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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To return a dress i will wash

155 replies

SugarUpyum · 30/06/2020 15:04

Hi,
I bought a dress from a well-known clothes shop in my usual size.
Ofcourse with the virus rules, we cant try clothes on so I bought it yesterday.
I tried it on this morning and it fits me terribly - much too big on the shoulders and very bulky.

However, I took it off after i tried it on and noticed it had a lipstick stain (very small but noticeable)
What do i do?
Do i wash it?

It cost £40 so dont fancy keeping an ill-fitted dress for that price

OP posts:
SmileyClare · 30/06/2020 16:35

Apparently lipstick comes out of clothes by blotting with rubbing alcohol. Not sure what rubbing alcohol is but acetone nail varnish remover might work? Sparingly though, it stinks.

agentnully · 30/06/2020 16:35

I bought a body in the eighties, the type with cotton pants but a silk, going-out top. When I got it home I found blood stains on the crotch. I took it back but the shop refused to exchange it. I didn't want my money back or a different size, just the same garment without extras.

Manageress told me it was my stain. It wasn't. I hadn't even tried it on. I also had one in a different colour that I wore to the shop to prove I was a genuine buyer and that I actually wanted it. She wouldn't budge.

I binned it and never shopped there again plus I wrote to head office to tell them (truthfully) that the staff was wearing the shop clothes out then hanging them back out to sell, complete with BO and deep sat-in wrinkles.

If you genuinely didn't mark it try returning it. If you did please don't land someone else with something you've soiled.

MagnoliaJustice · 30/06/2020 16:36

@Laundrywoman

A tip I heard for future reference, op is to put a carrier bag or similar over your head before you try clothes on.
Probably the worst tip I have ever seen in my entire life Grin
NotSorry · 30/06/2020 16:36

This reply has been deleted

Post references deleted post Talk Guidelines.

Al1Langdownthecleghole · 30/06/2020 16:37

Those of you who say retailers don't care. I have a feeling they do and that's why a lot of companies have tightened up their return policies in recent years.

Retailers like M&S and John Lewis don't make the profit margins anymore and can't afford to subsidise people wearing an outfit once, then returning it.

I heard from a friend at Christmas that people even try to return their tablewear and cutlery in the New Year. No doubt once they've posted their photos on instagram.

Al1Langdownthecleghole · 30/06/2020 16:38

@Laundrywoman

A tip I heard for future reference, op is to put a carrier bag or similar over your head before you try clothes on.
A tissue between your lips will do just fine.
GiggyThePomeranian · 30/06/2020 16:41

@Rafflesway

So then that’s the worse that can happen Giggy! OP has nothing to lose. She’s hardly a master criminal!

However, I am assuming - hopefully correctly - that this is a small lipstick mark which won’t be noticeable at all, in fact should disappear completely, if removed gently with a wipe. Large marks, signs of previous wear, smelly items etc. totally different!

Do you honestly believe you have never had a customer accidentally catch their lipstick on something they were trying in the fitting room?

OP said it was a noticeable stain. Of course customers get make up on clothes. We're talking about refunds though, not customers getting make up on clothes whilst trying them on.
StressedMom4 · 30/06/2020 16:41

@SugarUpyum if the baby wipe doesn't work could you just do what those adverts that compare laundry tablets do?

Yknow pour a small blob of washing detergent on it, rub it in and just water off the part where the lipstick is? I'm assuming the dress isn't covered in lipstick.

Denise69 shocking! I hope that's some kind of joke and the tone didn't translate through text properly!

nextnamex · 30/06/2020 16:46

@denise69 crawl back in your hole hun

OP just return it, if they say anything you can always fein ignorance

Euclid · 30/06/2020 16:49

@PhotoFinder your skirt very obviously had a faulty zip and you were entitled to cut yourself out of it and the shop was obliged to give you a refund/replacement. The fact that you cut it would have been obvious to the staff member who dealt with you. To say that the staff don't care all that much is not the case for your circumstances as the staff member will have seen that you had to damage the skirt. OP is in a different position and is honour bound to keep the dress or give it to a charity shop.
If she returned it dishonestly without saying anything and the person who then bought it brought it back that buyer might not be believed that it was not her fault and might not receive a refund and be out of pocket by £40 due to OP's dishonesty.
The moral of the story is to be very careful when trying on clothes and if doing so at home wait till you have tried something on before applying makeup or try it on after you have removed your makeup.

