Right, so how many times have you seen women at Zara (or any other store for that matter) trying on things like jackets or coats over their shirts in front of one of the store mirrors? I see it all the time.
Do you always take a coat/jacket into the fitting room especially if it's the only thing you want to try on and there is a long cue? I doubt it.
So today at a Zara store, I was trying on a jacket over my T-shirt in front of one of the store mirrors. I was not the only one doing this, there were at least 6 other women in the same store trying on things outside the fitting room.
An extremely rude zara employee came up to me and told me that I couldn't try anything on unless I took it into the fitting room. Despite her tone and rude manner of speaking, I politely assured her that I was not interested in trying on any dresses/blouses/jeans etc., I only wanted a new jacket which I could easily try over my T-shirt. She said it was against the rules to try anything outside the fitting room "for security reasons". This was completely odd to me as I have tried on jackets on the store floor several times in zara and I've never been stopped. Nevertheless, I let it go and carried on browsing.
Not even 5 minutes later I saw a woman trying on a skirt in front of the same mirror and the same Zara employee said nothing to her. Another woman came and tried on a top and wasn't stopped either.
I was upset. Firstly, I was unaware of any such rule at any store and secondly, if such a rule did exist why was she stopping only me? Why not the others? i have no issues with such a rule as long as it is enoforced on everyone and not selectively.
I approached the employee and asked her why she didn't stop the lady who had tired on the skirt and jacket on the shop floor instead of the fitting room, if it was indeed against the rules. She started addressing me very rudely and began a torrent of arguments saying it was for "security reasons". Now this befuddles me! Do the "security reasons" apply only to me? Did I look like a thief to her? I told her I didn't appreciate her tone and that she had no business speaking to me so rudely. She even snapped "Do you want the clothes or not?" I asked her to explain herself calmly and politely. Instead, she said that if I didn't "stop", she was going to call security 
. I was fuming by now. I told her to go right ahead and call security. While she did that, I asked another employee that I wanted to speak to the manager.
Throughout this time, people kept trying on various items of clothing on the shop floor and nobody stopped them. I thought this was blatant discrimination.
The manager was completely unhelpful and she wouldn't even give me the employee's name so that I could lodge a complaint. She kept saying she would have to see the CCTV footage herself before she could take any action. This was extremely insulting because it made me feel like I was some kind of liar- which I most certainly am not.
I told her I wanted an apology from the woman who spoke to me so rudely and insulted me in front of other customers. She said she couldn't arrange that unless she had heard the employee's side of the story. She told me that if I was that keen on taking action I could wait until the store closed. This was at 4pm. Zara closes at 9pm at westfields on a saturday. Interestingly, not once did she confirm that the employee was right and that zara did have any such rule regarding where jackets could be tried on.
What galls me is that all this time women kept trying on clothes in the store instead of the fitting room and and nobody said a word to them. I have been shopping at Zara for years now and never before have I been made aware of this rule.