Rapid-fashion logo PrettyLittleThing (PLT) is going through complaint from consumers who’ve had their accounts with the corporate deactivated on account of the collection of occasions they have got returned their purchases.
In an e-mail clear by way of the BBC, customers have been advised on Friday that their accounts were reviewed and close ailing so they wouldn’t be capable of playground to any extent further orders.
A few of the ones affected have old social media to criticise the brandnew coverage, claiming they’d handiest made one go back to this point this 12 months, or suggesting they’d go back fewer pieces if the company was once extra constant in its sizing of clothes pieces.
PLT didn’t right away reply to the BBC’s request for remark.
The net store, which is a part of the Boohoo Staff, had come beneath hearth previous this pace after scrapping its free returns policy.
One PLT buyer branded the untouched go a “joke” and mentioned returns would no longer be vital if the sizing and the attribute of the clothes was once no longer “awful”.
Posting on X, they mentioned: “You don’t have a physical store, [of course] people will return things.”
Every other wrote that they’d won the e-mail telling them their account was once being deactivated regardless of the reality their utmost go back to the corporate was once 3 months in the past.
On TikTok, movies of customers wondering why their accounts were suspended have additionally won masses of likes.
It was once no longer right away unclouded what standards the corporate old for its selections.
Becca Unsworth, a 24-year-old pensions administrator from Preston, advised the BBC that she was once “appalled” later her account was once suspended.
First of all, she was once no longer certain whether or not the e-mail were despatched to her mistaken.
Then again, on Saturday morning she says she was once knowledgeable by way of a PLT customer support aider that it was once authentic.
She describes herself as a devoted buyer for the utmost seven years: “I go to PLT for everything really – something for work, a new top for a night out, hair stuff, beauty products. I spent so much money there.
“I do go back but it surely’s because of the reality one thing might set in erroneous or I want to line an merchandise in 3 other sizes to form certain it suits in any respect,” she said, describing the brand’s sizing as “unfortunate”.
Becca had also paid the £9.99 fee to access PLT’s “Royalty” scheme for unlimited deliveries in the UK for a year.
But she has been told with her account being deactivated, the company will not provide her with a refund or partial refund.
She adds that the experience has “put [her] off buying groceries there ever once more” and now she will opt for the likes of Asos or Shein.
Sophie Smith, a 26-year-old PLT shopper from Norwich, said that she thought the message received was a “funny story” initially.
She has been a member of its “Royalty” delivery scheme since it was first offered and opts for PLT for outfits for bottomless brunches, weddings or nights out.
She told the BBC she has only made one return to PLT this year, and added that she felt the latest development showed the company “doesn’t worth their consumers”.
In the email, PLT apologised for any inconvenience caused and pointed out that shoppers would still be able to make returns via its online portal.
PLT is part of the Boohoo Group, which was founded by Mahmud Kamani and retail executive Carol Kane in 2006.
The brand started out as an accessories-only outfit, with a focus on on-trend, low-cost pieces.
It was co-founded and headed up by Umar Kamani, one of Mahmud Kamani’s sons, who drove the brand’s collaborations with the likes of supermodel Naomi Campbell and influencer Molly-May Hague, as well as its expansion in the US.
While it has come under the spotlight for its working practices, the Boohoo Group was one of the big winners of the pandemic, as online retailers thrived.
However, it has since faced several challenges with the rate of returns normalising, rising competition from ultra-fast fashion brands like Shein, and customer budgets being squeezed during the cost-of-living crisis.
Customers vented their frustration recently when PLT decided to introduce a £1.99 fee for returns, including for those members of its “Royalty” service.
High Street giants such as Zara, Uniqlo and Next already charge for online returns, while PLT rival OhPolly recently introduced a policy where the greater the amount of an order returned, the higher the return fee.
Instead of a flat fee, shoppers now face an £8.99 return fee for returning every item they order, versus £2.99 for less than half of the items, for example.
Analysts have said, however, that retailers are facing cost pressures themselves, which mean they need to introduce these charges or put prices up.
For fashion retailers, covering the cost of returns can be expensive and they have to consider the environmental impact of using delivery trucks for this purpose too.
Extra were opting to shift prices directly to consumers in consequence, in addition to clamping ailing on returns by way of introducing stricter inspections to identify when garments were old for an time and despatched again later one worth.
