“Shocking company, totally unable to contact them. DO NOT ORDER FROM THEM, you have been warned. I am waiting for two refunds from them and am getting nowhere. Thank goodness I ordered through my Credit Card, at least I will eventually get my money back.”
“Returned a dress. They received the dress back on 8 may. The refund was processed on 13 may and 10 days later it's still 'working it's way through the system'. Customer service is non-existent: message them on WhatsApp and you just get AI generated messages. Email them and they don't reply. Avoid at all cost!”
“shouldn't even be giving 1 star for this review as Debenhams are a complete disgrace. I ordered two wedding dresses online and returned them both the next day as they were too long. It has took up two weeks to receive one of my refunds back and they apparently issued the other refund at the same time but it is still not in my account nearly a month later. Debenhams owe me £74.01 for a dress I don't own. I would advise people not to order from them as their return set up is shocking. I have been completely ripped off!”
“I purchased a wedding dress from Debenhams. When the dress arrived it unfortunately had several manufacturers flaws (multiple beads dropping off from unravelled stitches and a random coloured bead which did not match the rest of the dress). The dress fitted perfectly and I wanted this as my wedding dress. Unfortunately the dress had sold out on Debenhams website. I contacted customer services via Whatsapp to ask if any more were likely to come into stock - they took multiple days to reply and ignored my question and told me to return the dress.
I replied again, asking the same question and again multiple days later was told they couldn't tell me when or if the dress would return into stock.
A few days later I noticed that the dress had come back in stock. I noticed the price had gone up but didn't hesitate to purchase this as thought Debenhams would understand that I had to repurchase the dress at a higher price due to the flaws in the first dress.
I contacted customer services again asking if they could kindly refund the difference between the two dresses since the only reason I had to repurchase it was because of their manufacturing fault.
They basically told me that it was not their problem that the price had gone up and that they would not refund me the difference. I have been made to feel like it's my fault when all I wanted to do was purchase a dress for my wedding. I'm not sure why I should be the one paying more when it is not my fault that the first dress had multiple flaws.
I also paid for 2 day delivery and the dress did not arrive for 6 days. I will also have to pay for the delivery cost of returning the faulty dress, again something which is not my fault.
Customer services never replied to my email and I received rude and unhelpful sporadic replies on WhatsApp.
This is the worse customer service experience I have ever received. I would have expected more from a reputable (clearly no longer) large company.”
“Your customer service levels are horrendous, you basically don’t have any service levels!!! I would advise everyone not to use your on line ordering and if they do good luck with any returns!! Customer’s have to pay for postage on purchases and also pay a return fee on returns and on top of that you will be charged a £1.99 fee for returning!! (Returning charge)
Debenhams do not respond to emails or text messages.
Impossible to raise my concerns!”
“DO NOT BUY ANYTHING ONLINE FROM DEBENHAMS!
I ordered all black Dune wedged trainers and received sparkle white wedge trainers a child would wear!
I sent them back, and the customer service were awful.
I'm still waiting for a refund after 2 weeks of return and I've just been told their charging me £1.99 for the return, even though postage is free!
I was told I needed to take a picture as evidence the wrong item was sent!
I was also told I should have contacted them before I sent the item back. Well guess what I did!
All they needed to do was check the box before sending out and on return.
Not sure what time of scam is going on there but it's absolutely terrible!”
“Avoid Debenhams l, the structure isn't there. The return process is terrible and hard work, further more they charge you later on £1.99 for returns. The customer service and response time this terrible and unforgivable. Refunds take about 3 weeks to be actioned again another issue.”
“I ordered a garden sofa set on the 04.05 with express delivery within 2 days.After reading the reviews I realised I made mistake.The sofa was discounted so I was tempted to buy.I send massage on WhatsApp to ask when it will arrive and to my surprise I found out that my sofa will be delivered in parts from third party suppliers on different dates . It's 9pm 06.05 no part of the sofa has been delivered yet.I will be lucky if I will get all the parts by the end of this week!!I am worried it will not come at all!!”
“Absolute garbage company, they didn't have a clue they received my item back for a refund, I had to send screenshots from the couriers. They processed the refund way later and I still haven't received it. Their customer service is just disgusting, no reply on emails and on WhatsApp, after I managed to speak with an agent, they just give you different processing times, different lies from one agent to another. It's an absolute joke, do not waste your time buying from them.”
“Honestly the worst experience I've ever had in my life, I needed new sofas due to moving into a new property, I placed an order then got a notification saying it was cancelled. Turns out they can't deliver to my address, but let me place the order anyway. They've told me it'll take 2 1/2 weeks for a refund, I've had to order sofas from elsewhere now, I have a 2 month old I don't know where I'm getting the money to buy formula for now, and their customer service are entirely unbothered. It's hard enough as a single dad with a young baby, but this has left me struggling, happy to take your money knowing they can't fulfill your order but not so happy to give it back, ridiculous treatment, I have £80 left for the next 2 1/2 weeks to feed my daughter, I don't know what I'll be eating in the meantime, while Debenhams sit there with £1112 of my money they're not returning until they feel like it. I'm completely disgusted.”
