rant: LOFT high shipping and return costs

Let me start off by saying that I love the shorts and striped top I ordered from LOFT a couple of months ago.  The shorts fit perfectly and the top is super cute.  I actually thought I had found my go-to store for shorts, even though the shorts are a little more than I would normally spend on a basic, but they are great.  So when I saw last week that the shorts were on sale for over half off, I was online in seconds.  I had two pair in my "shopping cart".  I was going through the steps of checking out, made it past the payment step, and I got a message saying the petite white pair was out of stock.  I went back in and ordered a different size.  A simple step that required me to re-enter all my information again.  At this point I was a bit perturbed, and started thinking about the ridiculous amount the LOFT charges for shipping.  While $8.95 is a great deal if you are buying a heap load of items, but for two pairs of shorts that easily fit in an envelope that fit in a mailbox?  I was on the verge of calling and cancelling my order, but I really like the shorts.

On Friday a received an e-mail stating my order had shipped and was scheduled to arrive Monday, July 15.  July 15?!  I ordered them on July 1 and I received the shipping notice on the 5th letting me know that they were expected to arrive over a week later?  Wow, what great shipping service for $8.95.

Well the ETA was off by a week, they arrived yesterday.  I don't like the Mint pair, and the White pair, crazy see-thru, so they are both going back.  A return shipping label was included with my order, so I figured the return part would be easy peasy.  Now I shop Piperlime a lot, I have only returned one thing, ever, and it was FREE.  So I'm thinking surely after paying $8.95 to get my order, they must pad the shipping a bit to cover returns...nope, LOFT now wants me to pay $7.95.  Yes, I wondered why the return was a $1 less than original shipping, that must be the padding.

Long story short, I am not mailing my return back, I will take them back to a store tomorrow.  Unless LOFT changes their shipping/return pricing I will not shop with them.  I realize I am just one customer, one who never really shopped with them before, but I raved about the shorts and a couple of friends even bought them.  I'm sure this rant won't produce any results, but at least the info is out there.