Return nightmare at Country Road Canal Walk

My sister, who is visiting from overseas, attempted to return a pair of shoes to Country Road in Canal Walk. (She had bought the shoes from the Cavendish branch 7 days earlier). She went to the Customer Service desk, but was told Country Road staff had to authorise the return. Customer Services then attempted to call the Country Road staff and get them to come over and assist with my sister's return as procedures dictated, but to no avail. My sister was then forced to find the Country Road counter herself, accompanied by a Customer Services staff member. When they arrived they found 3 Country Road staff members chatting to one another at the counter. The Customer Services staff member, who had been very helpful, was obviously dismayed and embarrassed at this. The Country Road staff were unhelpful, rude and belligerent and insisted that the shoes had to be returned at Cavendish. As my sister lives abroad and didn't have time to go back to Cavendish (an unreasonable proposition anyway!) she escalated this to a manager who was also rude, so she escalated to a higher level of seniority, at which point the return was authorised. It must be noted that the shoes which my sister bought were a display pair at the Cavendish branch, so they had been tried on by numerous customers. My sister explained this when she tried to return the shoes and asked the staff repeatedly to call Cavendish as every pair of that particular white shoe at Cavendish was in the same condition and their staff could corroborate. My sister's explanation was never considered; the other branch was never called; the staff were just unrelentingly rude and unprofessional. As a premium brand I would have expected FAR better service from Woolworths and Country Road. As a longstanding customer myself I am very, very disappointed. Perhaps with a declining HEPS Woolworths should think about paying attention to staff training and customer retention.