Has anybody else got cheated by Roman?

[SoWrong2025]

I can't believe how much time I have wasted on trying to return clothes to Roman. I love their clothes but I will never buy from them again. Sorry this is long and boring but I don't want anyone else to waste their money and be stuck with clothes they can't return.

Tldr: don't order from Roman. It's incredibly hard if not impossible to return clothes.

Before Christmas I ordered a few clothes. There was a return slip in my delivery parcel but because my order email said I could generate a return slip online I didn't keep the hard copy slip. Their return period is 60 days. I was super busy over Christmas and in January with both my kids being pretty ill but then finally tried on the clothes and decided to return some of them about 2 weeks before the 60 days return period was going to expire. I tried to generate a return slip using the link in my email but kept getting a message saying my order number is wrong. When I tried to call Roman I was put on hold every time and usually gave up after 20-30min. When my return period was finally expired I bit the bullet and just waited till I got through just to be told that the online return generator doesn't work and the only way you can return clothes is by keeping the hard copy return slip that is included in the delivery package. They say their return period is bery generous and i should have used the hard copy slip but how does it help to have 60 days to return my items if i can't do the return the way they say i can. Now of course They refuse to let me return the clothes because now obviously I am out of the return period. Why on earth do they say to generate a return slip with the online generator when they know this isn't possible?

Has this happened to anyone else? What did you do to get your money back? If you are planning to buy from Roman then don't. I have read other reviews as well where people complained about not receiving their refund for months or at all in spite of being within the deadline. They are just horrible.

What is it about mumsnet these days where everyone tries to pick apart the OP as if they're trying to catch them out??

The point isn't whether the retailer's returns policy is fair or not, or that the OP misplaced a bit of paper, or whatever the regulations are on distance selling vs physical shops. It's the fact that the OPs channel of choice for returning purchases - and one that was advertised as such by the retailer - was defective meaning the OP is now out of pocket. It's not difficult to understand.

OP, it sounds a shit and very frustrating process. People really do vote with their feet these days (figuratively speaking before anyone jumps on that). I avoid buying from retailers with particularly cumbersome returns policies.

Roman didn’t ’cheat you’. They gave you a very generous 60 day window within which to return the clothes with a prepaid label! Loads of online retailers force you to jump through hoops to return anything these days. YABVU

I don't know the brand so there is no bias here.

You had two months to return items. Everyone has busy periods and things happening in their lives, but you seem adamant to blame this retailer for your error.

You should not be shaming a whole brand when you are partly to blame

Don't leave things so long next time. Surely you knew months ago whether the items fitted or not.

Why if something doesn't go someone's way these days, do they feel it's okay to bad mouth an entire brand publicly.

You didn't try to return until the 11th hour.
You threw away the paperwork which would make the process straightforward.
You didn't stay on the helpline call long enough to be assisted while you were in your return window.
You now write a scathing post to complain how useless they are....

When I get wound up like this, my husband drives me mad by pointing out how small the problem is and how big I’m managing to make it. Also, outrageously, he points out where I went wrong.

In the moment it infuriates me but it helps me calm down and regulate myself. And he’s usually right. Dammit!!

I think maybe this is one of those occasions. They were partly at fault but overall the mistake was yours and the onus was on you. It’s not their fault life was hard for you at the time. Take it on the chin and move on.

Not too busy to browse online and make an order but too busy to try them on?

Your fault for leaving it so late and throwing the hard copy of the order away.

I often shop with Roman. I’ve never had any problems with returns.

If the time frame is 60 days then the OP is entitled to return within that, it’s not relevant that most places only give you 14 days blah blah blah.
If it says on their website you can use an online form to generate your return then who wouldn’t believe that? Most companies use online returns now, H&M don’t even bother sending a paper one at all now, it’s all online.
I don’t know why everyone is twisting this against the op, don’t you just love mumsnet?

I use Roman all the time and think they’re brilliant. One time I separated my order into keep/return piles and accidentally cut the tags off one I wanted to return. I phoned their customer service and explained and they couldn’t have been more helpful. Got my refund no problem. I think it’s awful that you’re badmouthing a decent company because you effed up.

