to wonder why people who work in clothing retail can't fold clothes properly when packing them

[UnreasonablyPissedOff]

Just that really...
It REALLY irritates me when I spend money on something and the person on the till does a half arsed fumbly balling and rolling up of the items and shoves them into the bag. You KNOW they will be a ball of wrinkles by the time you get them home...

I am not talking about stuff from H&M or Primark - I sort of expect it in those shops.

But the higher end of the high street scale, I recently bought a dress in The Kooples and a dress in Whistles. Neither of them cheap by my standards. The Whistles dress is silk and will DEF wrinkle if bundled up. The sales person de-tagged it and sort o folded it in two, badly and then rolled it up a bit and shoved it into a bag. She had done the job so badly the arms were still sticking out of the bag and she started shoving them in any old way.

She looked utterly shocked when I said I would like to take the dress out and fold it myself so I would not have to get it steam pressed before wearing it. Seriously if looks could kill I'd be dead. I found myself starting off a bit apologetic but her attitude made me think inwardly 'ffs..I shouldn't have to do this and you should be ashamed to pack like that...' tempting though it was I did NOT say it!

The dress was close to £200...

Am i being unreasonable to want some care to be taken when packing purchases?

Years ago we had a Jigsaw in my town and the care they gave to packing made me love them utterly and I really enjoyed shopping there.

So does this bother you? How do you tackle it? Do you say something or not?

I know it is a first world problem but I don't buy things like that every week and I want to feel like it is a nice experience when I do..not come away irritated!

it doesn't brother me- I always wash anything new before wearing anyway

I’ve noticed this too! They make a show of gently folding a blouse in the most haphazard manner. I’ve never said anything but for a very expensive item I might!

Seriously confused - even a silk dress?
I have never ever considered doing that in my life!!!

I always used to do my best, but if there was a massive long queue sometimes things would be folded up a bit less well...

Yes it bothers me, but funnily enough in H&M they always fold my stuff nicely

I noticed, as it's not a given these days.

I expect they are trying to work quickly so no one complains about waiting in a queue and they are probably being paid minimum wage so don't really care.

I worked in retail for a decade. for my sins

They either:
a) were never taught how to do it at home
b) don't give a fuck

YANBU and I would have same reaction as you. I would have stopped the sales assistant and asked them to fold it with tissue.

I bought several t-shirts online from Zara last month, each for less than £10 and they all came wrapped in tissue. I was pleasantly surprised because I expected them to be folded in plastic bags.

Sounds like that sales assistant simply couldn't be bothered.

And yes, it's a first world problem but a very irritating problem.

I'd hazard a guess that whether the item is £300 or £2, the sales assistants will likely be on zero hours min wage and concerned about not getting enough shifts next week if they are seen to be slow and let a queue build up. So can't say I blame them.

YANBU

Dalek these items were bought in a high end department store. There was no queue. I was the only person at the till the entire time. So she certainly was not rushing because she was afraid of a queue forming.

I did say that I do not expect the same service in Primark or other fast and furious turn over places.

I honestly don't think it takes any longer to fold things nicely than to 'fold' them not nicely. I accept that I am perhaps an exception to the rule of folding as I am an expert folder - experince hard won from many summer working in a t-shirt factory during my youth.

I guess I don't understand why staff are not trained in this area when they are being trained in all other aspects of the job?

I do not work in retail so readily admit I have no idea how the jobs are structured but the store was the equivalent of a John Lewis / Harvey Nichols, with various brand concessions within. Would those staff be on zero hours?

Actually Nurse that is a very good point. re: online sales. I bought some things from The Kooples online last year and they came beautifully wrapped. There is no way they could get away with shoving the stuff into the packets. And yet by supporting local jobs and buying from my high street I got a less pleasant experience.....

It may make me think twice about shopping local...

Yanbu. It’s just laziness/can’t be arsedness.

Was the dept store the one famous for its Christmas ads? Is so, you are not being unreasonable. I cannot fault most standalone stores and concessions manned by staff that are hired by the actual company though.

Whistles Bluewater fold, tissue wrap and pack the items beautifully irrespective of price. The Christmas ad retailer charges you 5p and rams them in a carrier.