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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Grrr Primark

234 replies

WinterKitchen · 25/05/2025 15:32

A friend gave me a birthday bag with lots of stuff in which included some slippers and flip flops from Primark both of which were too small. I took them back today obviously unworn and they refused to change because I didn't have receipt.

After explaining several times that no I don't have a receipt because someone else bought them for me they asked did I have a gift receipt or a photograph of one. Of course not. I wouldn't ask for that and I didn't tell my friend I was returning the items as I didn't want to upset her or ask for a receipt.

I know the assistant can't do anything, and she offered to fetch a manager but I didn't see the point as they clearly wouldn't change the items. I told them to keep them as they're no good to me and that I would not be returning.

Just frustrating really. Only talking about £10 maybe, and I've already got far too many flip flops and slippers anyway. But I'm just annoyed.

OP posts:
lifeonmars100 · 25/05/2025 16:22

Isn't this the policy in all shops? no receipt no cash refund. I had to take some trousers back to M and S, of course it was obvious they were from them just as it is with Primark but I had lost the receipt. I was given a credit note as I had not taken the tags off.

PIPERHELLO · 25/05/2025 16:22

I’ve had this recently & find what ends up happening is stuff is landfilled / wasted. In addition to the waste of money, I almost find the utter wastefulness worse.

Penthrowingsurvivor · 25/05/2025 16:22

nomas · 25/05/2025 15:50

I do have the receipt, for the one I paid for.

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I still don't get why you don't buy the right size in the first place then?

tuvamoodyson · 25/05/2025 16:22

TheIceBear · 25/05/2025 16:04

This. As if she cares if the op will be back or not.

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They probably done this the moment she left…

Unimpressed Classic Film GIF
Topsyturvy78 · 25/05/2025 16:21

nomas · 25/05/2025 15:44

YANBU. We’ve taken to just swapping for the correct size / colour ourselves in the aisle.

Primark loses no money this way so my conscience is clear.

This is dodgy AF. I've worked in shops people have swapped shoes and jackets etc. Literally left their dossy stuff on the shelf and walked out with wearing what they swapped them with.

Original poster
WinterKitchen · 25/05/2025 16:20

Butchyrestingface · 25/05/2025 16:07

I told them to keep them as they're no good to me and that I would not be returning.

In other news, I threw my rattle out the pram today and it travelled six feet before boomeranging back and smacking me on the nose.

Good for you.

OP posts:
TulipTuesday · 25/05/2025 16:20

I made £50 from a stroppy customer who left behind a pair of shoes I wouldn’t allow a refund on.

The store I worked for had gone hard on their returns policy, no receipt no return.
Customer took exception and told me to keep the fucking shoes. I kept them to one side assuming he’d be back for the rather expensive shoes.

He didn’t come back. Then Covid lockdown happened and our shop closed down. The shoes were surplus stock, I stuck them on EBay and made £50. Cheers, stroppy man.

MayaPinion · 25/05/2025 16:18

nomas · 25/05/2025 15:51

Then they should let people swap for the correct size.

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They do - if they have the receipt.

AnnaL94 · 25/05/2025 16:18

WinterKitchen · 25/05/2025 15:53

I wasn't being petty. They can resell them. They're no use to me and not worth putting on vinted.

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You ARE being petty.

Ridiculous even.

Complete and utter batshit ignorant behaviour thinking you’re entitled to a refund/exchange without a receipt.

Leaving them is also stupid. You clearly have no idea how retail transactions work with barcodes, stock, audits.

Why not take them to a charity shop or flog them on Vinted for a quid?

Mind boggling.

ChompandaGrazia · 25/05/2025 16:17

GellerYeller · 25/05/2025 16:09

I once returned broken lights without a receipt, genuinely faulty, less than a few days after purchase. I thought stores had to replace faulty items with no receipt, seems not. I had lost the receipt which is unlike me, as I store them in a box.
They didn’t want to replace with a new item, which is fair enough. Then a helpful manager asked what time and day did I think I’d bought them, checked the till records and said yes, that matches our system and replaced the item.

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Faulty items is a completely different situation. You don’t need a receipt if the item is faulty but it can be helpful.

Koalafan · 25/05/2025 16:16

Sherararara · 25/05/2025 16:15

Exactly this.
OP of course YABVU.
Also living under a rock. Everyone knows you need a receipt these days. And it wasn’t like you mislaid it. Just tell your friend the size is wrong and ask for it. Literally the easiest thing in the world.

I rarely return stuff and rarely to Primark, so it wasn't really on my radar, but I can definitely understand their policy.

ChompandaGrazia · 25/05/2025 16:15

You have no right to an exchange or a refund even if you did have the receipt as the items weren’t faulty. YABU.

