THINK BEFORE PURCHASING CLOTHES IN PRETTY PREGNANT Post Reply

[PilatesQueen]

I thought I should warn others against buying clothes in Pretty Pregnant, following an experience I have just had there.

At 5 months pregnant I wanted to buy something fun and Christmasy which I could dress up or down. On Thursday last week I therefore bought a red Aubrey jumper dress from Pretty Pregnant on the Northcote Rd. It was £59.50 reduced from £89, so still fairly expensive. On returning home I tried it on with the clothes I planned to wear with it and my husband, who normally likes all my clothes, deemed it to be "mumsy", "unflattering", "the kind of thing I could wear around the house" and "quite peasant-like".

Being a size 8 and someone who is interested in fashion, these are not good descriptions for a newly purchased item! I also tended to agree with him and so took said item back to get a refund. OR TRIED TO...

Despite having my receipt, and the card I bought the item on (as well as having bought it just three days before), I was told point-blank that I couldn't return it or even get a credit note, end of, because it was a sales item. I said this was utterly ridiculous especially since I had not been warned of this policy on purchasing it. The sales assistant simply said there were signs around the shop warning you of this - well one sign was directly behind her at the counter and therefore invisible and the others were small placards placed above the top shelves of clothing on the walls i.e. no one would ever see them either. She said well there are signs, and that's that: "There's nothing I can do".

So I am now left with a mumsy, unflattering, peasant-like top from Pretty Pregnant which I will not be able to wear and have wasted £59.50 on. I cannot buy a replacement from somewhere more decent as I cannot afford it in the run-up to Christmas. Had I known this was the case I would have avoided Pretty Pregnant from the start and gone somewhere more flexible and friendly, such as Seraphine or JoJoMaman Baby.

The moral of this story? DO NOT PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM PRETTY PREGNANT!

[juliantenniscoach]

call the trading standards officer at wandsworth. I'm pretty sure (not certain) that although retailers can display whatever sign they like there are certain conditions and laws that override any of it. best of luck.

[Happymama]

I thought it was pretty standard not to be able to retun Sales items?

I think it's the case in most shops? But I could be wrong!

[mummy_dani]

To be honest I don't think you have a case. A shop legally has to provide a refund if the item is faulty even if a sale item. However if you just don't like it, the shop has a right to say no to a refund. Most shops would offer a credit note as a gesture of goodwill but they are not obliged to do so. Harsh but true.

Post a pic of the dress and someone may offer to buy it from you.

[Groucho]

This is completely normal on sale items. Sorry but unless the item is faulty there is nothing you can do.

[PilatesQueen]

Thanks all of you for you posts. I still feel strongly that even if they really were unable to give me a refund (but of course they could if they really wanted to), the least they could have done was offer me a credit note. Where's their sense of customer service?

Juliantenniscoach - good idea about trying trading standard Wandsworth.
I'll give them a try.

Happy Christmas everyone.

[dandelion53]

I agree that I have never heard of being able to return items in the sale even for a credit note. That is the case in bigger retailers too that's why they often mark the label with a dot or cut it to show it was in the sale.

[Funlovingchildcare]

I think when it comes to Trading Standards their signs have to be clearly visible i.e. no "small placards placed above the top shelves of clothing on the walls" and having the shop assistant stood in front of the sign by the till. I kind of remember something like this when I did Business Law at uni. The should have at least offered you an exchange. I say you should report them to Trading Standards as that's a lot of money that you have spent/wasted! I would be livid!

Good Luck! x

[nell65]

I'm sorry but I think you are going to have no luck with Trading Standards - the law states that you are only able to get a refund if there is a fault with the goods, or if there were in someway sold under misleading description.
That is even if it was in the sales, a lot of shops like M&S etc do allow you to change goods within a certain time, but they have no legal obligation to do so.
What might have been better for customer services ws for the shop to offer you a credit note. But they don't have to - the fact you took it home and didn't like it I'm afraid has no bearing in law.
That sounds harsh, but it is the law. What about writing to the manager saying about how upset you are and asking them to think again about a credit note.

[ChristmasPudding]

It is hardly the shops fault that you husband thought the dress was "mumsy", "unflattering", "the kind of thing I could wear around the house" and "quite peasant-like"??? I don't think they have treated you badly at all, albeit I understand your frustration. If I decide not to try something on, I would always ask at the till what the returns policy is.

Really, your title should read, "Think before purchasing clothes in the sale".

I think you have been really unfair to name and shame a shop that has done nothing wrong!

[susiep23]

many shops offer a 14 day return on sale items instead of the regular 30 day moneyback on purchases providing items come back in same conditon sold to you. I have taken things back past this 14 day cut off to various shops and still been offered a refund/exchange for example if the item has reduced anymore since u bought it u get back the current sale value. most shops atleast offer a credit note/exchange policy even charity shops i.e farah so im very surprised actually that an upmareket maternity shop are so harsh on sale items and as you said most shops tell you at point of sale(or they should if some do not) and that you have "said" ammount of time to return..or that sale items are non returnable etc.

I have worked in monsoon,topshop, accessorize, whistles previously and one customer for topshop was able to return goods after 3 months once as she had a faulty item but retained her receipt, similar stories in the other reatilers also.. customer is always right is what we were taught. I have never not been able to return something or atleast been offered an exchange/credit note so this is news to me. I would have thought the regualr custom is more valuable than a returned item to re-sell, given such a short space of time it wouldnt have lost any value?? obviously not

[gbell84]

Its pretty standard for stores not to exchange or refund sale items. By law they are under no obligation to offer this unless the item is faulty. It is only out of goodwill or good customer service that they will accept returned sale items. Retail stores will mark down items to sale so they can clear out the items and make room for new stock. They dont want to then be lumbered with the items coming back again.

What I would suggest is writing a nice letter to the store manager. Once you go down the 'angry' route generally stores are unwilling to help. But its always worth trying the 'please I made a mistake and would really like to pick something else from the store for Christmas'. The person who served you may not have the authority to overturn store policy but the store manager can.

Alternatively you could put it up for sale on this website or on Gumtree.

Good Luck

[dinosaur]

I for one am very pleased you posted this and gave it the title you did. I had no idea that there is no legal obligation to give even a credit note on sale items. Now I will be more careful.

I do think the OP was right to name the shop too, as we now know that a refund is at the discretion of the particular shop, and we now know what the policy at Pretty Pregnant is. I do think it is very short-sighted of a shop selling maternity wear in this area not to show some goodwill 3 days after the purchase.

Good luck - I hope the manager sees sense, and if not that you manage to recoup some of your cost by selling it on or making some adjustments to it so that you are happier with it. Please don't let it worry you though..whatever the outcome.

[AbbevilleMummy]

Retailers do not have to give you a refund/exchange/credit note when you have changed your mind, whether it is a sale item or a full price item.

Your statutory rights only enforce a refund if there is something wrong with the item.

I completely understand why a shop selling maternity clothes would not offer refunds or credit notes. Maternity clothes only fit well at the later stages of pregnancy and therefore are only bought for very short term use. The retailer could easily be caught out by having to accept a lot of returns for items that don't end up getting worn etc and for a relatively small retailer such as Pretty Pregnant, this would have a significant impact on their earnings.

Designer high-fashion boutiques have the same policy of no refunds/returns for similar reasons, which I think is fair.

[clapset]

Remember the person behind the counter doesn't own the shop she's following the rules. Trading standards won't break a sweat for you. Negotiated solution is only option other than moving on ...