The North Face here on Southampton Street in Covent Garden, London is a fairly nice branch of the…read morechain, of course only selling own brand products. The location is in central London, Covent Garden, fairly close to the likes of Honest Burgers and Apple is pretty handy. The store is a decent size, it's average and has a satisfactory selection of most "summer" North Face gear, visiting in April you'd expect to see away with the winter clothing, but for an outdoor store I was surprised and disappointed at how little they had to support the cold, outdoor climates, the jackets they did have tended to be windproof or showerproof, rather than completely waterproof. I understand it's going into winter, but one would expect more of a range especially with this store being an outdoor store, which even the staff member I spoke to agreed with me on. The staff here seemed really friendly, I had a short conversation about football and the in-store product range with a cool guy that worked here. The prices seemed a little higher again, but this is a brand people pay for if you're looking for more of a bargain and perhaps more "outdoorsy" products, perhaps an outlet store is your best bet, yet sadly they are always out of town and hard to get to, the nearest outlet store to this one is at London Designer Outlet opposite Wembley Stadium, even that seems to be a fairly small store. A decent store with helpful, friendly staff yet only a satisfactory, and slightly poor product range. 3*

I'm not a huge fan of North Face, purely for aesthetic reasons, I find in comparison to other Out…read moreDoor clothes, their range is quite plain and dull. However I was happy to find that they had some Bright Green boarding trousers, which seem to brighten the shop up a bit! I went in the winter, and Upstairs was mainly snowboarding/ skiing gear and downstairs, they had a good range of camping gear. The prices, were about average for such products.

Didn't have a huge selection of stuff, then again I went on a random Tuesday while on vacation vs a…read moreThursday drop day. Customer service was like any other typical supreme. Kind of hands off and stare at you lol. But nothing bad. Grabbed a t shirt and the pot planters they had in stock for my plants!

Very excited to bring my kids to London for vacation, but after shopping at this location i asked…read moreif i can get the form or the receipt for getting our tax back in the the airport when coming back to US they said they don't provide that , was crazy every store that we shopped we got our receipt with the forms . don't recommend buy here just do it on line even the people working here were rude and didn't want to help it seemed liked that they were forced to work there only person that was very nice was the security guy at the door and he was French man that had smile on his face as cold as the night was.

The staff is super helpful. One of the things I like about this location is they were very helpful…read moreand helping me with an alteration.

I went into Covent Garden Lulu and got the best service ever. Meg went above and beyond to find…read moreexactly what I was looking for a limited edition "London" mat. (I collect them) she found it at another store closer to my house and gave me all the directions and held the mat for me. While I was waiting the most beautiful man in London helped me, I think his name is Will, yeah right of course it is Will, he is so hot how could I forget.... all jokes aside: these guys are great, sweet and perfect examples of why Lululemon is my favourite place to do some sports clothes shopping

I spent like £600 here on various air max 97's, they had my size in all of them, A+. Friendly…read moresalespeople too.

It wasn't until I recently required a new pair of trainers that I realized that I actually know the…read morebest place in town to buy them: Offspring on Neal Street. Over the past couple of weeks, I hunted high and low around Central London and then up and down Neal Street only to return to Offspring, the same place I had purchased my last few pairs of trainers. If you've ever ambled along Neal Street, then you should certainly be aware that a better name for this Covent Garden pedestrian lane near Seven Dials might as well be called Shoe Street given that a majority of the shops on it are shoe stores. They're mostly the same, selling whatever is hip-n-happening in trendy footwear fashion and as far as I can tell all retail at roughly the same price at any and all of the Neal Streets shops. What sets Offspring apart from the others is efficient service and, at least for me, a higher probability of having the right size in stock. Generally, I go for Adidas or New Balance. I need the arch support these brands offer. I like the simple designs of both as well, especially when accentuated with a mix of vibrant colours (it seems I have a 'thing' for trainers with lots of green or orange and maybe even a bit of hi-viz yellow). As your typical urban dweller, I walk a lot and can burn through a good pair of rubber soles in no time. Over the years, I've found Adidas and New Balance last a bit longer than other brands. Offspring always has a great selection of both. Of course, I'm not fanatically loyal to either of the aforementioned athletic shoes. If a particularly attractive pair of, say, Vans speaks to me, I'll go for it (and then head to Boots for arch supporting insoles). Offspring offers as current a line up of newly released trainers as any shop in London (and, thus, probably the world). I've noticed over the years that I'm usually more than satisfied with their shoes on display and that I have to wait much less time being attended to and checking out than at other shoe stores.

