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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

It's okay to wear clothes then return them for a refund

383 replies

KeyLimePies · 31/01/2022 09:26

Kay Burley on Sky News mentioned an article in one of the papers covering what happens to clothing purchased online and returned (not sure which retailer). Apparently they go to a big warehouse to be sorted and are given a 'sniff' test - to which KB said "c'mon, we've all done it"

AIBU to think that the majority of people don't order clothes, wear them, then return items in a smelly state for a refund? I have never done this unless the item has developed a fault after wearing it - and I've definitely never returned clothing smelling of sweat or anything else.

YABU - it's perfectly okay to wear something then return it for a refund, even if it's not faulty - it's one of life's perks.

YANBU - the majority of people don't do a KB!

OP posts:
ARabbitisaBunny · 31/01/2022 11:36

I used to work for a major shopping channel and sniffing a garment to assess whether it's been worn would be preferable to some of the items returned to them for a refund. They promote the fact that you can wear items and still return within 60 days it if you change your mind. I don't suppose they ever imagined that people would send back underwear and pyjamas with skid marks and unwashed menstrual blood stains. Unfortunately, it happened more often than you might think. Shock

Orgasmagorical · 31/01/2022 11:38

Many years ago I worked with a woman who would buy a fancy jacket with her credit card at the end of the week, wear it at the weekend then take it back on the Monday getting cash for the refund. It was how she funded her week.

mumda · 31/01/2022 11:41

@SoupDragon

My opinion is that only twats do this.
This.
DyersEve · 31/01/2022 11:42

I had the police called on me in Select over this many many years ago 😂 This is long. Apologies.

I'd bought a pair of jeans at 11am. Got home at 12 and noticed that someone had done just that, worn them. They were a bell bottom style ahh the 90's and were filthy and quite ragged. I'd got DS in his buggy at the time and was distracted enough to not have noticed them and hadn't tried them on as I'd bought those particular jeans before.

By 1pm I was back at the shop where the rather snooty manageress refused to refund me saying I'd worn them for a night out. Showed her the receipt and explained I'd only bought them 2 hours ago. She shrugged and wouldn't refund.

I was stubborn then, and not exactly minted so wasn't going to accept it. I told her she could either refund or I'd stand outside and show everyone the state of the clothing they sell. She shrugged again so I did just that.
I must have turned 10 women away in the fifteen minutes I was outside. I showed each my receipt and the state of the jeans and each turned around and left. Shop woman was, by now, angry and very shouty (causing yet another customer to turn heel and walk off), still refusing to refund and said she'd call the police. I told her to please go ahead....

Police arrive, I explain. Policewoman nods sympathetically and says to leave it with her. She then explains to angry shop woman that I'm on public property and can carry on but that given the state of the jeans and the 2 hour old receipt it's unlikely it had anything to do with me.
Angry shop woman was even angrier, snatched the jeans off me, marched inside and came back with my refund. She then banned me from the store. To my great amusement the Policewoman replied 'I don't think the lady would ever want to shop with you again really".

Never set foot in a store since 😂

AdobeWanKenobi · 31/01/2022 11:44

@Orgasmagorical

Many years ago I worked with a woman who would buy a fancy jacket with her credit card at the end of the week, wear it at the weekend then take it back on the Monday getting cash for the refund. It was how she funded her week.
AFAIK you have never been able to get a refund to a different method of payment. If she paid on card they wouldn't refund in cash. Money laundering etc
AngeloMysterioso · 31/01/2022 11:44

When I worked in retail, I once unfolded some shorts that a woman was returning and a pair of knickers fell out. Awkward.

Nanasueathome · 31/01/2022 11:47

@SoupDragon

My opinion is that only twats do this.
Couldn’t agree more
Original poster
KeyLimePies · 31/01/2022 11:48

Oh my word @DyersEve - that's awful. Well done for standing your ground - I like to think I would have taken the same approach as you.

OP posts:
Jaxhog · 31/01/2022 11:48

@CecilyP

It’s theft. Really no different to shoplifting. Just a better chance of getting away with it.
This.
saygeronimo · 31/01/2022 11:48

@KeyLimePies

Kay Burley on Sky News mentioned an article in one of the papers covering what happens to clothing purchased online and returned (not sure which retailer). Apparently they go to a big warehouse to be sorted and are given a 'sniff' test - to which KB said "c'mon, we've all done it"

AIBU to think that the majority of people don't order clothes, wear them, then return items in a smelly state for a refund? I have never done this unless the item has developed a fault after wearing it - and I've definitely never returned clothing smelling of sweat or anything else.

YABU - it's perfectly okay to wear something then return it for a refund, even if it's not faulty - it's one of life's perks.

YANBU - the majority of people don't do a KB!

This may have already been said as I haven't read the whole thread. But she got that information from a recent MN thread Smile
Orgasmagorical · 31/01/2022 11:49

AdobeWanKenobi I don't know how she managed it but it was many years ago, maybe things that like were more possible then.

