Prettylittlething - anyone else FUMING?

[sowhatimangry]

My dd shops online. She frequently uses Prettylittlething, boohoo, asos. She got an email last week (along with hundreds of thousands of other people, it would appear) saying that her account was being deactivated because she returns too many items.

While I think there's a whole host of things unfair with that, my main issue is that for birthdays and Christmas, family members buy her vouchers for this clothing brand. Meaning she's got £80 as her account balance that she can't use.

The account won't let her place any orders so she can't spend it, she's gotten in touch with the customer service who haven't replied (presuming they're swamped with complaints!)

Is there anything we can do?! There's no option to cash out, and get the money back. They have essentially stolen £80 from her. So so frustrating. Maybe we just have to cut our losses and be grateful it wasn't more.

She has applied the gift cards onto her account so they are now witholding her credit, which they will have to return.

A friend of mine works for one of the large online clothes retailers- she says that handling returns is where they lose the majority of their money. People don't repack things up properly (so for example if you order 10 things, making sure they go back into their correct individually labelled packets etc) so everything has to be sorted and packaged from scratch which takes as long as getting everything ready to send out in the first place- they're having to do this process twice for everything, essentially. I can see why they're clamping down.

Isn't this the price PLT, Boohoo and the like pay for not having physical stores where people can try things on though? Still considerably cheaper for them. They can't have it all ways. Although in an ideal world these fast fashion planet-polluting exploitative brands wouldn't exist.

It's the price consumers pay!

They'll exist as long as they're profitable.

They would have looked at refunds across accounts over a long period of time.

Your house is exactly a changing room for online retailers!
That's their business model, and they save the money on not having physical stores

But lots of things are damaging to the climate. Have you ever been on a plane? Do you drive? Do you eat sustainably? Buy only recycled paper? Etc etc.

We all do something selfish that is bad for the planet. Very few people can point their finger at a young woman buying clothes without being a hypocrite.

That’s terrible, I refuse to use them again since they received my return and didn’t refund me. When I questioned it they did nothing and on live chat they said I was too late 🫠

Well companies should provide changing rooms then. And the selection of clothes in all the sizes they do in a store. But they won’t because that’s more expensive. They can’t have it both ways if they want custom.

I don’t normally use sites like this but I used boohoo recently.

I bought two pair of trousers hoping to have something for summer that wasn’t my normal jeans

one looked completely different from the pictures and the description said 95% cotton but it was a completely different material. They looked thin and quality was terrible plus due to the material being different they would have made me sweat terribly! So I didn’t even try them on

the other fitted at least two sizes smaller than the size guide according to their measurement's which meant I could barely get them on never mind do them up

if either had matched what I thought I was buying I had kept them but as neither of them did i had to return both!

the return was a nightmare including being accused of not sending one of the items back and refusing a refund on it.

I deleted my boohoo account and decided I wouldn’t try these sites again but my point it that this is one of the main reasons why returns are so high!

I assume many people (who aren’t just taking the piss to wear and return) know this is the case so they buy things in multiple sizes knowing the sizes are not reliable or hoping the item actually matches the description and pictures and when they don’t they return.

instead of sorting out the problems that cause it they are deciding to punish the customers. Surely they are going to lose more profits with the lack of customers?

my hope is that this will trigger a shift in buyers habits so companies like this sink and things go back to being more reliable again therefore returning will reduce!

Surely they are going to lose more profits with the lack of customers?

We can hope, but £10 dresses always seem to find a market. After all, at those price points, quality is never going to be the priority.

And in a physical store you are paying for the staff time to supervise the changing room, fetch extra clothes, put clothes back on hangers properly, or fold them, and take them back to the shop floor. You lose some stock to damage in the changing room, and to theft. You pay for the changing room fittings and energy bills. You pay for security measures, like tags, CCTV, even labels.

