Unfortunately, the "petite" wide leg pants was nowhere near short enough for me at 162cm despite ordering my usual size S. As someone who specifically purchased these because they were marketed as petite, this felt quite misleading. If brands choose to label products as "petite", the sizing should genuinely cater to shorter customers rather than simply being a slightly shorter version of a standard fit.
Other brands such as Lorna Jane, Muscle Republic and Lululemon's Asia Fit range offer far more realistic inseam lengths for shorter women, meaning customers aren't forced to spend an additional ~$45 hemming a pair of $112 pants just to make them wearable.
When I realised the pants were far too long, I went to process a return hoping for a refund of my hard earned money given the product was not petite as advertised, only to discover that I was limited to store credit. The petite wide leg pants are only available directly through Leelo Active and are not stocked by wholesale retailers such as The Iconic, so purchasing directly from the brand was my only option.
The store credit solution was particularly frustrating because I didn't need anything else from the range, I only wanted to try these pants. I had also purchased a matching top specifically to wear with them, which I no longer had any use for once the pants proved unsuitable. Since then, I have purchased wide leg pants from another brand that genuinely caters to petite customers, meaning I now have a store credit that I don't need and am effectively forced to spend on products I wasn't intending to buy. It feels both wasteful and unfair to retain a customer's money in circumstances where the product did not meet the expectations created by its marketing. It feels greedy where there is no brick and mortar store, to not offer refunds.
When I contacted customer service, I was told that if I wanted a refund I should have purchased through The Iconic. What a passive aggressive response, given the petite range isn’t even stocked at the Iconic! This response felt dismissive and lacked any genuine attempt to understand or resolve the issue. Rather than acknowledging that the petite sizing may not be suitable for shorter customers, the responsibility felt as though it was shifted back onto me as the customer for choosing to order directly through the brands website (which was my only option).
Looking at other reviews of these pants, I noticed that Leelo has offered to cover hemming costs for some customers experiencing the same issue. Unfortunately, this option wasn't offered to me, which made the handling of my situation feel inconsistent and unfair.
To add to the awful experience, the store credit took nine days to be processed after the pants had been returned, despite the website stating a turnaround time of 3–4 days.
As a Perth girl, I genuinely wanted to support a Perth-founded business and was excited to make my first purchase with Leelo Active. Instead, I've been left with a store credit I don't need or want, a product that didn't meet the expectations created by its marketing, and a disappointing customer service experience overall. What a waste of my money, I will not be able to use the credit for anything. It feels greedy to not give your customers their money back of the product is not fit for purpose and you have the opportunity to re-sell it as I returned it in perfect condition.
I hope Leelo takes this feedback on board, both in relation to how these pants are marketed, they are not currently petite friendly at all. I also hope they reconsider how situations like this are handled in future because my experience has left me pretty upset and I have lost my hard earned money which in this economy feels pretty rough.
