Mijn Klacht:

Warning to all ZARA’s customers!! Please note that you risk to be accused for fraud when returning items to ZARA. Please pay attention for the following!!

My wife had bought some clothes for our daughter on 30th December 2017 in ZARA Rotterdam Koopgoot. At home we discovered that one t-shirt was labeled on the outside. Normally a label should be inside the shirt. My wife thought this was a production error, and went back to the shop on January 5, 2018 to change/return it.
However, the cashier couldn’t recognize the label attached to the shirt. The manager was called in, and the next moment security too. My wife was set apart and isolated in a separate area. The staff told her that she was accused for fraud, because she tried to return something that does not belong to ZARA. My wife (a mother of a baby of 8 weeks which needed to return home for next breastfeeding) was not allowed to move or to make a phone call. She was deprived of her freedom for next 2 hours. At first the local store manager even claimed that the type of shirt in regard did not belong to ZARA’s assortment at all. My wife tried to appoint the exact location where she found it, but she was not allowed to move around.
After more than 2 hours the police arrived. In the meantime, it became obvious that this type of shirt belongs to ZARA assortment, but with a different label. It is also interesting that the bar code on the receipt did not match with the bar code on the sold item. My wife was asked how she wants to explain that. I think they forgot that it is ZARA’s responsibility to provide a correct receipt that matches with sold goods. A customer is only a receiver of a receipt. Who checks anyway if the bar code on the receipt matches with the bar code on the label? The focus is always on the amount, not on some code below, right?
The way how ZARA staff reacted in this situation is really unheard of. Presumably ZARA could also be dealing with an internal fraud in this case. However, instead of investigating this, my wife was unjustified treated as a thief in front of shopping public, unfairly deprived her of her freedom for more than 2 hours. Disbelieving that this was really happening to her, my wife had an emotional breakdown at some point in time. After police had noted her ID, she was told that she is a suspect and that ZARA will start an investigation. She was also told that she could potentially be prosecuted by ZARA later on.
Unbelievable! This is what my wife had to experience for more than 2 hours because she tried to return something that she bought from ZARA. What a humiliating and stressful situation, during a period when she was actually supposed to feed a baby. Therefore, never again ZARA for us!!!! Good luck to you all who thinks otherwise! You have been warned!

Gewenste Oplossing:

Apologies and compensation for emotional inconveniences caused by ZARA through shameful action towards my wife.