Why am I struggling to get a refund on lost maternity clothes?

QI’m in the late stages of pregnancy and found that none of my clothes fit, so I ordered four pieces of maternity clothing from the online-only shop, Beyond Nine.

My body size is very different to what it used to be, so I followed Beyond Nine’s online size guide.

When it all arrived, unfortunately none of it fitted, so I sent it all back.

Beyond Nine does not offer an organised returns service so I had to post it back myself using Royal Mail’s Tracked 48 service.

It cost just shy of £7, and I’d already paid £5 for delivery of the clothes. I felt £12 was a lot of money just to try on some maternity clothes.

The parcel was collected from my address by Royal Mail and delivered to Beyond Nine’s headquarters, and I waited patiently for my refund.

When it didn’t come I contacted Beyond Nine to ask where it was, and was told it probably hadn’t been processed yet.

When my refund still hadn’t been sent back to me I emailed again for an update.

I was told it would contact Royal Mail to locate the parcel and get back to me. But again I heard nothing.

I chased again and got another email from Beyond Nine saying it had a few parcels within the last month incorrectly delivered to an address nearby, which had nothing to do with the company.

These parcels had been handed back to the postman, it said, and it hoped my parcel might be one of those.

However, Beyond Nine said it could not prove this. It said it was sorry but it could not help any further.

The parcel is worth £429 and the maximum compensation for Royal

Mail’s Tracked 48 service is only £100. I can’t afford to lose £329 as I’m about to go on maternity leave so that I can look after my new baby. I appreciate I’m somewhat at fault as I didn’t insure the parcel up to its value, but had Beyond Nine put a proper returns system in place, I wouldn’t be in this position. I feel Beyond Nine could have been more helpful. The loss of these clothes has caused financial hardship for me at an already expensive time. My baby is due next week and I really could do without this stress. – Anon A Making orders easy to return is the hallmark of a quality online retailer, but sadly it seems this small business, Beyond Nine, hadn’t quite developed a slick-enough operation to make this possible. Unlike larger brands, which tend to include ready-made returns labels so customers simply need to drop it off at a parcel point for freepost, Beyond Nine relies on customers to make their own returns.

The problem with this is it means that as soon as the items leave your hands, unlike if the retailer has arranged and paid for the return, you are responsible for any loss or damage that occurs while they are in transit. In your case you paid Royal Mail to deliver the clothes back to Beyond Nine, which it failed to do. As you had only taken out £100 of insurance cover you were then on the hook for £329.

You don’t need me to tell you, because you already know, that had you paid a few pounds extra for an appropriate level of cover, you wouldn’t be facing a loss here. But as you rightly pointed out, at £12 (and more for higher insurance cover) this felt like an excessive sum to pay just to try on clothes.

When I contacted Royal Mail it said: “The vast majority of mail is delivered safely and on time. However, in this instance, it appears that some items addressed to Beyond Nine were mistakenly delivered to a nearby business that uses very similar packaging.

“We are very sorry for the inconvenience that this caused, and have taken steps to prevent this from happening again.”

And when I contacted Beyond Nine. Naomi Raybould, its creative director, said: “We are extremely concerned to hear this as we’re very much focused on providing feelgood products and an exceptional customer experience.

“Like many small businesses over recent months, Beyond Nine has been negatively impacted by the disruption to Royal Mail and subsequent inadequate postal service.

“This customer’s returns are one of several parcels that have been incorrectly delivered by Royal Mail to

‘Loss of the clothes has caused financial hardship for me. My baby is due and I could do without stress’

an address adjacent to our fulfilment centre. An investigation was launched into the matter, and it has been agreed all these customers will receive a full refund for the items affected.

“We apologise that this hasn’t been communicated more efficiently.”

I also understand the business is looking to create a more “streamlined” customer returns process through a so-called “portal system”, similar to those used by established household names such as Next.

I am sure that any such facility would be hugely welcomed by future customers.

I wish you all the best with the birth of your baby and maternity leave.