Are Your Egyptian Cotton Sheets The Real Thing? How To Get A Refund After Target Phony Fabric Controversy

Most people are willing to shell out a couple of extra bucks for quality sheets but it looks like they may have been wasting their money if they purchased their bedding from certain stores. Several U.S. retailers such as Target and Wal-Mart are in the center of controversy when it comes to bedding. The stores recently became aware that during their partnership with one of India’s biggest textile companies, the manufacturers were distributing fake “Egyptian cotton” sheets, according to The Wall Street Journal.

For a long time, Egyptian cotton has been praised for its exceptional quality and softness with retailers charging premium prices for items possessing the material. However, last Friday Target announced it was pulling certain bedding items from stores after finding that Welspun India Ltd. was using phony fabric in place of Egyptian cotton, according to NBC Chicago.

More than 750,000 sheets and pillowcases were manufactured by the company and labeled 500-thread count Egyptian cotton only later to be discovered that they were knock offs instead. Target revealed that from August 2014 up until July 2016, Welspun substituted items with non-Egyptian cotton when manufacturing products. The retailer then sold the falsely labeled products for as much as $175 to customers.

Since Target’s discovery, retailers like Wal-Mart, Bed Bath & Beyond and JC Penney that are also customers of the textile company plan on opening investigations to determine whether they were supplied with authentic Egyptian cotton items.

Since Target’s allegations, the share price of Welspun has been cut in half and on Wednesday the company issued a statement. The Indian manufacturer revealed, “We are taking this situation very seriously….We won’t rest until this situation is resolved.”

Target has terminated its partnership with Welspun. Customers who have purchased falsely labeled products can request a refund by filling out a form on the company’s website. If approved, they will receive a gift card for the amount.