We recently received such great service from SwimwearBoutique.com that we decided that we were going to newly invest ourselves, emotionally and otherwise, with online customer service. We have, to be sure, never considered this before: It’s hard enough getting great customer service in person—forget by email, we thought. But we had such a great experience with SwimwearBoutique.com that we wanted to test out some other places—like Petit Bateau. Above: the polka-dot chemise, $24

Here is the situation: We have these boys’ Petit Bateau tank tops that are perfect, just the right length. They’re size 16a. They are no 16as on the Petit Bateau American site. So we wrote asking: Did the American site stock something similar? This is what we heard back:

Dear Petit Bateau Online Customer,

Thank you very much for contacting Petit Bateau Online. All Petit Bateau products are true to size. I advise you to check out our size chart, which is available on our help section. The size chart should give you all the information you need to make your size choice. If you should have any further questions, please give us a call at the number below.

Kind Regards,

Customer Service
Petit Bateau Online

Now see. This is very annoying. This we imagine as having been written by a robot, in an adorable Breton top. We love Petit Bateau, but we grade this form letter a D. A D! That looks weird.

Anyhoo: We also love this bra. That is all.

Petit Bateau bra, $39