“Absolutely terrible customer service impossible to speak with a person. I'm waiting for a £239 refund on an LED mask that never arrived. I will NEVER shop online with Debenhams again. Same people own Boohoo who are just as bad with their refunds and customer service too! Says it all!”
“Very Disappointing Experience
I returned a piece of jewellery I purchased through one of Debenhams’ third-party brands in early April. The brand confirmed receipt and approved the refund on 22nd April. However, the refund never arrived in my account.
After chasing it up, I was told I needed to contact Debenhams directly. I followed all the instructions on their website, only to receive vague, automated responses and no actual help.
It’s now been over two weeks since I returned the item and more than ten days since I was told I’d been refunded—still no money. Completely unacceptable service and a frustrating experience from what should be a trusted retailer.”
“I ordered a birthday gift for my son’s birthday on 26/03/25. Did not arrive. So sent them an email. I had to get a present from another company. We are now on the 1/05/25 still waiting for a refund. Twenty two emails sent to them absolutely appalling service. Do not buy from them.”
“I recently purchased a garden set for the bank holiday weekend and paid for the 48 hour delivery to ensure it was here on time. When it hadn’t arrived I used their WhatsApp contact (no phone customer service) and was told to wait until the 26th April for delivery which was 11 days after ordering. I then complained that they shouldn’t have offered the 48 hour delivery if they couldn’t fulfil the order. I asked to cancel and get a refund which was ‘processed’ as per their email on the 17th April. 9 days later I am still waiting for my refund only to be fobbed off that it is the system every time I contact customer service. The refund also doesn’t include the £4.99 delivery, which was the main cause for the complaint! Terrible company with 0 customer service, avoid!
Edit - that is the standard response I have had for the past 14 days, still no refund as of today! All WhatsApp messages are copied and pasted responses.”
“Absolutely shocking customer service. Debenams cancelled our order the day after it was placed. Told the refund would take 21 days when we said that wasn't good enough it's a case of tuff luck.”
“The product I paid for was actually not available. The refund seems to be taking longer than waiting for Christmas. PS it's April. In the end I went to my card holder, raised a dispute and the card holder is now dealing with it. I don't know if it's just incompetence or some sort of scam, but I will never be shopping from this store again. Such a fall. From Grace”
“Oh dear, I used to love Debenhams but after buying something online and returning it I am unable to get a refund. You cannot phone and if you use the chat online is automated. I returned an item and policy states up to 14 days for a refund once item is received back. It has now been 20 days and no refund. I messaged the chat but get an automated reply to say my refund is being processed, thank you for my patience. No matter what you ask after that you just get an automated message saying thank you for your patience. I would say that unless you know you are going to buy something that you will not want to return then don't buy it.”
“I spoke on Facebook about this, but was refused any form of answer, despite me asking 5 times.
A few years ago, maybe even still, Debenhams policy was that anyone can use men or women’s changing rooms, whichever they felt comfortable in and regardless of gender identity, as the extreme risk to women and young girls. Imagine being a parent of a young girl and sending her to a changing room knowing that, literally, a full grown man could have decided to use it.
What is your policy? Do you still prompt this? Was this a good idea?”
“Ordered a mirror but and forgot to pay for express shipping. Contacted Debenhams and was told this couldn't be updated so I made another order and paid for express devliery.
Instead of two mirrors being delivered, I had two dog cages delivered. I asked for a refund and for them to be collected, and now I have had a mirror delivered and nothing collected.
Customer support is absolutely shocking and this company have absolutely ruined the reputation of Debenhams.
My problem is still not resolved as it takes hours, if not days for a response and they usually don't understand what they're being asked to do.”
“This is my second review and the issue is still unsolved.
I ordered a sofa that does not match the description, I ordered the carnaby U shape sofa in cream with black feet - a champagne coloured sofa with silver feet arrived.
The sofa is damaged on every part, I reported this on the 27th of march and requested a refund. The company told me they could sort a replacement, when I heard nothing about that I again requested a refund. I have spoken to consumer services, trading standards, my bank and resolver. I was told a courier was collecting the sofa on 15/04/2025 between 0800 and 1700. Due to the appalling customer service previously, I have contacted the courier who have never had a booking of the sofa to be collected and can request a collection if there is someone in the area. There is no solution otherwise.
I have tried to get back in contact with Debenhams - which will be no surprise to anyone, but they do not respond. The company they outsource to is Zaye Living, the number on their website goes to a taxi company and they are based in dewsbury so unfortunately not close enough to visit in person. Debenhams will not provide me with their contact details but I have to wait 2 days for a response and there is never a solution.
I would avoid this company at all costs, they will steal your money and lie to you continuously to cover up their incompetence. I am now considering small claims court to get my large sum of money back that they have taken.”
