Iron-clad Zara policy upended by tantrum

I have finally discovered what it takes for a Zara manager to bend the global fashion retail group's infamously unshakeable returns rules - a TV celebrity throwing a hissy fit in the store.

The husband of the star in question revealed this in an e-mail to In Your Corner, since it was his too-small shirt and too-big shorts, bought by his mother-in-law as Christmas gifts from Zara's Sandton branch, that caused all the trouble.

Two days after Christmas he returned them to that store "in perfect condition with the tags on", but a staffer delivered Zara's golden rule: absolutely no returns without a receipt.

When furious customers took this up with Zara's head office - by e-mail because they don't take calls - the reply was this: "Zara does not accept stock back with no proof payment [sic] in South Africa or abroad. We cannot make an exception in your case as this policy is applied equally to all."

The Inditex Group, which owns the Zara brand, imposes this policy in 2000-plus stores in 88 countries.

By "proof payment" they mean a Zara receipt - not a bank slip or statement because they lack details about the item/s bought.

The celebrity's husband argued that, as it was a gift, he did not have a slip, but that fell on deaf ears, so he "began shouting at the top of my voice" before storming out of the store.

About three weeks later the mother-in-law found the Zara slip and the celeb took it, and the clothing, to the Cresta branch for a credit.

But she was still turned down, because by then Zara's 30-day limit for returns had lapsed.

Then it happened.

"My wife, a well-known celebrity, had by now also lost her patience. She threatened to tweet to all her followers if she did not receive a credit note in exchange for the clothing."

The manager gave her what she wanted, clearly figuring that, contrary to the company's stated "no-exceptions" policy, it was a good idea to break the rules in this case. This well-known celeb has in excess of 100000 Twitter followers.

As tempting as it is to name her, I'm honouring the husband's appeal to "keep her out of it".

He asked: "Can a retailer legally insist on a proof of payment before they accept a returns-product with the tags intact?"

I told him, as I tell other consumers almost daily, that contrary to popular belief, no store is legally obliged to take back any non-defective goods.

In terms of the Consumer Protection Act, only when an item is defective, within six months of purchase, can you demand your choice of a refund, replacement or repair.

But because most stores do take back "change of heart" purchases or unsuitable gifts as a customer service, many people mistakenly regard this as their legal right.

Zara's policies on the return of "change of heart" purchases are not out of step with those of other major local retailers. Items must be in a saleable condition, returned within a certain time frame and only for a credit or exchange.

But what sets Zara apart - and generates many complaints - is that no discretion is applied. Well, in the case of non-celebs.

Last year a 70-something woman wrote to me after returning a too-small, R2600 leather jacket her son had bought her from Zara, with the receipt, but because it was the day after the 30-day cutoff, they refused the return.

A little discretion on occasion would cost nothing and earn a lot of goodwill.

Moral of the story: make no assumptions about a store's returns policies with regard to unwanted rather than faulty products. Find out what they are before you make that payment, and when buying gifts, always request a gift receipt.

• The only time you can change your mind and return a non-defective purchase for a refund - and only within a week of the transaction - is if you bought it as a result of direct marketing, such as a telesales call

Zara responds

"Since your last article on Zara, our focus in South Africa has been to train our stores and managers to focus on educating customers about our returns policy - verbally and via prominent notices in our stores - on the importance of a valid receipt for Zara for refunds and exchanges," said the Inditex Group's international spokesman, Jesús Echevarria Hernández.

"We have seen positive results of the training as our regular customers are aware of our policy and always present a valid receipt within 30 days for refunds or exchanges for both personal purchases and gifts."

'No joy for me'

• This story infuriated reader Louise Herr who had tried to return a "too small" R1,100 men’s jacket with its tags intact to a Zara store but was refused because she did not have a receipt for the purchase. 

She wrote to the retail group's customer service division, saying: "It seems if you are a celebrity then you can get a refund but if you are just the man in the street this is impossible".

(In fact, the celebrity in question was given a credit note.)

Responding to Herr in an email copied to In Your Corner, Zara SA said: "The manager mentioned in the article did not follow company policy and as a result we are following internal company disciplinary procedures. Our global returns and exchanges policy (followed in 88 countries and 2,000 stores) remains unchanged as it still applies as it was communicated to you in the past".

GET IN TOUCH: You can contact our consumer columnist Wendy Knowler with your queries via email: consumer@knowler.co.za or on Twitter: @wendyknowler. She's In Your Corner for consumer issues.