What's gone wrong with Rivers Clothing?

ArskinF on 30/12/2022 - 11:10

I realise that the company https://rivers.com.au is a a shadow of the once high quality clothing provider it was back in the 90s, but if my recent experience is a guide it really has gone to pieces.

Twice, once in September and again at the end of November, I've placed substantial on line orders with it. Neither was ever honoured

The September one should have served a warning; weeks went by without any updates. Eventually I placed three successive online contact inquiries during the course of a fortnight. The last got answered, simply telling me they were busy and understaffed. A week later I received a refund credit from them into my Paypal account and the order was cancelled.

I then placed another order on 25th November. Again, no feed back or communication. The online order info suggested nothing had been processed by 20th December, so I raised another contact form inquiry. No reply to date, but I did receive an email this morning that a refund has been processed by them, due to be paid by 4th January.

Needless to state Rivers is now off my shopping list, but I still wonder WTF they are doing and why are they still in business?

And maybe if you are buying online from them, be careful. You never know…

Fashion & Apparel

Related Stores

Rivers Australia
Rivers Australia

Comments

  • Muzeeb on 30/12/2022 - 11:27
    +6

    I then placed another order on 25th November.

    Reminds me of this

    • ArskinF on 30/12/2022 - 11:44
      +1

      What are you insinuating?

      :-) :-D

  • holdenmg on 30/12/2022 - 11:30
    +1

    Hi,

    I don't think I'd go with online ordering anymore, lots of Shops have closed too.

    Fire an E-mail off to Fair Trading and ask them if Rivers.com.au can offer Goods that they just don't have.

  • core101 on 30/12/2022 - 11:35
    +9

    They used to manufacture their products in Sebastopol/Ballarat. I think they went downhill, when they switched their business model to importing, poor quality Chinese products.

  • Hybroid on 30/12/2022 - 11:40
    +4

    Also saw them as a cheap low quality clothing store selling low quality Made in China stuff. Interesting to hear they weren’t always such.

    • ArskinF on 30/12/2022 - 11:46
      +5

      I still have and wear some of those exceptional cotton shirts, trousers etc, made in Ballarat, as someone mentioned, back in the 90s.

  • Drakesy on 30/12/2022 - 11:49
    +6

    shadow of the once high quality clothing provider it was back in the 90s

    Not sure if serious
    Lets just be honest
    Rivers was never classed as high quality

    • EllaPearl on 12/01/2023 - 21:44

      It was much better quality in the 90s. Comparable in price and quality to Country Road. The shops were always nice and the in-store service was excellent. It was mostly out of my price range in the late 90s, and aimed at professionals (I was a student).

      • Drakesy on 13/01/2023 - 01:08

        Even in the 90's you were looking at say $20 for a shirt, and almost every store had huge markdowns though

        • EllaPearl on 13/01/2023 - 01:13

          It was nowhere near that cheap in my city! I would have shopped there more often.

  • ArskinF on 30/12/2022 - 11:54
    +3

    Disagree. To wit, half a dozen cotton shirts hanging in my wardrobe. The shirts are good as, bought in the late 1990s, just before the Rivers business model changed.

    Mind you, those shirts were not cheap, IIRC.

    • Cheaplikethebird on 30/12/2022 - 13:11

      Not sure if you realise but since the 90s clothing quality of major brands has dropped dramatically, it's all about pumping out quantity over quality now. Decent quality clothing for reasonable prices still exists if you know where to look but you won't find it in any major retailers and not a lot of 'bargains'.

  • lunchbox99 on 30/12/2022 - 12:37
    +8

    Rivers are like Bonds. Moved to making everything overseas and became like Kmart quality. I say cut out the middle man and just buy at Kmart.

    • iminabrons on 31/12/2022 - 14:46

      Two weeks before Xmas I ordered 13 T-shirts from Kmart with some other items.
      I knew half of them would be utter junk but good for messy work because they were $2-4 each. The other ones were $7.

      A few days went by and then day by day and one by one all the cheaper T-shirts were no longer in stock and I was given a refund. I would not have ordered anything if they didn't have the offer for the really cheap T-shirts.
      The "old bait and switch" but now with an online version. Kmart FK'em.

      • Quantumcat on 31/12/2022 - 18:23

        You should be able to get a refund on everything. Similar thing happened to me a few years ago with an EB order, I ordered loads of heavily discounted stuff and a few other things just for the free postage. If course all the heavily discounted stuff was out of stock even though I was able to order and pay. I was able to return everything else for a total refund stating I only bought it for the other items that they couldn't fulfil.

