Julia Roberts moment

[Gouldengirl9]

Dd is getting married at the end of September.
Today I went to a posh shop in our nearest city.
I'm the wrong side of 60. Only 5ft tall and a size 18 with a flabby belly. Plus I'm only just getting over breast cancer so boobs are lobsided.
DH was with me and we were both dressed in our minds well turned out.
DH stood to one side while I was looking through the dresses, when one of the assistants came over and the first words were that these dresses cost over £300 so if I want to look at the rails at the back they MIGHT be in my price range.
Fortunately DH overheard and is quicker than me gave a good reply.
He said 'my wife has £1000 to spend on an outfit for our daughters wedding and if your stock is only about £300 this is not the shop for her'.
We then left. He was only joking about the £1k. I wanted to go home as I was so upset but he persuaded me to carry on shopping.

After 3 other shops with nothing I liked I came across another posh shop and they couldn't have been more helpful. I chose a dress but parts of it were not working well with my body. They are going to alter it to fit just need to return in August.
And it cost £450 and that includes a hair accessory. Just bag and shoes to get.

Why that assistant was so rude I don't know. Thank goodness no one else was in the shop to hear her say that.

Your husband is a star .. and you will look beautiful .. and that is something that shop assistant will never be x

I’ve never bought a particular brand of luxury car ever, because we were totally ignored once in the showroom when we needed help.

She turns to the posh gallery assistant and says “you can cut the attitude, you only work in a shop"

this is the perfect response!

I so wish I had married a man like your husband!

Well done on an excellent choice in that regard.

Enjoy the wedding!

I hope no-one would say that in real life. Working in a shop is a perfectly good profession, and no-one should be looked down on for how they make a living and support themselves and their family.

OP's DH's response was perfect. Responded to the assistant's rude assumptions without attacking her personally.

What a absolute bitch. Please complain so she doesn't do it again to anyone else.
Honestly . People can wear anything crappy and have loads of money

Had this happen but about size rather than money.
Buying size 8 clothes for my daughter and being asked if I wanted to try them on first, in a sneering manner.
I was a size 22 so I said, obviously not.
Bitch.

DH and I got on the housing ladder by buying an ex-rental that needed some work. We went to an independent bathroom shop that boasted on their website about their excellence customer service and the personalised experience they delivered compared to their bigger competitors. The showroom was busy and we didn't mind waiting to be served, but there was no queuing system - salespeople just approached waiting customers as they became free. We were the youngest customers in there by about 20 years and were stood by for ages watching the staff assist older people with small things like replacing an over-the-bath shower screen. Had anyone bothered to speak to us, they'd have learned we were there to replace a bathroom, en-suite and cloakroom in their entirety and had a 5 figure budget. We gave us waiting in the end!

I get followed around our local One Stop shop! Every time I go in there a particular sales assistant actually leaves her till and follows me around. She's constantly asking me if I'm all right etc I'm just an ordinary middle aged woman, I'm actually quite well spoken for the area I live in and I always answer her politely and my appearance is OK. I've even complained to their Head Office, I'm that fed up of her. I showed my husband once, as I think he thought I was exaggerating, but no sooner had I entered the shop when she appeared down an aisle, asking if there was anything in particular that I was looking for!

I get this all the time, admittedly when wfh and on weekends I generally look like I crawled out of a barn😁. I am showered though and clothes are clean so it’s not like I stink and they need to try and shift me for the sake of other customers.

I’ve been sneered at and ignored in many shops. I have been asked to leave a high end shop once with the line ‘you are not our demographic’ (again, was showered and clothes, while old and worn, were clean). I could easily have afforded anything in there. Just can’t be bothered to do myself up beyond a shower for something as banal as shopping.

I did have a win once but had to be proactive about it. My DD reminded me I’d promised to take her to a certain clothes shop that day and time was running out. I’d forgotten and was doing yard work in clothes that don’t even make the house cut - think ripped, stained etc. I just jumped in the car as I was. On entering the shop I fronted up to the salesgirl, said I understand it looked like we were not buyers but that’s not the case and if she assisted my DD accordingly I’d purchase whatever she wanted. The girl was very helpful and kind to both of us. I spent a few thousand. DD and salesgirl both happy 😊.

sorry to hear you had a bad experience- I’ve never understood why people make these judgements, when obviously they’re so often wrong.

I had a similar experience with an estate agent, walked in two young babies asked to see details of house in window, he actually laughed and said “you know we’d need a credit reference”.

As it happened I was on an international transfer and my company had already had the relocation agents do the ground work. They were paying 18mths rent up front. When he realised I was that mrs smith he perked right up. Total arse!

I used to LOVE going shopping for my boss with his limitless black credit card - I was very much an Aldi girl in a Bond Street boutique world! I found the key as absolute confidence when I walked in like I owned it - didnt matter that I looked a state.

Was it Mercedes Benz by any chance? They lose customers regularly by making assumptions.

Me and DH get this all the time. We never match our houses. Our estate agent was holding an open day and I’d spent the morning making it look lovely and shiny. Fresh flowers etc.
The first viewers were early we were still there. DH was sat in his usual position ie slouched on the settee, our kids were playing in the garden and I had a mop in my hand. The woman ignored me, apologised to the estate agent and asked him if the owner minded the cleaner bringing her family along to work 😕

Estate agent in his best snooty voice suggested that since the owner was present she should ask her herself.

The woman went bright red, turned on her heels and flounced.

I didn’t mind one bit that we’d lost a potential buyer - there is no way I’d ever have sold my house to someone like her.

Good for your husband!

