Waitrose has been blocking shoppers for making too many complaints and returning too many items, according to a report by The Guardian.
As discovered by a customer, Nanette Herbert, they had recently been banned from shopping at Waitrose due to making complaints and refund requests.
Herbert told Guardian Money that the ban – which has since been lifted – had caused “many different problems.”
Online retailers are sometimes alerted when a customer displays “unusual” activity, such as requesting a high number of refunds.
Retailers have the power to block them from making future purchases if the business believes they are abusing the process.
READ MORE: Shoppers react to Waitrose scrapping best before dates
The retailer blocked Herbert’s online account in December last year after she made repeated complaints about the quality of the food delivered.
“They were delivering out-of-date things,” Herbert said. “They expect me to pay full price, and if I make a complaint about it, they ban me. I’m blamed for their mistakes.”
However, Waitrose told The Guardian that its employees “are trained to be as discerning as our customers and will choose produce with the longest date codes available.”
It added: “We want all our customers to be delighted when shopping with us and, while we achieve this in the vast majority of cases, we are sorry when any customer is disappointed.
“Despite our strenuous efforts to satisfy Miss Herbert, we weren’t able to meet her needs online and felt it would be better for her to select her own food in our shops.”
Even if a company decides to ban someone from making further purchases, it does have to honour refund requests if your item is damaged, doesn’t arrive or is not as described.
“Retailers may be within their rights to ban customers who consistently return items, or complain. However, they should only do this with a good reason,” Which? law expert Lisa Webb said.
“There is an environmental cost of sending items back, so shoppers should bear this in mind when making their next purchase and try to buy sustainably.”
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