Retailers can ban shoppers for what they say are too many returns or too many complaints, as Nannette Herbert found.
Herbert told Guardian Money that she had been banned from a number of retailers – including Amazon and Waitrose – for making complaints and requesting refunds.
Businesses are sometimes alerted when a customer exhibits “unusual” activity, such as requesting what may be seen as a disproportionate number of refunds, and may block them from making future purchases.
Users can also be banned for making too many complaints if the merchant believes they are abusing the process.
Amazon told Herbert, who lives in London, that it was closing her account last month, saying she had “consistently requested refunds on a large number of orders”.
Nowhere in their terms and conditions does it say they ban you if you return a certain number of Nannette Herbert items
She says the ban – which has since been lifted – caused “a lot of different problems”, including the fact that the self-published author was banned from his publishing account.
“They said I returned too many things, which is not true at all,” she says. “I kept most of what I ordered … and I ordered a lot of things. Nowhere in their terms and conditions does it say they ban you if you return a certain number of items.
Waitrose also blocked Herbert’s online account in December last year after she made repeated complaints about the quality of the food delivered, following “great efforts to accommodate” her needs.
“They were delivering outdated stuff,” says Herbert. “They expect me to pay full price and if I complain about it they ban me. They blame me for their mistakes.”
In response, Amazon told us that returning purchases from Amazon.co.uk “is easy and free for millions of items” and that customers can return most within 30 days.
Waitrose says its staff “are trained to be as discerning as our customers and will select products with the longest date codes available”. Photo: Waitrose/PA
He added: “We want everyone to be able to use Amazon, but there are rare cases where someone abuses our service over an extended period of time and we take appropriate action.
“We never make these decisions lightly, and if a customer believes we’ve made a mistake, we encourage them to contact us directly so we can review their account.”
Waitrose told us that its partners (staff) “are trained to be as discerning as our customers and will choose products with the longest date codes available”.
It added: “We want all our customers to be happy when they shop with us, and while we achieve this in the vast majority of cases, we are sorry when any customer is disappointed.
“Despite our best efforts to accommodate Miss Herbert, we were unable to meet her needs online and decided it would be better for her to choose her own food in our stores.”
Can I get banned just for returning too many items…?
Retailers can refuse to do business with a customer, so it doesn’t break any rules for them to ban repeat returners.
“No business can be forced to have you as a customer if they don’t want to and don’t need to give a reason,” says Martin James, an independent consumer expert.
Lisa Webb, consumer law expert at Which?, says: “Retailers may have the right to ban customers who repeatedly return items or complain. However, they should only do so with good reason.
“There is an environmental cost to sending items back, so shoppers should keep this in mind when making their next purchase and try to buy sustainably.”
Was your item as described? Photo: insta_photos/Alamy
Even if a company decides to ban someone from making further purchases, they must honor refund requests if your item is damaged, doesn’t arrive, or isn’t as described.
Online retailers also give you 14 days to change your mind – for example, if you want to try on clothes at home.
If you owe a company, they should work with you to create a reasonable repayment plan before you close your account.
… or for many complaints?
The simple answer is that you should not be banned for making genuine complaints or penalized for escalating issues to an ombudsman or dispute resolution service.
If the merchant thinks you are abusive or making “vexatious” complaints, they may decide not to do business with you in the future.
James adds: “As long as you’re not abusing the process or abusing the staff, then you absolutely shouldn’t be penalized as a result of making complaints.”
Online merchants give you 14 days to change your mind. Photo: Elizaveta Galitskaya/Alamy
Is there a way to appeal a company’s decision?
Webb says that if you’ve been banned and think it’s unfair, “follow the company’s complaints procedure to find out why. If you receive an unsatisfactory response, consumers can escalate the matter to an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme or the industry ombudsman.’
Check if the retailer is ADR registered on their website. If you cannot find any information, contact the company to request details of its ADR scheme.
If the trader doesn’t use one, ask if they would be willing to do so in this case, advises Citizens Advice. If the company agrees, they should find one and then provide you with the details.
What steps can I take to avoid a ban?
It’s a tricky area – companies don’t usually disclose what the cutoff for, say, refunds is, or which complaints they’d consider offensive.
There may be steps you can take to reduce the number of return and refund requests you have to make
If you have a particular problem, there may be steps you can take to reduce the number of return and refund requests you have to make.
For example, if you have problems with parcels that have been stolen outside your home after being left by couriers, you can have your items delivered to your workplace or a local collection point.
After all, if you’ve had multiple reasons to complain, you might be better off trying to use an alternative provider for the service you need.
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