Asos clients banned over returns say it’s ‘slap within the face’ | EUROtoday

Asos buyers have expressed anger after their accounts had been shut for returning too many orders.

Some clients have acquired emails in current days informing them they’re banned for allegedly breaching the net vogue big’s honest use coverage.

It comes after the corporate final yr started charging a controversial £3.95 charge if clients make frequent returns and hold lower than £40 price of things in an order.

In a press release, Asos advised the BBC: “We recently closed the accounts of a small group of customers whose shopping activity has consistently fallen outside our fair use policy.

“This helps us preserve our dedication to providing free returns to all clients throughout all core markets.”

Asos’ fair use policy says that it may shut down accounts that have “uncommon or suspicious exercise”, which it says includes “uncommon patterns of returns exercise” and items being returned that look worn.

The retailer first warned customers in 2019 that it might deactivate accounts displaying such patterns, but customers say a tougher crackdown has begun in the last week.

Lucy Britnell, a self-confessed “shopaholic” from Teesside, has paid for a premier Asos account since 2018, which gives customers free delivery – but has now been banned.

“I in all probability spend no less than £100 a month with Asos – my newest vacation store [over several orders] was £500,” she says.

“Most of the time I’ve to order two sizes after which I’ll return the one that does not match – and Asos sizing, particularly its personal manufacturers, could be very unpredictable.”

In an email on Thursday, Asos told Lucy: “After reviewing your current return exercise, we have observed that it not aligns with our present coverage.”

It said that it would close her account in 30 days and the ban would apply to any new accounts she opens.

The same day, she received an Instagram request from Asos, asking permission to repost onto its account a photo of an Asos outfit she was wearing.

“It was an actual slap within the face – I assumed it was a joke at first,” she stated.

“Even in the event that they did reinstate my account, I’d take my cash elsewhere,” Lucy says. “It’s actually left a nasty style in my mouth.”

Asos, which is based in the UK, says it shipped 67.2 million orders worldwide in the last financial year.

As well as its own lines, it sells hundreds of other brands, and its website offers everything from low-priced clothing and vintage fashion to Korean skincare and Sol de Janeiro.

Some customers have complained of being dismissed when trying to appeal their account bans.

Louise Gowrie, from Glasgow, says she was “lower off” when she tried to raise a complaint on the live chat feature of Asos’ website.

“I attempted once more and requested the best way to complain relating to this and so they advised me the choice was last – and lower me off once more with no reasoning,” the 27-year-old tells the BBC.

Meanwhile Frankie Allen, 32, a PR director from London who has been an Asos customer for about 20 years, says she often orders clothes in two sizes and returns the one that doesn’t fit.

After being banned recently, she tried to explain this on the live chat but was told nothing could be done, screenshots seen by the BBC show.

Such “robotic comms” have changed the way people view the company and “alienated a variety of loyal clients,” Frankie claimed.

But she says she still understands why Asos is cracking down on returns.

“I’ve acquired ripped denims and garments with make-up on them earlier than from Asos, so I do know there are some individuals who abuse the coverage – like they put on the garments as soon as, hold the labels on, then return them for a refund,” she says.

It’s a view backed up by some industry insiders, who point out that shipping returned items back to warehouses, processing and inspecting them for damage all adds up. Inflation and freight issues have hit fashion companies hard too.

“Managing excessive volumes of returns merely is not a sustainable mannequin,” retail expert Medi Parry-Williams says. “In many circumstances, a return charge of £3.95 does not come near protecting these prices.”

That said, closing customers’ accounts is a “pretty extreme line to take” and not one Asos would have taken lightly, says John Stevenson, retail analyst at Peel Hunt.

Following a boom in returns since Covid lockdowns, some retailers introduced charges to return items by post or collection, including Next, Zara, H&M, Uniqlo and New Look, though they still offer free returns in store.

Pretty Little Thing faced a backlash when it started deactivating accounts it said had high rates of return last year. The policy came in shortly after it introduced £1.99 fee for returns.

Asos did not respond to further requests for comment from the BBC about customers being banned. Some are now calling on the company to change course.

Broadcaster and consultant Tskenya-Sarah Frazer has launched an online petition after she was banned from the site, calling for a halt on “charging and punishing” customers for online returns.

“As a plus-size, tall, and neurodivergent particular person, purchasing on-line is my solely possibility,” the 31-year-old tells the BBC.

“As the excessive road shrinks and we exist and have to buy extra on-line, it’s completely crucial that clients have the liberty to buy and return freely.”