How companies 'manage' the clothes we return

[kmini]

A friend told me last weekend she'd seen a documentary about companies that throw away clothes when you return them because the cost of cleaning and repackaging is greater than the actual garment. It was mind blowing to me!! Does anyone else know about these companies??

I also over order and return to get free delivery. It never occurred to me not to do this - the clothes are expensive enough why pay for delivery when you don't have to.

I realised the other day that i've completely changed how I buy clothes over the past 5-10 years, very rarely do I buy in store, I even have been known to see things in a store and order them on line rather than try on, so I have time to try on in the comfort of home, see what it goes with etc.

Returning is not a hassle with so many corner shops that do hermes now. I've got the packaging up and sending back down to a fine art.

Clothes that smell of perfume haven’t just been tried on - the person probably wore it out. Trying something on shouldn’t make the garment smell.

Retailers can mitigate this by refusing to accept returns where an item needs to be cleaned at all. If the item is soiled in store, they should remove it from sale temporarily or inform the customer so they can make an informed choice, preventing a likely return. Staff should be checking each return throughly but this doesn’t happen in practice.

When I used to in a store, some items would be steamed/stains removed, others kept on sale as is, or written off as soiled and damaged. Some items may be transferred to another store (particularly outlets) or sold online instead. Items sold online should obviously be pristine but again, staff errors may occur

However, I do over order and return to get free delivery. I really resent paying for it but don't you get charged postage once you've returned goods?

I've definitely seen sale items go out of stock then come back in at Next, Asos and Boden - I've always assumed that meant things have been ordered, returned and put back on sale (not binned).

I once returned a child's sweatshirt to H and M - I ordered it online and returned it in store, pointing out that it had a stain on the front that looked very much like ketchup (not put there by us, I should point out!). I saw it the following week on the sale rack in the shop, ketchup stain still very much there.

don't you get charged postage once you've returned goods?

No.

ComicePears same experience as I had with the flawed top from Sainsbury’s. I must admit I didn’t point it out to them but had quite clearly stated faulty/details of the fault on the returns form and assumed they would read that rather than just bunging the top back out, it was just before Christmas though so they were exceptionally busy.

I avoid the issue of delivery and returns charges by ordering on line but collecting/returning in person, I can easily get to most shops/collection points I just really dislike the whole ‘in person’ shopping experience.

I once was desperate for a Hush blouse that was sold out in my size. I called them up, they looked through their returns, found a returned blouse in my size and so I nabbed it!

Something similar happened to me. Was desperate for a pair of shoes that I was utterly obsessed with. Had been sold out for months. One day I randomly checked the website and my size was in stock!

When they arrived, they had clearly been returned due to being faulty (brand new but marked/scuffed). I emailed over photos - and the company immediately sent over a refund and told me to keep them! Just wasn’t expecting that response, I only paid postage for something I really adored.

I've received multiple dresses with the sleeves inside out (clearly from when the last buyer tried it on and didn't bother turning it the right way around again and nor did the retail company before resending out); buttons undone (eg a front buttoning dress with just the top buttons undone); skirts that aren't zipped up, belted dresses where the belt has clearly been tried on. I had a cardigan from one place which stank of perfume and was bobbled under the arms. Oh and a fascinator which had a large bobby pin stuck in the underside of the net (not part of the fascinator) plus a loose hair.

I'm glad things do get resent out. Would hate to think of it as being landfill just for being tried on once.

I work for Next. Returns account for a huge portion of sales and are a massive cost for retailers to the point they will be a factor in some retailers struggling to survive. All our items are checked, repackaged and put back for sale if in saleable condition. Items not in saleable condition are sent to the standalone clearance stores.

Next now involves its store staff in some of the returns work - repackaging items to be put on the shop floor or returned to warehouses so that there's less burden on the warehouse staff. It's a clever use of the shop staff's time during quieter hours.

Heartening that so many brands do obviously repackage non faulty goods. Suspect it's probably the cheaper end of the spectrum.

I feel like this is something that should be legislated against. That is, companies must repackage non faulty returns or be fined. It would obviously make some of the cheaper brands less affordable, which is of course a massive downside but I cant see how else you get rid of such massive waste.