Levis intentionally changing size - waist larger than before

Asked for and received a pair of 33x30s for Christmas. Even after washing, the waist is a full inch larger than my previous 505s. Levis Customer Service confirmed that they are intentionally changing the sizing: "Our Levi's 505 Regular Fit jeans are currently carrying a more relaxed waist shape than before. If the 33 waist size was too big for you I can definitely recommend for you to down one size." Fortunately Amazon accepted this as a defective return (no return shipping charge), but after reading other comments about size variability depending on country of manufacture, I hesitate to buy online.