I bought two pairs of the "Gordon" shoes (lovely brogues by the way, can't fault them - although other bad reviews would have me believe they'll be falling to bits soon, watch this space!) as a consequence, I was awarded 2x "free gifts" for passing a threshold.

I took the free gifts aspect at face value, products I didn't ask for that were given to me as a customer spending a nice chunk of money. I opened the aftershave and the boxers and thought "not bad, these guys have a new customer for life!" I told my best man (the reason I bought the shoes was for my upcoming wedding.) he bought a pair for the same shoes within 2 weeks of mine arriving. Fantastic news for Oswin Hyde, 2x customers, all because of those lovely free gifts making such an impact on my experience.

Fast forward to me returning one pair of shoes, I looked at the refund receipt and saw only a third of the amount they cost refunded, what gives? Turns out, as a consequence of me assuming a free gift, means a free gift, I'd been charged for them.

I contacted customer support, a person named Gie helped me and essentially said, all items have a monetary value and free doesn't mean free.

As a result, I decided not to pay over the odds for "free" boxers and aftershave (which together somehow, totalled more than the amount refunded for the shoes - £49 for those and £39 for the shoes???) I requested that Gie post the shoes back to me that I returned (which cost me the £39 that was "refunded" plus delivery to have them posted back to me, so overall, my return process technically cost me more!) why on earth would I pay over the odds for something I didn't even want in the first place.

The moral of my purchase is, take note of other bad reviews, beware the free gifts and don't open anything unless you are prepared to pay for them.