Euclid · 30/06/2020 16:57

PS OP if it is a button up dress, how did it end up with lipstick on it? Were you too lazy to open the buttons and try it on without it going over your head?

As for the poster who suggested putting a plastic bag over your head for trying it on, under no circumstances do this. Some high end shops give you a scarf to put over your head when trying on a dress or jumper etc.

vanillandhoney · 30/06/2020 16:57

@Rafflesway

So if you catch your lipstick on something you try on in a shop, you would pay for it even if it looked dreadful/didn’t fit?

Somehow I don’t think so! I have worked in retail many moons ago and believe me, far worse accidents happens in the stockroom or even out on the floor which are quickly wiped away and put out for sale and I am talking about expensive clothing items too.

Take it back OP!

But shop floor damage isn't the same as damage that occurred to an item once the customer bought the item and took it home.

You can't buy something, take it home, get a stain on it and then return it for a full refund Grin

FunTimes2020 · 30/06/2020 17:01

@alexdgr8

you have damaged the goods. you have no right to a refund. donate the dress to a charity/ food bank and be grateful that you only have this problem to think about from the virus. rather than how to plan a distanced funeral for example. what have you lost really. £40. it's nothing. you won't make that mistake again. don't live your life by trying to be a cheat. don't waste your life.
You sound barmy! How the bloody hell do you know anything about OP's life?! Hmm
Onestepup · 30/06/2020 17:04

I don't think it would be right to return it. If it has been washed/stained/cleaned, it is no longer new.

FunTimes2020 · 30/06/2020 17:05

@Laundrywoman

A tip I heard for future reference, op is to put a carrier bag or similar over your head before you try clothes on.
Oh come on! What the hell is wrong with you?!
PuppyMonkey · 30/06/2020 17:07

But in these extraordinary times etc etc when changing rooms are closed and the customer has no choice but to try on at home, surely they’re going to have to accept a lot more refund situations than normal. Otherwise why would anyone buy anything? Confused

TheProdigalKittensReturn · 30/06/2020 17:09

I think if you've stained it then it's yours now unless you can get the stain out without washing it, unfortunately!

ouch321 · 30/06/2020 17:09

I'd not be happy buying a dress someone has stained with lipstick and then returned.

Can't believe so many people think that's ok.

TheProdigalKittensReturn · 30/06/2020 17:11

A tip I heard for future reference, op is to put a carrier bag or similar over your head before you try clothes on.

I've heard people talk about suffering for fashion, but suffocating for it seems a bit much!

willitbetonight · 30/06/2020 17:11

Don't put it in the washing machine but if the stain comes out with a baby wipe or similar then I don't see the harm.

vanillandhoney · 30/06/2020 17:12

@PuppyMonkey

But in these extraordinary times etc etc when changing rooms are closed and the customer has no choice but to try on at home, surely they’re going to have to accept a lot more refund situations than normal. Otherwise why would anyone buy anything? Confused
You can try things on without getting them stained. What do you think all the people who shop online do?

If you can't manage not to get make-up/deodorant/food stains on your clothes when you try them on, maybe just don't buy anything for now?

TrickyKid · 30/06/2020 17:13

Don't wash it. They might not even notice the lipstick, I've received things that have been sent out to previous customers including a top covered in cat hair! Just return and hope for the best.

PuppyMonkey · 30/06/2020 17:17

Well, the shop will have to clean it/decontaminate it anyway before they can put it back out for sale again? Won’t they?

This thread is really putting me off going to the shops, anyone else?

BanningTheWordNaice · 30/06/2020 17:27

And people wonder why shops like Oasis go under - because people return stuff they can’t resell...

Gulabjamoon · 30/06/2020 17:30

It takes 2,700 litres of water to produce a single t-shirt.