When you are looking for large-sized bras on the internet one company keeps turning up, BiggerBras.com or BigGirlBras.com. They seem to have a great selection and very low prices. They had some brands and styles that I was having a hard time finding elsewhere. One thing that really bothered me; they did not offer refunds for returned merchandise, only store credit. You had to agree to this to do business with them.

I ordered quite a few bras in early 2009. I noticed that their postage charges were higher than usual. Most of the bras I wanted were on back-order, but I got one or two. The packaging the bra came in was very shop-worn but the bra itself was o.k.

Unlike most companies, BiggerBras.com charges your card at the time of the order for back-ordered items. Hmmmm.

For four months, the bulk of my order continued to be out of stock. I was told a number of times it was going to be in shortly, but it never was. After four months, I was sent an email telling me the order was cancelled, with no mention of a refund. I had to call to ask for one. They tell me that this is their policy. They did give me a refund when I asked. Whew! When I asked why they didn't get the merchandise, they said that two established manufacturers were out of stock or wouldn't ship the merchandise for four months. Hmmmm.

Around this time I found thirty complaints against BiggerBras.com at the Better Business Bureau's website.

On the postive side, the people I spoke to there were always intelligent and polite. When they didn't pick up the phone immediately, they called me back in a timely manner.

I've thought about it a lot and I still don't know, is this a real company?

If I had it to do over again, I would not waste four months waiting for BiggerBras.com to fulfill this order.

Eventually I found two companies that had the bras I wanted, OrchardCorset.com and LaurenSilva.com. Both of these companies shipped the needed merchandise within days of my placing my order. Neither one has pulled anything funny. They both will use the shipper and shipping method I prefer, which is NOT UPS.

In my search I also found some companies that seemed less than optimal. These are lingere companies that sell large-size bras, but which have overly restrictive return policies or use shipping methods and companies I do not like or which they will not specify. Some of these companies also seem to be kind of shady, or do not return communications. I never actually completed a transaction with these companies, so I'm not going to name them, but just watch out. I'd give OrchardCorset and LaurenSilva a try.

From past experience, another problematic company that sells large-size bras is WomanWithin. They also own a lot of other companies too, like OneStopPlus, etc. Their parent company is Red Cats. These companies bomb you with catalogs. They charged me a lot of money for 2nd Day Air UPS but sent the stuff USPS Parcel Post, which took up to eight weeks. Then they got out of refunding the difference in postage by a series of Machiavellian maneuvers. I'd try to avoid WomanWithin and her sister companies. It's worth checking into whether a company selling large-sized bras is one of them. It often is.

Happy shopping, and good luck. May my experience save you from wasting your time when you are trying to get these much needed items.