Boohoo changing Premier conditions?

eskbanker

born_again said:
Notice the price was £9.99 in that?

Yes, but also came across an archived page (from within the past year) where it was discounted down to £4.99, so it seems plausible that OP did pay £5.99 for a year's membership at some point, although the membership price paid isn't particularly relevant to the issue of return costs.

lj611

I'm having the exact same issue at the moment and their CS team is either ignoring me or just repeating the same thing back to me. It seems so petty over £1.99, but I'm a CS manager for a subscription company myself and it's so frustrating when I know things should be done so differently! 

lyle1993

lj611 said:

I'm having the exact same issue at the moment and their CS team is either ignoring me or just repeating the same thing back to me. It seems so petty over £1.99, but I'm a CS manager for a subscription company myself and it's so frustrating when I know things should be done so differently! 

Funny you say that. I contacted them last night a nicely worded email explaining would they be willing on this occasion only to give me one free return as a regular customer (i’ve managed to get all my items they sent in three separate bags into one big box) and i would understand going forward they cost £1.99 now (i just won’t shop there). They replied…. 🥁 

“I take what you mean here, Lyle. Please be advised that if you received 3 bags, you need to log and return the separately so we can avoid delay and confusion with your refund.” 

Completely ignored me essentially 😂  and told me I should send them back separately. Clear they are attempting to use the returns to generate some cash. 

caprikid1

"Clear they are attempting to use the returns to generate some cash. "

or cover the cost of returns.... I guess with low margins on orders 3 returns could wipe out the profit.

Twopints

caprikid1 said:

"Clear they are attempting to use the returns to generate some cash. "

or cover the cost of returns.... I guess with low margins on orders 3 returns could wipe out the profit.

If they really wanted to save costs then they could have sent the original items in one bag rather than 3 separate ones, and also avoided creating the requirement for additional (unnecessary) returns.

Marley16

I TOO AM DISAPPOINTED THAT AS PREMIER CUSTOMER [LAST RENEWED 27 APRIL 2024 SO 9 MONTHS LEFT UNTIL EXPIRY], AM SUDDENLY BEING ASKED TO PAY £1.99 PER RETURN PARCEL.  BOOHOO ARE BREACHING THEIR CONTRACT!  BY THE FACT THAT I HAVE SENT SEVERAL PARCELS BACK WITHOUT CHARGE SINCE 27 APRIL 2024, AS HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE PREMIER AGREEMENT, THEY CANNOT BY LAW START TO CHARGE.

THEY CAN BEGIN TO CHARGE IF THEY HAVE MADE CLEAR [BY SAY GIVING A NEW NAME IF THE ANNUAL CHARGE IS FOR FREE DELIVERY ONLY]  THEY HAV NOT COMMUNICATED WITH THEIR CUSTOMERS IN ADVANCE!

eskbanker

Marley16 said:

I TOO AM DISAPPOINTED...

SURE, BUT THERE'S NO NEED TO SHOUT!

Earlier posts in the thread discuss how they may not be permitted to make unilateral changes to the contract that are to the customers' disadvantage, but how in practical terms it may be difficult to enforce your rights if they dig their heels in, given the scale of the charge versus court costs.

Marley16

UPDATE:  I have put in a request for RESOLVER to consider adding Boohoo/Boohoo MAN to their list of companies which they can investigate, as are not yet registered.  If accepted, then others can also raise their grievance with Resolver.  

Consumer Rights Act 2015 covers On-line Shopping and it will be useful to ask Resolver to investigate and let us know our rights regarding Premier and the mid contract withdrawal of the Free Returns.  Surely we had a right to know of their proposed withdrawal of the Free Returns in advance of us purchasing Premiier?

I personally believe we are not objecting to the "Free Returns" being removed going forward, but that it is unfair to remove it mid-annual "subscription".

Note, there are methods of resolution without going to Court, so hopefully Resolver or even MSE can help us achieve our aim  for the Free Returns to be reinstated to the expiry date of current subscriptions, which isn't a big ask,

eskbanker

Marley16 said:

UPDATE:  I have put in a request for RESOLVER to consider adding Boohoo/Boohoo MAN to their list of companies which they can investigate

I'm under the impression that Resolver is essentially little more than a mechanism to facilitate dialogue between consumers and traders, rather than having any investigatory powers as such?

Marley16 said:

Consumer Rights Act 2015 covers On-line Shopping and it will be useful to ask Resolver to investigate and let us know our rights regarding Premier and the mid contract withdrawal of the Free Returns.

Again my understanding is that they're happy to publish guidance about mainstream consumer rights issues, but the matter at hand here is more about contract law and whether terms are fair or not - the unfair terms provisions are indeed incorporated into CRA but not in the more frequently referenced sections about the rules governing purchases, etc.

In other words, the key issue here is whether or not Boohoo's clause about being able to unilaterally vary any of the contract terms is unfair (and therefore unenforceable), and that can only really be decided by a court - even if Resolver offer legal advice (do they?) then it would be fairly heavily caveatted.

powerful_Rogue

Resolver don't investigate! As @eskbanker said, they just facilitate communication between the consumer and the retailer. No different to you sending them an email or letter.

As resolver put it themselves:

We don't act on your behalf and we don't take control of your complaint. Instead, we’ve set out to make it as easy as possible for you to get results.