I bought two items online, at great expense. One arrived with threads already pulling, so I didn't…read morebother trying it on, and decided to return both. I visited the King's Road store, admittedly on a weekend, but it was a terrible experience. I have worked in retail on the King's Road and know just how stressful it can be, nonetheless, I was never allowed to overlook customer service.
Firstly, there are two separate queues for buying and returning. While I think this is an intelligent idea overall, it is not well signposted, and the staff in the fitting rooms don't tell you. I had to wait for 30 minutes at the buying till, only to be told to go to the returns queue, and wait for another 30 minutes.
Secondly, they seem to treat everyone trying to return items they have bought online like suspects. I wasn't allowed to exchange the products I had bought. I was told I'd have to pay for new items on the day. My refund for my first purchase was made, but it takes up to 12 days to arrive in my bank account. Why should I have to be out of pocket for a fortnight? I had already spent my money.
Thirdly, when I raised a perfectly legitimate concern about a lack of signposting in the store about the queue system, and that customers who have already paid for items should be able to exchange, I was told by the manager that I should have asked about these policies when I entered the store. Why is that the case? Customers are not obliged to understand complex policies of firms - they are not employees!
I was in two minds about posting a bad review, as I know that working in retail can be horrible, and I wouldn't want to leave hard-working staff feeling deflated.
However, Zara's business model seems to have gone very down hill. They rely far too heavily on self-service. This may work in a supermarket when you know exactly what you need, but it simply isn't suitable for a company that sells clothes at mid-range price point.
Overall, I would say that the company's focus 'selling fast' has undermined the customer experience, and has left staff feeling disillusioned. Great shame, as it used to be a great experience.