Difficult and costly international returns with no assistance offered
I recently ordered a sweater from Horatio London/Footwear, but the experience as an international customer was extremely disappointing. The sweater didn’t fit, and when I tried to return it, I discovered that they have a rigid, customer-unfriendly return policy. Unlike most retailers, they don’t offer prepaid return labels or any assistance with returns—leaving international customers entirely on their own to find a carrier, handle customs paperwork, and pay all costs.
After being quoted $150 by multiple carriers to return the sweater (which is more than half the cost of the product), I reached out to ask if they could provide a return label and charge me for it. They refused, stating that they are a small business and can’t offer such services.
While I understand the challenges small businesses face, I also run a small business myself and know firsthand that offering prepaid return labels—even for international orders—is not only possible but necessary to create a good customer experience. Many businesses of similar size do this, so the idea that they can’t or won’t is purely a matter of choice.
What makes this situation even worse is their dismissive and unprofessional attitude in handling my concerns. Instead of acknowledging how difficult and expensive their return process is for international customers, they repeatedly insisted that their terms and conditions are clear and that I should have expected this process. While they claim that “no one else has ever had an issue,” the reality is that once you encounter a problem, you’re left to deal with it entirely on your own, with no real support from the company.
Selling internationally comes with responsibilities. Simply stating something in your terms and conditions doesn’t make it a good or reasonable process. If you want to build trust with customers in other countries, you need to offer fair solutions when things don’t go as expected. Unfortunately, Horatio seems unwilling to do that, and instead prefers to blame customers for not liking their rigid policies.
If you’re considering ordering from them internationally, be prepared for a difficult, expensive, and entirely unsupported return process. I’m sharing this because I believe customers should know what they’re getting into before engaging with a company that won’t stand behind their products or offer reasonable solutions when issues arise. I hope they reconsider their approach in the future, but for now, I’d caution others against ordering from them unless you’re 100% sure you won’t need to return anything.
10 stycznia 2025
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