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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to want to do something about breathtaking stupidity from member of staff in a shop, or should I just let it go?

81 replies

Mintyy · 11/01/2014 23:10

I went to a well known High Street shop to buy a pair of dungarees for my dd. It is one of those shops mainly frequented by young people Grin.

She is 13 years old and very slender but about 5'6" to 5'7" so needs adult sized clothes.

There were two pairs of size 10 dungarees on the rail but they looked a little large to me and I imagine dd is probably an 8 or even a 6, depending on shop.

There was another pair of the same dungarees that looked smaller than these two size 10s, but when I looked at the label, both the sewn-in label and the cardboard hanging tag it said size 16!

There were no other smaller sizes so I took them to the till and queried the labelling with the assistant. I said "these must have an incorrect label sewn in to them but I am going to take them because they look about the right size for my dd but I'm just guessing, because they obviously aren't a size 16".

This was too much for the assistant serving me to comprehend, so she showed them to her more senior colleague who looked at them briefly, shrugged and said "it could just be the style of the dungarees, some things come up smaller than others".

Now aibu to think someone who works in a fashion shop should be able to tell, roughly by sight, if a pair of skinny dungarees is a size 6 or a 16??

As it happens they were too small for dd. I suspect they are a size 6 and I will have to take them back to exchange for an 8.

I just want to say to the assistant "pmsl these are a size 16 and they are just designed that way like you tried to tell me ... chinny reckon".

But I have to forget about it eh?

OP posts:
Primadonnagirl · 12/01/2014 11:19

Sorry chinny reckon....

AmazingBouncingFerret · 12/01/2014 11:19

Ahhh now you've said which store it is I get it!

H&M have really weird sizing. I have to buy a size 14 in their 'young style but adult sizing' range but I'm a size 10 everywhere else. When I said something to the member of staff (not in a complaining way, in a how strange, oh well kind of way) she was deliberately vague. Maybe they are not allowed to comment on the sizing differences!

FreyaFridays · 12/01/2014 11:30

Here's hoping that nobody makes the mistake of believing your daughter to be suffering from breathtaking stupidity when she has her first Saturday job in retail.

Original poster
Mintyy · 12/01/2014 11:35

If she's (dd) was working in retail and cannot see that a size 6 skinny-fit garment isn't actually a 16, despite what it says on the label, then she would be being breathtakingly stupid.

OP posts:
afterthought · 12/01/2014 11:41

Some things do come up small. I buy from a particular brand and in one style had to buy a size 16 in their trousers. I then ordered a size 16 in another style from the same brand and it was ridiculously large. I'm actually only a size 12 - and the size 16 trousers that fitted are the same size as all my 12s at home.

The sales assistant was actually agreeing with you - by saying that some styles come up smaller she was acknowledging the fact they didn't look like a size 16. If you had taken a 12 and the supposed 16 and compared them, you may have had a different response.

CecilyP · 12/01/2014 11:45

I was looking for some 'breathtaking stupidity' and all I got was some breathtaking hyperbole from the OP. I am not sure what you expected them to do if they looked about the right size for your DD and you you were going to buy them anyway. Unless there were a whole rack of similar items all with wrong labels that you were alerting the staff to.

Bye all means, when you take them to exchange you can point out that it says size 16 when they were actually too small for your DD who is an 8 so they can take it up with the manufacturer, but are you sure they didn't say L6 or l6 using a lower case 'L' which can look remarkably like a number one and is used to show the garment is long?

Caitlin17 · 12/01/2014 11:52

Minty both you and the girl knew they weren't a 16. You wrongly thought they would fit.

capsium · 12/01/2014 11:59

But the assistant said 'could' as in she was just putting forward an alternative explanation. She did not say this was definitely the case.

It could be a possibility. She may have experience of huge variance between styles and brands.

So not necessarily thick, just open to thinking of the variables.

Why did you not hold the dungarees against another pair or measure them and compare to a sizing chart? (Or ask if she had a tape measure /ruler?)

Intelligent people also often say the wrong thing occasionally...Grin

Topaz25 · 12/01/2014 23:54

She might have been confused, you could have got a better reaction by phrasing it as a question like, "could you find out what size these dungarees are, I think the label is incorrect?" Or "could you help me find these in a size 8?" You were just making a statement and I think it was unclear what you wanted, especially since you didn't tell them your daughter's size.

Topaz25 · 12/01/2014 23:56

One day your daughter might be working in a shop, not know what a customer wants instantly and end up being slated on the internet as "breathtakingly stupid". How would you feel about that? Shop assistants are human you know.

complexnumber · 13/01/2014 00:03

If she's (dd) was working in retail and cannot see that a size 6 skinny-fit garment isn't actually a 16, despite what it says on the label, then she would be being breathtakingly stupid.

What does that make you, as the person who parted with money?

trufflesnuffler · 13/01/2014 01:08

I still have my breath after reading this.

I would just return and reward your excellent size judging ability with a powerwank in the changing rooms.

DrNick · 13/01/2014 01:12

Christ op. Find something important to care about

TheGinLushMinion · 13/01/2014 08:49

Breathtakingly stupid? Really? Hmm

olidusUrsus · 13/01/2014 18:16

But what did you want the shop assistant to do? I work on tills and tbh because you didn't actually ask a question & just bought them anyway it almost reads as you were embarrassed about buying something labelled as a 16... what did you want her to do with the information that you were sure they weren't a 16 but you wanted them anyway!?

Original poster
Mintyy · 13/01/2014 18:40

I wanted her to say "you're right, they can't possibly be a size 16, that's ludicrous".

OP posts:
lljkk · 13/01/2014 19:06

I can't believe you're letting this bother you.

polythenespam · 13/01/2014 19:43

h&m are renowned for having very dodgy sizing, so would imagine they weren't incorrectly labelled at all.

Original poster
Mintyy · 13/01/2014 20:03

Oh God lljk, not bothering me at all now. It was days ago.

OP posts:
Original poster
Mintyy · 13/01/2014 20:06

polythenespam I can believe H&M have inaccurate labelling, no problem with that at all. I remember refusing to buy a size 18 jacket in there when I am a 14 in every other shop, just on principle Grin.

Its just that the difference between a 6 and a 16 is SO enormous, that it can't be put down to having vague sizing which is different to other shops.

OP posts:
runningonwillpower · 13/01/2014 20:20

I would just return and reward your excellent size judging ability with a powerwank in the changing rooms.

^^I wish I'd posted this.

AnotherWorld · 13/01/2014 20:28

Just let it go

Original poster
Mintyy · 13/01/2014 20:30

It is gone, thank you.

OP posts:
CoolaSchmoola · 13/01/2014 20:36

I wonder if the grip shop sizes grips correctly? Do find out when you go for your much needed one OP...

Suzietastic · 13/01/2014 20:37

You've let it go? Chinny reckon...

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