Fatherliamdeliverance · 31/01/2022 11:50

I wouldn't begrudge someone who had no money and was stuck for an interview outfit but it's pretty poor behaviour otherwise. Also, it leaves you open if you couldn't really afford the outfit. What it you wear it out and someone spills a glass of red down the front or you singe it with your hair tongs?

I do like the new trend for clothes rental though- so much less waste but nobody has to sniff the crotch (grim).

Original poster
KeyLimePies · 31/01/2022 11:50

AFAIK you have never been able to get a refund to a different method of payment. If she paid on card they wouldn't refund in cash. Money laundering etc

Actually I have been refunded cash for items that I've paid for by card or PayPal before - usually when something goes wrong with the till.

OP posts:
FusionChefGeoff · 31/01/2022 11:56

See now this fits into my vision of what shopping will be in the not too distant future to combine all the benefits of online shopping (more choice, shop from your living room, all the sizes etc) with the bad bits removed (fucking about with returning everything.

You order all your stuff as normal - but for delivery to a 'shopping warehouse' type space. Possibly with only a small deposit to pay so you can order as many diff sizes / styles as you want.

Then you visit that when convenient, colllect your order and take it all to the beautifully designed changing rooms. Then you try everything on.

Then, everything you don't want goes to the returns area - easier for shops to repackage immediately and DEFINITELY no wearing of clothes!

You take what you want to keep to the tills and pay the balance.

Gwenhwyfar · 31/01/2022 12:05

"I've never done this, but was upset once in a nice kids clothes store when I returned a jacket that didn't fit my son after trying at home and the shop assistant thought it had been worn."

I was once refused a refund because they claimed my shoes had been worn. I had only worn them inside for a few hours to get used to them and had figured out they didn't fit properly. I'm sure one of the shoes had been used as a display shoe and that's why it looked so worn. This was decades ago.

Gwenhwyfar · 31/01/2022 12:07

@FusionChefGeoff

See now this fits into my vision of what shopping will be in the not too distant future to combine all the benefits of online shopping (more choice, shop from your living room, all the sizes etc) with the bad bits removed (fucking about with returning everything.

You order all your stuff as normal - but for delivery to a 'shopping warehouse' type space. Possibly with only a small deposit to pay so you can order as many diff sizes / styles as you want.

Then you visit that when convenient, colllect your order and take it all to the beautifully designed changing rooms. Then you try everything on.

Then, everything you don't want goes to the returns area - easier for shops to repackage immediately and DEFINITELY no wearing of clothes!

You take what you want to keep to the tills and pay the balance.

How/why is this better than going to a shop? Just the fact that someone prepares your options for you first? There is already an option to pick up from the shop isn't there for many online purchases.
1forAll74 · 31/01/2022 12:07

I used to work in a shop,that sold good quality expensive clothes and shoes, and vintage stuff, It was a dress agency, where people bought in stuff, and then if people bought the raanything, the customer would get a percentage of the sale, and the shop would get the rest of the money.Most people bought in very expensive items of clothing and shoes etc, that they had only worn a couple of times, for special occasions, lilke weddings or dinner dances at posh places, and also, going to the races, such as Ascot , and going on fancy cruise ships.

The owner of the shop, was also into wearing expensive clothes, and stuff, and she and her Husband were always into high life living,, and very often, she would take clothes from the shop, and wear them at various functions, then bring them back to the shop, to put on the rails again. A few people would bring in vintage jewellery to sell, but my boss would often take that as well, if she was going to somewhere special, then bring it back to the shop later.

Echobelly · 31/01/2022 12:08

It's dishonest and also very wasteful of energy sending things back and forth, plus I've heard a lot ends up in landfill too.

Blossomtoes · 31/01/2022 12:10

And we’re all paying for it.

BoredZelda · 31/01/2022 12:11

They say 1 in 3 online clothes purchases are returned.

Of course they are. You can’t know online how something will fit. I’ve returned probably more than 1 in 3 online clothes purchases I’ve made. That doesn’t mean I buy them to wear then return them.

BoredZelda · 31/01/2022 12:12

How/why is this better than going to a shop? Just the fact that someone prepares your options for you first?

Because you can order from a whole load of places and find exactly what you want rather than going to one shop, having to rake for that one thing you are looking for, then going to another and another.

eldora · 31/01/2022 12:16

Unfortunately for the environment online shopping is cheaper.

You can pay Primark prices for things that would cost 3-4 times in many high street shops.

Player20868 · 31/01/2022 12:17

One of my sisters used to do this, and never understood why it used to wind me up so much. (We disagree on lots of other things too, strangely...)

SchadenfreudePersonified · 31/01/2022 12:19

@SoupDragon

My opinion is that only twats do this.
I would concur with that opinion.

Twats and cheeky-effers.

SchadenfreudePersonified · 31/01/2022 12:23

@ARabbitisaBunny

I used to work for a major shopping channel and sniffing a garment to assess whether it's been worn would be preferable to some of the items returned to them for a refund. They promote the fact that you can wear items and still return within 60 days it if you change your mind. I don't suppose they ever imagined that people would send back underwear and pyjamas with skid marks and unwashed menstrual blood stains. Unfortunately, it happened more often than you might think. Shock
Bliddy hell!

That's grim!