YDE stands for Young Designers Emporium, and the two numbers below are the only ones it publishes. There is no email address on the site, so anything written goes through the contact form.
YDE contact details
- Online shopping: 021 460 2526
- Customer service: 021 460 2500
- Website: www.yde.co.za, which is where youngdesignersemporium.co.za redirects to
- A store finder, a contact form and a Help and FAQ section on the site
The split is worth respecting. An order placed on the website, its delivery or its return goes to the online shopping number; anything about a store, an account or a product goes to customer service. Both are Cape Town numbers, since the head office is there.
One practical note on the domain: the bare yde.co.za does not resolve on its own. Use www.yde.co.za, and treat any YDE link on a different domain with suspicion.
The YDE account
YDE runs a store account, and the site carries a Pay your account section listing the ways to pay it. An account is a credit agreement, so it carries the protections and the obligations of one: you are entitled to a statement, and a missed payment is reported to the credit bureaux. Query anything you do not recognise on a statement with customer service in writing rather than by phone alone, because a written query creates the record you may later need.
Never pay a store account into an account number given to you in an email or a message. Use the payment channels published on the YDE site itself.
Returns and exchanges
The site publishes a returns and exchanges policy separately from its general terms, and it is worth reading before you buy rather than after. Beyond any store policy, the Consumer Protection Act gives you the right to return goods that are defective, unsafe or not fit for their intended purpose within six months of delivery, with the choice of repair, replacement or refund resting with you rather than with the retailer. A store returns policy sits on top of that right, not instead of it.
Online purchases carry a further right. Goods bought at a distance may generally be returned within seven days of delivery under the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, without giving a reason, with the direct cost of return being yours.
Selling through YDE
YDE built its name on stocking independent South African designers, and it publishes a Become a Designer route on its own site. That is the correct channel for a designer approach; the customer service line is not, and will refer you back to it. Have your range, your production capacity and your pricing ready before you make contact, because those are the first questions.
Working there
The site carries its own careers section. Apply there rather than through an intermediary, and pay nobody for an application, an interview or a uniform.