Let me start by saying that we have been long time fans of Old Navy in my house. In fact, a good majority of our clothes come from there. I was drawn to Gap and Old Navy because they were two of the few stores that realized that we aren't all cookie-cutter sizes. I may have to order some things online, but at least they had them available unlike the other trendy stores out there. That is why I am so upset over something that happened there this weekend. In fact, over the years (I worked for Gap for 4 yrs) I have recommended Gap/Old Navy to many people. Even though I don't work there anymore, I still have told people to shop there - but not any more.

This past weekend we went to Old Navy to use a 30% off Friends & Family coupon I got from a friend. The plan was to get Darin some jeans and me some t-shirts. They had a great deal on ringer tees and layering tees - 2 for $10. With my coupon, it was $3.50 a shirt! Who could beat that? Unfortunately, sometimes I have to get the 3XL t-shirts from the online store. We were going to be ordering Darin's jeans anyway so it really wasn't a problem to order the shirts too.

Wrong.

First, the girl had no idea how to place an online order. Then she couldn't find the phone number to call. Having worked at Gap, I knew the number was on or next to the phone. I told her three times that's probably where it was but she didn't bother to look. Ten minutes and 2 associates and 2 managers later, they found the number. Next to the phone where I told her to look. Who hires these people? Anyways, we called online and I asked her to make sure they had the t-shirts for the same price. Even if different promotions prices, they always honored the store price.

Not anymore.

Apparently, a couple months ago, Gap Inc. changed its company policy regarding honoring in-store prices when ordering from online in a store - they don't anymore. I was appalled by this. Given the state of the current economy, what store would create a policy that would cause it to lose sales? This wasn't what upset me most.

Hopefully you can understand what I am about to say. I spoke to a supervisor at Oldnavy.com on the phone and when he spoke about the policy, I said that it was size discrimination. He, of course, said that it wasn't. Now, I know the spirit of this policy was not to discriminate but discrimination is a by-product of this policy.

Let me explain. I know that some products are carried solely online. With all their in-store products, you have to order big sizes (and some of the more petite ones) from online because the stores do not carry them. If I were a medium or large and the store was out of those sizes, I could simply go to another store or order from a different store. So they don't have to order from online and can get the deal one way or another. But I can't because I am forced to order online and end up getting screwed out of the deal. As I said, I know it's not the spirit of the policy but in the end, it's one more way overweight people get discriminated against. Only those needing the 3XL end up having to pay more for the same product. Now that is NOT right.