AIBU to think Marks and Spencer deserve to go under

[Carulli]

I'm so disappointed, I grew up shopping at M&S snd as young adult still bought most of my clothes there. However for at least 10 years they don't seem to have anything to offer me (I'm in my 40's) apart from food.

Their Sparks card is a bad joke, I've got over 57,000 points from regular food purchases but to obtain any benefits I'm expected to log in and pick deals I'm interested in. Who's got time to do that before they go and buy a sandwich? I know Boots ask you check offers too but they also generously accumulate money on your card with every purchase which you can use to buy products. Sparks offers nothing at all, they get all the valuable data but customers get nothing of any use.
I foolishly bought school uniform for my 3 kids because it was a 20% off deal. Instead of delivering it in one or two large boxes they posted it to me with most of the items in individual bags which took up loads of space, I received 16 parcels in total! Having tried on the uniform and finding it far too large for my normal size kids I decided to return it and was amazed to find that in order to return it to the local Collect store I was expected to tear off a printed piece of paper and attach it on to each individual parcel! All the other retailers that I shop online with have sticky labels which are so easy to attach.
I rang customer services and asked if they could collect the parcels so that I don't have to use sticky tape to attach 16 labels on and they refused and were particularly unhelpful.
There was still a part of me that felt some loyalty to them and I wanted to call head office to let them know how frustrating it is to shop with them now. Well I found it impossible to contact them, there was a number online which kept me on hold for 8 mins before I gave up.
Any loyalty or wishes for them to get their act together so that I could shop with them again evaporated. I feel so sorry for their shop floor staff who will continue to lose their jobs as stores close through no fault of their own. Incompetent management teams for at least the last decade continue to treat their customer like idiots. The only way to have any contact with M&S is though the call centre and those staff appear to have no way of escalating customer concerns, certainly I was given very short shrift. If the Senior managers really want to turn the business around they need to stop tinkering and actually connect with real customers and lots of them. They need to know why so few people are buying their products now and actually ask them why themselves, maybe call 10 customers each once per week picked at random from their Sparks database.
I'm not sure why I'm offering them suggestions, I just don't care any more which makes me sad.

I love their food, mostly. Their fruit is second-to-none.

Their beauty department and body oils are great too.

Their jewellery is sometimes nice as well.

Clothes - hit and miss. A few beautiful lines sometimes strike you as you walk round. But I feel some dodgy materials all the time, viscose everywhere. If I want cotton I have to go to White Stuff, Monsoon, TK Mass etc now (and these days I can afford to whereas before I didn't). This is where alot of their competition is I think now, as well as Primark. I don't like their bras either - uncomfortable.

TK Maxx

You are moaning about the inconvenience of internet shopping and then wishing store closures on them. Go to the shop, try stuff on, see what fits. If you need to order something then order it into the store and go and collect it. Internet shopping is killing our high streets - unless you know exactly what size and style you need you inevitably end up sending stuff back - it’s a complete PITA. Nothing to do with M and S. I can think of nothing worse than a future in which there are no shops to actually try for size and feel the fabric and where everything has to be ordered on line, you have to hang about for deliveries and then send half of it back because it is no good.

The clothes are horribly over-designed. Every single shirt, jumper, skirt, etc. has an extra frill, flounce, spangle, or slice. The worst part is that from across the room, you think, oooh, that looks nice, and then you go over and realize there's a huge ugly ribbon sewn to the bottom of the shirt.

About a year ago I had a big, three-day interview, and I went there hoping to find some stylish, simple clothes to add to my standbys. I was willing to shell out about £500; I left an hour later having spent about £6 on some underwear.

I don't hope they go under, but I do hope they take the general unhappiness seriously.

You really aren't cut out for internet shopping, are you dear?

M&S is struggling - there's a store closure programme underway and likely to be more. But as a PP said, the leadership team are the ones at fault but they'll walk away with severance packages and it will be the people on the shop floor, in the vans, in the warehouses who'll be waiting their 8 weeks or whatever for their benefits.

it's just not a good place to shop. Their food was great, but the other supermarkets have caught up and the price points are better. The clothes are packed in unattractively - you need real imagination to buy something suitable. Staff don't really care (a sure sign of poor leadership).

I'd love to see a recovery. On the other hand, I find John Lewis staff to be interested and helpful and can usually find what I want. Our local Waitrose treats customers like old friends. If I order online, I try it on in the toilets and can just hand it back over the desk if it doesn't suit/fit. But JLP is having a challenging time, too.

Home Bargains and B&M are doing well, I hear.... cheap tat but my guilty pleasure

YABU and overreacting.

Take your business elswhere but don't wish a company to go under because you are disappointed in them. YABVU

Oh yes, the baby ranges this summer have been lovely. Like Boden but cheaper. I’ve bought lots!
I agree on the sizes though... they very rarely have the size I need. All very well telling you to order it online but that’s a faff. I want to buy in store!

After the rudeness encountered at a Monoprix supermarket on a recent trip to France give me good ol M&S any day of the week, Sparks card and all.

M&S staff are angels compared to the horrid rude Monoprix staff member I encountered. In fact Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda etc etc staff in the UK are great. Please don’t wish for big UK employer to go under.

YANBU that they need to sort themselves out. I, like many however, would not like to see them go under.

