River island Reviews 5,303

I am absolutely furious with the appalling experience I’ve had with River Island’s online service. I’ve shopped in-store many times and always thought highly of the brand — but this first attempt to order online has completely destroyed that trust.
I placed an order for a pair of winter wellies, and literally one minute later, I realized I’d chosen the wrong size. I immediately tried to cancel the order, but your system wouldn’t allow it. When I reached out to customer service, I was told there was “nothing that could be done” — that I’d have to wait until the item arrived, only to return it again for a refund. That’s absurd. For a company of your size, it’s shocking that you can’t process a simple cancellation seconds after an order is made.
Still, I followed your instructions, returned the item as soon as it arrived, and was told I’d get my full refund — and that returns were free. What followed was weeks of back-and-forth with your team, endless waiting, and constant frustration. It took nearly a month to get my refund back, only to discover you’d deducted £3 for no reason.
Let me be clear: it’s not about the £3 — it’s about the complete lack of honesty, professionalism, and respect for your customers. You told me returns were free, yet you still took money off and made me chase you for weeks to get what was rightfully mine. This is unacceptable, and frankly, disgraceful customer service.
This whole experience has been a joke. My daughter is still waiting for her wellies, and I’m left disgusted with how poorly River Island has handled the situation. I feel let down, disrespected, and absolutely fed up.
I expect this issue to be resolved immediately — including the return of the missing £3 — and a proper apology for the unacceptable treatment I’ve received.

Purchased skirt with part of my giftcard orderd online to delivery at shop .i tried it on in the ri shop didnt like so wentvto till and reterned.i asked cashier about how i would get refund and told her i paid with a gift voucher.she told me it would just go back on my voucher and i would get an email had no email .it wadnt until i sent my daughter with it to the shop to buy something for herself i told her 80pounds onit she came back and said it only had 53 on i checked account online it showrd skirt was returned so basically conned me as all i kept was a 20pound sale item so gift voucher was 100pounds .been robbed.would of much preffered a reciept also when my daughter purchased she was told reciept would be emailed and never was .denton branch river island never again will i be telling my son to buy me a river island gift card because of this reason.i did email river island to sort this out hasnt been sorted the girl i spoke to didnt seem to understand even tho i sent her screen shots of my online account which clearly stated this .come on river island at least train your staff as all i have come across is staff that are incompatant

Worst customer service experience ever. I’ve tried to get a Hold on the company for almost a week, on 3 different platforms, but i have been ignored. Only got one answer to send my contacts and after that silence. Even though the contact form on the website claims answer whitin 48h. The live chat they claim to have also havent been active for all this time. I Wish i read all the reviews here first before i ordered from River Island, but i thought it was a legit and serious company so i didnt even think about that. Will never buy from them again and Will never recommend them to anyone.

23rd August I took delivery of a parcel delivered by Royal Mail, opened held together with an elastic band. Only part of the order had arrived. I called immediately and was told an investigation with RM would take place. Photographic evidence of how RM left it was on their website so unsure why an investigation was needed. I have chased weekly since then, and I finally got an answer two weeks ago that the refund was on its way, chased again last week to be told it wasn’t approved. Lots of “how did we do” surveys being sent but no refund. I chased again on yesterday to be asked all of the questions that were asked prior to the investigation, even though I gave my case number. Continually asked for it to be escalated, only to be told that you have to email customer service, which is where I started nearly two months, no product and they still have my money.

Worst customer support and non delivery of items I have logged with resolver also

Order 103293540

Has not been received , the item is lost in transit and evri cannot advise where the parcel is , river island do not answer complaints/ emails or website chats in a timely manner, there social media team do not respond to complaints at all!! The over all customer experience to resolve this is non existent!! I should not be held liable when goods are not delivered or lost by the courier they use ! Worst customer service by a retailer up there with boohoo !!! The one response I received basically just said .. oh yeah the goods are delayed please wait ! No times scales no investigation nothing , and goods still not received - I want the items I paid for or a full refund

My own person experience - the staff in store are lovely, however a totally different experience ordering online and dealing with customer service. Placed an order online in July and still hadn’t received a refund in October! Felt fobbed off by their customer service representatives who stated that a refund would be processed but this never materialised. At one point I was told that I had collected the item (which wasn’t true). I opened a case with Resolver and have reported to Trading Standards.

If you order online and need to return the item, I would recommend you not to purchase from River Island. Item returned 13/09, they quote 10 days to refund. I have phoned twice and I am still awaiting a refund. They have acknowledged receipt of the item, yet I am being advised up to 72 hours to be reviewed and then 10 days refund. I have ashes this to be escalated as unacceptable and I am awaiting a callback. I’m not holding my breath. No customer service at all

Avoid ! Bought a top from riverisland in Meadowhall and the day I wore it the buttons came off ! I don’t have a local store to return it to so emailed and went on chat and both said tough I have to return it to store ! They charge a fortune for cheap materials ! Will never buy from there again ! Also messaged on fb 10 times and still no reply ! Absolute terrible customer service ! Don’t waste your money here

I ordered a parcel for my birthday this order never came I’ve contacted the numerous of times.
First time they advised they requested refund and they’ll make sure I get a refund this went on and on, all calls are recorded and if you listened to what they said it’s appalling. I even offered them to resolve with a replacement or refund which they didn’t comply with I went back and fourth the customer service I received was appalling . Everytime over 72 hours and I would have to contact them via phone , live chats, I even did complaint emails, this is ridiculous and I still received no refund or replacement for an order I never HAD!!! They have no followed the correct way of dealing with this they haven’t taken any responsibility for my parcel not arriving and I’m extremely dissatisfied. I will proceed with writing reviews on platforms and proceeding with my legal rights and they are not abiding my the law .
This has gone on and on.

