On 19 February 2018, I purchased a dress from Rebel Circus (rebelcircus.com) for my wedding on March 10th. The dress arrived in a cheap package on 23 February 2018. After taking my measurements and ordering the appropriate size, I discovered that the dress was 2-3 sizes too big. The dress was promptly put back into the original shipping package and I contacted Rebel Circus. Their return email 26 February 2018 detailed how to make a return. Since I was in school student teaching all morning, I returned the dress before 7am MST 27 February 2018. The return package contained everything that the dress was sent with, including the blue piece of tissue paper and packing slip.
Contacting them a week later, I discovered that Rebel Circus refused to refund the money. The customer service department of Rebel Circus stated that the dress was both used and worn because a few animal hairs got trapped in the return packaging. When I inquired why that made the dress used and worn, they failed to answer my questions. They offered to return the dress; however, citing their online return policy, I would need to pay for them to return my dress. After looking over the return policy on numerous occasions, it merely states, Please note: we cannot refund the shipping charges. At no point does this address the shipping charges to return my dress to me.
Unfortunately, even after trying to speak with them concerning their online return policy and the return of my dress, they are unwilling to return the previously purchased dress without an addition fee. They are also unwilling to explain why the dress is both used and worn. My only recourse was to report them to the Better Business Bureau since they are vehemently refusing to refund my money or my property.
I attempted to reach out to them one more time on 23 March 2018nearly a month after the initial incident. I told them to merely refund the money for the dress and keep the item. Since it is 2-3 sizes too big, I am unable to do anything with it. They are currently ignoring all email correspondence.
I contacted the Better Business Bureau on 23 March 2018. After two attempts to contact the Rebel Circus, the Better Business Bureau has received no communication. Since the company has stopped responding to email communication and will not respond to the Better Business Bureau, they suggested that I reach out to the NY Department of Consumer Affairs, as well as attempt to refute the charges with PayPal. Since Rebel Circus had me return the item to one of their wholesalers (Hemet) in Pasadena, CA., PayPal could not refund my money. They told me to reach out to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center and report this as an internet crime. Further, I attempted to contact Hemet in Pasadena on 14 May 2018. When they failed to respond to my emails, I reported them to the Better Business Bureau of California on 16 May 2018.
After spending time researching Rebel Circus online, it has come to my attention that this egregious and unethical behavior toward returns and refunds is an ongoing, continual trend. It appears to be a business model. Unless they are threatened with the Better Business Bureau, they refuse to refund their customers money on wrong orders, damaged goods, returned items, etc