A Brighton resident has spoken of feeling deceived after receiving merely 55 pence following a clothing return to an online fashion retailer.

Sophie Egan, a 27-year-old care assistant, sent back a dress she had acquired from the e-commerce firm Shein, expecting to recover the complete £12.74 she had spent.

Instead, Ms Egan discovered just 55 pence had been credited to her bank account on March 25.

The global fashion company has been approached for comment.

Ms Egan expressed that spotting the 55 pence in her account left her extremely distressed. She believed it must have been a mistake, yet the company had genuinely issued only 55 pence as reimbursement.

The care worker labelled the situation as deeply infuriating.

She had never encountered anyone receiving such a nominal refund of 55 pence. The correct amount should have been £12.74, yet only 55 pence was returned, which she found completely unacceptable.

Ms Egan disclosed she had purchased the £12.74 item for social occasions, only to discover the armholes proved far too tight when she attempted to wear it.

She says 55p appeared in her account from Shein

She explains she attempted to resolve the issue through the chat feature within Shein’s app, but feels the company persistently ends the conversation.

She tried to outline what had happened, yet the response repeatedly stated a refund had been issued, even after she highlighted it amounted to only 55 pence.

Describing herself as feeling cheated and brushed aside, Ms Egan noted the company had offered no assistance whatsoever.

The customer had previously made purchases from Shein without any issues, though this represented her inaugural return.

She fears other consumers might be experiencing similar difficulties with the prominent fashion retailer.

It concerns her that this situation occurred to her personally, and she suspects others could be similarly affected.

Ms Egan is still waiting for the full refund

Ms Egan mentioned she had previously bought clothing from Shein without trouble, but this constituted her first return.

She is concerned additional shoppers could be facing comparable obstacles with the large fashion business.

The enterprise was founded in October 2008 and maintains its headquarters in Singapore, operating as the world’s biggest fashion retailer.

A Shein spokesperson said the company strives to provide all customers with a positive shopping experience and regretted this particular situation had not met that standard. They apologised for the confusion and confirmed they had reached out to the customer directly to resolve the matter.

The return was processed in full immediately upon receipt of the return request. Because the original purchase had been made through a third-party instalment payment service, the reimbursement was initially allocated to settle the outstanding balance on items the customer had kept, and the £0.55 represented the remaining cash balance after that settlement.

The customer was also under no obligation to make additional instalment payments to the third-party provider, and was not charged for anything beyond the items she retained.

The company recommends customers using instalment payment plans to check both their instalment accounts and bank accounts, as refunds may operate differently compared to standard purchases.