1. Tania Ferreira

I was walking along the pavement looking for something new to wear when a sign in a shop window saying cotton jackets 50% off caught my eye, so I went in. They didn't have one in my size but said they could order it for me. A few days later I went back to the shop to collect it. It fitted me perfectly, but I just didn't take to the colour. Again I had to wait, and again I went back to the shop. This time everything seemed fine, and I paid for it and took it home. After I'd worn it twice, though, I put it through the washing machine and was most upset to find it'd shrunk (да­вать усад­ку). It was a waste of money, really.

2. Ali Haddad

I'd picked up lots of things like books and computer games online, but that was the first time I'd actually got myself something to wear over the Internet. It looked like a really lovely shirt and the price was incredibly low, so I clicked on "Buy it now', paid by credit card and waited for it to arrive. I thought afterwards that perhaps I should have emailed the seller to check the colour, because although it looked fine in the photo, it might not be exactly what I wanted. In the event I needn't have worried, and I was absolutely delighted when I saw it. I would have got another one if I'd known how good it would look.

3. Brad Stevens

I was food shopping in the big supermarket near here and I saw they were selling jeans at a ridiculously low price, so I thought I'd pick up a pair. I spent quite a bit of time going through this great pile of jeans because all the different sizes were mixed up and they weren't very clearly marked "large' or 'extra large' or whatever. Eventually I came across a pair that seemed about my size and headed for the checkout. It was very slow there, and I got fed up standing in a line of about ten customers. Why they don't open more checkouts at busy times I really don't know.

4. Sara Desai

I saw a stall selling sweaters when I was wandering around my usual clothes market and there was such a wide range of lovely ones that I was spoilt for choice. In the end I made my mind up and I enquired whether they had a particularly attractive pale blue one in medium. The stall holder said they had. I couldn't try it on there and then but I was sure it would fit me, so I paid and took it home. There I discovered that the sleeves were far too short so I had to take it back. The man on the stall quickly found me a larger one for the same very reasonable price and that turned out to be just right on me. I'd wasted an hour or so travelling to and from the market, but I still wouldn't dream of shopping for things like that anywhere else.