Ohh my god – bad service is something I just can’t handle …….

The lovely local working girls are as nice as you want to treat them…. so YOU could try being nice too.

GOD… it is ONLY capital… shoppingggg

And yes Zara staff do not get great wages. That is the store ethic that gets YOU the cheapy clothes you crave.
Get some humanity.
or
TRY working there
and
stop moaning or
stop shopping there

This applies to nearly ALL sales staff in Spain……not only Zara…. !

Nice and fresh take on the blog roll here, i like your incisive observations of the absence of customer care in an industry that should, theoretically be putting all out to deliver the best possible kind.
Some places really have the shopping experience down to a T – including smiles and welcoming attitude – and they’re the ones that put chain stores of the likes of Zara to shame. Its good however that you moderate from your own experience how being paid poorly or treated with little respect in the workplace are dont necessarily mean you cant put your own into things. I work a rubbish job, but keeping my own smile and welcoming attitude helps me get through the day…and i know the customers appreciate ultimately…and so do i! Waiting for the next article!
PS. like your “home blog” too!

Zara is total tat; buy quality clothing and it will last you a lifetime.

Jessie – you should really call yourself Fashie, your sooo cooal, I totally relate – everybody hates me too…..

What is this summer hole writing or the OP getting girlie girlie ?

Thanks for the support Leia, much appreciated, and it’s nice to see that most of you got where I was coming from :)

Customer service in Spain has always been quite bad, but I have noticed how some brands are working on their sales teams to be more welcoming and helpful – which will only translate in better sales. I was pleasantly surprised by the staff in Etam today, bright smiles and positive energy as soon as I walked through the door.

Zara simply fails greatly on that side, even H&M staff are more helpful and welcoming… and their price tags are cheaper.

Hahahahaha…. the whole country of Spain has such a sorry attitude, one time I was making a not so positive comment at the Barajas Airport, and the guy behind me say aloud ” just don’t comeback to Spain ever” I had been to Spain millions of times and I love it.. but the peoples attitude is so terrible…no wonder why Argentines have the same personality they inherited from the Spaniards

If you want to buy something in a shop the assistants simply allow you to do that. Don’t expect gratitude from them, you got what you wanted, they are doing you a favour. They have wonderfull work contracts that mean as long as they do the absolute minimum their job is safe and we get the absolute minimum back, our change. If you try a different retailer do you think they care?

Fred ,Ladies do not want their clothes to last a lifetime

Men do. Zara clothing doesn’t even last a month, never mind a lifetime.

you cant judge every girl from zara just cause you had a few bad experiences ! maybe try wearing the zara items you wear a bit better and then just maybe…..we will provide you with great customer service ;)

Well I used to work for them! They are a horrible company! My manage locked me into the stock room and they tried to blame it on me! But they knew I would take them to court so they paid me to keep quiet! Their clothes are bad quality! Ask any current employee about how many items are returned due to bad quality! My managers used to humiliate us in front of customers and shout at us! We were told we would finish work at 8.30 most days and we would finish work at 10.30! So don’t blame them for looking misrable!

I’m working at Zara now and it’s horrible. Both my managers were rude and abrasive to me on my first day. I had no training and was thrown onto the floor. They schedules are so wacky and constantly changing, I can tell I’m not one of their favorites, so I’m on call when people call in sick or don’t show up. I’ve always been on time and wanted to learn but they didn’t want to teach me anything!
I need the money so I have no choice but to suck it up. They’re are non communicative, moody, one moment and in rare moments, somewhat friendly. It’s driving me crazy. Some of the sales associates I’ve met have been nice but that’s about it. The customers well it depends sometimes nice, sometimes they treat you like you’re their slave or something, and talk down to you because they think they’re so “upscale”. The clothing is nice, some of it but a lot seems overpriced and mass produced. I can’t wait to get out of there and be able to finally relax! I can’t take it much longer.

I used to work in zara over 5 years , the only thing I’ve learned is “working to hard only make me tired” there is no way a staff can grown on the company,no hope, the managers put the staff to do all they job without any extra payment. there are managers and assistent manager what they call “responsible” the responsables doing all the management task for a crap salary, why? just becouse is cheaper for the company, they normaly are in trainning to some day get a manager contract but whats happen is :they work really hard expecting in few months get promoted thats never happen , after few years whem they ask why they didnt get promoted yet , the answer from the head office is that they are not “ready” yet need to wait more few months . Basic the Inditex group try to make the staff work for free as much as they can , there are no motivation at all , I feel pity for the zara staff.