Koalafan · 25/05/2025 16:15

Tenducks · 25/05/2025 16:14

Slightly off topic but I wish people would stop buying gifts like this for adults. My adult children get these sorts of gifts from their mates. Loads of socks and tops and fleece blankets and soft toys and mugs and bottles and slippers and on and on. They don’t want or need any of it.

It's because there's so much social pressure to buy sh**e for the sake of it.

Sherararara · 25/05/2025 16:15

Exactly this.
OP of course YABVU.
Also living under a rock. Everyone knows you need a receipt these days. And it wasn’t like you mislaid it. Just tell your friend the size is wrong and ask for it. Literally the easiest thing in the world.

Tenducks · 25/05/2025 16:14

Slightly off topic but I wish people would stop buying gifts like this for adults. My adult children get these sorts of gifts from their mates. Loads of socks and tops and fleece blankets and soft toys and mugs and bottles and slippers and on and on. They don’t want or need any of it.

SnoozingFox · 25/05/2025 16:13

nomas · 25/05/2025 15:51

Then they should let people swap for the correct size.

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They do. As long as they have the receipt, which in your "swap it yourself" example you have, and which in the OP's "unwanted gift" example she does not.

Not difficult to understand the key difference here.

Lovehearts82 · 25/05/2025 16:11

SENSummer · 25/05/2025 15:52

I’m surprised at all the people saying YABU
Ive worked retail extensively in the past at many different shops and it was always standard practice to offer an exchange or credit note without receipt as so many people received items as gifts.
I’m forever returning next/m&s items which have been bought for my kids by our extended family in incorrect sizes and never have a receipt, never had a problem!

Every item in Next has a Unique ID number so when you scan it back to return it knows all the details of when it was last sold, so as long as it has the Pos label attached the store can offer a return without reciept. 🙂

Koalafan · 25/05/2025 16:10

nomas · 25/05/2025 15:44

YANBU. We’ve taken to just swapping for the correct size / colour ourselves in the aisle.

Primark loses no money this way so my conscience is clear.

I hope you get reprimanded for doing this.

GellerYeller · 25/05/2025 16:09

Sunshineandrainbow · 25/05/2025 16:04

I get that
But doing exchange for another size seems reasonable.

When I worked at m and s exchange desk, people used to steal and damage items to get the cash back as no receipt was needed for faulty items..

I once returned broken lights without a receipt, genuinely faulty, less than a few days after purchase. I thought stores had to replace faulty items with no receipt, seems not. I had lost the receipt which is unlike me, as I store them in a box.
They didn’t want to replace with a new item, which is fair enough. Then a helpful manager asked what time and day did I think I’d bought them, checked the till records and said yes, that matches our system and replaced the item.

JohnMajorsChicken · 25/05/2025 16:09

nomas · 25/05/2025 15:51

Then they should let people swap for the correct size.

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They do if you have a receipt! Which you claim you do - otherwise you're basically stealing if you take things off the shelf.

Butchyrestingface · 25/05/2025 16:07

I told them to keep them as they're no good to me and that I would not be returning.

In other news, I threw my rattle out the pram today and it travelled six feet before boomeranging back and smacking me on the nose.

Original poster
WinterKitchen · 25/05/2025 16:05

ButteredRadish · 25/05/2025 15:58

Where did OP say or give the impression that she had a tantrum? She never mentioned raising her voice or stamping her feet? Let’s not make things up it doesn’t help anyone.

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I didn't have a tantrum or a strop. I said that calling the manager wouldn't achieve anything so you may as well keep them and put back on the shelves. I know the assistant didn't do anything wrong and I told her that, but I also said I wasn't very impressed and wouldn't come back. No raised voices. People are making that up

OP posts:
Cynic17 · 25/05/2025 16:05

You have no right to a refund without proof of purchase, OP, so I don't understand the fuss.
Just buy some replacements, if you really want them, and give the originals to someone else, or a charity shop.

ButteredRadish · 25/05/2025 16:05

@Coconutter24No, you’ve made that assumption yourself. OP didn’t say that. All of what she said could quite easily have been said politely. That’s why I’m defending her as I would’ve done exactly the same thing. It’s far better to resell them to somebody else than for them to be tossed in the bin.

This new trend of fabricating gaps in a story to fit a preferred narrative, seems to be happening on every single thread these days and is getting ridiculous now.

Lovehearts82 · 25/05/2025 16:05

Stripeyanddotty · 25/05/2025 15:54

I’m forever returning next/m&s items which have been bought for my kids by our extended family in incorrect sizes and never have a receipt, never had a problem

M&S will exchange without a receipt. They won’t refund.

Edit, quoted wrong person