Citizens Advice handled nearly 18,000 fashion complaints after a 21% rise, with the majority linked to online purchases and growing use of ai in product imagery and marketing
Headline: Complaints about online fashion surge — around 17,000 cases last year as AI-enhanced listings fuel disputes
Lead
Citizens Advice received roughly 17,000 complaints about clothing, shoes and accessories last year, a jump of about 21% from the year before.
Most cases involved online purchases, and the charity found it was intervening in fashion disputes at a rate of about one every seven minutes. A recurring theme: slick advertising and product imagery—increasingly produced or refined with AI—can disguise poor quality, non-delivery or counterfeit goods, shifting risk onto shoppers and the marketplaces that host them.
Key figures at a glance
– Total complaints (clothing, shoes, accessories): ~17,000 (14,487 linked to online orders; 2,569 in-store). – Year-on-year rise: ~21%. – Intervention cadence: about one disputed fashion purchase every seven minutes. – Complaint breakdown by problem: faulty goods 18%; delivery failures/delays 13%; return difficulties 12%; product mismatch/contract breaches 9%; poor customer service 6%.
– Scam-related incidents: ~7.7% of complaints.
How shoppers are getting caught out
Many disputes begin with eye-catching listings. Professional-looking studio photos, precise material descriptions and seller profiles that mimic local traders give buyers confidence—sometimes falsely. When parcels arrive, buyers report cheaper fabrics, wrong colours, substituted fittings (plastic buttons instead of metal), odd smells, or nothing at all. Sellers then demand returns to overseas addresses or impose high postage costs, deterring refunds and creating extra expense and delay for consumers.
The role of AI and imagery
Generative tools and image-editing software make it easy to create polished product images and persuasive copy at scale. Algorithms that prioritise engagement can amplify those listings, often before platforms vet them. The result: convincing, but potentially misleading, adverts reach large audiences quickly—raising dispute volumes in impression-driven categories like fashion.
Cross-border friction: a common thread
A large share of problematic listings claim UK origin but dispatch from overseas. That mismatch raises two core frictions: longer, less predictable shipping times, and weaker practical remedies for consumers. Buyers who pay card-to-card still have options (chargebacks or Section 75 in some cases), but routing through multiple intermediaries complicates and lengthens recovery.
Who feels the pain
– Consumers: out-of-pocket, inconvenienced and less likely to trust online sellers. – Legitimate sellers: reputational spillover from bad listings hosted on shared marketplaces. – Marketplaces: higher dispute rates, more verification and compliance costs. – Payment processors and banks: rising chargeback volumes and longer processing times. – Investors and regulators: increasing sensitivity to platform governance and consumer-protection risks.
A typical shopper story
“Hannah” (East Midlands) paid £35 for what looked like a branded jacket sold from Covent Garden. Weeks later she received a different colour and fabric, poor stitching, plastic buttons and a strong odour. The seller demanded the return to an address in China and quoted an extra £15 postage. Citizens Advice helped—Hannah recovered her money through a bank chargeback, and the merchant later refunded her directly. Her case highlights how advertising, payment routing and return demands can together trap shoppers.
Practical steps shoppers can take
– Prefer secure payment methods that include buyer protection (credit/debit cards, reputable payment services). – Check seller details on independent review sites—not just social media pages—and verify contact and shipping information. – Scrutinise images for signs of manipulation; ask for extra photos or serial numbers if unsure. – Get written return and refund policies before buying and keep screenshots and timestamps of listings and communications. – If a return is refused or a product is misrepresented, pursue a chargeback and report the issue to Citizens Advice or National Trading Standards promptly.
Market and macro implications
Higher complaint volumes raise operational costs across the ecosystem: more chargebacks for banks, more compliance and verification for marketplaces, and greater triage load for consumer-advice services. For low-margin apparel sellers, these costs can erode profitability. Investor sentiment around e-commerce platforms now factors in dispute-handling performance and moderation effectiveness.
Lead
Citizens Advice received roughly 17,000 complaints about clothing, shoes and accessories last year, a jump of about 21% from the year before. Most cases involved online purchases, and the charity found it was intervening in fashion disputes at a rate of about one every seven minutes. A recurring theme: slick advertising and product imagery—increasingly produced or refined with AI—can disguise poor quality, non-delivery or counterfeit goods, shifting risk onto shoppers and the marketplaces that host them.0
