After multiple suggestions to dress in layers when visiting New York, I bought a sweater for my travels. Knoxville’s winter is so brief that I usually just toss a coat on over my shirt. I didn’t really have layering clothes and it took some effort to find a sweater that was neither Granny-wear nor too fancy for mom chores.

During my New York visit, I quickly figured out that layers are piled on to go outside and peeled off when you step inside. On the day that I wore my brand new sweater for the very first time, I stepped in a museum and removed my jacket. I immediately noticed that the area of my sweater which protrudes had been felted into two bullseyes by my jacket. It was hot and uncomfortable, but I kept my jacket on the entire day.

When I returned to Knoxville, I emailed the jacket’s manufacturer. They responded to my email by acknowledging prior awareness of the design flaw and the suggestion that I shop from them again in the future when that flaw would be remedied. Their response rubbed me as raw as their jacket did my sweater.

I would have appreciated a suggestion on how to fix the flaw. I would have been satisfied by an apology and a joke about my boob target sweater. I would have been grateful to an offer to let their clothing experts attempt a repair of my sweater. Being told that they knew about the problem and never notified customers was disappointing. The suggestion that I should buy more was annoying.

I’m probably the only liberal who doesn’t believe in boycotts. If my children need something from a company whose policies are different than mine, my children’s needs will always come first. Yet, I could not bring myself to take advantage of the jacket company’s Black Friday or Cyber Monday sales. How can I give them my money in exchange for customer service that won’t even attempt to remedy their mistakes?