to have felt humiliated by shop assistant (feeling hormonal and unsure)

[FairhairedandFrustrated]

I have £200 worth of vouchers for a local independent shoe shop which I love and shop in regularly (well, as regular as I need/want shoes!)

I am on the hunt for a pair of nude heels so when I was in town this morning I called into the shop.

Female on duty - my feet are a size 2/3 but I know their shoes only start in a 3 or 4 and usually buy a size 3.

I picked up a pair of nude heels, slipped them on & they were pretty big, too big so even an insole would have been no use.

The girl working there said she had no shoes that would fit me and I said I normally shopped there, in fact the boots I was wearing had come from there and I had £200 of vouchers burning a hole in my pocket. She then asked me where I'd got the vouchers!

I wandered down the shop and picked up another pair of brown coloured ankle boots and a pair of red ones in the same brand, showed them to dd who liked them too. Immediately the girl took them from me, put both pairs back on the shelf saying, "The 3 in them are very big fitting too."

She didn't even give me a chance to try them on, I always buy a size three, I always wear bed socks with them.. she then went into the staff bit and I picked up my bags (trying not to cry as I felt I'd been chastised by her not even letting me try the boots on and the fact my period is due in the next few days and I am emotional anyway)

Her colleague, a male, asked me if I got sorted out. I said no, adding "her attitude needs worked on" and left.

Now I feel I don't want to go back into the shop when she's there (I've never seen her before so not even sure if she may be the actual owner) but on the other hand I have vouchers to spend and they were gifts from family & friends knowing I love the shop.

Part of me wants to make a complaint, the other part wants to give the vouchers away & never go back near the shop again - I felt humiliated by the way she took the boots out of my hand and back on the shelf, like you would do with a child who was touching something it shouldn't.

It's hard to explain, but I wasn't dressed well today, I had no make-up and I just felt the woman couldn't be bothered with me.

Am I being unreasonable to be annoyed now 8 hours later or am I blowing this totally out of porportion? (it's ok if I am, just be gentle with me)

Feel for you.I had a similar kind of response in Mango before Xmas. Had money to spend on an outfit for Xmas ball.Both assistants walked away from me and when I asked to be served with a size 16 dress I was told there was no large sizes in the shop. Bitch ! Then she picked up a size 12 asking if that was any good.
No stupid woman.Made me feel awful.But went to Monsoon and had a lovely time with helpful assistant who hopefully got the commision.

Oh god I recently had a shop assistant come over when I was looking at watches in the locked display and direct me to some crappy heap of watches which were a real bargain at a fiver. Felt like crap.

Actually Lavenderhoney has a point.
That money has already been allocated hasn't it, on those vouchers. And as they can only be spent in that independant shop, it's even more galling because you've no option but to use them there.

Don't feel the need to go back glammed up, if she's such a bad sales person she can't get her head round the fact that some people with money to spare don't feel the need to get glammed up just to go shopping (because quite frankly, if you are rich, shopping isn't an event ) then she's shit at her job.

Call and ask to speak to the manager on Monday, explain what happened today, then say how insulted you were by her behaviour, point out as well, as you were wearing something they stock her "we don't sell shoes in your size" statement also means she hasn't bothered to get to know their stock.

BTW - also a size 3, once you've spent these vouchers, start looking elsewhere, there are a lot of shops who do stock smaller sizes so you don't ahve to put thick socks on underneath.

DH and I had a similar experience when choosing my engagement ring in a posh Jewellers (dressed very casual had just got back from a holidays) the sales assistance was very dismissive and waved us towards the end "that would be most suitable for us" in other words the cheapest they stocked.
DH then approached a younger junior assistant and said loudly he was looking for and the ££££££ range he was interested in. That nice boy got a very nice commission from us just before Christmas. We took great satisfaction in the look of shock from the sour cow. [bugrin]

Forgot to add I then would have the opposite reaction when I tried on wedding dresses they would take one look at my hand and steer me towards the uber expensive dresses.

I would personally approach the manager and say that I had lost confidence in the shop and would be requesting the money back, in place of the vouchers, due to their shoddy service.

It's worth the ask, and if not, name and shame them on here (only half joking).

YANBU - she was very rude. I would complain if I were you - and definitely don't let her put you off shopping in there.

Completely agree re bit getting glammed up. I shop "like a man" - read, I shop two times a year, and each time wander aimlessly around the West end looking for a friendly sales assistant, and when I find someone decent am easily convinced to spend a decent amount. My friend who is a fashion buyer thinks I'm odd but a salesperson's dream. Great, except I usually have to get to about shop number 6 or 7 before I find the helpful salesperson.

And at the risk of being culturalist inevitably turns out to be Italian.

(Nice lady at house of Fraser in Oxford St, many thanks. The top with the flamingoes was a winner)

Typo world at mine. NOT getting glammed up.

Once, when I was trying to buy some books for my dd in Waterstones, the woman serving on the nearest desk was extremely rude and ordered me to go upstairs because she was going to be busy for some time. I wrote a complaint and got a letter of apology and £20.

Thanks all, I will phone during the week & speak to the manager. Thank-you all for the encouragement!!

It annoyed me especially after I had spent £80 (in vouchers again, a borthday/Christmas gift I hadn't got around to spending) in Boots and the sales woman was lovely, great at her job and worked the 3 for 2 offers so well that I got lots of money off - ds even went back in to her with sweets as she was so lovely.

I've been on the facebook page belonging to the shop and it's all just photos and comments, no feedback/complaints etc..

I will call them when they're open again after Easter.

Sorry to hear others' have had bad experiences too.

What a stuck up fucker! when you say she asked where you got the vouchers was she iplying they were fake or stolen or something?, seems such a weird question to ask

*implying

Can you use the vouchers to buy shoes which you then return the next day for cash?

I just hate being belittled in shops.

I would comment on their face book page and then write a complaint letter.

She obviously knows nothing about the stock so you can safely take your voucher back and request every size 3 to try on - dont forget to re ask a passing sales advisor if she has said no stock in such and such to check if she is blagging you.

Enjoy your new shoes

Just wanted to update.

Went into town last night, sent ds into the shop first to make sure the assistant wasn't working, it was a different girl so we went in.

There were no other customer there and the girl was lovely - I asked to try the 3 on in the original boot I showed the girl last week - she got me them, I tried them on & they fit! I also tried a few other pairs and let ds try some on too.

When I was getting my own shoes back on I asked her if she was the manager. She said no, she was the assistant manager.

So I thanked her and said the experience outshone the one I'd had the previous week and explained what had happened. She was genuinely very apologetic. She said customer service is very very high on their agenda and they'd hate for me to feel I couldn't come back to the shop.

I did say I didn't want to get the assistant into any kind of trouble but I would hate another customer to feel like I did.

She was so lovely, apologised and give me money off the boots I was buying (not that that's the reason I complained) and said their customer training would be tightened up....

Am pleased I summoned up the courage to say something. Thanks MN.

Ooooh, rotten customer service really grinds my gears, probably because I work in sales myself and can't believe how others don't understand how important it is!

I've got a friend who pipes up "aww, are you in a bad mood today?" to whoever gives her crappy, non-smiley, unhelpful or even downright rude service in restaurants, shops etc. it soon shocks them out of their inaction :D I'm tempted to start trying it myself instead of merely raising my eyebrows in disgust at them.

Ooo well done Fairhaired!