Abercrombie Bans Customer Who Bought Too Much Merchandise (VIDEO)

The conventional wisdom is that stores want their customers to buy more, not less. So this most recent headline had us scratching our heads: "Woman banned from buying too much Abercrombie."

ABC7 News in San Francisco reported on a local woman named Kim Navarra who spends at least $1,000 a year at Abercrombie & Fitch, ordering everything from tees and sweatshirts and jeans online. But this summer when she tried to spend a $200 giftcard on the retailer's website, her order was unceremoniously cancelled.

Abercrombie & Fitch sent her a letter simply saying, "This order was cancelled and we will not accept future orders from you. Abercrombie & Fitch is a private label brand. To protect its intellectual property rights, suspected resale of our merchandise for personal or business profit is strictly prohibited," a paragraph cut and pasted straight from their website.

But it looks like the company was just bullying an innocent and very loyal customer. "All their clothes seem to fit and last over the years," Navarra told ABC7. "I'm not reselling them. As you can see, I have the clothes on, I wear them to work, I've worn every single pair of jeans."

Abercrombie finally relented and let Navarra shop again when the news station got involved, maybe realizing that banning one of their most devoted customers was not the best idea.

Then again, it wouldn't be the first time Abercrombie has cut some ties that landed them in the doghouse: A&F once fired a male model for eating at the wrong time while on the job, while the company landed in seriously hot water in June for allegedly firing a Muslim female employee for wearing her religious headscarf.

At this rate, Abercrombie & Fitch better have one damn good PR team.

WATCH:

Comments

[euromarkusx]

01:37 AM on 08/17/2011

The "Resell" warning is bizarre.

Why would someone pay retail, and then resell them?

And if they did, why would A&F care?

A&F are still getting paid, unlike when there are counterfeit items.

[I say]

01:46 PM on 08/23/2011

I haven't read every comment so excuse me if this has been posted already, but as a previous employee (before there was an adhered to policy on reselling) there used to be people who would come in, purchase close to 100 pieces of merchandise at sale prices only to go resell them in other markets (as some people have mentioned previously). If someone is making money off of your brand, it's not seen a positive thing even if your brand is being put out there.

[TekkenDavis]

06:37 PM on 08/16/2011

They needn't worry about banning me. I'd rather wear a glad garbage bag before their wares.

[mtt1231]

11:03 PM on 08/19/2011

I'm with you Tekken! I never shop at A&F if I can avoid it!!!!! My daughters sometimes drag me in. BUT, I think My dislike of it is finally rubbing off on them.
My first problem is how loud the store is-----the blasted music givs me a headach and I can't even think when I'm in there!!!!!! The quality of the clothes isn't so great and over priced.
I also can't stand the "model" position. If you ask the greeter at A&F a question, they know nothing, just keep repeating HI...............

[JustAnnie]

05:05 PM on 08/16/2011

I used to love shopping at the Abercrombie store but in the past few years they've been using an extreme amount of their cologne to scent the store - it gives me a headache and makes my sinuses close up. The last time I was at the mall, you could smell Abercrombie from 4 stores away as you approached it. It stinks and is a health menace. Smells like they dump of vat of cologne over the entire store each morning.

[INKDxxRUBI]

11:45 PM on 08/16/2011

UGH, Hollister is like that. My GOD their scents travel the mall and confuse you before you even step in the DOORS. And its like the smell NEVER comes out of their clothes. I can tell ya, it sure as heck doesn't make me wanna buy the scent. Makes me wanna burn the clothes but then I recall how much I spent on ONE shirt and so I decide against it... lol

[lynnybug]

03:33 PM on 08/16/2011

This is a store I NEVER shop at. It has done some of the most stupid stuff through the years. T-shirts w/ red slash through a pug dog (no pugs), derogatory t-shirts towards different hair colors. They're just ridiculous. I call the company and complain and they just don't care what you think.

[mtt1231]

11:08 PM on 08/19/2011

Again, full agreement from me Lynny. I complained about the scantily clad pictures of young teens on shopping bags used in their kid's clothes stores. They were wrong on sooooooo many levels!
Never heard back from the Corp. and they didn't stop with the degrading pictures.

[anothervoice2]

10:25 PM on 08/15/2011

This is absurd.
First, 1K doesn't buy that much at their stores.
Second, even if she did, on what basis did they automatically assume she was upto no good?!

She was buying it online. With a legitimate shipping address. That itself should say a lot.
It is harder to figure out what someone is up to if they are buying it in the store.

Great A&F! Nice job with the poor PR. Anyone who still insists on buying your boring fare (reminds one of uniforms) is going to set limits on what they will spend at your store going forward.

[Namea]

08:40 PM on 08/15/2011

*reads story* Uhuh
Ok well there's another brand name store to cross off my list of never going to visit. Thank you A& F! Seriously shouldn't they be kissing her feet for even buying their brands? A loyal customer will MARKET their stupid brand by telling people why they should buy from them, and how could she resell the clothes? Their already freakishly expensive! I guess being smart isn't required in the business, all you need is to keep your head in the clouds and your nose in the air *rolls eyes*

[Red45]

03:34 PM on 08/15/2011

What fool is at the helm of this company making these ridiculous decisions?

