Zara

Khan, the dept manager at Zara in Fairview Mall has no respect for customers. He is unaware of the store’s return policy guidelines and makes false claims about the purchased goods. We had to go to Yorkdale Mall’s Zara to get things sorted.

I’m not normally one to write formal complaints, but this time, I’ll make an exception. I really don’t want to be rude, but never in my life have I seen worse customer service than at the Zara at Toronto’s Eaton Centre.
I went into the store on Thursday, November 19, at around 13:10. I asked a sales associate if they had a pair of high heeled shoes that I saw online (I was told by the Queen St. location that the Eaton Centre had one pair left), and she told me that it might be in the back. She told me to «wait here,» and that she would be back. And wait I did. I was standing around for 20 (yes, 20) minutes before I saw the same sales associate on the other side of the store, folding some clothes. It appeared that she had completely forgotten about me. «Ok,» I thought. «I’ll just ask someone else.» I asked another sales associate about the shoes, and she told me she’d check the floor for them. Again, I was told to wait, and that she would be right back. Fifteen minutes later, that sales associate walked right by me and was helping someone else. Once again, I was forgotten about. I shrugged it off and walked around the store looking for the shoes myself, but did not find them. Altogether, I believe I wasted 40 (yes, 40) minutes in that store, over something that could’ve taken 15.
A few hours later, I called the store from my apartment to request to put the shoes on hold, since going into the store and asking for help proved to be fruitless. The woman on the phone told me to «call back with the reference number (despite the fact that I described the shoes), and abruptly hung up. I called back later with the reference number, and asked for the women’s department. I was on hold for 8 minutes before someone answered the phone. Lo and behold, I was connected to the KIDS department, not the women’s. I asked yet again for the women’s. I was on hold for 15 minutes before I hung up.
I called back, this time ready to talk to a manager about the abysmal service I was receiving. I asked for the manager of the women’s department, and was again put on hold. Then, someone picked up, and I asked if they were the manager. They said they weren’t (of COURSE they weren’t. What did I expect?), and I was yet again put on hold. After another 15 minutes, I hung up.
I walked into the store again, and asked to speak to the manager in person. I very calmly told her the situation, and she said it was a «miscommunication.» OK, that’s standard. Could she please track down the one pair of shoes that I was told the store carried? She told me to wait. I waited 10 minutes. She came back and said they didn’t have my size, I would have to order them online. I said, «OK.» She said I would have to pay for them upfront. My body recoiled at the thought of giving this store my money, but I didn’t want to walk away from this ordeal empty handed. She told me to wait, while she fetched the iPod to carry out my transaction. I waited. I waited another 10 minutes. She came back and said the one she has is broken, I would have to wait some more while she found a working one. I walked out.
I calculated that before I went into the store the second time, I was waiting an hour and nine minutes for absolutely nothing. I don’t know if this is because it’s seasonal, but this has truly been a terrible experience.
I kept my cool, despite the absolutely ANNOYING circumstances. I don’t know if it was because of the way that I looked, but I’ve never seen such disregard for business. Is it because I’m Middle Eastern? Is it because I’m a student? I don’t know. To be honest, I hope that this behaviour was unique to me, because then that would mean that they treat EVERYONE like this.
Again, this has been my worst experience at a store. It was disorganized, irritating, and offensive. Please, Zara, make sure this doesn’t happen again. For your own sake.

I love the fashion sense of Zara — from the basics to the elegant to the funky. Everything is here and you can always find something to buy. I love love love their necklaces… the bigger the better I say! The only thing I do not like about them is that there pricing seems to be all over the place… a dress for $ 59…but then a simple top for $ 49. It doesn’t make sense to me out all. I absolutely love their sales b/​c it’s an actual sale… not like just $ 10 off the regular price and they have racks and racks of sale items at the end of summer (hint — run run to the nearest Zara — a great sale going on now!). Plus this is one of the few stores that you can actually return a sale item! I hate fitting rooms and usually just buy the item and try it on at my own home so this is perfect for me. You can look amazing with little effort here. The only reason I give it 3 stars (4 stars for the clothes) is that I find the cashing out tends to be pretty slow. and it’s difficult to find some one on the floor at times.

