sales assistant sniffs clothing I returned to the store

[shethinksistink]

I have namechanged for this as I find it very embarrassing.

I went shopping end of last week, found trousers and a top I liked, wasn’t sure of the sizes and couldn’t be bothered trying them on, so took both items in 2 sizes. At home I tried the bigger sizes on first, they fitted great so didn’t even bother trying the smaller sizes. Bagged up the 2 smaller sized items and set them aside to return yesterday.

Friend arrives 9am and we drive into town and my first port of call is to bring my returns back. Shop assistant packs out the two things, looks at my receipt, starts checking the numbers off against the tags then picks up the top and sniffs at it. Not in a discreet way, the exact same way you’d sniff at the armpits to check if it needs to go in the wash, blatantly! She didn’t look happy. I hate to do the exaggerated “I was shocked to the core” mumsnet thing, but I was. I have genuinely never felt so shocked, embarrassed and dumbstruck in a shop in my life. I am hyper vigilant about personal hygiene and the thought I would return smelly items made my recoil in horror. But I hadn’t even tried them on, so I was totally confused. There was a queue a mile long behind me at the desk. Everyone could see and hear this.

In a total fluster I ask the sales assistant what the problem is, she replies in quite a disdainful tone “I just thought I smelled cigarette smoke”. I don’t smoke and neither does anyone else in my house but I was just massively relieved it wasn’t a BO smell. So I jump in and say that it can’t be smoke as I don’t smoke and my house is smoke free. And she again replies disdainfully with “well I can definitely smell it” with a kind of roll-eye facial expression. The whole exchange had a hostile kind of undertone to it. At this point it dawns on me my friend smokes in her car all the time, just not when others are in it. No doubt she’d smoked 2 or 3 on the drive down to my place. The bag with the items had been in the car for around half an hour. Yes, they no doubt had a second hand stale cigaretty smell to them.

But even at that. I was appalled that any sales assistant would sniff an item of clothing in such a blatant manner then bemoan the fact the smell wasn’t to her liking. 40-a-day smokers are actually allowed to return clothes. As are dog owners, chip pan owners, curry cooks, people who cook fish in their homes, people who don’t shower daily and so on. While I sympathise with stores who no doubt get some ponging items of clothing returned, I have never ever witnessed a sales assistant do an in-your-face sniff test in front of a long queue of onlookers. AIBU to find this an appalling lack of manners on the part of the store/sales assistant?

If things must be sniffed, shouldn’t it been done discreetly? Then again, I doubt stores can refuse to accept items of clothing that have been stored in the houses of smokers or pet owners or people who own a chip pan or fry fish or are painting the skirting boards with gloss or people who wear cheap crappy perfumes. So why the hell did the sales assistant sniff my fucking top? lol

For the record the whole thing knocked me so sideways I didn’t say a word to the sale assistant. I just left the store as quick as I could. Checked with my friend and yes she had smoked in the car that morning (and it would be fair to say she smokes daily in her car as she spends 3-4hours per working-day on average on the road, wouldn’t surprise me if she smokes 50 ciggies a week in her car). My mood was so fucked up I abandoned my shopping trip and came straight home.

Calmed down in the afternoon, and called the head office of the store. They were appalled and assured me it would be dealt with. I had the name of the sales assistant as it was on the return receipt. Asked me to put the whole event in writing and send it to the head office, which I have done and they’ll get back to me in the new year. I then called the actual store and spoke with a manager who was equally sympathetic and horrified, apologised on behalf of the sales assistant and assured me it would be dealt with and wouldn’t happen to anyone again.

So AIBU to consider having a little trip into town tomorrow morning, finding the sniffing sales assistant and just politely ask her if she meant to be so rude she meant to spoil my day and embarrass me to the core then she should be wholeheartedly congratulated as it worked a treat. And tell her that I hope after head office and the store manager are finished with her that she feels half as rotten as I felt yesterday morning. Then just wish her a happy new year and smile and leave.

Or am I just being childish and petty and should leave it at the written complaint and the 2 phone calls?

Total overreaction on your part.

Why on earth should they let items be returned that they can't sell again because of cigarette smoke?

And you are being so rude about the shop assistant, she was only doing her job.

Shop assistants need to keep their gobs firmly shut until they know with 100% certainty that it's the return items that stink.

Maybe she should of smelt them to make sure

In fact, how do you all cope with daily life?

I was going to ask you the same question! Embarrassed to your core, humiliated, day ruined, left your shopping trip early. Come on! It was an absolute non event, what is wrong with you!

Whether it actually smelt or not is beyond the point. If it happened how you describe then it was a bit rude, but get over it and move on with your life like any other person would do.

Maybe she was sniffing to see if the clothes smelled as bad as your attitude ....

Holy crap this is still going on OP in the nicest way possible.....if this is the most upsetting and earth shattering thing to have happened to you lately please count yourself very lucky indeed.

But not your mate op. According to you she honks.

she smells like any and every smoker does. Of cigarette smoke. I don't mind it, don't even really notice it. I only notice it when she first walks in. She does not stink unless you class every smoker as stinking. I don't. She is a clean, well groomed, beautifully smelling (of perfume) smoker.

