Canada Goose says all Chinese customers can return clothes after policy triggers nationalist backlash

The attacks on the high-end winter clothes manufacturer were triggered by the case of a Shanghai woman, who complained that a parka she bought for 11,400 yuan (US$1,790) at a Shanghai retail store in October had a wrongly stitched logo and smelt bad.

But according to the Shanghai Morning News, which reported the story on Tuesday, the woman, identified only by her surname Jia, had been told to sign an exchange policy that stated “unless otherwise provided by applicable laws, all products sold at Canada Goose’s retail stores in mainland China are strictly non-refundable”.

Canada Goose’s official website states that items purchased within 30 days may be returned to any store in the country where it was initially purchased as long as they meet the return conditions, which include being unwashed, unworn and with the original tags still attached.

The case went viral on social media, with users criticising the returns policies and the quality of products, and also attracted the attention of the Shanghai Consumer Council (SCC), which held regulatory talks with the company on Wednesday and will hold more talks next week.

The China Consumers Association and state media described the brand as “arrogant and superior”, while the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily published a commentary that alluded to the saying “the customer is king” and accusing it of “riding roughshod over its customers”.

On Thursday the state broadcaster CCTV aired a clip titled “Double-Standard Canada Goose”, which accused the brand of setting up multiple obstacles for customers who wanted to return goods and criticising the terms of the contracts signed by consumers as incoherent.