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Original poster

Do you feel uncomfortable in some shops?

142 replies

chomalungma · 13/08/2019 19:02

Killing time yesterday with DS and we were wandering through some car dealerships. Ford, Volkswagen, briefly in the BMW garage (they were all next to each other).

But we didn't go in the Jaguar one. It seemed off putting and not the kind of place to casually stroll through looking at the cars and making comments...about the price. I think we would have been really out of place.

I was thinking about that scene from Pretty Women.."All that commission".

Do you ever feel out of place or uncomfortable in some shops and just don't go in?

OP posts:
MsRinky · 14/08/2019 17:14

I used to when I was younger, but now I channel Edina from AbFab and think to myself "you only work in a shop you know, you can drop the attitude".

But of course I am always polite and charming to shop assistants/waiters etc because I am not a dick.

BuzzShitbagBobbly · 14/08/2019 17:18

I told a sales guy to back off and stop following us when we were looking round oak furniture land. He was like a really bad spy loitering behind cabinets and stuff.

In the end I went to a different shop and spent a sizeable amount of money there instead.

I know he only wanted his commission but it was too much.

youhaveafacefortheinternet · 14/08/2019 17:21

@BuzzShitbagBobbly it would absolutely make me shop elsewhere too

Springfern · 14/08/2019 17:39

Urban outfitters makes me feel old (I'm 'only' 30) Reiss makes me feel scruffy af (ok, I am a little bit scruffy). H and M makes me feel fat (I'm a size 10, everywhere else).

Agree with Lush and Body Shop being too much

SirJamesTalbot · 14/08/2019 17:50

I dislike Lush for various reasons but the bs the shop assistants come out with make me feel uncomfortable. I know that they're told to say this stuff....

Anothertempusername · 14/08/2019 18:05

YYY to Hollister. Why is it so dark, why are all of the assistants 12 year old blonde surfer girls and why is everything in there designed for aforementioned assistants??

DH likes their jeans so twice a year on we go. Now I've a baby and a buggy and I swear they look at me like I'm an alien in there. Smug skinny bastards.

Picklypickles · 14/08/2019 18:34

I was shopping in Newcastle once and I stopped to look through the window of Vivienne Westwood, I was staring in horror at some bizarre thing that looked like it had been stapled together out of shiny grey bin bags wondering if anyone would ever actually buy such a thing and as I moved closer to the door on my way past (no intention of going in) a big security guard moved to stand in front of the door like Preston the Dog, clearly ready to turn my tye-dye clad scruffbag arse away!!

ForalltheSaints · 14/08/2019 18:34

Sports Direct or Primark as I have a conscience. So I never go in them.

pottedshrimps · 15/08/2019 14:30

I can't cope with people talking to me or staring at me, so I only really visit supermarkets, ikea or home bargains. No pressure from anyone. All other shopping is done online.

cheesenpickles · 15/08/2019 14:32

Lush, especially when you have kids with you is a nightmare. They target the kids with the bath bomb displays so you get the guilt/pester power vibe. Shops like AllSaints where they do small sizing as well, I feel like I go in there as the assistants are thinking "Pah! Like those clothes will fit you!"

P1nkHeartLovesCake · 15/08/2019 14:39

Any expensive shop!

Thing is I’ve got money, I can afford to shop in the places so I don’t know why really. I just always feel the shop assistants in these places are a bit stuck up, I even had one once say “our sale rail may suit your budget better” Shock so obviously I don’t look like I have money but she didn’t need to be rude. Funny enough she was much more polite when I paid for what I actually wanted, with My American Express she was all smiles and sweetness then!

Also lush because the jump on you the minute you walk in which I hate.

Ferrari showroom, the staff admittedly couldn’t do enough for you but I’ve never felt so out of place

Deathraystare · 15/08/2019 15:01

Well, I always used to moan about being "Can I help you'd " all over the shop(s) but it came back to bite me when I had an interview at Boots and had to try to get some people to the no7 counter for a 5 minute make over. Most were pleasant but had no time, one had just had her upper lip waxed, some narrowed their eyes and were very suspicious and just said a flat "no thanks". Ladies you need nerves of steel to do this!!!