        • iminabrons on 01/01/2023 - 14:22

          The only problem was the other items I bought I need then not later.

  • USER DC on 30/12/2022 - 13:04
    -1

    Mate given them a couple email, try to get a refund if no reply then use that evidence for chargeback & get the money back (unless you paid using some gift card, then I guess you'll have to settle with gift card money back)

  • Transient on 30/12/2022 - 13:15

    There have been a few articles about fashion stores such as Rivers facing financial distress over the past several years, especially since covid: https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/rivers-mille…

    Can be difficult to receive delivery or money back, especially if they are cutting costs or in receivership.

  • afah0447 on 31/12/2022 - 10:56

    Rivers are reknown for being amongst the worst users of exploitative cheap overseas labour. They all do it but Rivers had been singled out numerous times for being particularly bad.

    Their clothes are so poor quality and not that cheap I'm surprised they are still in business and people purchase their stuff anymore.

  • LenLever on 31/12/2022 - 19:50
    +1

    I suggest that readers look at my complaint 8 months ago reflected on ACA Ch9 in which details were given by dozens of complaints ripping off people despite their response to ACA at the end of the documentary that they delivered 98% of all internet ordered goods within 10 days - What BS - To deal with them you have to pay upfront and they dont send tracking info They must be sitting with hundreds of thousands of Dollars of money paid in good faith, not responding to emails and not refunded by them

    Retailer in hot water with customers claiming they feel ripped off | A Current Affair - YouTube 19 April 2022

    Retailer in hot water with customers claiming they feel ripped off | A Current Affair
    Subscribe here: http://9Soci.al/v6PJ50GjSKI | The fashion group behind well-known labels Rivers, Katies and Millers is in hot water, with hundreds of angry customers claiming they feel ripped off. (Broadcast April 19, 2022) Stream full episodes on 9Now: https://9now.app.link/5Kxzlq5dX6 Follow ACA on Facebook: http://facebook.com/ACurrentAffair9 …
    www.youtube.com

  • mrdean on 06/01/2023 - 13:56

    Less to do with the company, more to do with the economic policies enacted by governments to incentivize moving production & jobs offshore to countries with lower labour costs & lower environmental standards. Part of the transition of the nations manufacturing economy to a service economy.

    Basically, it's not all Rivers fault. Can't blame the family for doing what they did. Some of the older, made here in Australia boots & shirts were of decent quality. But, like most small companies, they were squeezed out the market. Unfair & people should be angry about it.

  • EllaPearl on 12/01/2023 - 21:58
    +1

    They're now part of Mosaic Brands Ltd. which in addition to Rivers owns Crossroads, Katies, Millers, Rockmans, Beme, Noni B, W. Lane, Autograph and Ezibuy. They all seem to run on the same business model. Each website contains thousands of dirt-cheap clothing items from all those brands. Everything's always heavily discounted, and the customer service is pathetic.

    They all look like brands in crisis to me - just giant bargain bins.

    I haven't bought from Rivers in years, but I read up on Katies last year because they sent me a birthday voucher. You could only use it on full-price, Katies brand items and I couldn't find a single full-price, Katies brand item on the whole chaotic website. I sent them an email, out of curiosity more than anything, but never heard back. I then read a bunch of reviews from people describing experiences like yours - placing orders that are never being fulfilled, and struggling to get a response from customer service.

    I would avoid any of these brands like the plague.

  • davoid on 15/02/2024 - 19:08
    +1

    I am having trouble understanding what's going on with Rivers. If you go to the website and look for men's shoes, the 'search by sizes' section has no 'size 9' or 43?!

    If you see a shoe you like and click it, they are all out of most sizes.
    So they have a hundred different shoes but actually about 10 you can actually buy.
    If you do find a shoe in your size, then when you use the 'check stock in stores' there's none within 25 kms?! What the effing hell?

    I went into the Waverley Gardens store today: all the way from Vermont (18km), to collect some size 9 Shagga slipper boots (only store in the East with any stock), and half the lights were out. I asked them about it, and they just joked around and said budget cuts.

    I thought I'd look for shoes on special in size 9 while I was there, and there was about 30 shoes, of about 4 styles available. The regular shoes were all $70 to $80.
    Who the hell are they kidding? It's all Chinese stuff they get made for $5-10…baffling.

    Going by my recent experiences, they are going broke soon. It's a shame because their shoes are a little bit better than Kmart/Target. Even 10 years ago they were much better quality. It is sad.

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