I was trolled by Asos for ‘abusing’ my clothes when I sent a return – it’s not my fault they found a stain in the crotch

I NEVER thought I would see the day when I’d be accused of “abusing” clothes.

But there it was, in black and white.

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“Taylor”, from Asos customer services, was politely letting me know that my recent return was being rejected on grounds of “customer abuse”.

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

“Of what kind?”

There was a long, awkward pause, as if Taylor was trying to figure out how to break it to me gently.

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“There seem to have been stains inside the trousers,” she replied at last.

OK, she actually wrote “strains”, but unless the trousers 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 retailers’ generosity could soon become a thing of the past.

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

Over the past few months, brands have been trying to pass those costs on to the customers.

Zara deducts £1.95 from your refund, New Look charges £2.50 and H&M’s returns fee is £1.99 (although it is free at the latter if you are part of its loyalty scheme).

If I am guilty of “abusing” anything, it is not those joggers — it is the goodwill of retailers who have put up with my serial-return tendencies for years.

According to e-commerce association IMRG, around 15 per cent of all online orders end up being returned.

And retailers are not the only ones carrying the cost of our returns culture: there’s also a significant environmental impact, with a large percentage of returns ending up in landfill, not to mention the negative effects of all that shipping to and fro.

There was no way I was going to pay for them

Jasmine, Asos shopper

No wonder retailers like Asos are rumoured to be deactivating the accounts of suspected “influencers” and serial returners.

That said, I was sure any “stains” found inside my £26 Asos joggers had definitely not been left by me.

I tried the trousers on for a matter of seconds.

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

And yet here I was, accused not only of damaging these poor, defenceless trousers, but doing it on purpose, which is what the emotive phrase “customer abuse” seems to imply.

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

Not only are returns becoming more expensive, they are also becoming less likely to be approved.

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 had been banned from using Asos for life after she requested a refund for two items she did not actually receive (her account has since been reinstated).

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And @natalie_mccc resorted to filming her returns to the brand after being accused of sending back a dress, which she had only briefly tried on, 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 did not cause.

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

Fellow Asos shopper Jasmine received a pair of trainers with someone else’s used insoles inside.

“There was no way I was going to pay for them,” she says.

“But it seems to be the luck of the draw which customer service rep you end up with.”

As for me, my trousers arrived back on my doorstep a few days after the return was rejected.

It was pristine

@natalie_mccc

I am not in the habit of carrying out forensic examinations of allegedly 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, short of requesting DNA testing (and I did consider it), there is no way for me to prove my innocence.

Which means I now appear to have no other option but to hang on to a pair of joggers that make me feel slightly ill every time I think of them.

So, where does this leave consumers?

Will we all have to start videoing ourselves opening and examining online orders, just in case a retailer decides to send us someone else’s well-worn trousers, then charge us for the privilege?

Consumer champion Jane Hawkes (ladyjaney.co.uk) thinks we should.

She says: “Take photos of items on dispatch so you have evidence they were in a good, resaleable condition.

“This is also advisable practice on receipt of purchases.”

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

They are something we are all potentially going to have to get to grips with if we want to continue shopping online without risk.

Will we, though?

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