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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

people who return clothes for a refund after wearing them

121 replies

tenpencemixup · 27/09/2017 13:22

Not because of a fault with the item but because they don't to pay to buy it. Is this really a thing? I don't know anyone who has done this but apparently there are people that buy something new from a store/online, keep the tags on, wear to the event, then return to the shop as unworn for a refund? like a hire purchase but without the fee!

I've just seen it discussed online on a fashion/parenting group and the way it was discussed so openly, without shame or remorse made me think that it's more common that I thought.

Apparently
it's not theft because they return the item
stores over price items so why should they pay
other people don't mind wearing used clothes as it's only the same as trying on in a changing room
it's up to the store to decide if it's worn, not the customer to admit it was worn
a customer buying something new isn't getting a pristine product anyway as the manufacturing process means it's been handled by many people already
if it's only going to be worn once it doesn't matter

Aside from the moral and fraud? aspect I don't know how they do it. I wouldn't be able to relax and enjoy the event wearing an item knowing I was going to return it. what if it got dirty? smelly? other people's smoke? ripped? etc

Do stores know this type of behaviour goes on? Do they write it off as losses? Sell on to other customers knowing that it's worn?

other people tried suggesting that if you can't afford a full price item there are other ways of buying fashion. ebay, buying selling sites, charity shops etc. or buy new, but sell on and list as worn once to recoup costs. Just couldn't get through to them. they want new fashion items , but don't want to pay to wear them.

OP posts:
BenLui · 27/09/2017 13:26

I have heard of it but don’t know anyone who has done it.

Surely it’s effectively theft?

scurryfunge · 27/09/2017 13:27

I don't know anyone who admits to doing this. Which shops allow a refund if there is nothing wrong with the item? ( I don't get out much Smile)

misscph1973 · 27/09/2017 13:30

It happens a lot. My MIL worked in M&S returns, and the stories she had about used clothes being returned - the worst one was a pair of men's trousers with skid marks in!

I once bought a new coat for my DD - it had a used hanky and money in the pocket!

megletthesecond · 27/09/2017 13:32

This happened when I worked in a clothes shop. Unfortunately the customers were so horrible and aggressive we gave refunds to get rid of them.

I've known a couple of people in RL who admitted to it. I was too horrified to say anything.

AnnieAnoniMouse · 27/09/2017 13:32

Yes, I know people who do this. For funerals & for 'nights out'.

I think it's disgraceful.

They disagree, no matter what I say.

RunningOutOfCharge · 27/09/2017 13:32

My dd used to work at next and said it was very very common!

Staff barely bother checking

PoppyPopcorn · 27/09/2017 13:34

I have read a thread - maybe not on here but on some sort of forum - about a woman who got very cross with staff at a department store examining clothing carefully and sniffing it for signs of wear before agreeing to refund. I don't think the woman in that case had been wearing it, and was horribly offended that the sales assistant thought she might have.

These cheeky fuckers need to remember that shops are under no legal obligation to refund if something doesn't fit or you've changed your mind about it, or if you've worn it! They only have to refund if it's faulty. Most offer refunds as a gesture of goodwill - abuse that goodwill and they will return to offering the legal minimum.

PolkadottyRose · 27/09/2017 13:34

Yes, I knew someone who did this with outfits for nights out.

Creatureofthenight · 27/09/2017 13:35

It's properly taking the piss. I'd be far too embarrassed to even try it.

iamUberA · 27/09/2017 13:35

I know someone who does this with nice expensive dresses and returns them

Migraleve · 27/09/2017 13:35

Years ago I worked in littlewoods and used to see this all the time. We were taught to check certain parts of the fabric for signs of wear (fabric rubbing under the armpits/ deodorant marks inside etc) the things people tried to get away with was hilarious

missinghim2017 · 27/09/2017 13:37

Sadly I know a friend who does this and I think it's disgusting ConfusedI always check carefully and even smell the cloth before I buy since knowing about what she does . She does it with her daughter's clothes too Confused

Knittedfairy · 27/09/2017 13:41

My daughter had a Saturday job in a shoe shop, and had to deal with a lot of 'I bought these for a wedding but found they're not suitable/ don't match my outfit' etc etc.... with grass stains on the soles.

