Companions missing pants and other gear

I haven't played since the fall of 2015.  Been thinking about playing again, but last time I logged on, I found a number of my level 50+ character companions are missing pants and other clothes. Some of my other characters received their original gear in the mail but not all. It seems inconsistent and bugged. I know that it doesn't matter what clothes I put on them but that isn't the point if it is bugged! 

Internet searching shows quite a few had this bug happen to them back in fall 2015 with the big update, but I wasn't able to find a solution on what the fix was besides submitting a ticket.

I was a subscriber back then and now this issue is annoying and stopping me from playing again.

I have checked and rechecked inventory and bank with the characters with the missing items and don't see them. 

Is there somewhere I can buy the original gear or any other options?

And, I shouldn't have to subscribe so I can submit an in-game ticket to fix this issue.

Thanks