I recently was offered a job to work at Zara as a merhandiser and was told that I would be full time.I tried out the first week, and also quit the first week. I was thrown into the change room without any experience or knowledge on what to do, and was expected to know the clothing. I was given 30 minutes of training. The worst part is how they give you an hour break in between what should be an 8 hour shift so technically you’re there longer. They don’t even pay you for the first 15 minutes of that break. The clothing quality is crap people are constantly returning the garments. My first two days of sales consisted of the tills not making their daily quota/ didn’t have enough for a deposit. The management is poorly trained, the staff are over worked and the scheduling is skewed. They try and promise you things that will not happen. When I told the manager the job wasn’t working out she said that she felt this way on her first week and to give it another chance. I have been working since I was 15 and have never hated a job as much as I hated this company. Do not settle yourself short you all are probably amazing people do not work here! They make it sound amazing in the interview process but it’s not what it seems. I would rather die than have my face represent a company I can’t stand.

I don’t know about the other countries, but I’m currently a sales associate at Zara working in Canada and one of the requirements that the company enforces is to “always have a kind look and smile”. I believe we try to do that to the best of our abilities, but since we’re required to work at such a fast pace environment we just simply forget to greet people and smile sometimes because of the 200 (and counting) other duties that we have to do after just finishing the last one. Do I think Zara employees should be kind and smile more often ? Definitely. Do I think it’s impossible to carry on a more positive attitude toward customers ? I can tell you it’s pretty damn hard to be smiling to people and being efficiently rushed for 8 long hours of relentless folding, tidying and searching for the right size in a library of clothes in the stock room. Another reason for the attitude I believe is that Zara runs on a global commission basis which means no matter how many you sell or how hard you try to provide the best quality service to heighten your chances of him/her purchasing the product, the sale one makes is to be shared by every Zara employee on a global scale. So I think the incentive to do better in servicing is not as great as it could be because of the lack of reward. I also think that this method of commission could lead employees to become lazy and unmotivated.

I hope this post calls to your bitterness towards Zara associates.

Zara Girl: You’re too old, you just don’t recognise Cool anymore.

My wife works in Zara, she has a lot of previous experiences and I have as well. She had to take a lower profile job because of the recession in Ireland. I can honestly say working in Zara is absolutely terrible. It’s just a mess, a lot of non rational things go on and some managers have an extremely aggressive style.

Working in small businesses is often way better, the relationship with the employers is more direct, sometimes they can be nasty but they can also see if you are a good worker and show appreciation. This does not happen in Zara. Believe me it is an unbelievable environment

I have worked in Zara and honestly feel so sorry for all the people who only started to work there. I have a lot of experience and did different kinds of jobs.
But what happens in Zara is just unbelievable!!!!!
The staff is very aggressive especially Spanish people who think they can do what they want over there!!!! They attitude is just unacceptable. If you are new in Zara get ready for the worst….The same is with managers. They are so cruel.I was manager myself for many years and I know u have to demand from people but you have to be human as well! At the end the customers are your only friends in Zara not the staff. The conditions are the poorest.You can’t even go for two min to get some water though it’s like 30 degrees in the store and no air condition,you must run up and down non stop only to find somebody screaming at you. The salary is very very low and you never get contract for more then 8,15 or max 20h a week so don’t let them full you as well you get contract mostly for one month.Then they make you all stories how you have worked and renew for another month. there is so many mad,bad things over there. honestly people must be desperate to work in Zara!!! and I know it was many times Zara had problems over that and was sued but obviously it was not enough!!! SO why the girls are sad???? It s only one part i’m writing here. There is much more……….

I sometimes think I live on a different planet when I hear people claim customer service is poor in Spain. I know generally that within seconds of entering a cafebar shouting out “Hola – un cortado (or un tubo)” the drink will be being served up for me – whereas in many UK places it takes ages to get served. Equally, when buying things in shops (again using correct etiquette and making sure you haven’t jumped any queue) I normally get excellent service, and often an offer to gift wrap too, if it’s anything of value. I suspect those who claim poor service, unfortunately are the ones who haven’t learnt the language, nor realise there is etiquette to be observed. I’m not saying there aren’t poor staff out there – I know a badly run place in Valencia, and I never expect an El Corte Ingles attendant to smile much. But generally I receive great customer service in Spanish establishments. Am I just lucky?

try living back in the uk, customer service here is awful, rude ignorant horrible people bit like most people ive met now im back.
I miss having less selection in the supermarket, just a load of crap food here.
Maybe customer service isnt great in spain but you dont expect it to be great, here its just getting worse and worse.
Can i come back to spain please NOW please please please.

enjoy what u have its better than here

Great article!

