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.

Were you genuinely going to keep 27 (or being generous 14) tops? In which case I apologise

Lol is clothing made else where better
Don't blame China, blame next

Nine pairs does seem a little excessive. And then to send all but one pair back. This adds to cost for other customers, a bit thoughtless IMHO.

Why are people acting like Next is a struggling Etsy seller lol

It didn't sound like she was blaming China 🤔

Clothing made elsewhere often is better because they are often using better quality materials and their workers aren't overworked like crazy etc, when something is referred to as tat made in China, it's no reflection on Chinese workers.

Thoughtless. 🤣🤣

Some of these comments are fucking madness.

Oh the Next/Evri combo is Dante’s seventh circle of hell. I had a saga of ordering a lamp, which wasn’t delivered and was sent photos of ‘proof’ of the exterior of a house (I live in an apartment), they then replaced this order twice both times delivering to addresses not my own. I gave up in the end. Total nightmare.

i had this with Harvey nichols - ordered and returned 3 dresses for a black tie event. They didn't suit overturned. i had the post office confirmation but the system of booking in failed. It was a third party supplier (Aidan Mattox). It was really stressful and was only resolved when i threatened legal action - small claims court.

I will go to my garden and flagellate myself right now. You are right I have been truly excessive, thoughtless and selfish. The ills of the world rest upon my shoulders. I am truly sorry.

I returned an item to very via evri a few weeks ago and it took almost 4 weeks for it to credit to my account and only after I chased it and stated that I had proof that it had been received. They did credit my account but it was a hassle.

I think it’s a evri issue tbh

Of course I wasn’t going to keep 27 tops, there were 2 sizes. If they’d fitted I was planning on keeping 8-10 of them. The one I kept fits nicely, the others in the same style didn’t fit in either size.

if companies don’t want people buying multiple sizes and returning them they need to be consistent in sizing

I think I’d better join you!

They are not discounted ir destroyed. They are checked and if all okay they go back into stock and are sent to the next person that orders it just like they would in a shop.

Well, maybe. I was volunteering this time last year in a large chain of charity shops, name starting with O and ending in Fam. Chain of 500ish shops in the UK selling clothes. They had a corporate donation from Inditex - the group which owns Zara, Bershka and Pull and Bear. Our store was allocated an initial delivery of 45 boxes, we had two more deliveries after that. So 135 total. The boxes were FULL of brand new stock, mostly internet returns from Zara. Because that particular store's model is constant churn of stock and new lines, so if someone orders 18 coats, 9 styles in 2 sizes each, keeps them the maximum of 14 days to decide and then there are delays getting it back to the warehouse and processing the return, the item may well have sold out in stores, gone out of stock on the website. So it gets slung in a box.

Now on one hand it's great that Inditex are being responsible about this waste and are donating their returns to charity rather than landfill. And it meant that our customers could get a £120 coat for £40 and loads of other items at a third of what they would have paid in Zara. But from the retailer's point of view it's a huge financial loss if you send out loads of expensive items of clothing and then can't sell them when they come back. Not a sustainable business model and they will just build into the prices which everyone pays.

If it's such a huge issue to order multiple items then why do companies continue to allow it and even encourage it? When you've placed an order with NEXT a little message pops up saying anything else you order in the next 30 mins is delivered for free.

I don't think by law they're allowed to limit are they? And the law is quite strict around being able to return anything you buy online/

If they go into administration we know who's to blame 👻

Crap company. My family member works there. In her store they lose thousands each week to shoplifters yet still have no security. Staff not allowed to stop shoplifters. I never ever send anything back to them, I always take it in. I’ve had issues in the past where they sent me an incorrect item (socks) about £50 cheaper than the jacket I’d bought and paid for, then refunded the cost of the socks I sent back rather than the item I actually bought 🙄. Took forever to sort out. Another time delivered to the wrong address and took an age trying to prove it wasn’t delivered to my house!

Next are evil IMO. I had a terrible issue with them when they opened a credit account for me without my consent and started charging me interest on something I just wanted to pay for in full. I'd accidentally bought two of the same item and returned one. Instead of accepting that the credit accout was not somethign I wanted, they treated the returned on as being the paid in full one and the one I had as on credit - charging interest. The time and effort it took me to sort out was unbelievable and the customer service attitude was absotlutely disgusting it was very 'they are right and the customer is always wrong'.

After that I have never ever shopped with them and never would again.

No advice other then don't ever by stuff from Next online again.

I honestly didn't expect so many similar stories. I always thought Next were trustworthy and reliable. My eyes are open now! They are like a bunch of gangsters!

What a daft question! That's the whole point of delivery. I ordered 19 dresses and kept 6.

Did you raise a complaint with FOS

Can I ask if returns are a known problem with Next, and people have to buy multiple items to find one that fits..and then have the hassle of returns, why don't you just go in store to try on and buy?

I'll add I don't live in the UK and we still mostly buy in store here.

I get there is travel and parking etc but going to an actual shop sounds a lot simpler in some instances.

They don't stock it in store

You do understand that free or low cost returns are not there in lieu of a change room.

Online retailers cannot cover the cost of you just trying things on.

9 pairs. You are having a laugh

Some people cannot make it into a shop to try things on. Of course Next (and other online retailers) can cover the costs, otherwise they wouldn't offer the service. Plus, it's not free to return to Next any more - if they found their returns fee wasn't covering the cost, they'd simply put the cost up.