wash misry SIR: May I, through the BEN, alert other readers of a loophole in the law, which enables some unscrupulous shop keepers to sell clothes of an inferior quality.

I recently purchased several articles of clothing, to the value of £63, one of which was a white tee-shirt, with a floral design, for my daughter. On the first wash, following the washing instructions, all the dye ran, smudged and became 'slimy'.

I returned it to the shop, and was informed "nothing could be done for three days", due to the owner not being available. I telephoned the shop, after the allocated time, and was offered a 50 per cent reduction off my next purchase. After explaining that this was not acceptable, and did not rectify the original problem, the owner then became abusive, and slammed down the telephone.

The Trading Standards say a case can be brought, at a cost to myself of approximately £100. Needless to say, I like many other people, will not be pursuing the matter. I could have claimed if I (are you ready for this?) had an independent witness to verify that I had followed the washing instructions. As I usually do my washing without an audience, I could not oblige by providing a witness.

My advice to other shoppers is to let your feet do the talking, and carry on past Hillary Ann's. A Very Disgruntled Mrs C Lomax

Rowsley Avenue,

Heaton, Bolton.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.