Zara — Local services in Paris

On the 27th of August, I entered the store to purchase a pair of white pants, and ultimately also chose a leather jacket. I was directed to use the self-checkout system, which I had never used before. The system only required me to place items down rather than scan them individually, so I reasonably believed both items had been processed and paid for. I left the store under the assumption that the transaction was complete.

Upon exiting, alarms went off and I was immediately stopped by store security. I complied fully and followed their directions. Despite my cooperation, I was subjected to an unnecessarily aggressive and intimidating response. Security personnel searched my bag, confiscated it, and repeatedly shouted at me in French, even though I clearly explained I only spoke English.

I was then escorted through the store and publicly accused of theft. I presented proof of payment through my bank statement and repeatedly offered to resolve the matter. Instead, I was surrounded by multiple security guards and staff members, publicly called a thief, and denied the ability to communicate effectively due to the language barrier.

I also note the following: • Security demanded my physical ID, which I did not have on me, and refused to accept a digital copy. • I requested that the police be contacted to properly handle the matter, but this request was ignored. • I offered to pay again, but was prevented from doing so due to poor reception and the store’s payment system. • The situation was only de-escalated once my father (a French speaker) arrived, at which point the assistant store manager began speaking English—something which could have been done earlier. • Ultimately, I was forced to pay again under pressure, and only afterwards did your manager admit that the self-checkout system sometimes fails to register items.

• ADDITIONALLY I REQUESTED THE NAMES OF ALL THE SECURITY STAFF AND ZARA STORE EMPLOYEES, WHICH THEY REFUSED. (A very strange thing to do if you had dealt with the situation correctly and lawfully)

This entire situation caused me extreme embarrassment and distress, and I believe your staff’s handling of the matter breached both customer service standards and legal boundaries. Under French law, private security may only detain individuals when caught in the act and must act proportionately, handing them over to the police without delay. In my case, this did not occur, and the level of force and public humiliation used was wholly disproportionate.

‼️ If you read the other reviews you can tell this is a common occurrence...

Today a terrifying situation happened in the store, the store security guards did not let me into the store to pick up my 8-year-old child, whom I left for literally 2 minutes to meet my husband at the store door. As a result, I spent 15 minutes trying to explain to the security guards that I needed to take my child out of the store, not make any purchases, not go to the checkout, but just go in and pick up my child, who was sitting and waiting for me and dad in the store. Security answered that no, it’s impossible, the store is closing, no one is allowed to come in. At the same time, there were still 15 minutes left before closing, and there were still a lot of people in the store. To keep me out, the entrance to the store was guarded by 5 security guards at once! nothing prevented one of them from going inside with me so as not to allow me to use their services, but only to take my child! the child was there alone, but they didn’t care about it, how he felt during those 15 minutes didn’t bother them at all, they didn’t show the slightest sympathy, they didn’t offer to go with them and take the child out. This is an absolutely disgusting store, and your security staff are simply not human! when I screamed to call me a manager, no one did it, only after my husband tried to break into the store, raised a big scandal and almost a fight broke out, the manager came out and went with him and we rescued the child from captivity, words cannot describe what emotions my child and I went through! It’s monstrous to treat...

My recent visit to Zara left me incredibly frustrated due to the poor service I received when requesting a tax refund for a 48-hour-old invoice. The cashier I dealt with was extremely rude and dismissive.

When I presented the invoice, he claimed that French law prohibits tax refunds for invoices older than 48 hours. I politely explained that I had carefully read the French tax refund policy and found no such rule. He then changed his story, stating it was a Zara company policy. Again, I pointed out that there was no mention of this policy anywhere. His only response was, "This is the rule!" before disrespectfully pushing the invoice back to me without processing the refund.

His behavior was completely unacceptable. He was unprofessional and lacked the basic courtesy expected when dealing with customers, especially tourists. I ended the conversation by reminding him that as a visitor to his country, I expected to be treated with more respect, a standard I've come to appreciate from other Parisians.

This experience left me with a very negative impression of Zara's customer service. Staff like this cashier do not reflect well on the company or the city's reputation for hospitality. A person with such a poor attitude should not be in a...