Alyssa Klenotich orders clothing but accidentally sends it to her old address. She quickly contacted the shipper, SpeedX, to ask it to return the package to Shein for a refund. SpeedX confirms the request but delivers the package to the wrong address anyway, leaving her $153 poorer.
Q: I'm trying to get a refund for a Shein order, but it's been denied twice now. When I initially placed the order, I sent it to the wrong address. I tried to correct it on the Shein website, but it was too late for them to do anything.
I connected with SpeedX, the delivery company, to return the package to the sender, which they accepted. However, they still delivered the package to an old address and I never received my items.
SpeedX keeps advising me to talk to Shein. What should I do next? I would like to receive my $153 back. — Alyssa Klenotich, Waterville, Ohio
A: Shein is ultimately responsible for this delivery — or lack of delivery.
It looks like you placed an order directly with Shein through its website, but autofilled your old address. You can avoid that problem by updating all your addresses on your computer so that you don't send packages to an old address.
You quickly contacted the shipping company, SpeedX, and requested a "return to sender" so you could get a refund. SpeedX accepted this request, and you have that in writing.
Despite accepting the request, SpeedX failed to process the return. Instead, it delivered the package to your old address. You assumed the package was taken by someone else at that location.
You repeatedly contacted SpeedX for a refund, arguing that its failure to honor the return request was the direct cause of your loss. SpeedX was unhelpful, sending form responses. It insisted you contact the merchant. SpeedX's direction to you is correct.
When a shipment goes wrong, we nearly always go back to the merchant first. That is the company with which you have a contract and that ultimately hired the shipper. Your goal is the refund, and the seller has the authority to issue it, not the shipper.
A quick escalation to a manager at Shein might have helped. I publish the names, numbers and email addresses of the Shein customer service managers on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org.
I reached out to Shein on your behalf. A representative responded, initially asking for your specific order numbers to cross-reference with the SpeedX tracking number. Once I provided the Shein order numbers, the company quickly confirmed a resolution.
"At Shein, one of our top priorities is providing a great shopping experience for our customers," a representative told me. "We have connected with our customer service team, and we have confirmed a refund will be processed to the customer's original form of payment."
You've received your full $153 refund, closing this frustrating episode.
Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy (https://elliottadvocacy.org), a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at chris@elliott.org or get help by contacting him at https://elliottadvocacy.org/help/