“Why are they so sad? Is the pay that bad? Are the working conditions so horrid? Why do they hate customers? Because, the truth is, I’m pretty sure they don’t just randomly hate me … they hate us all.”

I think this is the first time in the Olive Press that I have seem someone realize the fact that when people act dissociated at work, like zombies, or just plain rude it isn’t some sort of discrimination against the individual just because they are not Spanish. They employees are tired, no one taught them they need to put their game face on (smile and pretend to be cheery), the job is pretty awful and it’s a low-budget, move-em-along assembly line type store. That’s just the way it goes. I’ve noticed that the treatment you receive in higher-end shops is a lot more ‘professional’ so to speak than if you visit the budget places like Zara.

Another trick that I think a lot of people overlook is that you get treated based on how you look. If you’re dressed and groomed nicely (suit, dress clothes, etc.) then people treat you in an incredibly different way than if you’re dressed casually (shorts, flip flops). No one likes to admit it, but image is huge and we all have this bias. It’s a psychological bias to treat people more nicely who look better (this is called the Halo Effect in psychology).

Anyway, very refreshing to hear that it isn’t another “The Spanish hate the British” article. Zara employees hate their jobs and they hate us all regardless of where we come from. I can’t say I blame them.

Nadia – “I don’t know about the other countries, but I’m currently a sales associate at Zara working in Canada and one of the requirements that the company enforces is to “always have a kind look and smile”.”

This is actually one of the big cultural differences that leaves a bad impression for visitors and residents in Spain. Customer service is a huge point in training and manging staff in the UK, Canada, the USA in particular, etc. In Italy it is big too. But in Spain employees aren’t trained to be super polite and smile. They’re just to run the store, fix the clothes and get people moving through the line. I think people come with certain cultural expectations that are the exception here rather than the rule.

EnglishDragon – “I sometimes think I live on a different planet when I hear people claim customer service is poor in Spain… Equally, when buying things in shops (again using correct etiquette and making sure you haven’t jumped any queue) I normally get excellent service, and often an offer to gift wrap too, if it’s anything of value.”

I generally have the same experience. And I think you hit the nail on the head. There are certain things that will completely change the experience you get in a store. If you’re the one who starts out being very polite – and you know how to say the right things to build a bit of rapport it goes a long way. In Spain, especially Andalucia, people speak a lot less formally than in other areas. If you say something in an extra-polite, formal way then they tend to feel kind of special for it. “May I please have an orange juice” is a lot less common than “Give me an orange juice” or “I want an orange juice” for example.

I myself work for Zara in Cambridge UK. Although I agree some members of staff should buck their ideas up and smile and give exceptional customer service, I am not one of them! I love my job and am more than happy to run around after a customer to help them. Just because you may have had a couple of bad experiences dont put us all in the same boat! Some of us are trying our hardest!

I’m an export manager in china and our company has been in business relationship with Zara for several years.

And after years of communiciation with the zara staff in Shanghai, I do sense some sadness or even madness!
They are all workaholics.

They were always busy, the meeting with them will be all day long and no lunch at noon.

maybe Zara push them to do so.

I do see what you mean. I wouldnt call it sadness more a focus on something passionate. Me and my merchandiser have done 12 hour shifts on a 20 minute break. Not because we’re forced to but because we care about what we are doing. You want to impress and improve as a member of staff , it’s just finding the people that are dedicated to do it and weeding the bad ones out.

Hello everyone:

I worked for Zara in the UK and this was my experience:

ABSOLUTELY horrible.

1. The training was very poor, they called a manager from a different Zara store to train me and afterwards the store manager kept correcting my work, because her requirements were different to what I learned in my training.

2. They spent ages on training me about something I didn’t do for the first month.

3. No training about how to work in the changing rooms. They just tell you few tips, you’ve got to learn it on your own.

4. The Spanish co-workers had a horrible attitude, they love gossip and laugh at you, at all times (this, I believe it was because I’m Southamerican).

5. The store manager shouted at me in several times, once because some trousers weren’t folded correctly, when NO ONE thought me how to do it, anyway she was always busy and not often approachable.

6. They asked me to write down on a document what I was wearing everyday before I started to work, but no one else in the shop has to do it.

7. In the piece of paper were you have write how many hours you work, they never take into account when they require you to arrive early (15 Min), this time is not paid.

