If it makes you feel any better, I did exactly the same thing with a pair of bike shorts last month...rode around the block in them after ripping tags off, and realized they were too long (I've been rolling them up once, and they're fine).

I think the Terry plus shorts run big- I'm 5'5 and about 225 lbs, and I wear a 1x. My favorite shorts now are the Pearl Izumi attack shorts in an XXL- they fit perfectly, and they're not too long (6" inseam). They sell them on TE.

Sorry for your (financial) loss.....