Boohoo has caused upset among its loyal customers after cancelling accounts and charging them for returns.
The online retailer has reportedly started closing some premier accounts due to “unusually high returns activity”.
Earlier this year, it started charging premier customers £1.99 for returns – but many shoppers have complained that they were not informed.
At the moment, a premier subscription costs £7.99 a year, but it usually costs £12.99.
Subscribers get unlimited next day delivery, paperless returns and access to exclusive discounts.
Up until the changes, they were also able to return their items free of charge.
One X user said she was “disgusted” after Boohoo deactivated her account.
“Because I order multiple outfits for holidays and night outs or (because your sizes are all over the place) I order two sizes of most things… and because I don’t keep everything and send them back, you deactivate my account,” she said.
“I’ve been a customer for 12 years. Disgusting.”
She wasn’t the only one feeling that way…
Others said they would stop shopping at the retailer altogether.
The Money team looked through the Premier T&Cs – and it does not mention a limit on the number of returns that can be made, or returns at all.
But, it does state that the company can terminate accounts at its discretion.
“We may decide to terminate your Boohoo Premier account and you will be given a prorated refund based on the number of whole months remaining in your membership,” it states.
“We will not give any refund for termination related to conduct that we determine, in our discretion, violates these terms or any applicable law, involves fraud or misuse, or is harmful to Boohoo’s interests or another user.”
Boohoo isn’t the online retailer to make this move.
Earlier this year, PrettyLittleThing, which is owned by Boohoo, introduced a returns fee and started cancelling accounts that sent back several items.
Consumer expert Helen Dewdney from The Complaining Cow said there was a growing trend of companies doing this, explaining that returns can be costly for those with small profit margins.
“If a customer is costing a company more by returning more than they are keeping, then it is perhaps understandable why they are having their account closed,” she said.
But, she noted that where a company has offered unlimited free returns for a fee, without detailing any limits, then this could be considered as “very unfair and misleading”.
“Under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 there is a fairness test,” she added.
“For a practice to be unfair under these rules, they must harm, or be likely to harm, the economic interests of the average consumer.
“It could be considered that paying to have unlimited returns was part of the purchasing decision. Boohoo should be clearer in their terms and conditions as regards what the limit is, and should certainly be refunding the fee to anyone who has had their account closed.”
A spokesperson for Boohoo told Money: “We are committed to providing our customers with easy access to our products and upholding a fair return policy.
“However, like many other online fashion brands, it is important that we balance this with our responsibility to discourage repeat returners, which incur a cost for both the business and the environment.”
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