Some clothes stores I don't even bother going into. Their most humungous size in clothing is a (to them) ginormous. obese size 12, well I am around size 18/20. I suppose it might be 'fun' to go in because they may not have seen past a size 12 before. But I cannot be bothered really. (Am remembering the Victoria Wood sketch about fat people sweating off the wallpaper or something).

LiveFatsDieYoGnu · 15/08/2019 15:39

I got tailed around a very small branch of Ecco yesterday. I was so uncomfortable I left without even picking a single shoe up to look at it! I need some new work shoes and quite probably would have bought a pair as I like their fit, but I just couldn’t deal with the stalking, so went to M&S instead and came out with 2 pairs for a fraction of the cost Wink

KatsutheClockworkOctopus · 15/08/2019 15:39

I find I get more suspicious looks now I have a giant handbag. I guess it would be handy for shoplifting but is actually too full of junk important things to fit much booty in.

I feel uncomfortable in Sainsburys as I always set off the alarm for some reason.

Mrsjayy · 15/08/2019 15:43

We went into Harvey Nichols Manchester I was doing well untill i blurted out HOW MUCH for a stella mcartney handbag I got looks Blush

Mrsjayy · 15/08/2019 15:48

My Dd used to work in Lush they are encouraged to be total pains in the rear it apparently wasn't the best enviroment to work in.

PixieLumos · 15/08/2019 15:49

Lush. I don’t mind if someone gives me a casual ‘let me know if you need any help’ but I feel like in there they are just trained to pounce on you and it comes across as very disingenuous and in your face.

PasDeGeeGees · 15/08/2019 15:56

The Gucci shop at Bicester shopping village. Security everywhere, and then everything is cordoned off 6 feet away behind ropes so you can't get anywhere near it.

Seriously uncomfortable for the random browser, although I think they do it on purpose to keep the riff-raff out.

CherryPlum · 15/08/2019 16:06

Laura Ashley. The staff seem to give you a proper look up and down when you enter. You get the feeling they're about to say 'I don't think this is the shop for you, madam' despite the fact that you might be about to spend £££££ on soft furnishings.

I get uncomfortable when assistants in Lush start lobbing expensive bath bombs into the sink to show you how cool the colours are, or start rubbing cream up your arm and asking what your favourite scent is. It seems so wasteful to randomly chuck bath bombs into the sink. I have two daughters who are at the perfect age to be captivated by Lush products, and the staff pounce on us as soon as we enter, before we know it there's glitter everywhere.

writersbeenblocked · 15/08/2019 16:13

Another one for Hollister and Lush. Last time I went in Lush I wore sunglasses and an RBF, the woman waiting at the door actually skittered out of the way when I walked in. I was the only one in the shop and all the staff were standing by the tills together looking at me, I felt like some sort of criminal suspect! Maybe it was the sunglasses..

theydontknowweknow · 15/08/2019 16:15

FCUK, their stand-alone stores rather than department stores. I've bought a few things from their stalls in department stores but once went in one of their own shops and was followed by a member of staff as well as harassed from another (all the 'can I get you anything' 'are you ok' spiel), I was looking to buy something but I left and haven't since returned!

AndBeholdAWhiteHorse · 15/08/2019 17:33

Am I the only one scared of Topshop? I'm not young enough, cool enough or skinny enough. The place makes me freeze in terror as I'm judged for even glancing in the general direction of the store knowing full well I'm not good enough to enter such a place! I also feel the same about River Island.

putsomethingontheendofit · 15/08/2019 17:41

I stopped going in Lush as well,I like the stuff but the pestering is constant and horrible.

Deathraystare · 15/08/2019 17:46

I feel uncomfortable in Sainsburys as I always set off the alarm for some reason.

Reminds me when I bought something (I think in Laura Ashley). I could not understand why in every shop I triggered the alarm. Next day, same problem! Then I realised that whatever I bought the day before was still in my bag! I had to go back to the shop to get it off (luckily had the receipt too!

Dowser · 15/08/2019 17:55

An exclusive bridal shop in york
Barely got through the door
Was asked about my budget
I plucked a figure out of the air... £300...well it was my third wedding
Was told in no uncertain terms they had nothing in that budget

Place is now closed😂

Thing is if I’d had a look and seen something lovely I might have been persuaded to stretch it.

Their loss

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