A MARKS & Spencer customer said the firm should have made clearer a change in its refunds policy after she was unable to get £45 back for a dress.

Shirley Read, 53, was unable to return the dress from the store in Eden, High Wycombe because she had waited longer than 35 days.

The period in which customers can get a full refund fell from 90 to 35 days from April 12.

Instead, she was offered £15 but kept the dress.

Her receipt lists the last day she could return the item for a full refund – but Mrs Read said this should have been told to her verbally by staff.

And Mrs Read, a housewife, said 35 days was too short a time.

Mrs Read, of Baring Road, Beaconsfield, said: “I was so upset. I don’t want someone else to go through what I had to go through.”

M&S spokesman Leisa Stewart said: “Following a comprehensive review we updated our refunds and return policy on Sunday April 12.

“Customers with proof of purchase are now entitled to an exchange or refund on goods returned within 35 days of purchase, if they are in a saleable condition.

“The vast majority of our customers already return items, with their receipts, within 28 days.

“Our new policy remains the best on the high street with a refund period of 35 days compared to the majority of our competitors, many of which only offer 28 days.”