Zellers ~ Customer Service UPDATE

You may remember that I wrote a post in January describing my experiences when dealing with Zellers in regards to a pair of winter boots I had purchased for my seven year old son.

About a week and a half ago I received a package from Zellers. Inside there was a new pair of winter boots for my son. The boots I received are a better quality than the original pair I purchased.

Zellers explained that it took several weeks to replace the boots, since they had a hard time locating the size I needed. They kept in communication over that time period with a couple of emails.

In the end I am happy. The replacement boots are great and I am glad that Zellers customer service didn't just forget about my complaint. They could of, since it was announced right after my initial communication with them that they are being bought out by Target. So, what was the difference if they had a disgruntled customer?

Zellers ~ Product reliability and customer service FAIL

Since I have posted close to two hundred product reviews in the last year and a half. I am pretty confident in saying I know what I look for when posting a product review. And, since I have a voice here I thought I would share my recent experiences with Zellers.

Zellers is a long-established department store here in Canada. It is part of a chain owned by the parent company The Hudson's Bay Company. I frequent the Zellers in Stratford Ontario. In recent years Zellers has had to pull up their boot straps with WalMart coming to Canada...or so I thought!

On November 5, 2010 I took my children to Zellers to buy their winter gear. After spending $290 dollars I walked out of my local Zellers with four pairs of boots, one snow suit, one winter jacket, one pair of snow pants, and several hats and mitts. We were all set for our impending winter weather.

However November didn't produce any snow. December did though! So the kids were excited to wear their new winter-wear. It is now January 9 and the kids have had 40 days wearing their clothing from Zellers. About a week ago I noticed that Matt's boots were coming apart at the soles.



We have since had to purchase a second pair of boots for him since his feet were wet and cold. (Not at Zellers.) I figured I would inquire with Zellers Customer Service Email as to whether they had a replacement guarantee on children's items. They responded asking for all the details of my purchase. Which I was happy to do, since I still have my receipt. They asked for the UPC# of the boot, day bought, transaction #, and method of payment. All, I could provide.

The next day I received a form letter saying they had passed along my concern to their buyers. While, I think that is a worth-while thing to do, it doesn't satisfy me. The boots have only been worn for 40 days (assuming he went outdoors every day during those 40 days). My expectation is that a product would and should last for at least the season it was intended.

My response was that I appreciated their form letter, but my question remained are they going to replace their defective merchandise?

Stratford doesn't have a WalMart YET, but, it is coming. And, I say it can't come soon enough!

Zellers is willing to sell sub-standard merchandise and then just shrug their shoulders. I can't wait to take my almost $300 dollars and spend it at WalMart next year when it comes time to buy winter gear. And, throughout the year. You can just imagine what I spend in a year with three children. I have tried to be loyal to Zellers, since they are Canadian, but, if they aren't willing to stand by their merchandise I will happily take my dollars elsewhere.





As always, these are my opinions and experiences, yours may differ.