Shein sent my package to the wrong address: refund?

In This Case – Shein Return Refund

in this case

Alyssa Klenotich placed a $153 Shein order but the site autofilled her old address, and by the time she tried to fix it, the change was too late to process.
She contacted the carrier, SpeedX, and requested a return to sender so she could get a refund. SpeedX accepted the request in writing, then delivered the package to the old address anyway.
Out her items and her money, she was bounced between the carrier and the retailer, each pointing at the other, which raises a question every online shopper eventually faces: when a delivery goes wrong, who do you actually hold responsible, the shipper or the seller?

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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.

Question

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

Answer

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.

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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. Your Voice Matters – Shein Return Refund

Your voice matters

A carrier accepted a return request in writing, then delivered to the wrong address anyway, and the shopper got bounced between the carrier and the retailer. The debate is over who should be on the hook when a delivery goes wrong.

Should a retailer be legally required to refund you when its carrier ignores a return request the carrier accepted in writing?
Should delivery companies be legally accountable to the customer directly, not just the retailer that hired them, when they cause a loss?
Should retailers be legally required to let you correct a shipping address for a set window after you order, before the package leaves the warehouse?

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Should a delivery be counted as failed, and automatically refundable, whenever a carrier drops a package somewhere other than the address on the current label?

Yes

What you need to know about misdelivered packages and refunds

When a package goes to the wrong address and the carrier and retailer each point at the other, getting your money back comes down to knowing who is responsible. Here is how to handle it.

Who is responsible when a package is delivered to the wrong address?

For getting your money back, the retailer is. The merchant is the company you have a contract with and the one that hired the carrier, so it has the authority to issue your refund even when the shipper made the mistake.

Should I contact the retailer or the shipping company first?

Start with the retailer. When a shipment goes wrong, you almost always go back to the seller first, because your goal is a refund and the seller, not the shipper, has the power to grant it. The carrier will usually just redirect you to the merchant anyway.

The carrier accepted my return request but delivered it anyway. Now what?

Hold onto the written acceptance, then take your refund claim to the retailer. The carrier’s failure to honor a return it agreed to is strong evidence the loss was not your fault, and the retailer is the party that can actually refund you.

What if I accidentally shipped to my old address?

Try to correct it immediately, but the window can close fast once an order is processing. Going forward, update the saved addresses in your browser and shopping accounts so autofill cannot quietly route a future order to an address you no longer use.

Why does the carrier keep telling me to talk to the merchant?

Because, for a refund, that direction is actually correct. The carrier was hired by the retailer and typically cannot issue refunds to you. Frustrating as the form responses are, the merchant is where a refund decision gets made.

What information should I give the retailer to speed up a refund?

Provide your order numbers along with the carrier’s tracking number so the retailer can cross-reference the shipment. Pairing those details often lets a company confirm what went wrong and approve a refund quickly. Here is how the consumer complaint process works.

How do I escalate if the retailer denies my refund?

Move past frontline support to a named customer service manager with a brief, firm message. Our executive contact database lists managers at major retailers, and if that fails you can dispute the charge with your credit card issuer.