ASOS responds after customers notice accounts have been closed without warning

Dozens of shoppers have been left furious after being informed that their ASOS accounts are being closed for good. The online fashion retailer, which has generated billions of pounds annual for years, has punished customers who are prone to returning items often. It comes after ASOS announced their new "fair use" policy last year, which introduced return chargers for customers returning items too frequently.

The retailer had previously offered UK shoppers free returns of unused items within 14 days, but wrote to some shoppers saying it had updated its "fair use" policy to clamp down on frequent returners. Those signed up to the group's Premier subscription service were told they would have to keep at least £15 of their original order to escape a fee, while non-subscription shoppers who regularly send back large amounts would have to keep at least £40 of their orders.

But now things have gone a step further – as an email has been issued to some shoppers informing them that their accounts will be permanently closed within 30 days.

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An email sent out to affected customers said: "Some time ago, we contacted you to inform you of certain changes made to our Fair Use Policy. After reviewing your recent return activity again, you are still part of a small group of customers whose shopping behaviour continues to breach our Fair Use Policy. For this reason, we have decided to close your account."

"Please note that this also applies to any other accounts you currently have or may try to open in the future," the email added.

People have flooded to social media to share their frustration. One tweeted ASOS: "Blocking my account with no notice what so ever. Insane you can be a loyal customer for years (FYI It's normal to return clothes that don't fit) and they just close your account and this is the response you get from contacting customer service. Insane!".

Another opened up about their experience and shared: "In the space of five hours ASOS have gone from banning my account, to then contracting me on Instagram wanting to repost a pic of me wearing their clothes. I'm a loyal customer, on average spend about £100 per month but no you don’t want me shopping with you any more."

One responded to the post and said: "Yep same, love that I've been penalised because basically I'm unsure of my size after having my daughter!"

One other agreed, sharing a post, and wrote: "Had this account for years and always order from ASOS but clearly loyalty isn’t recognised since I had my chat closed when I enquired about it… I do most of my shopping on ASOS and can’t see how my returns are a lot. God forbid a gal doesn’t know her size/style postpartum."

One other said they have not return any items since last year. They shared: "Account closed for 'consistent breaches' of their Fair Use policy when I haven't returned anything since October! ASOS you are a joke. You've been losing customers since your new returns policy came in and now you’re actually getting rid of customers willingly."

Another said: "My account was wrongly closed under your Fair Use policy. I order 10 items a year and return 2–3. This is clearly a mistake – please review."

A man shared his experience and added: "Blimey, @ASOS_Menswear must really be struggling if they're closing a 17 year old account that's has only 5 orders in 6 months, of which multiple items per order were kept. Seems like a great business model."

Another individual who has been ordering from the menswear section of the site said: "I've returned 1 item in a year, yet my account has restrictions on returns."

A spokesperson for ASOS told the Mirror : "We recently closed the accounts of a small group of customers whose shopping activity has consistently fallen outside our Fair Use policy. This helps us maintain our commitment to offering free returns to all customers across all core market.

"Free returns is something that the vast majority of our customers enjoy without any conditions. We want to protect that and invest in their shopping experiences, including things like the new loyalty programme. For a small group of customers with high returns, they have to keep above a net order threshold to qualify for free returns."