Except it doesn't say that on their website. There's a specific section on their website saying what to do if you've lost the paper return. It clicks through to an online contact form. The link on the OP's email apparently didn't work. The obvious thing to do would be to look at FAQ/ Help on the website

Yes, apologies. We are talking about different links. I thought the link you meant takes you to the same pnline return label generator.

I agree, i cant remember the full details now but I wanted to return something, for some reason the postage was really high so I tried to return it in store, drove bloody ages to get to the nearest, one which was quite far away, then i can only have a voucher, which of course has now expired as theres nothing I really wanted. I wont shop with them again.

I also had massive issues with trying to return something with Halara, the first and only time I bought from them, will never buy again.

Their policy of only giving a credit note for returns in-store irritates me. I only buy there if I can try on first.

It’s better if you return stuff to the store. They won’t refund you unless it’s faulty, but that’s their right. A card with credit on is fine if you’re likely to buy from them again.
I have also returned stuff to them using the returns label and didn't have a problem.

I won’t order from them again. Sizes are completely out of kilter

Yes! Similar thing happened to me about a year ago. I ended up writing bad reviews on trust pilot and then suddenly my refund came through.

Can't believe they're still doing this sort of thing. I won't buy from their website either.

OP - don’t think the title of your thread is appropriate!

No I stand by my title. It is cheating. Of course there are many things i could have done to avoid what happened (mostly dig out how to contact them online well before the return period ended) rather than trying to call them. However, if I could have done the return the way they instructed in my email from them then I would have returned my clothes well in time.

If they say in the order email that you can generate a return label then I should either be able to generate a return label or clicking on the online return label generator should generate an error message to say that you cant actually do this anymore rather than the misleading error message of saying my order number is wrong. When I spoke to them finally it was one day after the deadline. They should have just sent me a return label while acknowledging that they didn't give me the right information to do a return. If I could find the information else where on their website or the length of the return period, none of these matter. I had no reason to not believe the instruction I received. They can't give misleading information and put the responsibility of figuring out the correct (random) way to returning an item on the customer. (I say random because I have never had to keep the original hard copy paper work from a delivery to make a return.)

The link does work..it just says your order number is wrong. When I tried all possible numbers I could find related to my order, I stupidly assumed that their server was down and thought i'll try later again or I'll just explain on the phone. But I didn't get through and no, I couldn't find rhe time to stay on the line for nearly an hour. That's how long it took when I finally did get through.

I think maybe it’s time to let it go.

Their website has very clear instructions in their help section- including a clickable link to a form that doesn't have the order number as a mandatory field and separately has a customer service email.

I really don't understand why you kept persisting with the faulty e-mail link rather using the information on the main site.

As for not keeping the paperwork- up to you, but I couldn't imagine not keeping the hard copy paperwork until I was sure I was keeping an order.

If you purchase clothes in the shop you have 28 days to return but only for a gift card or an exchange. Crazy!

I have had similar good experiences. You can also return instore which may be easier.

I’ve only ever ordered Roman clothes through Next where I have an account and the unlimited delivery facility. However I have to agree with others in saying that 60 days is an extremely long returns timescale. Even Next, who have refunded my late returns over many years, are now only giving out credit vouchers if returns are over 30 days.

I agree with you OP that it’s rubbish if their published returns procedure doesn’t seem to be working for you, but it’s maybe not a good idea to leave it right up to the 60th day before deciding to return something.

You’ve done a good job in publicising Roman’s extended returns policy though!

I get it. You’re annoyed that you didn’t get your return. But you’re being very unreasonable to complain when you messed up by not sorting this all out within the very generous returns window you were given.

I’ve ordered from Roman and returned clothes with no problems at all. I won’t stop buying from Roman because of a bad experience you had that was mostly your own fault.

I didn't leave it to the 60th day..I started trying to return my clothes with more than 2 weeks left till the returns expiry date. If I could have generated a return label as they said I could or if the link had at least said that you cannot generate a return label anymore abd to contact them for a new one then I would have been able to return my clothes and not lost £150.

It's also not that the return didn't seem to work for me. It didn't work.

Haha I hope I haven't actually encouraged people to buy roman. I do like their clothes but I still maintain they screwed me over with this. They gave me wrong information. There are a lot of things I could have done and probably should have done had i been in the right frame of mind but at the end of the day they gave me wrong information and misled me. I'm really surprised that people can't see anything wrong with that.