No more free returns - Zalando pulls the ripcord
What was once celebrated as a customer-friendly service is now causing frustration and disappointment: Zalando, one of Europe's largest online fashion retailers, has started to block - sorry, "pause" - customers' accounts. The reason? Too many returns.
What used to be known as "selection shopping" - simply ordering five sizes and returning four - is now apparently a no-go. If you overdo it, you have to stay out. For a whole twelve months. According to Zalando, there is "only a very small group" of affected customers - around 0.02% of the total customer base - but it is precisely this group that is now making a lot of noise.
Selection shopping? Zalando says: Not with us anymore!
Some customers appear to have used the generous returns policy as a personal dressing room for years. One victim is quoted as saying: "I clearly used it as 'choice shopping'." She ordered different styles and sizes, sent most of it back - and was then locked out for a year. Without warning. Without any reference to the new regulation. For her, an "outrage".
The mood on Trustpilot is also tense. From "Plus customers" with special status to family men - many report that they can no longer use their account without warning. Some feel downright punished, even though they are long-standing and paying customers.
Zalando counters: the measure only affects a very small proportion of customers. The company also wants to improve its service - among other things by providing more realistic product photos to avoid bad purchases. Returns yes - but not in XXL style, please.
Change in e-commerce: what is really behind the new course?
Zalando is not an isolated case. More and more retailers are tightening their returns rules because returns are expensive, time-consuming and anything but sustainable. Even if Zalando cautiously calls it a "break" - the effect remains: Customers can no longer order anything.
The background is clear: every returned parcel costs money, ties up resources and pollutes the environment. The pandemic and the shopping boom of recent years have exacerbated the problem. Now there is a backlash - at the expense of frequent shoppers.
Plain text instead of small print!
Zalando can of course change its rules. But then please give notice - and make it clear. Simply blocking (sorry: pausing) accounts without first providing transparent information about new conditions? That's not possible.
Anyone who has been ordering faithfully for years, spends a lot of money and is suddenly excluded rightly feels unfairly treated. And just because it "only" affects 0.02% of customers doesn't mean they should be silenced.
Our tip to Zalando: fairness is always better than silence. A personal conversation with the customers concerned would probably have been more stylish than the silent expulsion.
Find out how you can take legal action against the blocking of your Zalando account. Get advice now and protect your consumer rights!
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