ASOS reportedly 'banning people' who complain about their deliveries

Retail brand ASOS has come under fire for seemingly banning shoppers who complain about their deliveries going missing.

There’s always a slight risk with online shopping that your package might not arrive in time, or even at all.

In which case you’ll likely contact to the company in question to find out what went wrong and hopefully get a refund.

That’s exactly what happened to reality TV star Lucy Mecklenburgh after ordering an expensive gift for her boyfriend from ASOS.

Taking to Twitter the former TOWIE star explained that the present hadn’t turned up, but after complaining to the company she’d received an email banning her from using ASOS’s services in the future.

“So not only did they not deliver an expensive item that was a bday present for my bf, they won’t refund me or ever let me order again,” she wrote.

“And I’m a VERY regular customer! @ASOS @ASOS_HeretoHelp. Cheers Callum from customer care.”

In the email, Lucy is allegedly informed that she will not be refunded for the order that she claimed went missing and she will no longer be able to shop with them.

It read: “After an assessment of your account, we’ve made the decision to not issue a refund for your item.

“It’s very rare for items to go missing and ASOS have therefore made the decision to not accept any further orders from you.”

“In order to take this further, we recommend contacting your payment provider to dispute any lost funds. Your payment provider may be in touch with ASOS and we’ll be able to provide information regarding your account to support their investigations.

“Once they’re happy this is a genuine claim, they may refund your account. In the event further orders are placed, they’ll be cancelled.

“As we’re unable to help you further, any emails received about this matter will be automatically closed down with no response.”

Having posted a screenshot of the reported email she’d received, others started to comment saying the same thing had happened to them.

“Had the exactly same thing from them last month, after nearly a month of fighting they gave me a refund but still won’t let me order again, very poor customer service,” one user wrote.

“I had this happen to me and @ASOS and @DPD_UK refused to help me. this was with next day delivery and premier too. Spent thousands at @ASOS only to feel like a worthless powerless customer,” another user wrote.

What can you do if this happens to you?

ASOS advised Lucy to follow up with her bank to try to reclaim the cost through them. Other options might include contacting a lawyer or contacting head office. You can also contact the retail ombudsman or the Citizen’s Advice Bureau.

Which? has a step by step guide to complaining about online goods that haven’t arrived.

Commenting on the situation Ant Payne, VP of Global Marketing at Brightpearl said he believed it was an ‘arbitrary and ill-thought out’ decision to ban Lucy.

“ASOS’ decision to ban Lucy Mecklenburgh due to a returns issue is a risky move – especially as she is a high-profile social media user who clearly spends a lot of money with the company. It’s one thing to ban serial shopping offenders, but this decision seems arbitrary and ill thought-out.

“Consumers are increasingly unsure about where they stand in returning items,” he continued. “Part of the problem lies in the fact that many retailers do not currently have the right technologies in place. Research we’ve conducted recently with UK retailers shows that 59% of outlets cannot identify – or do not know whether they can identify – who their serial returning customers are.

Ant says that without tools to track behavioural data, retailers will struggle with definition and consistent application of their returns strategies.

“Consumers are looking for fairness and choice when returning merchandise so retailers need transparent policies and systems in place – and if retailers don’t provide these, they could face a backlash from shoppers.

“Retail is driven by customers, and a brand’s success is determined by the quality of its shopping experience. By banning Lucy, ASOS has offended – and lost – a valuable client with almost 2 million Instagram followers, and they could risk alienating more buyers unless they adopt more customer-centric practices.”

A spokesperson for ASOS told Metro: “We want all of our customers to have a great experience ASOS, and are working with Lucy to understand what happened in this case.”

Hopefully ASOS will be able to resolve the situation soon as the company have been making some inspiring moves of late.

Earlier this year the online retailer started selling clothes for fashion lovers with disabilities.

And the trailblaizing doesn’t end there, ASOS have also announced plans to ban the sale of mohair, silk, cashmere and feather products, introduced more inclusive models, refused to photoshop stretch marks on women modelling their swimwear.

And last month the online retailer flew the flag for fashion diversity by happily showcasing various different body types in their promotional images, back rolls and all.

Yahoo UK has reached out to ASOS for comment and will update the story if we hear back.

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