ASOS Part 2 - The Refund Saga Continues

This is a picture that depicts how angry I am.
That's the ASOS customer service team in the background.

You may have read the first part of the refund saga with ASOS here, well, part 2 is required, because, well, I still haven't got the refund, and, it's got alot worse, monumentally worse...read on...

T+ 48 days
After waiting the 17 working days requested at the end of the last blog post, the cheque had till not arrived. So I sent another email asking again what was going on, Sarah K replied to let me know she was forwarding on my query to the finance manager and would get back to me that day with an answer

T+ 49 days
I haven't heard from Sarah again, so I send another email asking what is going on. Later that day I get an automated email telling me that "We are pleased to confirm that your cheque cancellation has been requested". Guess what, this did not please me as it pleased them, so I again sent an email asking what was going on this time.

T+ 52 days
Email sent to customer services asking for an update. No reply.

T+ 53 days
Email sent to customer services asking for an update. No reply.
It's now 5 days since I've heard anything via email, so I go to the ASOS facebook page and leave a message on their wall, it's a public forum, it's in their best interests to sort that asap so that other potential customers visiting them aren't put off by my negative comments. I get a private message from ASOS marketing department apologising, and saying they will ask customer services to investigate. Karen tells me that someone in customer services will call me, and if I have not heard anything by tomorrow afternoon, I should send them a a message back.

T+ 54 days
No call was forthcoming, so I sent another message to the facebook team, expressing my lack of surprise at being forced to contact them again. It's Kelly this time, so she has to find out what’s going on from the other person before we can continue.

T+ 55 days
Karen calls me late afternoon and says rather than me waiting for a cheque to arrive, she would take my updated card details and pass them onto customer services, who would send the money directly to my account. Although I don't normally give my card details over the phone, for the sake of putting this to bed and my own sanity, I agree. She tells me it will be actioned tomorrow and will show up in my bank account within a few days.

T+ 59 days
Having left a few days over the weekend, I check my account to see if the refund has been issued. Sure enough, the £115 has moved, but not in to my account. No, they have not refunded me. Oh no, that would be far too easy. Nope, they've taken another £115. So now, they owe me £230. The original £115 refund, and the £115 they have just stolen from my account. Message sent to facebook team again.

In Karen and Kelly's defence (the marketing girls on facebook) they were very helpful, but there has been a monumental cock up in communication between them and customer services which leads to me now being £230 out of pocket. Let's see where this one goes...

ASOS, The Coat Buttons & The (not yet received) Refund...

I had to return some coats recently to ASOS, as after one wear, the 50 year old string holding the buttons on had disintegrated and the buttons lost somewhere. I sent the items back on the 1st January. Now I knew there would be a bit of a delay in the refund due to the Christmas postage and the fact that my card had expired since I had purchased it. But not on this scale.

Has anyone had a worse experience than this? 40 days have passed, 16 emails have been exchanged, I've spoken to 4 different people who have collectively given me different and erroneous information, blaming the postal system, Travelex, fabricated postal delays and most intriguingly, "strict procedures" for the delay. And still I wait for the cheque...

GQ's Best Dressed Men 2011. No. 26

At first, when you scroll down the list to the right, it looks like it could be a list of the top 30 complete bell-ends in this country at the moment. (With a few exceptions). As your eyes move down, you'll see that predictably, David Beckham is 16th in the GQ Best Dressed Men of 2011. Keep going down the list and at number 26, you'll find his 8 year old son, Romeo Beckham who is 8 years old, at the age of 8 is apparently the 26th Best Dressed MAN of 2011 at only 8 years old. 8. Eight years ol.... Ok you've got it.

GQ magazine says, when it comes to fashion Romeo Beckham is “frighteningly tuned in”.

Other "experts" describing the Beckhams' second son, who last year signed a deal for his own fashion label, as "the celebrity of the future".

David Walker-Smith, professional moron, who works in menswear at Selfridges and is angling for a job at GQ by supporting their no.26 choice in the bullshit awards, also agrees. Walker-Smith told GQ: “Romeo is experimental, quirky and fun, and his style has nothing mini-me about it. It’s me-me.”

The one next to Posh Spice

Without even getting on to the moral implications of "Brand Beckham" skipping this kid's childhood and thrusting him to the young adulthood like this. How is it that someone who is dressed by their mum and has a bowl hair cut, can end up as the 26th biggest male style icon of this country? Romeo Beckham, is probably more interested in being an eight year old boy, playing computer games, picking his nose and telling girls they are smelly than he is about what style message he want's to send out.

He is a rich kid dressed in expensive clothes in an attempt to promote Brand Beckham. For GQ, it's a shameless attempt at selling magazines.

Other choice quotes from the story include:
Prince Harry, another new entry in the style rankings, beats his older brother by coming fifth, with experts crediting the fact he "looks good because he really doesn't care".

Prince William is also a new entry at 27, with US rapper Pharrell Williams endorsing the future king's style, saying: "I like it when Prince William goes dandy. He's got all the proper wardrobe when they do the hunting thing. They kill that!"