Sorry State of our Sporting Goods Industry

To the Editor,

I’m writing today to express my frustration and disappointment in the poor quality of products emanating from our Sporting Goods Industry.

Following Auckland’s five weeks of Level 4 lockdown, I was eager to celebrate this morning’s change to Level 3 with a short swim at my local beach. But much to my dismay, when I went to put on my swimming costume and wetsuit, I discovered that the fibres in both garments had contracted due to their being unused for these past weeks. Due to this poor quality, my swimming gear was uncomfortably tight, which negatively affected my enjoyment of a normally beloved actvity.

It’s a terrible commentary on our manufacturers, and these are all name-brand, expensive pieces of kit I hasten to add, that they would use materials prone to shrinkage like this after only a few weeks in storage. And I can see that this is just sloppiness on their part, because while the shrinkage was pronounced around the waist and hips, the wetsuit still fit well in the chest and shoulders… perhaps even a little looser than before lockdown.

As a direct result of the discomfort caused by these manufacturing deficiencies, my pace in the water was also negatively affected. Over a familiar course in benign conditions, I was several minutes slower in this ill-fitting gear than I had been before lockdown.

I ask you, Editor, to launch an investigation into the potentially fraudulent advertising employed by these brands, or at least their failure to disclose the uneven shrinkage of these expensive products when they aren’t constantly used. I myself may be contacting the Consumer Goods Agency to further voice my concerns.

In closing, I heartily support the concerns expressed in your newspaper yesterday by a member of the public who seems to have uncovered a pervasive defect in Bathroom Scales during this same lockdown period when so many of the public are already under stress.

Sincerely,

A Concerned Consumer