So this is a tiny tiny Nike store in terms of merchandise and size, but they organise running…read moregroups four times a week for all sorts of runners. Mondays: Women's 5K or 7K. Wednesdays: Mixed 5K, 7K, 10K. Friday mornings: Mixed, 7K. Sunday mornings: LONG ASS RUNS. This is also in addition to the Nike Training Club classes! Pretty impressive for a small store, I'll say. I go primarily to the Monday sessions and do the 7K, which is a normal, short-ish running distance for me. But you'll get an entirely different workout with the pacers, who make you do all sorts of intervals and sometimes all-body training. It's a great workout while also being a lot of fun. The huge thing is that the pacers aren't your annoying, cliche perky cheerleaders; they're actually down-to-earth, relaxed, and amazing at what they do. They'll take care of the whole group and let you work at your pace. If you're faster, they add in extra workouts to challenge you; if you're slower, they will stay with you and figure out how to guide the group so that you'll be able to catch up. Everyone's really friendly, too. Not the type of competitive atmosphere you'd expect! So if you're ever thinking of trying to run shorter or longer distances more regularly with the support of a friendly group, definitely pop by one of the days they run together. If you can't make those specific days, they also encourage you to check out the store on Oxford Street that runs Tuesdays and Thursdays (ladies), though having been to the other one once I'd say that this one is more organised and more like a collective. And did I mention that after 10 runs, you get a free T-shirt? I know what this sounds like, but I PROMISE I'm not being sponsored by them. I'm just SO STOKED by what they offer and just can't believe that more people don't take advantage of this!! Oh, and I guess their stuff is pretty nice and slick, too. ;)

Of all of my global travels & shopping, I experienced the THE BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE in this Nike…read morestore. Here's my story. I bought a pair of sneakers here and unbeknownst to me at that time, they were half size too small. I wore them the next day and walked over 9 miles around London. By the end of the day my toes were so much in pain that I went straight back to the same store to buy another pair just in a bigger size. This is where THOMAS, THE BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE PROVIDER EVER, comes to into the picture. He professionally explained the sizing for me and guided me to the correct size. I thanked him and asked if there's a way to make an exchange instead of buying another £129 pair to replace the ones I didn't need and he told me that it's not the norm, but considering the situation he will make the exchange. I didn't have the box or receipt with me so I offered to go to my hotel to pick them up. Thomas said that he doesn't need the box because the shoes cannot be sold again and asked if I had a mobile bank statement to proof my purchase. Thanks to Amex app, I pulled up the receipt and walked away with perfect pair and happy face. The moral of the story is that a combination of a great company like Nike, that allows their employees to make decisions based on each situation and doesn't strangle them with strict guidelines; and a fantastic employee like Thomas, who has the capacity to see the big picture and creativity to find a solution, is a winning combination. I will keep buying Nike product and when in London only shop in their Neal Street store. And I truly wish there were more retailers and employees like Nike & Thomas! Thank you both!

Extremely poor customer service. Abrasive sales representative. Went shopping for football boots…read moreand did not have a good experience. Will be taking my business elsewhere next time.

I've used eurosport many a time and they are great for all sporting needs. Less than 100 meters…read morefrom Swiss Cottage tube making it easily accessible and great customer service always asking if you need any help. Good range of products for beginners to pros. Would definitely recommend.

I was at the ZARA store, Duke of York Square 65, London SW3 4LY, around 7:50 pm today, 2nd…read moreNovember, with a friend who wanted to visit. The shop lights were still on, and we could see people inside (who we later realised were all staff). We approached the automatic doors, but they didn't open. We checked the store's Saturday closing time on Google Maps and saw it was 7:00 pm. Just as we were about to give up, we noticed a staff member inside with long, straight brown hair, smiling and gesturing for us to come in through the glass door. Although we knew the store had already closed, I initially thought the staff member was being kind and generous by inviting us for a quick look. However, despite her repeated gestures, the automatic door remained shut. After a while, I realised the staff member had no intention of letting us in and was, in fact, making fun of us. I felt completely mocked and ridiculed, leaving me with a sense of being insulted. Later, the same staff member made a gesture with her hands, appearing to mouth an apology, but by then it felt insincere. I couldn't shake the feeling that this incident was racially motivated. She seriously needs to learn how to treat others with basic respect, even before receiving any customer service training. This was the worst experience I have ever had, and I will not be returning to ZARA again.

I bought two items online, at great expense. One arrived with threads already pulling, so I didn't…read morebother trying it on, and decided to return both. I visited the King's Road store, admittedly on a weekend, but it was a terrible experience. I have worked in retail on the King's Road and know just how stressful it can be, nonetheless, I was never allowed to overlook customer service. Firstly, there are two separate queues for buying and returning. While I think this is an intelligent idea overall, it is not well signposted, and the staff in the fitting rooms don't tell you. I had to wait for 30 minutes at the buying till, only to be told to go to the returns queue, and wait for another 30 minutes. Secondly, they seem to treat everyone trying to return items they have bought online like suspects. I wasn't allowed to exchange the products I had bought. I was told I'd have to pay for new items on the day. My refund for my first purchase was made, but it takes up to 12 days to arrive in my bank account. Why should I have to be out of pocket for a fortnight? I had already spent my money. Thirdly, when I raised a perfectly legitimate concern about a lack of signposting in the store about the queue system, and that customers who have already paid for items should be able to exchange, I was told by the manager that I should have asked about these policies when I entered the store. Why is that the case? Customers are not obliged to understand complex policies of firms - they are not employees! I was in two minds about posting a bad review, as I know that working in retail can be horrible, and I wouldn't want to leave hard-working staff feeling deflated. However, Zara's business model seems to have gone very down hill. They rely far too heavily on self-service. This may work in a supermarket when you know exactly what you need, but it simply isn't suitable for a company that sells clothes at mid-range price point. Overall, I would say that the company's focus 'selling fast' has undermined the customer experience, and has left staff feeling disillusioned. Great shame, as it used to be a great experience.