In a viral video, a small business owner shows a returned order that had obviously been worn by the customer.
Simran is the owner of the online clothing store Pretty is Power. While the 20-year-old’s shop had rapid growth through social media, she relaunched the site alongside her brother to create “inclusive, sustainable, and ethical” clothing as opposed to pushing fast fashion. Simran designs all of the brand’s pieces, and the items are manufactured in Los Angeles, CA.
In the viral TikTok, Simran (@sim.ksidhu) has a light pink two-piece skirt and crop top set laid out on a table in front of her. She shares that the items are from a return order she received that day.
“It’s honestly disgusting. Look at the stains on this thing,” Simran says.
She quickly scans the piece for stains and notices at least three on the top and some hair strands. “It’s really gross,” she adds.
While she notes that the stain “honestly looks okay” and isn’t permanently stained “you can just tell that it’s been worn.”
Simran added that the items are both missing their tag, which are necessary to have attached in order to return the items to her shop.
“The tag isn’t on here, it’s removed so I know you wore it,” she says.
@sim.ksidhu Don’t do this to small businesses😭 #smallbusisnessproblems #fyp #smallbizowner #clothingbrandowner #smallbusiness ♬ 3:15 (Slowed Down + Reverb) – Russ
Though Simran offers store credit for returns, she claims the item in front of her “deserves nothing.” Simran states that the store’s return policy stipulates that for a return the item must have tags and be unworn.
“This girl 100% thinks she’s getting a refund. Be honest, what do you guys think I should do about this?” Simran questions at the conclusion of the video. “I’m gonna go wash my hands ASAP.”
The Future of Commerce reported that 58% of the retailers and brands they polled said last year at least 20% of online clothing orders were returned.
The video has more than 170,000 views and nearly 150 comments.
“Don’t do this to small businesses,” the caption read.
Viewers sounded off in the comment section urging Simran to not give the person a refund or credit.
“No refund! You work too hard,” the top comment read.
“People don’t understand that we are not a big corporation so getting a return really hits our pocket very hard,” one person said.
“It’s like they didn’t even try to be sneaky lol,” another added.
In the comment section, Simran said that she ended up not giving the customer a refund or store credit, but offered to ship the item back to the person as long as they covered the cost of the shipping label.
“She was not happy about it!” Simran wrote.
The Daily Dot reached out to Simran for comment via email.