BelfastSmile · 27/09/2017 13:42

My dad works in quite an expensive menswear shop, and gets the odd customer trying this. One brought a black coat back (presumably had "borrowed" it for a funeral) absolutely COVERED in white dog hair. When challenged, he claimed it was like that when he bought it.

Dad refused to refund, and the guy started threatening all sorts (solicitors, newspapers etc). My dad wished him good luck and showed him the door.

StumpyScot92 · 27/09/2017 13:44

I know someone who does this and it drives me up the wall. Usually handbags for nights out for her.

Happened to me once when I was younger, I bought a dress for an occasion, went home tried it on again to show mum who noticed a fake tan stain on the back round the arms/neck that I hadn't noticed in shop. Took it back to shop an hour after buying it but they asked how they were meant to know it wasn't me who has worn it. Despite me being the palest person ever and that my receipt showed I bought it one bloody hour ago... Now I check much more carefully haha.

SquareWord · 27/09/2017 13:44

Yes it happens a lot. I once had a customer arguing with me that she hadn't worn it even after I'd pulled a cigarette butt and a tissue out of the dress pocket. She stopped arguing when I asked her to sniff the armpit (strong smell of BO).

Hunkle · 27/09/2017 13:45

I bought a coat in M&S with free used tissues in the pocket Confused

What do peope say is wrong with them?

Also, do they tuck the huge carboard tag out of sight?

Amanduh · 27/09/2017 13:49

A lot/most shops you can get a refund just if you've changed your mind and have the receipt, doesn't have to be anything wrong with it

millymae · 27/09/2017 13:50

In my view It's dishonest, but there are a lot of dishonest people around nowadays so I'm not surprised that it goes on.
Those that do it would probably say that no one is harmed in the sense that you can go into a shop and try on say a dress that has been tried on many times, then buy it. All they have done ( the people that take things back) have worn the item for several hours rather than a few minutes so in their eyes it's not really any different for those that may go on to buy the item.
A lot of shops make this sort of practice easy by using labels that can be easily removed and replaced - to prevent it they need to be clear that items will not be refunded without the label and devise a label that can't be replaced.

I suppose it depends on how honest you are as a person. I have no problem in buying an item and wearing it, but if I see the same item for sale at a reduced price in the time allowed for returns I will buy it again at the cheaper price and return it using the original full price receipt. I suppose some may feel this is dishonest too, but I don't!

m4rdybum · 27/09/2017 13:51

I know someone who owns one of the tag guns (that puts the plastic bit through the clothes and tag) so she can remove the tag and put it back on... Confused

PopcornAddicted · 27/09/2017 13:52

I sell secondhand clothing on Ebay and this is happening more and more unfortunately. Distance selling regulations mean that I have to refund people if they no longer want the item once they've bought it, and items are frequently returned dirty, inside out as if they've just been worn, taken off and put into a jiffy bag, smelling of BO and/or smoke, and with other signs that they've been worn.

A friend who also sells on Ebay sold a pair of brand new black shoes. The buyer asked to return them and sent them back with grass and mud stuck all over the soles with the shoe labels stuck back on the soles on top of all the dirt! Then insisted that she hadn't worn them!

People are cheeky fuckers!

BenLui · 27/09/2017 13:53

milly yes that is dishonest.

KungFuEric · 27/09/2017 13:54

I once knew someone from a dodgy family who actually owned one of those tag clipper machines, so she would remove the tag and replace it herself. She was quite the pro and took her trade seriously, applying panty liners to the underarm of tops etc.

Maudlinmaud · 27/09/2017 13:57

Yip. I knew girls years ago who worked in clothes shops and it was a thing. It wasn't customers wearing and returning it was them and not frowned upon at that time. They would wear something from the shop to work in and then stick it back on the hanger to sell. Pretty common I believe.

plasticcheese · 27/09/2017 13:59

I know someone who did it with her wedding dress. Only wore it for the ceremony, but still. Shock