The number of packages you got was ridiculous and suggests poor processes.

Agree is it hard to find unfussy, non polyester stylish clothing.

I like the fresh food but much of the more processed food has worsened in quality over recent years and I now wouldn't consider an
M&S dessert, preferring to pay a bit more for a much better quality one from Cook. M&S processed food now tastes fake IMO.

Yabu and very ott

Get a grip

I hope that they don't go under. My DH works for one of their subcontractors.

The M&S next to my office has just closed and it's awfully sad. I really miss it. At least twice a week I think of something that I could've got from there that I'll now have to faff around finding elsewhere. Not to mention where to buy lunch.

Their online offering is pretty poor. This is an example of how poor
www.marksandspencer.com/logan-dark-bed-adult-ii-bedstead/p/p60126114?prevPage=srp&pdpredirect
Ignoring the poor quality of the product, the sizes given are fit the next size up eg the "single" has the dimensions for the double. This is because it actually is a double. According to the brochure, this bed comes as double, king and super king.

I contacted them to tell them about the error because it had me really confused when I was shopping for a new single bed. They said they'd get onto their Web team. This was at Easter.

I don’t want to see anyone lose their job, but the clothes are horrible.

My Mum is 75 and thinks it’s a lot of shit (her words). Everything has frills and fuss and is waaaay over-sized and over-priced. In her 20s she was a size 10. At 75 the size 6 drowns her. She is about the same size but has shrunk about an inch in height.

The sportswear is all far too thick and heavy. No-one could run a marathon in that crap. It’s not wicked properly either.

The food is ridiculously priced. And the bloody packaging. It’s all garbage.

In the last two months I have returned 3 bras, a pair of shoes and a top. All broken/split within the first couple of weeks of use. Really inconvenient! I will deffo be trying other retailers, not been impressed recently.

M&S jeans made me feel human again after I’d given birth - they were the only jeans that fit over my saggy belly and did up, so YABU. My last four packets of cookies has been stale and gross though, so they could do with upping their biscuit game, but on the whole, I love M&S.

I don’t want them to go under, but I fear that’s where they’re headed if they don’t lose their arrogance.

Their online delivery is shocking (last thing I ordered wasn’t dispatched for a WEEK and that was normal service with no delays!). Their food is overpriced and nothing special - supermarket premium ranges are just as good and cheaper. Their clothes are dire at the moment, and I’ll never find out if they improve because I will not shop with places that put the feelings of men above the safety and privacy of women by allowing men to use the women’s changing rooms. I truly believe that policy change is symptomatic of all their problems - they think they know better than their customers. They don’t.

I don’t want any large employer to close down but as I rarely buy more than the odd pint of milk from M&S I’m obviously not helping and based on what they have been selling the last few years, I can’t see that changing. For years customers have commented about the deterioration in quality and style and M&S keep replacing designers but basically nothing changes.

I don’t think the clothes are expensive enough. Seems like a crazy statement but it was when they started to try and compete with the likes of Primark and New Look etc that it all started going downhill. They have gone down the cheap fashion route except it is too expensive for people who shop in Primark, and too cheap(bad fabrics) , unstylish and bad quality for those who have some money to spend on quality garments that last, rather than throwaway fashion.

I would hate for them to go under but I do think it needs to do something radical if it is to survive. Someone upthread mentioned Banana Republic - they have left the UK, M & S could have grabbed that market. Or they could look at Massimo Dutti and see what they are doing.

I went to the big House of Fraser in Oxford Street last week. It is actually looking good at the moment with a good range of clothing. A shame that is going. The Debenhams there deserves to go - had awful service from somebody in there - and it is a hot and messy shop. I feel sorry for the staff in these shops (not withstanding the ones that give bad service) because they must know that a lot of shops are going to go under. The rise of online shopping, the convenience of Click and Collect options, free returns, uncertainties over Brexit, and the dire offerings at some chains must mean a decimation of the High Street.

It's ok and I like their knickers. I buy the odd pair of trousers.

They have nice beauty products and love beauty calendar

Good for gifts and plants

I wouldn't want them to go under

Wish they would improve their basics and use more natural fibres again

I do shop in store, partly because I don’t like their website, and partly because they have so many different ranges I find it easier to look at everything in store.
I loved their 5 pocket jeans but they were discontinued, as were some great petite skinny jeans I loved - but they have so many different types of jeans I have given up looking for similar ones.
I agree with other posters that the senior management think they know better than their customers. My 76 year old mum has stopped shopping there as she can’t find any trousers long enough, and is not impressed with the fabric of the ‘basics’ t-shirts, blouses and tops any more. This is after shopping there since the 1970s.
Still trust their food though.

The sparks card is a good idea.
It only takes few mins to check and you could save quite a lot of money.
Not only on food but clothes too.

You can take your parcels in store and return them that way. Costing nothing. (Not even a phone call)

If you had gone in store you could have bought or ordered the same clothes but in a smaller size and m&s would have honoured the 20%. I am in my 40's and find loads of tops to match with leggings/leggings. Try Pru Una. Saying it deserves to close is unfair on the staff who have families or mortgages. We all work hard but a little kindness from customers is always appreciated.

Thanks for the recommendation about Sparks card, atrandy, I'll get one I think. Nothing to lose.