navy Shorts?

“Wash your clothes before you wear them,” New York-based teacher and gardener Michelle (@meeshyymeesh) warns before flipping her camera to unveil a pair of faded black jeans she purchased from Old Navy.

Nothing appears out of the ordinary. 

“I just bought these shorts from Old Navy, tried them on and I thought, ‘These are [expletive] cute,’” she recalls. “But I noticed on the back, it had this stain.”

When she flips the shorts around, she unveils unknown specks below the back pocket. However, this isn’t the only unpleasant surprise.

“I’m trying them on, I’m doing my thing, right? And I feel something in the pocket,” she continues, pulling out a light blue and white seal-patterned pacifier.

The kicker?

“I don’t have children. It was just in the pocket like that,” she says, returning the binky back into the side pocket. Essentially, all signs indicate the shorts are presumably pre-worn.

“There’s no tags, clearly, they have been worn and I’m like, ‘This is kind of gross,'” Michelle says.

A Deeper Dive

During an interview with The Mary Sue, Michelle elaborates more about how this started.

“I was online shopping for shorts since I always have terrible luck finding my size in store. I found the pair of shorts on the website and ordered them with some other clothes,” she shares via TikTok direct message. “No other items were in this condition, thankfully.”

What should’ve been a casual try-on turned into a series of unfortunate events.

“When I did my little twirl in the mirror, as one does when trying on new clothes. I was hoping it was paint,” she recalls. “While sitting down in the shorts to make sure they were comfy, I felt something hard in the pocket. I thought it was a security sensor and figured I’d have to go back to the store to get it removed. I took it out of the front pocket, thought to myself, ‘I do NOT have kids’ and immediately took a photo to send to my mom.”

As soon as she saw the stains, the content creator rushed to her nearest Old Navy to return it. The stains even repelled the employees.

“I put the binky back in the pocket and returned the shorts about an hour later, binky included,” Michelle says. “The workers were disgusted, and equally as in shock as I was. They couldn’t believe this was sent to me.”

Will She Shop At Old Navy Again?

Although this was a first for her, she claimed she has seen preworn clothing on the racks in the physical stores. Besides the incident, she had to travel to find the same shorts.

“I did sadly go to another Old Navy store about 40 minutes away to rebuy the shorts since they were out of stock online and at my home store, and I realllyyyy loved them,” the content creator reveals.

“However, the only compensation they gave me was promo codes and Old Navy cash to spend on future purchases,” she says.

After she returned the shorts, she did escalate the situation to no avail.

“I called customer service to explain my frustrations and not much happened. I asked for an email to send photos to whoever monitors the CS emails, but it auto replied and said the mailbox is unmonitored!” she recounts. “It’s frustrating that in this time when money is tight brands are sending out items in poor condition.”

Overall, this was a hassle that she says shouldn’t have happened.

“I’m all for second-hand clothing and reselling clothing that’s still wearable, in fact I buy second-hand clothing often, but it’s not fair to make the consumer be under the assumption it’s a brand new item at that price,” she remarked. “It was very easy to settle this issue, despite being a little bit of a nuisance for me. I just hope those shorts don’t get recirculated!”

Viewers Echoed The Same Feelings

Michelle’s video garnered over 329,000 views, and many in the comments section were just as disgusted.

“GROSS!! How did those even get returned in that condition?” one viewer commented.

“That’s not ‘new clothing.’ That’s an immediate return,” another said.

“I always wash mine but still….. that’s disgusting… a whole pacifier. Like come on,” a third remarked.

A fourth advised, “You should contact old navy too. They might be able to give you at least shipping cost back bc that’s just nasty

Does Old Navy Sell Returned Items?

According to their website, the retailer accepts online returns within 30 days of the delivery date if the “Items are in their original condition: unwashed and unworn. Items not in this condition will not be accepted.”

However, they do make an exception if it’s a defective or damaged product. Returned products in this specified condition are swiftly placed back into the physical or warehouse inventory.

That said, it doesn’t mean faulty merchandise can end up slipping through the cracks. After all, employees are human, and mistakes do happen. Other Old Navy customers shared their own horror stories.

“Had a pair of shoes shipped to the house, someone’s socks were inside them,” one commenter recalled.

“I ordered stuff from there and it smelled like pickles,” a second recounted.

Luckily, Michelle successfully received a refund and extra: “When I went yesterday to return, they were truly so helpful it was so nice! I got a promo code in my acct and extra old navy cash to spend!”

Should You Wash Brand New Clothing Before Wearing Them?

Indeed, it is wise to do so. Cleveland Clinic explains that these clothes contain tons of dyes. By donning them beforehand, the fabric chemicals can seep into the skin and cause irritation. Not only that, but the clothing contains bacteria. Therefore, pre-washing your clothes can serve as an extra layer of safety.

@meeshyymeesh Sorry gardening friends, a short break from our usual programming. I thought they left the sensor on my shorts but it was indeed worse than that. Whose baby is missing their binky ?! @Old Navy why are we shipping out worn and stained clothing ? mom’s first rule of clothes shopping was WASH YA MF CLOTHES Off to return these stat #oldnavy #oldnavystyle #washyourclothes #fypシ #fyp ♬ Club Penguin Pizza Parlor – Cozy Penguin

The Mary Sue reached out to Old Navy’s parent company, Gap, via email.

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