Pretty Woman Moment

That's outrageous! The effing cheek!

I've had the estate agent experience. I'd been doing a horse thing in a lovely area and saw exactly what my partner and I wanted in an estate agents window. I guess I looked scruffy and covered in horse hair... DP was in the States at the time so I wanted to get us an appointment to view as soon as his feet touched UK soil!
The estate agent refused to book a viewing. Kept on about needing to see that we were ready to proceed. I explained there was no chain, no property to sell, it would be a 'cash purchase'. Proof of funds could be provided when DP was back. I told her who DP is, but I think she thought I was lying. She wasn't having any and I had to give up.
DP and I dashed to the village as soon as he got home. Stopped in the local pub for lunch, where DP got recognised by the landlord and got chatting. Landlord rang the couple who owned the house. We went to see it. Sold.
I am sure the estate agent knows who brought it. What a loss of commission that was.

And then return to snooty shop with a bag from the most expensive shop they could find!

Haha! I think I must've been quite embarrassed tbh! This was when I was about 21. But yeah filet o fish it was. Right sorted me out! Especially as the night flight never gives a proper meal. Only pastry and yoghurt for breakfast. 😄

i worked for a while as a sales assistant in Harvey Nicks (Knightsbridge branch) back in the 1980s. We were told in training not to judge a customer by their outfits - that quite wealthy people can dressed quite shabby as they don’t have anything to prove and especially if up from their country homes. Sure enough that frumpy middle aged woman would walk in buy a couple expensive evening dresses as often as one that might be scrutinising the price tags on the sales rack (and why not). But it was obviously something that happened often enough that they felt it needed telling to us eager but inexperienced salespeople. By the way we had our bags checked thoroughly every end of shift…

Exactly, a lot of these flounces don't hit the way people hope. Ideally the customer would stand up for themselves first, before withdrawing their custom.

Instead of a Pretty Woman moment it needs to be more Crocodile Dundee. "That's not a knife.....THAT'S a knife" type of vibe.

But you just left her thinking you'd gone to B&M! She'll just think she was right.

if it were for trade only she should have said so not be rude

you need to buy a fancy door and walk past them with it

I remember (multimillionaire) Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) telling the story of him waiting outside a shop for his partner with his friends dog. It was freezing in New York and he was wrapped up with a hat and scarf. Some kind soul insisted on giving him money for a hot drink. 😄

Really? How many housing estate developers, even higher end ones, are going to be spending £3.5k per door, x 50? Surely that takes away the whole USP of bespoke doors if the whole estate has the same one? OP said the sales assistant directed them to "mass produced" doors which suggests they dont do that.

Are you posting from the US ("Mom and pop" "stores" and "real estate" aren't UK terminology) by any chance? You cant assume everything works the same.

If this is the case then the Pretty Women moment would need to involve OP and her DH turning round and saying that they were buying for a new development of 500 houses, with similar projects in the pipeline across the UK 😂

Years ago a colleague went to look at a new housing estate with a genuine interest to buy a new 3 bed. She and her husband were in jeans and anoraks but could afford it. It was a big chain like Barratt homes and when they asked to look around, the sales woman would only show them the 2 bed and was rude about their ability to afford the 3. They wrote a letter of complaint and got a letter back apologising and offering them a 3 bed for the price of a 2 bed! So worth complaining!!

https://youtube.com/shorts/WbWerd2c-F0?si=ySQWNZWv98gDo7li

... and then next day, she comes back into the shop in an expensive outfit, loaded with designer carrier bags, they rush to serve her and she points out they refused to serve her the day before (and get paid on commission) - 'Big mistake. Big, big mistake. Huge'

Whatever you think of the rest of the film, that is a brilliant scene.

Thanks for posting this. You've made my day 😃

A full McDonalds meal is not to be sneezed at! That was so nice of him. You must be a lovely drunk!

This happened to us years ago in a kitchen shop (Magnet, I’m looking at you). DH and I went from work, both in our slightly scruffy work clothes, our jobs don’t require smart. The salesman was very patronising, kept asking our budget (which I was determined not to say the more he kept pushing us to the cheapest range) and despite saying we didn’t have a top budget he just wouldn’t budge. Needless to say we bought elsewhere.

I have a great Pretty Woman story - My mum’s friend from WI was exceptionally wealthy (Sunday Times rich list had her listed wealth at approx £300 mill about 20 years ago). But she and her husband lived a very frugal, understated life and gifted huge sums to charity endeavors. She wasn’t interested in fashion or spending money and they were very private about their wealth. As most of their business was States side they pretty much went under the radar in the UK.

She was often invited to accompany her husband to balls and other occasions, and when she needed an outfit rather than trek into London would just visit the local fancy and snooty dress shop. They were always unhelpful to her and overlooked her, unaware she had money to spend.

So this one occasion my Mum offered to accompany her friend to give style advice. Mum’s friend and husband had been invited to The White House by the Bush Administration for a lunch with the President and First Lady. Aware that the snooty shop had for years overlooked her friend, Mum relished in asking her friend in front of the assistants “did The White House not specify a dress code? What did the First Lady wear last time you attended a day time function?”.

Sadly both Mum and her friend are now dead but Mum loved to recount this story in great detail. For years afterwards Mum would shop alone in that shop and she always received great service. I hope her friend did too.

That's awesome. I remember being too drunk to fly so I got bumped to the night flight. The guy from McDonald's gave me a free meal. 🤣

Not quite the same as Fortnums but similar in that I looked dishevelled as fuck but they were still nice to me!

Yes I would actually.

Why was my comment about not seeing it so amusing?

Have you never watched the film Pretty Woman with Richard Gere and Julia Roberts? That scene at the shop is famous worldwide!

What 😂