NEXT plc accusing me of fraud

[Dontbeabitterlemon]

Bought 9 pairs of sandals online, sent all but 1 pair back. Now Next are saying 4 boxes were empty when received. Bizarrely they refunded me for these 4 but not the other 4 and have sent me an email demanding that I cover the cost of these shoes plus £35 for investigation fees.

Aibu to feel completely wronged?!

Obviously when I sent it all shoes were present and accounted for.

I think something weird must be going on with how shops process returns. Zara has been absolutely dreadful with it, have a look on their trustpilot- it’s the same stuff going on.

Why?

That’s exactly it. When you have a Next account you aren’t billed immediately, you don’t pay up front, it goes on your account and you either pay immediately on your account or you pay it off over time. Why would that ‘look’ suspicious?

Why on earth would ordering 9 pairs of shoes look suspicious??!!

Next in particular are known for this, I regularly do huge orders with them and return 90% of the goods - and judging by the amount of people in our local store returning bags and bags of clothes, many others do the same thing.

I do always return to store though and have never had an issue with that.

Hope you get it sorted OP.

Parallel Universe on mumsnet. That’s my only explanation.

I hate shopping online and would prefer to buy in store but lately stores only carry half the range they advertise online and hardly ever have my size (10 or 12 so not niche!) so often I have no choice but to do a big online order. I don’t think it’s strange at all to order 9 items given that stores are determined to make in-store shopping so difficult!

I once bought 3 items of furniture from Next for my daughter’s nursery. A wardrobe, bedside table and chest of drawers.

Before we opened the packages we changed our mind so went through Next website to arrange a return. When the couriers came they had on the return notice that I had a return but not the 3 items, just the one item. it hadn’t registered through the website that I wanted to return the full order.

He said so you want to return all 3? I’ll just go and check with my colleague if we can take all three. I just felt there was something untrustworthy about him so while he was in the van I set up a video recording to show all 3 items being removed.

Sure enough a few days later I got an email refunding me for the bedside table, the cheapest item and the other 2 hadn’t been returned.

It took a while but I fought it with the proof of my video recording and got my money back eventually. Not sure what happened to the thieving couriers

This. You should buy say 3 pairs - return those if no good then another 2 or 3 - you've just gone shoe crazy and ordered 9!

Ive had a lot of weird things happen with Evri: is this how you sent them back OP. Next are a pain so I always return in store now. A woman in front of me was having a similar problem . They insisted the item had been bought online but she was quite elderly and kept insisting she never shopped online. I think their systems are acting up. Definitely tell them to look at evri though. I had lots of parcels going missing with them. So much so I try not to use them and won't order if that's the delivery.

Ref no weight. Are Next saying there is no weight recorded against the return? They will have shipment level data from Evri on weights and dims as it has passed through their DC which auto logs this as it sorts - pre paid returns included. So even if you did not see it recorded at Evri drop off it will be available.

Why? Shoes vary in style/ colour/ size/ fit. It is more efficient to order a whole load rather than toing and froing. Shoes these days never have a full range of styles and sizes, so it's often pointless to go and try on.
OP, you ate far from alone ordering in bulk. It is perfectly normal. However,bwirj large orders it's probably safer to return to store. These posts sadly pop up fairly regularly. Zara and Uniqlo certainly seem to be having problems

No its not. You choose eg the 3 most likely. Then you have a chance of one of those 3 suiting. If not then you narrow down your chances of the next order being successful.

Chances are most those returns have to be discounted or destroyed

yea, lol

Why is it lol? They are right to be a bit pissed off that they haven't recieved all their shoes

Next can be a bit odd like this. I ordered an item, never arrived so I asked for a replacement. I get an email a few months later saying the first item was delivered and to pay for it.

I did not.

I hope you get this sorted OP.
I think the 9pairs of sandals is a red herring, I've previously ordered 6-10 items of clothing to see if it suits and compare fit and sometimes send a lot of it back. It saves time to do it this way rather than ordering a couple of bits at a time and you get a direct comparison plus deliver works out cheaper.
Are you a regular customer, have you had a directory account for years? If so you would think this would stand you in good stead.
I would escalate a complaint, either evri or warehouse has stolen the goods but really hard to prove.
At least with post office returns you are covered by the weight of the parcel some retailers want you to use to evri, and returning to store can be a pita if it's not local and need to make a special journey.
I had an issue with evri before saying the had delivered a large order which they hadnt took ages to sort out.
My normal evri courier is fab but the people who cover her haven't always been honest.
Hope you get it sorted OP

NEXT used to be a fantastic store 20 years ago, it isn't any longer and I imagine it's not long in imploding.

I bought expensive trainers online, returned them to a store with some other returns, got everything accounted and 'back on the system' only for the trainers not to be credited. The credits only show later, just the 'item has been returned' notifications were e-mailed.

I had to really fight to get a refund for the trainers I no longer had as they'd been returned. I won't shop there anymore.

Oh and ordering multiple pairs of shoes is normal in many people's worlds... if it were a problem then NEXT should have refused or restricted the order.

OP, hope you get this resolved asap.

are you saying that the OP only has the right to "lol" as I responded to their message in kind!!!
I'll let you have the last word!!

I've had things not returned via Evri, yet our delivery guy is brilliant, so I suspect elsewhere in the chain.

I don't understand the issue with mass ordering. Surely that is what the service is for. I tend to order in bulk because shops rarely have things to fit me.

I've ordered 6 pairs of school shoes from next before
3 x styles in 2 x sizes

You often don't know how they will fit until they arrive and it's frustrating having to then order more

So I don't think the OP is that unusual ordering 9 pairs

Why is this so weird??

Four or five different styles of sandals, in two different sizes each (e.g. 5 and 5.5) and that's 8-10 pairs.

No different from ordering several styles of dresses or trousers in two different sizes.

Thanks for the helpful responses. Will let you know the outcome.

Evri are absolute crap. Why Next have started using them, I’ve no idea. I’ve complained to Next twice, as once I had a notification from Evri that my Next parcel had been delivered. It hadn’t. But trying to get through to Evri’s customer services is like pulling teeth. Next did eventually give me a refund, but I asked that they investigate the Evri courier too, as it was the second time I’d had delivery problems with them. Not sure if they investigated or not, as got no response. I used to think Royal Mail were bad, but Evri are on another level.

Every time I was these posts I thank my lucky stars that my local Evri and Yodel delivery guys are fab. The Evri guy even delivered to my house a parcel I'd asked to go to a shop as he recognised my name!

Those of you getting weird about the amount of shoes or - god forbid - how delivery costs work for a huge company like Next; just get a life.