I like River Island, however I needed to return an item and my
Local RI closed down last year. I'm disgusted that having received a really nice jumper that I loved, I had to return as it had dirty marks all over it but I have to pay for the return. Also unwilling to order again as say the same thing occurs. No more River Island online shopping for me

River Island stores are very good but there online customer service is the worst Ive ever experienced in any department of any sector!!! I had an online purchase cancelled but not refunded. It took nearly 4 months to get my refund. It took over 50 emails to about a dozen different customer service personnel. My wife had to take time off work to get a letter from her bank and they demanded we send them copies of our bank statements!! We were made to feel like criminals all for a £40 refund. They finally admitted their error and refunded the £40 without even an apology. Neither my wife nor I have ordered anything on line since although we still support the stores, especially our local store in Ballymena where the staff and manager did everything they could to get a resolution. Disgusting behaviour from River Island online customer service!!!!

My experience with RI is going from bad to worse. Not only did my order arrive late, but they are now also ignoring my return/refund despite repeatedly contacting them, supplying proof of postage and tracking info. Absolutely shocking fraudulent conduct. I am now attempting to recoup my money through PayPal, as a last resort. This company should not be trading - and I'm pretty sure they won't be for long if this is how they treat their customers. I will do all I can to report their fraudulent conduct to the relevant bodies, i.e. Trading Standards and other consumer rights organisations. They need to be held to account for scamming people out of their money, and acting like they're above the law.

Great customer service from the River Island Newport store! I went in to collect my order, which was due on Thursday, but one of the team members kindly went out of her way to check the parcels that had just arrived today and found my order for me. That’s what I call excellent customer service – going above and beyond to help. I’m truly grateful for her assistance!
Order number:103224273

Worst customer service I have ever experienced. I was promised a return shipping refund as I had to pay for this myself due to receiving the wrong size. They made the refund in the wrong currency, meaning that it was a fraction of what I paid and furthermore I had to pay for the initial shipping since they only refunded a partial amount.

It has now been more than 3 months. I have sent countless emails and they just claim that they already made the refunds.

I bought a swimsuit to match a pair of beach trousers for holidays in 2 weeks time. I picked the swimsuit up & there was a very noticeable dirty mark on the top. It wasn't possible to reorder as it was out of stock. There was no quality control as it was impossible to pack it & not notice the mark. It had obviously been worn by someone, returned & then sent to me 🤢I sent an email to customer service & they didn't bother to read my message correctly. This meant I had to call them in the UK which costs money as live chat is never available in Ireland. I was promised a discount voucher code which they never sent. So I had to follow up again. I was offered a discount voucher only valid on full price cloths which will expire in 3 weeks. There was no apology, or no mention of trying to do better. I've been a customer of river island for years. I expected so much more from them but they couldn't care less which is really disappointing. It blows my mind that they sent out a dirty swimsuit to me yet they are the ones who feel it's inconvenient to have to deal with me!

I placed an order on 8th September, received the order 9th September. I didn’t like any of the items so I returned them via evri. I received emails from rebound every step of the way. River island received my parcel on the 15th September. I hadn’t a word with regards to the refund so I called customer service on 25th September and was asked to wait until the 28th September for a refund as the agent could see that river island had received the parcel. So I waited until Monday 29th September rung customer service and was told that I had to send proof of delivery and the tracking number which I have done. I’m now waiting on a call back from a manager as there apparently wasn’t one available and now I have to wait a further 48 hours with regards to the refund. This is totally unacceptable from river island and I am so disappointed with all the chasing for my refund. The previous agent had already advised that you had received the parcel. It appears you are just stalling on returning my money.

I am a RI girl, my wardrobe is filled with everything Riverisland. But even a single Happy Birthday message, or a birthday gift or points for purchasing all these years. Nothing.

My birthday is in 2 days, I got gifts and pre birthday messages from all the brands I shop from. M&S made me a customised option based on my dietary.
Boots gave me a points card. Even babyboo gave me discounts on birthday purchase, Samsung just sent me a message this morning.

I wonder if Riverisland is allergic to caring about their customers. Zero birthday wishes... just Nothing.

Worst customer service I have ever experienced. I purchased a bag exactly 2.5 weeks ago from their Croydon Branch and within this time, it has started deteriorating and the leather is coming off. When I sent an enquiry online, the CSR team asked me to visit in store, and when I visited the store, the staff can’t be bothered enough, no courtesy, nothing. Upon me explaining that I had a bad experience, she was saying one thing again and again, this has never happened with us so we can’t do anything. I told her that it has only been 2.5 weeks since I have purchased, and it has only been used indoor, to which she said, “well I wasn’t there so how can I believe it has been used indoor, it looks like a matter of wear and tear, and made me feel as if I was begging for an exchange. She had no courtesy how to treat a customer. My husband has been a loyal customer of river island and that’s why I thought to give it a try but the Croydon Branch staff is so rude and unprofessional. Would never recommend this service to anyone.

Ordered my disabled child some clothes, all came but jacket, said out of stock and will refund me, never got refund calling daily to be passed on to people so rude,telling me its been sent to my bank never did proven this, they kept saying a manager will ring me never did, so out of pocket now won't get my business again so rude in fact it's theft, upon looking on there site coat is in stock for delivery but no way will I be paying again do not order from these online!!!!also seen replys from RI saying email them ref trust pilot review it gets ignored no wounder they are going under disgusting

I decided to stop shopping here since last year after encountering rude staff and what I felt was discriminatory behaviour. It gave me the impression that customer rights are not a priority in this store. I was very disappointed and chose not to return.

Uxbridge, Chimes branch