I was cheated by Asos for 'misusing' clothes I returned – it's not my fault

I NEVER thought there would come a day when I would be accused of clothing “abuse.”

But there it was, black and white.

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“Taylor”, from Asos customer service, politely informed me that my recent return was rejected due to “customer abuse”.

“Abuse?” I typed into the chat box, wondering if one question mark was enough to demonstrate my shock at this accusation.

“What kind?”

There was a long, awkward silence, as if Taylor was trying to figure out how to tell me gently.

“There seems to have been stains in the pants,” she finally replied.

Okay, she actually wrote “strains,” but unless the pants in question were about to unleash a deadly virus on the world, it wasn't hard to figure out what she meant.

As I read her response, my online shopping life flashed before me.

All those years of multiple orders and returns.

The dresses, the shoes, that weird hair bow I saw on TikTok that made me look like an overgrown toddler. . .

As a part-time fashion blogger and full-time shopaholic, I've done a lot of online shopping in my time.

And I've sent back truckloads of returns, all of which have been accepted without question.

But retailer generosity could soon be a thing of the past.

The returns process costs UK retailers around £7 billion a year.

In recent months, brands have tried to pass those costs on to customers.

Zara deducts £1.95 from your refund, New Look charges £2.50 and H&M's returns fee is £1.99 (although the latter is free if you're part of the loyalty programme).

If I'm guilty of 'misusing' anything, it's not those joggers – it's the goodwill of retailers who have put up with my tendency towards serial returns for years.

According to e-commerce association IMRG, approximately 15 percent of all online orders are returned.

And retailers aren't the only ones bearing the costs of our returns culture: there's also a significant impact on the environment, with a large percentage of returns ending up in landfill, not to mention the negative effects of all that back and forth send again.

There was no way I was going to pay for them

Jasmine, Asos shopper

No wonder retailers like Asos are reportedly deactivating the accounts of suspected 'influencers' and 'serial returners'.

That said, I was confident that the “stains” I found in my £26 Asos joggers were definitely not left by me.

I tried on the pants for a few seconds.

They hadn't left my bedroom, let alone my house.

And yet here I stood, accused not only of damaging these poor, defenseless pants, but of doing it deliberately, which is what the emotive phrase “customer abuse” seems to imply.

But I'm far from the only shopper accused of crimes against fashion.

Returns are not only becoming more expensive, but the chance that they will be approved is also becoming smaller.

A growing number of shoppers are taking to social media to complain about retailers refusing to issue refunds and being blamed for missing or damaged items.

TikTok user @alyssabock_ received an email saying she was banned from using Asos for life after requesting a refund for two items she didn't actually receive (her account has since been reinstated).

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And @natalie_mccc resorted to filming her return to the brand after she was accused of returning a dress she had only tried on briefly in a “used and unsuitable condition”.

“It was pristine,” she said in a video on her channel, before questioning what customers should do to avoid being blamed for damage they didn't cause.

Catherine Summers, who runs the popular fashion blog Not DressedAsLamb.comsaid: “I received a knitted dress from Asos that absolutely smelled of perfume and had hair all over it.”

Fellow Asos shopper Jasmine received a pair of trainers containing someone else's used insoles.

“There was no way I could pay for it,” she says.

“But it seems like the luck of the draw is which customer service representative you end up with.”

As for me, my pants arrived back at my house a few days after the return was rejected.

It was pristine

@natalie_mccc

I'm not in the habit of forensically examining supposedly new garments, but when I turned them inside out, there was indeed a stain in the crotch.

It could only have been left by whoever returned them before me.

The problem now is that, apart from requesting a DNA test (and I have considered that), there is no way for me to prove my innocence.

Which means it seems like I now have no choice but to stick with a pair of sweatpants that make me feel a little sick every time I think about them.

So where does that leave the consumer?

Are we all going to have to start filming ourselves opening and researching online orders, just in case a retailer decides to send us someone else's worn-out pants and then charge us for it?

Consumer Champion Jane Hawkes (ladyjaney.co.uk) thinks we should do that.

She says, “Take photos of items being shipped so you have proof that they were in good, resalable condition.

“This is also a recommended practice when receiving purchases.”

“Unboxing” videos are no longer just for TikTok influencers and YouTube gurus.

It's something we may all have to deal with if we want to continue shopping online without risk.

However, shall we?

I can only speak for myself, but now seems like a good time to start with that online shopping ban I'm always talking about.