Some customers of popular fast fashion brand PrettyLittleThing are not happy after the company abruptly banned them from ordering.
The women’s clothing brand cited frequent returns as the reason.
But banned shoppers have been flooding the comment section on PrettyLittleThing’s Instagram account expressing their frustrations. Many pointed out that because there are no physical stores, they can only shop online and won’t know how items from the U.K.-based retailer will fit until they arrive.
“I'm one of the banned accounts and I'm actually OFFENDED that they've insinuated that we've abused the returns policy in some way,” said Instagram user @Kymtill, in a comment on one of the brand’s Instagram posts. “I've been a PLT customer for years and years spending hundreds on the brand each month. YOUR CLOTHES ARE POOR QUALITY, SEE THROUGH AND INCONSISTENT SIZES.”
Another banned customer chimed in with the other commenters on the post.
“Hi girls, I’m Kim and I’ve been banned from PLT for seemingly being in between size, ordering more than one and returning,” said Instagram user @kimmcghiex.
PrettyLittleThing responded to the backlash in a statement in a new Instagram post, but turned off comments on that post.
“We have noticed an extremely high returns rate from a small pool of customers who have demonstrated behaviors that were inconsistent with what we experience with the rest of our customer base,” PrettyLittleThing said. “The actions taken are not designed to limit our customers who do need to return or deter them from returning, it was taken to address a small proportion of customers who have a high returns rate.”
Since comments were turned off on that post, customers challenged the statement in a previous post, questioning use of the term “small pool." They pointed out the overwhelming amount of commenters saying they had been banned.
PrettyLittleThing also addressed concerns from banned customers about fees they pay to be a part of the company’s Royalty Rewards Loyalty program, as well as those who have gift cards and store credit.
“We are working through this and are aiming to have royalty refunds issued to customers whose accounts have been closed. Any customers with outstanding store credit and gift cards will also have these amounts refunded. An email will be sent once these refunds have been processed,” said the company.
PrettyLittleThing also said it would be working to ensure its items meet customer standards.
“We understand when shopping online you may need to purchase more than one size, to check the fit which is something we factor into your shopping experience,” said the brand.
“We are constantly working with our buying, design, fit model teams to ensure the quality and fit of our garments is the standard our customers expect and will continue to do so. We take on board all our customer feedback and are continuously working to make changes,” it continued.
The company said the ban affected a small base of shoppers who “demonstrated inconsistent behaviors” and that it does not plan to ban any other accounts.
PrettyLittleThing did not respond to Scripps News’ request for comment.
