Zara - A tragic titanic

27 November 2019

I am a deeply disconcerted, disheartened and discouraged customer.

My first tragic encounter at Zara was a few months ago when I bought my mother a few items for her birthday. A while later when she tried to exchange one of the items, she was denied because she did not have a receipt. This information would be well accepted by customers and comp**** with but there is no signage in any of the Zara stores that is visible to the customers' eye that might say "If you are purchasing an item as a gift, please make sure to ask for a gift receipt as an exchange on the item will be denied without it" - but there is no signage of this sort.

My second dramatic ordeal was when I tried to exchange a gift I personally received from a friend for my own birthday (in September). In my ignorance, I thought I was valiant because I had a gift receipt... Only to find that I was too late because I tried to return the item after 60 days and not 30 days. My divergence here once again is not in that the T&C's are on the back of the slip. My defense is that I only received this gift 2 weeks ago because both of our (me & my friend's) schedules were full and that was the only time we could see each other - but alas, the sad ending here is that I missed the 30 day deadline. I feel this timeline is unreasonable in some sense. I wish that the customer could be afforded 60 or atleast 90 days to make an exchange.

This for me is where the point of departure is. Zara has an outstanding and strong brand image BUT for me, it is void of the substance that makes an individual customer feel like they are NOT simply a number and an employee of a system they must comply with but that, the individuality, the quirkyness, the uniqueness that is embodied in the brand would similarly be app**** when dealing with each individual customer's case/enquiry/query.

I think Zara could take some pointers from Woolworths, Mr Price, Foschini and so many who are probably not making as much revenue on clothing as Zara is. BUT they have delivered the product without forgoing the service as well as making the customer feel seen and heard.

I wish this ending was not so. It makes me think of the Titanic - so promising but only ending in potential never fully realized.

I would love to hear from someone so that we might collectively find a more heroic ending.

Kirsty Marillier.