8. Finally there was a another sales assistant who had a bandage around her hand because of lifting heavy boxes.

That sounds terrible Lindsey. I sympathise because I worked in several high street shops when I was younger and had some bad management experiences. Not all Zara shop assistants are rude at all, but unfortunately, some shops seem to have more than others! I was in my local Leicester branch today and was greeted by a really smiley member of staff downstairs. Then I wanted to bring 3 items back (with a receipt) and exchange them for about 10 others. I therefore wanted to give Zara more of money for their lovely product. I was treated with extremely limited customer service and I don’t think it could have taken the assistant longer to process the exchange if she’d tried. Making a real meal deal out of the fact that some of my items didn’t seem to be on the reciept – they were, she just hadn’t looked properly. Of course, she had to call a senior member of staff over, in order that she could show her the huge pile of clothes I wanted to buy in exchange! My huge pile of clothes were greeted with a cursory nod of approval – you couldn’t pay for better entertainment! Thanks for giving me somewhere to rant, because I left there slightly annoyed!

I work at Zara Home in UK at the moment and let me tell you this : it is horrible. Managers dont seem to know what are they doing, one minute they tell you to do something one way then comes another manager and yells at you for doing it that way.
When people from the head office comes to visit to the store they start licking their asses, it’s even embarrassing to watch. Managers are rude although my most of my co-workers are really nice. I only work part-time as I am a uni student and I just want a job that I come,do my duties,go home and get paid but no with this job is not possible, they make you study at home like you are in some internship and make you work really hard for the money that you are paid…ohh wages,let’s not even go there! if you are meant to work 8 hours they make you be there for 9 hours so one hours is unpaid lunch. oh I hate it there, I can’t wait to get another job,really… I love dealing with customers and I try to be always nice to them, treat them as I like to be treated, but to be honest sometimes when I see them happy and shopping around I wish I was in their place, happy not in this type of slavery

I am unhappy too.Although I am a manager there..

I work at Zara – In the states, however – and like all jobs there are some people with bad attitudes and people that have bad days, BUT I can tell you that me and my team really love our jobs and have a great time with each other and the customers. I’m really disappointed in the immense generalization of this article.

It depends of every store , I work at Zara and I know people constantly judge us but I dare you to come and work for one day! It’s not that great .. But I don’t get why some of our girls don’t smile! I get many compliments because I smile and I’m one of those girls that care about the customers! You made your opinion about ” us ” but each Zara is different. We’re not all the same ;)

Wow!! Ive just spent 10 mins reading all these comments about Zara & it has made me very apprehensive as I have an interview with them for a management role there nxt week!!! I am an experienced retail manager that comes from a company with a real focus on customer care so a lot of these comments are alien to how Ive been brought up. Im hoping if i get the job that I can change this negative mentality and impression as i do understand where people are coming from as i have experienced this kind of sterile atmosphere in some of their stores.
Ultimately it is how these sales assts have been trained and how they are lead on a day to day basis that determines how they interract on the salesfloor, as a manager it is about showing passion, desire and leading by example which by the sound of things isnt really Zaras ethos.

Service in Spain is terrible unless the place is owned and run a no spanish person.I have waited 45 minutes for a starter before. I cook at home when I am there as it is easier and less trouble and better quality, however, on the coast the service is better when I am in a non Spanish place.

Is this all just about a shop? Most humans in general are ok once you talk and smile at them.. even if miserable in shops! It brightens up their day a bit.

Failing that just remind them that they have a job?

WORST EXPERIENCE EVER – ZARA Westfield Shepherd’s Bush

I purchased a black leather bag which color has run on my coat (non-Zara), destroying the coat (cannot be cleaned). I tried to get back the money for the bag and a compensation for my damaged coat, I spoke to one of the senior staff and the shop manager – Pilar (did not disclose her surname!) – they were rude, accused me of lying, the experience was DISASTROUS! Zara should care about their customer service, otherwise they will start losing market share. Good clothes is not enough!
I will not shop with ZARA anymore.

I used to work for ZARA for almost two years(In Brighton, UK), and it’s quite weird to read all those bad comments… Maybe I was lucky enough to have great management and amazing colleagues! I am not saying it was all easy, I did have some arguments with other members of staff, but they would end up us simply ‘laughing down’ the issue, because in the end of the day we were all there to support each other- not make one’s day at work horrible.
Perhaps I don’t have many complaints because I was working part-time.
What goes for customers- some of them were absolutely terrible- like someone mentioned above, they used to treat us like slaves. On the bright side, I met some really nice ladies and guys with whom we even exchanged numbers! I know, it sounds freaky, but when I was stuck in one section for the most of the day I would always meet same customers who eventually became my acquaintances.