Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

to not understand why everybody is so surprised...

40 replies

fluffles · 19/01/2011 21:03

... that the service in shops like primark is shit???

seriously, what's with that mary whatsit on the news this morning? of COURSE service is crap in primark.

The clothes cost almost nothing, so aside from what they must pay suppliers in developing countries, they certainly can't make a profit and also afford to train staff well or pay them more than the minimum they can get away with, particularly managers and supervisors who are key in my experience to a 'customer friendly' approach on the shop floor.

OP posts:

TheMonster · 19/01/2011 21:05

Poor service is another reason to never go into Primark.

ohnoshedittant · 19/01/2011 21:06

My dad always says 'manners cost nothing'.

ronshar · 19/01/2011 21:07

I have always lived by the theory that you paid shit, you get shit.

So I dont shop in Primark for that very reason.

compo · 19/01/2011 21:07

The girls on the tills are frendly
do you mean they don't have floor Walkers tidying and asking if you need any help?

onepieceoflollipop · 19/01/2011 21:09

The queues at the tills are always very very long (well I say "always" but this is based on 2-3 visits)

Try to avoid it but occasionally go in there.

wizardora · 19/01/2011 21:14

She'a a fucking whingebag - just had to change the channel as her programme is on where she goes undercover in Primark etc... They are cheap high street shops, what does she expect?

Original poster

fluffles · 19/01/2011 21:15

the gist i gathered from the pre-programme publicity was that she went in and asked the 'floor walkers' to 'serve' her.

clearly (to me) those staff are there to pick clothes off the floor and do a very basic tidy and re-stock, not to find customers what they're looking for (khaki harem pants in the example i saw!?!)... that's just not the level of service i'd expect in primark.

OP posts:

muminthemiddle · 19/01/2011 21:17

I still expect good service whereever I go.
We are in a recession, shops should be bending over backwards for customers.

usualsuspect · 19/01/2011 21:17

I've always found the staff helpful in Primark

noodle69 · 19/01/2011 21:18

Yeah she was on graham norton the other day and my husband said the same thing. Although in primarks defence I have had lovely people serve me and talk to me. Queues are always long but what do you expect? Its not the checkout peoples faults.

usualsuspect · 19/01/2011 21:19

The queues go down really quickly I find

muminthemiddle · 19/01/2011 21:19

Also if I go in a shop and it is a mess then I am far less inclined to be tidy too. By that I mean if clothes are strewen all over the rails and floor then I will not feel like making an effort to put anything back in the correct place. whereas in a neat place I will always hang things back very tidyly.

wizardora · 19/01/2011 21:19

I've always found the staff in Primark really helpful too

Dragonhead · 19/01/2011 21:22

tbh I wouldn't shop there, I think the clothes are very poor quality. DD asks to go because her friends shop there but I haven't given in yet. Not surprised to hear the service is poor -the one and only time I went in it looked like as jumble sale.

Deciduousblonde · 19/01/2011 21:22

I have always found staff at Primark to be very efficient.

Sure, it's usually very untidy. So what? there are always loads of tills open and the staff serve the customers quickly, politely & without fuss.

Unlike some of the 'posher' places where you have to put up with listening to what Chantelle & her mates got up to last night whilst you are waiting to be served..

ohnoshedittant · 19/01/2011 21:23

I wonder if it depends where in the country you are, more than the shop. The staff in our local primark are not helpful or even polite, but then neither are the staff in any of the other shops (except New Look who seem to be having a politeness push). I'm in London.

When I lived in York, the staff in all the shops (in general) seemed to be more helpful.

amberleaf · 19/01/2011 21:23

Ive always found the till staff to be friendly and quick.

Im not bothered about the floor walkers as i can see they are busy picking up and refolding all the clothing shoppers dump as they rifle through.

I also dont want them to help me i can find things for myself-its not hard.

manicbmc · 19/01/2011 21:24

I have never, in my life, asked for help finding a certain item of clothes in any shop - nevermind Primark. Takes all the fun out of shopping to get someone else to do the looking.

I occasionally venture into Primark, and apart from it being very busy, find it to be as good a place as any.

I've encountered rude shop staff in plenty of supposedly upmarket places. Why should Primark be any different?

anonymosity · 19/01/2011 21:24

Can you name a shop in the UK where the service is charming and helpful?

Darnsarfupnorf · 19/01/2011 21:24

i think its the kind of people and the amount of people in the shops that make them so messy, everytime i go in theres loads of poor staff members desperatly trying to restack piles of knickers an rehang things. maybe theres just to many people and to many clothes?
as for the tills, yea theres always a massive que and its always really hot which now im 8 months pg puts me off going but once i get to the till the staff have always been friendly :) cant stand that mary though!!

Itsjustafleshwound · 19/01/2011 21:25

anonymosity - John Lewis is good for customer service
Lakeland is also good

Courtesy and cleanliness is just 2nd nature

AgentZigzag · 19/01/2011 21:26

I'm another one who's always found the staff really polite and helpful.

I can't afford to shop in stores that pay staff for an extra 'have a nice day', I prefer them to do it because they're naturally polite.

Ooopsadaisy · 19/01/2011 21:26

I really get annoyed when it is the front line staff who get the blame.

They are paid rubbish money, given little training or motivation and yet because they are the public face of Primark they get a bad name.

I know manners cost nothing but if they have no manners then they shouldn't have been employed by the senior people should they?

And where are the senior people? On the golf course or on a yacht.

It's the same with bank bonuses. A friend of mine who works for a high street bank had a customer giving her an abusive bollocking in her branch because of her bonus. She got £700.00 last year and a salary of about £16K.

It's the arses in the city not the girls in the branches but the arses are hidden in their own bubbles and protected by an old boy network of untouchables aren't they?

Ok - rant over.

Emo76 · 19/01/2011 21:26

I really like shops where I can have a good look around without being asked if I need help - it makes me feel like they think I am shoplifting!! Sometimes I need ages to have a good browse.

I think this is why online shopping is so fab!

StarlightPrincess · 19/01/2011 21:27

I really don't care if the service is shit. What I care about is the prices- and they're right for me!

Flip

1 2