THOUSANDS of Lush customers should check their bank accounts after a massive Boxing Day sale fail.
The cosmetics store’s website crashed on Boxing Day when shoppers rushed to snap up a bargain.
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And now thousands of furious shoppers have been left empty-handed after Lush told The Sun that it sold more items than it had in stock.
Marion Rogers from Northamptonshire bought four items online in the sale but only one of the items arrived in the post this week.
The 50-year-old office administrator said: “I checked out four items worth £46 and the money went straight out of my bank account on Boxing Day.
“Fast forward to today and I’ve only received one of the items I ordered and the other three are missing and crossed out on my order slip – even when I’ve paid for them.
“You’d have thought they’d take your money once the items are dispatched – but no, instead they’re holding £33.50 of my cash for items that haven’t arrived.”
Ms Rogers is just one customer in thousands affected by the retailer’s error.
Several other angry shoppers resorted to complaining to Lush on Twitter before the issue was picked up by the retailer.
One shopper said: “I’ve emailed and I’ve tweeted and got no reply and you’ve taken my money but no order has been sent.”
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“I’ve now received an email apologising for overselling stock and my order being impacted.
“And a goodwill gesture but still there’s still no mention of a refund being processed,” said another customer affected by the fail on Twitter.
In response to thousands of complaints, Lush temporarily shut down its online chat and closed its customer service helpline.
Lush has told The Sun that it plans to refund thousands of customers affected.
The retailer will also be giving affected customers goodwill gift vouchers as an apology – though the amount you get will depend on the total cost of your order.
A spokesperson for Lush said: “The popularity of this year’s Freshness Sale created unprecedented order volumes on Boxing Day and beyond, therefore it took longer than we would have liked to uncover the error.
“The error being a genuine, handmade mistake, of being able to sell more Sale items than we had stock for.
“For any items that we can’t fulfil in full, our Customer Care team is contacting customers directly regarding a refund for the unavailable items.
“All impacted customers have been emailed with an apology and a gesture of goodwill.”
The retailer anticipates that all outstanding refunds will be processed by the end of the week at which point all phone lines and online customer service support will reopen.
What are my refund rights?
If you’ve been affected by Lush’s order glitch you should be provided with a full cash refund.
Lush has said that it will contact all affected customers and plans to issue refunds by Sunday, January 15.
You don’t need to get in touch with Lush in the meantime – instead, you should wait to hear back from them.
If worst comes to worst and you can’t get hold of the company or they fail to respond to your request for a refund after January 15, there are still ways to get your money back.
If you paid for the item using a credit card, you’ll be covered by Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.
This means that if you pay for a big purchase on your credit card and something happens your card provider is just as responsible as the retailer to refund you.
To make a claim, contact your credit card provider – your first port of call should be its customer services phone number – and tell them you want to make a claim under Section 75.
It should then send you a claim form which you can fill-in and your provider will use to process your application.
Your card firm might ask you to provide evidence such as a receipt or a report verifying that the item is faulty.
If you didn’t pay for the item with a credit card – don’t panic. If you paid with a debit card you’ll be covered by chargeback rules.
Chargeback can be used to reclaim cash for goods and services you don’t receive that have been paid for by debit card, or by credit card for purchases under £100.
Claims must be made within 120 days of the transaction and to start a chargeback, you need to contact your card provider.