I had a similar experience recently not with a retailer but another business. I'd just moved house and wasn't in my best "bib and tucker" but not scruffy - the snotty tone of the person who refused me service was quite something!

I made a complaint which was also poorly handled.

I've taken great pleasure in not only refusing THEIR attempts to gain my business since (they keep contacting me on sm and by email as they seem now to realise I am someone who could have put a lot of business their way) but in also leaving a scathing review and telling as many locally as possible how they behaved towards me.

I hope it DOES lose them business I don't care if it's petty!

Big mistake, huge!

I also used to work in the wedding industry and I'm horrified by the stories on this thread relating to that! For anyone wedding dress shopping now or soon GOOD boutiques will carry sample dresses in a range of sizes inc the dresses more flattering to larger brides IN larger sample sizes, even if I dress is a bit small for you but can be worn by you just with some gaps etc then modesty panels can be pinned on to give you an idea how it looks. Last I was doing this (nearly 20 years ago!) dresses went up to a size 36! Totally unacceptable (and poor business practice considering the size of our population now!) to not allow and plan for serving larger brides!

It's not like working in a clothes shop is a prestigious occupation so why do some sales people have such notions of themselves

I've worked high end/designer clothing retail at various points over the years, it's shocking how many of the staff think they're "all that" just because they work selling the clothes! Usually on nmw too! 

@HouseofGamers they were snotty in wickes?! That's hardly high end!

I learned at a young age as a waitress that the most casually dressed customers are often the wealthiest! We had one regular who was an absolute sweetheart but very quiet, came in most days for tea and a scone, paid in coppers most of the time too. I thought she was hard up and felt sorry for her and felt bad accepting generous tips off her - then one of the other staff members told me she was the local "lady" as in landed gentry! Millions and a huge country pile! But she didn't like it being made a thing of.

My mum had a similar experience buying her last car. She was dads carer and so in casual comfy clothes and shoes, she's not one for make up or jewellery etc plus jewellery was tricky with caring for dad. First sales room she went to were really snotty...and sexist. She then bought a very nice brand new car cash from another sales room. Drove past the first one, which is in her small village and doesn't get a lot of custom, waved and smiled.

The prejudice and snobbery against those of us who are heavier is disgusting and unwarranted.

Strange how the High Street is dying a death, eh!

Yes as both a customer and someone who's worked in retail I feel "the high street" claiming its online retail killing them are seriously missing the point! What's killing the uk high st in my opinion is poor customer service - snotty assistants as evidenced on this thread, assistants spending time blethering to each other rather than assisting customers, rude behaviour at the tills - increasingly noticing they don't even make eye contact! Let alone say please and thank you! Not just the staff on the floors fault especially the younger ones but a lack of training! When i first worked in retail we were guided on how to speak to customers, when to approach when to step back, knowing the stock! (Why do so many of them now not know what their shop stocks?!), knowing their customer base...

Customer service is a skill and it's rapidly vanishing.

Meanwhile Amazon and the like are raking it in not just because they are cheap and in Amazons case sell fucking everything you can think of and then some! But also because the customer service most of the time is not only excellent but goes above and beyond! If I need to return something to a high st store I "gird my loins" as in many cases I know I'm gonna get an argument! With online retailers it's rarely an issue

@whyohehy that's a really interesting story thank you

That’s not a nice thing to say to anybody, there’s nothing wrong with working in a shop.

When I was looking for a dress I met a woman whose dd owned a local boutique and I said I was dress shopping to which she replied “oh dd shop is very expensive” as I’m just a hcp so I spent best part of £1800 on an Ian Stuart dress with veil and shoes etc at the shop across the way instead.

Inez in gold from the straw play collection.

Your husband is a legend!

In the spirit of naming and shaming, Years ago DH took me to a posh lunch in Manchester followed by shopping. We went into Armani and I wanted to try on a suit. The assistant was of supermodel proportions i.e. tall and Amazonian, I’m 5ft 4, size 8. She looked me over and said “you’re about my size, I’ll bring it to you in the changing room”. Needless to say you could have got about three people into the suit but she just said “it’s not really you”, took it away and left me there like a lemon.
Eventually I realised she wasn’t coming back and left. Worst service ever 🤷‍♀️.

My Dad went into a Mercedes showroom once, dressed quite casually and they were so unbelievably snotty to him that he walked out and into the BMW showroom next door. He bought a brand new BMW. He has driven BMWs ever since, and buys a new one every 2-3 years
A classic Big mistake. Huge.

First sales room she went to were really snotty...and sexist. She then bought a very nice brand new car cash from another sales room. Drove past the first one, which is in her small village and doesn't get a lot of custom, waved and smiled.

In fairness, if she’d told the first place she was a cash buyer that may have been the reason. Certainly in the current climate with limited supply, every car they sell for cash is one less they can sell on finance - they’d rather not sell you a car at all for cash!

Name and shame so we can all avoid! How dare she 😡
So pleased you have found a dress and will have a wonderful time at your DD's wedding

Yes, give us a clue who you mean @Gouldengirl9

I had the same experience in a bridal shop many years ago looking for my special dress.
That look of disgust from the assistant because you're not stick thin with legs up to your armpits.
She directed me to the end of line sales rail.
I was so upset about that experience I stopped looking in bridal shops.
Ended up making my own.

I look like a bag o' spuds on a good day and my sense of style is none existent. I visited a nice furniture shop and found an oak bookcase that I liked. The store assistant was chatting to other customers who were browsing and pointedly ignoring me 🙄 at last it was impossible for her to do that any longer and she looked me up and down in that way that some people do. I pointed to the oak bookcase and told her I liked it and that I'd have two thanks. She nearly fell over with the shock 🤪