Women Shamelessly Wearing and Then Returning Their Clothes

Did you know that one in eight women buy an outfit for a night out only to wear it and return it the next day?

And that is only the women who admit to it. The number of people who actually wear and then return garments is probably much higher than this.

This rather eye-opening fact was discovered in a survey of 2,000 British women by OnePoll.com.

It seems it is acceptable amongst a significant amount of the female population to buy an outfit for a night out and then to shamelessly return it to the shop the next day for a full refund. They get around the fact it may not exactly smell as fresh as a daisy by hanging it up to air or spraying it with air freshener.

While of course they keep the label securely attached, just making sure it is hidden throughout their night on the tiles.

One student from Bristol admitted to this behaviour once a fortnight over a period of four years. She would buy tops, dresses, skirts and trousers, spending up to £70 a time, wearing them, then returning them. She said using this method she saved thousands of pounds. Looking back she realises how underhand it was and would never do it now, she claims, but at the same time she says it was just so easy.

Legally shops only have to give a refund if an item is damaged or faulty, however in reality a lot of shops will refund a purchase as long as a customer has kept the receipt.

It appears however, that a lot of sales assistants are carrying out no kind of real assessment on whether they should be accepting an item back.

Eight per cent of those surveyed say they have returned a dress even when they have been sick on it. A further eight per cent say they have returned an item even when a drink has been spilt on it. While nine per cent said they returned items which smelt of smoke.

The most popular age group to carry out this behaviour is 18 to 24-year-olds. Out of all those who admitted returning worn items, half claimed they were motivated by difficult economic times while others said they enjoyed the ‘buzz’.

I think what publicity of this survey could do is encourage even more people to wear and return items. It does seem a very enticing way to give the impression you have far more clothes than you really do. It also allows you to wear clothes which are perhaps out of your usual price range. I think it does take a certain type of character to pull this off. I know personally I could never do it. I get nervous returning an item no matter how legitimately.

And it I’ve already cut the label off, my heart will really be pounding as I approach the checkout. With trepidation I’ll say, “I’ve cut the tag off, but here it is”, holding up the all important square of cardboard, maybe even producing the little bit of plastic which had attached the tag to the garment, until I snipped it. No I couldn’t do it.

It is going to make me look a little closer at any item I purchase in future, to check it hasn’t actually been worn out and about. Those tell-take signs something has been tried on in a changing room are bad enough.