Woman says Boohoo told her to simply wash ‘new’ clothes when they arrived smelling of ‘smoke and booze’

A woman claims she received £80-worth of clothes from Boohoo.com that ‘stunk of stale smoke and booze from a leaky stowaway hip flask’ – and when she complained she was told to simply wash the items.

Leanne Oliver, from Manchester, says she was horrified when she opened the package to find there was a flask containing Malibu that leaked onto the ‘used items’ – and made them sticky.

She also says the package stunk of stale cigarettes. To make matters worse the retailer then apparently suggested that Leanne simply wash the affected items.

The mum-of-three believes a previous customer had used the handbag on a night out, accidentally returning her used hip flask when she sent the bag back to Boohoo.com.

To make matters worse, the clothes Leanne had brought were actually Christmas presents for her sister, so it was extra upsetting to realise that her gifts had been ruined.

‘I spent about £80 all together and got a couple of tops, a bag, a belt and a pair of boots,’ says Leanne.

‘When the parcel arrived I could smell that it stunk of cigarettes, I don’t smoke so remember thinking it smelled disgusting.

‘At first I thought it was the courier and that she must have been smoking in the car but when I opened it I realised it was the stuff inside.

‘The packaging was sticky and when I opened the clutch bag, which still had the tag on it, there was a hip flask inside that smelled like Malibu.

‘Everything smelled so bad, it had obviously leaked. Whoever it belonged to had obviously used it on a night out and then just sent the scratched bag back.’

Leanne complained to Boohoo on Facebook, and she couldn’t believe it when a customer service advisor suggested washing the affected items.

‘Hey Leanne, I’m really sorry to hear that, I’m quite unsure as to how that flask got in your order,’ commented a Boohoo advisor.

‘Have you tried washing your items to see if the smell will come out? – Zahid.’

Leanne says that receiving the advice to wash the items ‘wasn’t good enough’ – she even laughed at the suggestion.

‘It was one of those things that was so bad it makes you laugh,’ she adds.

In her original message to Boohoo Leanne said: ‘Hi I’m so disappointed my order’s just come smelling highly of cigs, there’s even a used stinking hip flask in the clutch bag. I don’t drink or smoke so I’m really not pleased.

‘Everything is smelly and disgusting, I needed this stuff for Xmas.’

After the first response, Leanne felt compelled to write back.