So .... does she and every other smoker be classed as "stinking an honking" from me, no. I hate that kind of vitriol against smokers. But she does smell of smoke.

And Jo Malone. And she always has the most gorgeous shampoo too.

Maybe the shop assistant did think it was your friend but how much more would you have complained if she went up to get and sniffed her hair! You can't blame her for checking.

limebritzer

maybe the shop assistant did think it was your friend but how much more would you have complained if she went up to get and sniffed her hair!

I will commend your OP on not mentioning the name of the shop.

But honestly, if you're a non smoker and you pull gear out of a bag that's been in a smokers car you will smell it. It is way more pervasive than dog or even chip fat, but interestingly it's always the one people don't consider an issue when making a return so in fact you're more likely to get fag-smelling clothes IYSWIM.

As to online shopping, all the returns are steamed before they go back out. It's just that in a store they won't have the ability to do that as well, if at all.

You'd be astonished at how many smelly clothes have to be written off.

"You should have said "cigarette smoke? I'm surprised you can smell it above your B.O??' Refund please..."

I would have paid good money for you to have whispered that in my ears yesterday morning. And a sales assistant as rude as this one deserved a rude retort just like this. Pity I was in no state to give it.

Your responses seem to imply you think you're above a lowly shop assistant

YABU Get over it and move on with your life!

chickenowner Obviously I can't be 100% on this case, but I used to work in HO a few years ago, for a high street retailer. With complaints like OP's, no action was taken on the back of it - policy was to apologise profusely, tell the customer the situation would be resolved internally/member of staff would receive additional training on the back of it.
I can actually remember the template that had to be followed, that will stick with me forever.
I should add that genuine/serious complaints were treated much differently, with proper investigation and repercussions, etc.

Shop assistants need to keep their gobs firmly shut until they know with 100% certainty that it's the return items that stink. So no, it's not her fault she smelled fag smoke. It is her fault for being gobby and obnoxious and wrong about the source of that smell though

You really have problems. Seriously.

You are 44 years old? I assumed you were much younger. That was probably unfair of me, but I truly thought that only someone with very limited life experience could overreact quite so spectacularly.

I've just remembered what op's rants remind me of. The hilarious whining monologues of the detective in The Thin Blue Line. Classic.

"How do you want head office to deal with her 10 lashes? Fired? Disciplined? "

No lashes. It's way too saudi arabia for this little piece of suburbia.

Fired, no, that's too harsh too.

I would like her to be told how rude and obnoxious she was. I would like her to be told that while the store does not have to accept returns on items that stink of smoke, that it is always a good idea to be sure it's the ITEM that stinks and not the returnee of the item (or her best friend who smokes and is standing next to her!). I would like her to be told that smokers are human and as such should be treated with respect when they return an item and act respectfully. Not looked down upon and snarled at and treated with disdain.

If an incontinent person brought an item back to the store, and the sales assistant blatantly sniffed it then said "oh no worries Mrs I thought it was top that stinked off piss" would you all be so forgiving?

Indeed not, but it is her fault that she wrongly assumed the fag smoke smell was coming from my returned items.

And

And shop assistants have to learn to keep their rudeness and sarcasm to their selves unless they are 100% certain it’s the returned item that smells and not the returnee.

But she's not allowed to sniff it to check?!?!

sheld0n

I agree, happened in offices i have worked in as well

Obviously once the 'complaint' had been checked

Pity I was in no state to give it.

I was in a state when I woke up and there was an intruder in my house op! If you were in a 'state' over this then you need to get out more you are being so ridiculous it's infuriating no one gets in a 'state' because someone sniffed their stinky clothes!

Dolly I hate the culture of throwing gift vouchers at customers to appease them. Even with genuine complaints, I'd rather see it resolved properly. Although did see a few cases where the complaint was resolved, big effort was taken to make it right, and the customer came back with "that's great, but where's my gift voucher?".

I'm inclined to agree with bluntness. As an ex-retail worker, I often had customers making petty or unreasonable demands - it's par for the course, unfortunately - BUT I also had colleagues who actively enjoyed belittling customers or treating them with contempt because they were carrying their own personal shoulder chips. Not all customers are arseholes, likewise not all retail staff are angels. Humans interacting with other humans - sometimes one or the other gets it wrong.

Yikes OP, well I'm genuinely sorry for you that it upset you so much, and maybe there was more in the shop assistant's manner that got to you (which we can't see in text).

But honestly, your wish to exact revenge on her so disproportionately just makes you seem like quite a horrible person (and I'm quite a horrible person myself, so just saying). It's as though you feel you are worth so much more than her that even a minor transgression against you must be punished with full might. Just, bleugh.

Anyway, I've seen you've at least changed your mind on that count, so there is some humility there, but I get a whopping great dose of narcissism with your posts too ( how dare she think I could possibly smell?)

All said with the best of intention. I don't intend to upset you but give you some honest feedback with which to reflect upon yourself, because there is a reason you are getting such negative lashback here.

It seems unusual behavior from the sales assistant.