Hey guys!
I know it's been awhile... but with final year and a part-time job I just haven't been able to find the time. I plan improving my time management in semester 2 so I hope to be a lot more active on the blog front!
For my first post of 2019 I wanted to focus on something that I have been getting increasingly frustrated at over the past few months. This will probably be a very unpopular opinion (We all see our favourite influencers look fab in clothes from online retailers on a daily basis), but I am sick of ordering clothes online!
I've consistently been disappointed with the delivery time, quality of clothing and customer service I have received from companies that are exclusively e-retailers. Specifically, PrettyLittleThing (PLT), Missguided and Boohoo.
I'm no stranger to shopping online. I have an awful habit of constantly ordering new makeup and skincare online and I would regularly order from stores like Zara, New Look and M&S online purely because it is super handy and I can just return to store.
However, I do get sucked into buying from other retailers every now and then, only to question why I even bothered in the first place.
My first issue with PLT was when they lost my return over a year ago. After not receiving a refund after two weeks I decided to contact them and ask had they received it yet. They, for one, took three days to reply and only when I asked on Twitter did I get any response.
They said they hadn't received any of it and as it was a sizeable order, the return was also fairly expensive. There was a lot of back and forth and after another month, they said they had misplaced the return in their warehouse and I finally got a refund.
The most recent incident with them was in November. I ordered towards the end of the month and was told the order would be with me by December 1st. A week later I still hadn't received a dispatch email but did get one saying I would get a shipping refund due to the delay. I was fine with that as I knew they had a lot of orders around Black Friday and they probably had a backlog.
What really annoyed me was that when I finally received my order dispatch, about ten minutes later, I got an email saying that one item was unavailable and I would be refunded. It really irritated me because it was the item I was most looking forward to and why did they even let me order it if it was out of stock.. It took a week for them to tell me that it was 'out of stock', just plain silly to be honest.
Another major issue with this order was a pair of trousers I received. If you follow me on Instagram (CiaraKittyK) then you'll have seen how ridiculous these trousers were! The model was 5ft 6", the same height as me, and as I wanted to wear these with heels, I thought the model was a very good representative for me.
How wrong I was..... the trousers were advertised as 90cm and when I got them, it gave my mum a right laugh. I could pull the trousers up over my boobs and still have a few inches trailing under me. All of the information provided by PLT about the trousers can be found here: https://ie.prettylittlething.com/monochrome-ombre-stripe-wide-leg-trouser.html
When I contacted their customer service, once again, the only response I got was on Twitter... In order for them to process the refund, I had to prove that the trousers were longer than advertised, and even then, it was hours of back and forth before I even got anywhere with them.
This is the picture I sent them. The trousers ended up being 120cm... almost 30cm longer than they advertised. Stuff like that just annoy me and the fact that the only customer service response I could get was on Twitter, speaks volumes about how they value their customers.
I for one, won't be ordering from PLT in 2019. If you want to look at some reviews yourself, have a look at the PLT Trustpilot page.
As far as Missguided goes, their customer service is fantastic. Their clothing however, is rather sub-par. I've ordered off Missguided a few times now and each time, I'm left wondering why I decided to give them another chance.
I've ordered dresses, jackets, blouses, shoes and so much more. Their shoes are the only thing I have kept and to be fair, I absolutely love them and I really have gotten some really good wear out of them.
Their clothing however, needs better quality control. I've had botched seams, unfinished edges and even STAINS on the clothes I've ordered.
At the end of the day, the added stress of returning (and sometimes paying for returns) items, on top of already paying for delivery, doesn't seem worth it to me. When brands start to produce merchantable quality products, I'll start purchasing from them again.
Boohoo is the same story. I've ordered off them a few times and every once in a while I'll find a dress or playsuit that I actually want to keep. This dress for one, https://ie.boohoo.com/-off-the-shoulder-skater-dress/AZZ51307.html?color=104, had a rip down the seam that I didn't notice until after the returns period ended.
When I did contact them about the issue (one or two days later), they told me there was nothing they could do because I didn't return in within the allotted time, even though there was a clear defect on the dress.
At the end of the day, I let it go because I ordered the dress on Black Friday last year and only ended up paying something like €15 for it.
I don't understand why online retailers think they can produce bad quality products and expect people to return to their site. Boohoo is just another name on a list of websites I won't be purchasing from in 2019.
Have you had similar experiences with any of these brands, or some I haven't mentioned?
Will you be buying from online retailers in 2019?
Keep your eyes peeled for the second post with other retailers I won't be ordering from again!
Ciara,
xoxo.
Twitter: twitter.com/ciarakittyk
Instagram: instagram.com/ciarakittyk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/sparkleofpink
Snapchat: Ciarakxo
