The Gap - a lament

In April UK Harpers there was a lovely jacket on page 71 - Gap's nude leather bomber. The blurb and the lovely visual and the price of £175 sold it to me. I've wanted a leather bomber jacket for ages and this was the first one I've really really liked.

My subscription edition to Harpers arrived in the March. Of course I checked online, the flagship Oxford St store and there was no jacket. I kept trying, asking staff, showing them the magazine. Then the mid season sales happened so I reasoned it would be an April drop in to store. Leaving nothing to chance (I had saved up my pennies for this item) I decided to call Gap for further information. The number in Harpers was only the store locator number. On Gap's UK website the customer services number is incorrect but I finally managed to get it by calling the Oxford St flagship store.

image: Harpers Bazaar April 2011

I spoke to customer services, I explained the item, the reference to it in Harpers and the page number. I gave my email address and mobile number. I was also given the press office number. I phoned them and left them my email address - as I appreciate how busy it all can be and not having to phone someone back is often a relief.

Guess what NO ONE has come back to me. NOTHING. The capital express my fury. It makes me cross that a store which is struggling with its profits and failing to attract a customer base due to competition cannot be bothered to get back to one person. Every encounter required effort from me. I have had to persevere. I even looked in the ruddy Oxford St flagship store yesterday and no jacket. I officially give up.

What I would say is that The Gap has no one but itself to blame for losses. Next time I see an item from Gap in a magazine that piques my interest, I'll nip it in the bud straight away. The knock on effect is I can't even be bothered to go into the kids section for petit garcon's clothes as I'm really put off Gap forever it seems. This is not the first poor customer relations encounter I've had with them and it took me quite some time to get over the last one. I think it really is time to knock Gap on the head after all if they couldn't give a stuff about the individual why should the individual give a stuff about them.

Retail Focus - how to make your customers love you

I was so out of sorts yesterday after the Galliano video clip. And the petit garcon was at home due to an inset day at school. I thought I would brighten our day up by finally getting him some new school shoes.

Off we popped to our local shopping mecca Kingston upon Thames. It had turned all miserable and cold but we were cheered by a young lad busking his heart out with his accoustic guitar. The garcon and I put in the money and discussed how he might like to do this when he is older and carried on with our chores.

I had the misfortune to have to return some items. One was a lovely necklace from Topshop, a Freedon one. It got tangled when I leaned forward and then I tried to untangle it and it got worse! It was a design nightmare, a right royal rubix cube of a mess up. I decided to take it back as it cost £25 and I had only worn it once, during the capsule wardrobe week.

The necklace is/was great but I'm sorry it was a design fault as it could get proper tangled. When I nipped in to Topshop, and explained truthfully what had happened and then I got what I call the 'off' treatment. Where was the tag and they could accept no responsibility if it didn't have the tag is was sold on. Then they had to get the manageress who equally said it wasn't their problem as Freedom is a concession. Well, I stood my ground ref faulty goods and the view was they would have to check with Freedom that the necklace was the price that showed on my receipt. 30 minutes later, I even went to the bank, I had my money refunded. What was that all about!

Then return number 2 was another capsule wardrobe item, my gorgeous polka dot top from Zara. Unfortunately the top is made from silk and it had a run in the fabric I hadn't noticed when I wore it, only after when I took it off. I'd only worn it for a few hours and had done the classic cutting the irritating labels off - but the service in Zara couldn't have been much different. Concern, what a shame and making the return the nicest experience and not making me feel an eejit.


Zara got the 10/10 and Topshop 2/10. I felt really cross with Topshop, I don't think I've ever returned personal items ever and I cannot abide being made to justify anything.

Now that Mary Portas has firmly focused us on the detail, do you feel more empowered and right as a consumer?

They are mine!

Having saved my pennies and some birthday money I hot footed it to Gap to get my much coveted biker boots. I loved them last year but didn't get a pair and this year I waited patiently until I'd saved my £69.

So on Monday November 17th at 9:30am at Oxford Street Gap near Selfridges I skipped through the door to buy the boots. But what no boots on the shelf they'd graced a few days earlier. I asked a seemingly helpful sales assistant where they were. Oh they'd all gone, puff, just like that. I was perplexed, supposedly they'd done an ad campaign on them and suddenly all and sundry rushed in to nabbed them. But hey guess what the helpful one told me - I could go to Topshop and buy some similar ones there!

I spied one left foot boot on the counter and asked if they had the other one, nope it was just a solitary item. Sorry it was one of a two left foot pair! Then ever hopeful I spied a few pairs on the mannequins. Would I be able to have one of those? Oh no, replied the not caring one, they had holes drilled in them be on display.

Now call it natural curiosity but I then went off to examine said boots on mannequin and surprisingly there were no holes. In fact I then counted the number of no holes drilled in the bottom pairs of biker boots on mannequins, at 24 I got bored of my point. Heading back to negotiate one pair of boots with the now really not very helpful couldn't careless one, I met with a no they are for display purposes only and the boots would have been ordered in specially to be ON DISPLAY.

At this point I asked for the number of the store in Kingston, phoned them twice reserving two separate pairs of boots under two different names - I wasn't taking any chances and went to get them the next day.

I also phoned Buffy the GAP PR who did call me back and I relayed the story to her and asked was this their policy to turn paying customers away while mannequins could be well shod. She was very lovely and nicely spoken but never did get back to me about policy. Now I'm officially stomping around in the marvellous boots I'm bored of my investigative journalist attempt on consumer matters. Mind you I did think about a flash mob event to lift the mannequins up and rightfully return the shoes to the shelves to be sold to CUSTOMERS!

I think there is a gap in the market for this - customer service.....