Celeb’s hissy fit does the trick in getting a refund

I’ve 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.

Her husband 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, which 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 take this up with Zara’s head office – via e-mail; they don’t take calls – they reply with 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 all its 2 000-plus stores in 88 countries.

And by “proof payment” they mean a Zara receipt – not a bank slip or statement because they lack details of the item/s bought.

Celebrity’s husband argued that as it was a gift, he had no 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-inlaw found the Zara slip and the celeb then 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.