returning items and people exploiting the system

[wokeupwithasmile]

I bought a pair of sandals and a week later a piece of one came off, so I took them back and got a refund. Then a couple of weeks later I went to buy a nice dress to use at a wedding. I was not sure whether it would be appropriate, but I did not want to have to go back to the shop, so I got it and asked the cashier how long I had to return it in case I changed my mind. I also pointed out that it did not have the paper tag one usually sees on clothes, so would I receive a refund anyway or should I look for one with it? I was told that I could return the dress within THREE months (!!!) and that the lack of tag didn't mean anything.
All this got me thinking. I could have used the sandals for a few weeks, pulled a piece out, and asked for a refund. I could also use the dress, get it washed or even not, and return it, given that three months is a hell of a long time to have.

AIBU to think that there must be people changing their wardrobes in this way and that it is strange that shops have not stricter 'laws' on what people can return or how?
Or is it that they make a hell of a lot of money anyway so who cares if this happens?

I never actually thought about all this. I buy few clothes, I wear them till they die, and then I buy more that I like. I do not buy on the spur of the moment, and I feel ashamed of returning things even if unworn when I change my mind, which happens not often at all. So all this is a new world to me.
But surely returning an item a month or two later means that in many cases it cannot be sold 'on the spot' anymore and has to be sold in special sales etc? I mean, theft is a big problem for the high street, but I wonder now whether this is, too?

True, using a dress for one night and returning it is not like stealing it, but somehow to me it feels on the same level.

I think it's dishonest and I wouldn't do it.

If you "borrow" someone's things without telling them, it's still dishonest. What difference does it make if the someone is a shop.

In fact, DD1 (15) asked me on the weekend if it would be okay to do this with an item she wanted for a costume. I was very clear with her that this would not be okay!

You're welcome to try it. But then you may come across someone like me. I turn stuff inside out as routine. If you've sweated, sat down or left and I shit you not other body secretions in the garment you will be very embarrassed in front of very many people.

And Boden allowing a ONE YEAR return policy? That sounds completely unnecessary to me! Why would one need a year to decide on a shirt or skirt?

This pisses me off no end.

I tried to return a pair of sandals to Office last week. Completely unfit for purpose, just did not stay on my feet no matter what I did, how tight I made them, just slopped around.

Shop refused to return/refund/credit note because they had been worn.

My first statement wasn't a joke, but admittedly I haven't done it since I was 14 and the prospect of a fiver returned was far more important that the bottom line of New Look. I am also old enough to remember the days when you didn't have to provide any personal details for a return/refund, and that initiative certainly curtailed the activities of the more frequent returners I knew.

I thought it was a teenage rite of passage! Obviously not

I confess to taking back a toddler swimming costume.It was a posh Debenham's one and tbe first thing DD1 choose herself.

The washer broke and it got far too hot and the dye ran.

The manager changed it without question. Even though it was obvious that it was decent quality and I must have done something ridiculous.

Reading this thread and seeing the amount of people who will purposely keep tags on, wear something once then return it is just... eww. No.
I don't usually come out with such a blanket response (I hope) but that's horrible, and so cheap. If you don't want to shell out the money, don't wear it, then return it for some poor person to buy your cast-offs.
The people who purposely damage things are quite awful too, imo.
When will people learn not to buy things they can't justify keeping in the first place? Fair enough if it is faulty but if not, no excuse.

Interestingly, this came up in another thread. Shops are well aware of this, and there are quite a few methods being tested to prevent it now. Hoping they're rolled out soon!
The most popular one is a big tag with "no returns if this tag is removed" stamped across it, somewhere on the garment that couldn't be hidden if worn (e.g. in the middle of the bust on an evening dress). That's a simple but effective one.

The reason so many shops refuse refunds for damaged items is due to people purposely damaging them. It's a shame, as all it does is make staff overly-cautious and genuine faulty items will be refused.

There is no way I would ever rip the strap off a dress and return it that anyone thinks this is an acceptable thing to do!

numanoid it's because people want champagne dresses when they've got coca cola money. They'll do the cash on a race/black tie ticket which they obvs can't get back. The dress they wear though is to their mind a totally refundable item. I posted on the last thread too, it is totally gross what people will do and claim the fact the dress looks like it's been dragged through gravel is the victim of a manufacturing fault.

I don't work for Boden, so this is only rumour, but I believe they don't recycle their returns. I've no idea what they do with them; I have wondered if they sold them through their own Ebay shop or through other Ebay sellers. I have no real idea though.

One thing I do know - some retailers have fraud teams who look on Faceache etc to see if there's a pic of you in the frock that you returned unworn. You'll get one refund, then you're blacklisted and won't be sold to again.

I wouldn't do it. I once ordered a dress from Asos. It took nearly a week to revive it. When it arrived, it was very creased and worn - make up or fake tan on the inside lining. Yuk. I returned it and had to wait nearly a week for a refund - what a waste of time.

If I buy anything that will only be worn once, I'll just stick it on eBay.

receive it

McSnuff : Boden have warehouse sales, and a lot of the clothes there look like returns.

I agree with TSS about people being greedy and wanting more than they could afford.

When I was young r I would have maybe one or two outfits for nights out (as did my friends). We didn't feel that we had to have something new every week therefore there was no temptation to buy, wear and then return

I would never do it, I think it's gross. I once bought the same skirt in two different colours from M&S, I wore one of them and realised it was just too big so I returned the one I hadn't worn. I was refused at the till by a sales assistant and then the manager who clearly wanted to embarrass me by shouting out I'd worn the skirt, I hadn't. My mum returned it without question the next day.

TSSDNCOP Exactly, I see why they do it, but it isn't justified. I can't tell the difference between a £300 designer dress and a nice £50-£100 one from Next. There are a few items of clothing I want, but won't buy them because I can't afford them, or they're just not worth paying silly money for.

miranda I buy a lot from ASOS and they've always been great, apart from once when I ordered jeans and they had what looked liked iron marks on the inside of the legs, although it was white lines... I would have guessed deodorant but not sure how you'd get that on the inside of jeans! They were returned as unsuitable anyway.

Warehouse sales - that'll be it, Mirandabee. That'll be how they shift stuff up to a year old too. Thank you!

If you only want to wear a dress once, then why not hire one instead of buying?

Because you have to pay the rental nightsky. Much easier to wear a brand new dress, cut the seam and take it back to get a refund for a manufacturing fault.

TSSDNCOP Good for you to turn things inside out. I have visions of CSI style devices being used to check for bodily fluids.....

Yes, this idea that I am entitled to whatever I want, even if I cannot afford it, only because others can, and that I can just find a way to scam others without paying for the pleasure of using things is sad and it seems widespread, too.

I've never done it. But the fact that other people do might explain the crap way an expensive'ish store handled things when I returned a pair of baby dungarees when the metal fastener thing broke the first time they were washed. I hadn't kept the receipt because I had no intention of returning them but trying to persuade them that I didn't need a receipt for returning something I'd bought a few days before, and that wasn't fit for purpose, was hard.

I complained about it to their Head Office, but they didn't even acknowledge me. Sadly, I can't maintain righteous indignation for long, and I lost interest at that point, but I'll never buy anything from that company again. (The fact that I'd never bought anything before and was unlikely to buy anything again is neither here nor there... Take that, twee shop!)