Companies will occur costs in line with their operating models. That’s business. That’s why they charge more for what they sell than they pay their suppliers. They’re not charities.

I buy the Fuller Bust range from Next. Guess what they don't have in their stores...?

I would very happily try on in store if they actually stocked the items I wish to buy.

If a 16 means a particular bust, waist, and hips, retailers won't be able to offer different fits. They won't be able to offer 16 fuller bust because the bust measurement won't conform to the legal standard for 16. This would basically stop me from buying clothes that fit me.

What should be mandated is accurate size charts.

Instead of having standardised sizes, why don't online retailers just give the actual measurements of a garment? Very little room for misunderstanding then. Of course they might get returns because a garment doesn't suit the person, but it should reduce the need to order in 3 different sizes; or returns because items don't fit.

Clothes sizes (for women) are almost meaningless now anyway so it's about time we did away with them.

There should be a right of free return if the item isn’t as described too - eg different material. There’s no excuse for that.

But they don’t have physical stores.

How else are people supposed to obtain them?

You absolutely can point the finger at someone buying shein/temu/boohoo/prettylittlething hauls though. Buying tons of clothes they don't need, even if they keep them they can't possibly wear them all, or returning them to be dumped in landfill are contributing to a huge, huge problem. Why shouldn't we point out that's damaging behaviour? Just because other people fly and drive cars (i do neither) doesn't mean it's ok to consume vast amounts of clothes just because you can.

Fashion and textile production is the second most polluting in the world, second to the oil industry.

Every time someone makes the point in an environmental discussion that the greatest emissions by far come from China and India, they then end with a ‘so there’. But why are those emissions happening? Because of the demand for manufacturing from the West. We’re part of this. It’s a global issue.

I didn’t saying anything in my comment about “buying tons of clothes they don’t need”.

But these companies are the worst companies ever by what they pollute by how they treat their workers etc. yes have flown and yes drive but am making changes - haven't flown in few years , drive a hybrid will switch to electric soon, Have solar panels and also air to water heating. Try and use eco friendly cleaning products. WFH alot so not much commute as before. I also am shopping more second hand and for an event have end of summer renting my dress instead of buying. Each generation are more educated than previous, we are the consumers and have the choice to make the right decision on our decisions that we make including clothes purchases. Reducing fast fashion is one huge step that we can make to reduce climate change, there is enough clothes made at this moment in time to do the next 6 generations of people. As of today there is 61.8 millions items of clothes' from Zara on vinted alone. We have been primed to buy new wear once and dispose of and that mindset needs to change.

That is if the store stock your size. As quoted above most shops don't stock above a size 18 so we have no alternative

I saw a top I liked in M&S store on holiday and no size 20. I checked other garments and there was nothing over a size 18 thought oh well it's not a large branch. Have been into our local M&S and same thing there. Never used to be like this could always find my size

Although Jack Wills have never stocked above a 16 in store and charge a lot for delivery.

Local Fat Face doesn't stock above 16 either

So we have to pay the Fat Tax and get stuff delivered so obviously I'm going to order a selection

A lot of online shops are cutting off the accounts of the habitual returners. Apparently it’s costing them too much.

Exactly. I’m sick of making this point.

And the ‘do you drive/fly’ thing. Every time. Just because you do those things doesn’t mean you can’t be conscious of reducing your carbon footprint in other areas. For example, I drive but it’s unavoidable because of the type of work I do in rural locations which I am fully aware is a planet fucker, but is hopefully offset by the nature of the work. However, I try to reduce what I can. I’ve not had a holiday for 7 years and have taken very few flights in my life. I don’t eat meat or buy fast fashion or things I don’t need. It’s not an all or nothing, mutually exclusive thing. Every bit helps.

If online businesses are seeking to compete with the high street, they must price in a high return rate as it's not possible to try before you buy (although I note Amazon offer this). Online companies have got their pricing wrong if they haven't factored in that customers need to try outfits on before committing to a purchase.