[pnllsprkf]

04:21 PM on 08/15/2011

maybe this is just some cheap PR stunt to get their name out there without paying for advertising--I've heard the name before but have never seen a store or shopped with them--the only thing I can say that I"ve seen of theirs is t-shirts and they weren't all that impressive

[claymanbob]

02:10 PM on 08/16/2011

Maybe you should have just Googled A&F before showing yourself to be so out of it?

[Ayesha Harrison]

10:19 AM on 08/15/2011

Some things about her story make no sense: 1- If you buy their clothes because they fit and seem to last why do you need to spend 1,000/yr on them? 2- Why do all of your shopping online, if they wouldn't process your purchase online why not go into a store?

However, seeing as how she does appear to be just a faithful customer A&F just made a huge mistake, and if I was her I would look for a new retailer.

[Red45]

03:36 PM on 08/15/2011

1.  $1,000 doesn't buy a lot at Abercrombie & Fitch
2.  Maybe she doesn't live near a store

And, agree, I wouldn't shop there anymore and would probably return everything I ever bought from them.

[Alexander PonceBonano]

12:41 PM on 08/16/2011

You guys are forgetting one thing. All the saw was a Latino Last name and they calculated this in their minds. "A Latino woman can't be buying so much stuff for personal use so she is probably reselling the stuff"
This was probably a racial calculation made because they think that people using Latino Last names are poor and should not be spending a lot of cash.

[JediGoddess]

08:33 AM on 08/15/2011

Abercrombie has the most ignorant corporate staff. Most retailers would be over the moon to have such a loyal customer. Totally their loss, who wants shop at a retailer who treats their customer this badly? They can keep their Tee and Jeans there is a lot of Tee and Jeans places out there, better quality and much cheaper too!

[Pandoras Folly]

08:32 AM on 08/15/2011

as a retail entity, rather than wholesale, A&F has a right to determine that they are the last line in the distribution process before it reaches consumers. Imagine instead of a fake apple store with real apple products a fake A&F store with real A&F products. They don't want precieved damage to their brand.

[scott4xtc]

11:52 AM on 08/15/2011

In the first place you could not open a FAKE A+F store or APPLE store. That is just stupid thinking.Second , how could you buy from A+F at retail and then resell it at a profit? Not going to happen.Try buying some of thier products then reselling them for a profit and see how much money you make?

[Pandoras Folly]

03:22 PM on 08/15/2011

www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14503724
One city in china had 22 fake apple stores, most of them selling real apple products. The deception was so total that the employees thought they were working at an Apple store. Also in the same city a fake Ikea store was found selling copies of Ikea furniture.
A fake A&F store is entirely doable.

Begin your refutation of your previous statement please.

[wakohnen]

05:45 AM on 08/15/2011

Bad business, their loss. Even if the merchandise is being re-sold, who cares? They got their money for it, why whine if someone makes a little profit?

[pdxist]

07:46 PM on 08/15/2011

It's not about resale so much as buying the entire catalog then knocking it off.

[anothervoice2]

10:20 PM on 08/15/2011

That they assumed the worst of one of their loyal customers based on a suspicion - with all this resulting bad PR - says a lot about their business savvy (or lack thereof).

[walkingwolf]

05:09 AM on 08/15/2011

This is America If I buy it..I own it...I wanna sell it..I'm gonna sell it and if they don't like it they can go stuff their snobby name tag up where the sun don't shine..take me to court...!!! Not that I would want to buy anything from these overpriced tight arsed holier than thou jerk wads,,who probably have their crap made in a sweat shop by some 12 year old for a dollar a day

[O Dannyboy]

05:05 PM on 08/15/2011

They were not disputing her right to re-sell. They were (idiotically) exercising their right not to sell to her, as I understand the article.

[walkingwolf]

06:35 AM on 08/16/2011

yes their right not to sell to her based on the unfounded fact that she was "re-selling" those items... try reading with a little more depth in your vision before you say you understand the article.."read between the lines" not just the ones printed

[syllcurie]

04:56 AM on 08/15/2011

Perhaps the woman was an obsessive compulsive shopper in the same way that some people are addicted to hoarding, which she may well have been also. It does happen.

[Cecil Worley]

04:56 AM on 08/15/2011

idiocracy in action

[southingtonian]

03:56 AM on 08/15/2011

Tried, convicted and sentenced without investigation or any evidence. A&F judgement fail.

[O Dannyboy]

05:06 PM on 08/15/2011

She was neither tried, convicted, nor sentenced for anything.
10-4 on the judgement fail though

[southingtonian]

10:02 PM on 08/15/2011

it was an in-house action, and my statement was intended to be figurative. In my attempts to avoid wordiness, I'm often unclear. Sorry.