As a present my boyfriend received an outfit bought here from his brother. They weren’t his style so we came with the gift receipt to get something else.
Apparently there’s no store credit so we had to choose something else in the store for exactly the same price. Exactly. The two items he picked out were less than the gift receipt so the cashier wouldn’t allow the exchange. We couldn’t go over either, even if we were willing to pay the difference. It’s a really weird policy. For anyone who plans on gifting a friend something from zara I would suggest they close another brand.
Also, why is the female side so messy? And the male side neat? Is obvious the female side gets shopped harder so more staff needs to be there to fold. It looks so bad for a zara.

I am never visiting this Zara, or any Zara again.
The problems began when I approached the cash register: the cashier told me there were no tags on the jeans that I wanted to purchase, and that the staff would look for another pair in the same size.
Eventually, I was told that there were no jeans in the store of the same style and size, and therefore, I could not purchase the jeans. I asked how it could be that with money, the product, and the desire to purchase, that I was being refused the opportunity to purchase the product. The cashier simply repeated that the jeans could not be sold with no tags.
I could not understand why a product code could not be searched, or another pair in the same style but different size could not be used to register the sale. The cashier brushed me off with a cursory apology and did not offer any alternatives. There was no attempt to suggest a different product, or an offer to bring the manager into the situation. The cashier clearly wanted to get rid of the «problem.» Apparently at Zara, they call paying customers «problems.»
I left the store feeling unappreciated, unsatisfied, and jean-​less (I wanted to buy those jeans!) There is absolutely no excuse for my treatment.
It’s unfortunate that this was my first ever (and now, likely the last) visit to Zara.

Can I just say that I love that there’s a Zara so close to home? It’s been open for about a year and it has saved me a few times when I was having a closet emergency! This one is not nearly as busy or messy as the Eaton Centre and Yorkdale locations.
This location has women’s wear and menswear, but not the childrens line. The fitting rooms are nice and spacious, and have mirrors and stools inside. If the line up at the women’s side gets long, try the men’s side — it’s usually empty! I like that they don’t follow me around and smother me with customer service here — they let me shop in peace! If I need something it’s not too hard to track down a sale associate since they all wear black (look for the young girls NOT carrying a purse!)
The stuff rotates fast so something that you see one week may not be there the next — or even better it might be on sale! Some items are a little too fashion forward for my conservative wardrobe — but there is something to suit all tastes here. The shoe selection in this store is awesome, and they have a nice section at the back of the store with trendy «street-​style» fashions. I like that I can come in pretty much any time of year and they will have wardrobe essentials like t-​shirts and sweaters.
Zara’s return/​exchange policy is very good as far as I’m concerned. If you buy something at full price you have 30 days for a full refund or exchange. I once went over the 30 days by a couple of days and was still able to return something at this store — so the fact that that they were flexible and nice to me means that I’ll shop here more. Anything that is discounted is final sale — absolutely no refunds or exchanges. They are very firm about this and I understand why — something that has been marked down from $ 50 to $ 10 has obviously been in the store for a while and they want to clear it out for new merchandise. If someone comes back 30 days later to refund an item that was part of the winter collection and it’s now late Spring, who would re-​purchase it? In my experiences shopping here, the cashier always reminds me if something is final sale, just in case I have a last minute change of heart.
One weird thing I’ve noticed here is that they don’t do discounts on damaged items. I chatted with one of the sales girls about this once and she told me that it’s a corporate policy — they would rather not sell it than «cheapen» the coporate brand by offering random discounts here and there. I figures most stores would prefer to just sell it and get rid of it, but oh well.
It’s almost time for Fall/​Winter stuff — my favourite time of year to go shopping, and I’m sure I’ll end up up spending a good chunk of my paycheck at Zara.