Grrr Primark

[WinterKitchen]

A friend gave me a birthday bag with lots of stuff in which included some slippers and flip flops from Primark both of which were too small. I took them back today obviously unworn and they refused to change because I didn't have receipt.

After explaining several times that no I don't have a receipt because someone else bought them for me they asked did I have a gift receipt or a photograph of one. Of course not. I wouldn't ask for that and I didn't tell my friend I was returning the items as I didn't want to upset her or ask for a receipt.

I know the assistant can't do anything, and she offered to fetch a manager but I didn't see the point as they clearly wouldn't change the items. I told them to keep them as they're no good to me and that I would not be returning.

Just frustrating really. Only talking about £10 maybe, and I've already got far too many flip flops and slippers anyway. But I'm just annoyed.

Because they don't leave the shop. They browse, steal the item, then ask for money back.

I meant efficient for both op and the item.

She may not be close to a charity shop; I’m not.

What makes you say that?

Many shops don't have security tags or they have the ink ones (so they don't beep).
Primark doesn't have tags.

but If I’ve taken an item that I haven’t paid for straight to the till, then the new item the assistant will take a tag off….. but never have I had an item from primark with a tag on

The real problem is the scale of cheap disposable production where the items are sold off at prices that people can afford to bin them months later ( if they even last that long) and they can’t pay their staff properly. Or don’t want to.

Its money at the back of the issues. We need to go back to a world where purchases were thought out, significant, and lasting.

I hope you weren't rude to the assistant. It's absolutely normal to provide a receipt as proof of purchase.
You could have asked your friend to exchange them for a large size, or just given them to a charity shop.

Well I don’t know as I don’t support fast fashion.

But I’m assuming if it had the security tag they might cotton in to the fact it hadn’t been purchased yet.

Oh, you're singing my song. This kind of shopping really cannot be sustained. Literally.

Yes in shops with tags on the scam doesn't work.
Many clothes retailers don't have tags though.
Non clothing shops items don't tend to either or they might have stick on ones that quite frankly are quite easy to remove.
That's why in some shops items like Lego or Squishmallows are now having to be kept in locked cabinets.
People are just stealing too much.

some shops (e.g. next) seem to have systems whereby if they scan an item they can see when it was sold and where. they've done it before when I didn't have a receipt.
I wonder why primark can't do the same? Because they sell so much stock and it moves so fast, maybe?

The staff won’t refund you an item that has security tags on, that’s madness.

Why didn't you just talk to your friend?

Maybe she had a receipt or some other proof of purchase?

If you've not got a receipt, you might have stolen them for all they know. I suspect that might happen in quite a few shops. You can't expect a refund unless you have proof of purchase. YAB very U.

H&M do exchange after 30 days, so not sure what you’re on about.

What I have done on two or three occasions is buy the same item in the correct size and use that receipt to return the original. Simple.

Primark doesn't have tags.

They don’t have security tags in primark

She didn’t ask for a refund, she asked to swap size.

If she was a thief, she would have just stolen the correct size.

I’m talking about the shop Dangermoo was referring to, not Primark.

But only if you've got a receipt.

I think YAB a bit U

You could easily have messaged your friend and said something like "I loved the slippers/flip flops but unfortunately they're coming up too small on me. Is there a way we can sort out exchanging for a bigger size?"

Then the ball is their court - they can send you the receipt or swap the items over.

I don't know of any shops that do exchanges without proof of purchase on the basis that someone could grab something off the shelf and then try to get a refund on it, saying it was a gift. An unfortunate situation but that's how retail is nowadays.

No.
See the several posts on this thread about how the scam works.

You can’t do that, each size has its own individual code at Primark.

What are you saying no to? Did you even read the exchange you responded to?