Changing room etiquette: asked by staff to hanger the clothes

[Lostkitty]

I took four pieces of clothing to the changing room, selected two, and was trying to hand over the remaining two to the staff in the changing room alongwith the hangers when I was told to "hanger the clothes and then return" by the staff. Is it normal to hang the discarded clothes while out shopping and was I being U in handing those over to the staff without neatly hanging them back on?

Thanks @chouetted this is helpful.

No one is expecting you to redo shop standards (the "winging" on tops at JD Sports, for example is a fucking nightmare for staff let alone customers) - but back on the hangers & not inside out at least shows some basic manners. And basic intelligence. The way some things come back you wonder how the customer actually got dressed without help.

We are here to serve but some people seem to go out of their way to make you feel like a servant. Presumably you don't hang clothes at home like that so why is it ok to disrespect an item we have to sell after you're done with it.

@GreyGardens88 - colleague refused to issue a refund on returned opened tights at H&M. They were unsellable but the customer complained and got told how were we to know whether or not the customer had a yeast infection!! H&M also have the flat hangers. Bloody godsend when you have a full rail to fix and whack out in 15 minutes- including piles of stuff dumped on the floor, not on hangers.

Apart from being courteous behaviour towards the staff and the next person to try on what would be an increased item, it’s just easier to carry things back on the hanger.

chouette yeah that's called customer service. Staff tell you it's all fine so you don't demand to speak to a manager and cost them their job. That does not mean it's okay to treat staff like that.

Rude and lazy not to. You sound like a bit of princess. I'm too embarrassed to even leave anything that doesn't fit and I go out of my way to put everything back in the correct place.

That does not mean it's okay to treat staff like that.
But Chouted was talking about someone who couldn't do it, not couldn't be arsed to do it. If as customer service staff you object to doing something like this because someone has explained they physically can't, you're possibly in the wrong job. Should people with arthritis in the hands for example not be allowed to go out clothes shopping?

I worked in retail and frequently got things literally thrown back at me when customers exited the changing room. Either that or bunched up and handed back, no thanks either. So yes, you are being unreasonable. Do someone a favour in their otherwise tedious and difficult day, and simply hang the clothes back on the hanger. If they need to be re-displayed, they can then do it with less effort and time wasted. I just don't get why anyone wouldn't hang them again!!

I’m really surprised by these responses. In Australia, almost no one returns the clothes to hangers or racks and most leave them in the changerooms. Since I’ve been a mum, I find myself automatically tidying them, and often get them snatched out of my hands by sales assistants with a tight smile that says ‘you’ll only get it wrong, just stop messing with our system please!’.

If I bring the ‘discard’ pile up to the register with me, there’s often no space, and I can see that they’d rather I didn’t do that either.

Maybe you should think about emigrating, OP?! Sounds like you’d fit in better here?

I used to work in GAP and most people just dumped the clothes on the table at the greeting area of the changing room. The pile would be so enormous sometimes clothes would be falling off it. Didn't really matter though because even if the customer had hung them you'd need to redo them in 99% of cases anyway. It's common courtesy though.

Worse was customers leaving clothes in the changing room because it creates opportunities for theft. Or when a woman left a dirty thong and a used tampon on the floor. Or when someone pissed on the floor.

Surprised they told you to hang them.

I'm in UK by the way.

Definitely don't take the clothes to the cash register unless you plan to buy them. There was never any room and we got a bollocking if there were clothes bunched around there but no time to go and put them back out.

No more unreasonable than clearing a table in a fast food place.

I do think this is cultural as when I worked in a shop some tourists never rehung clothes, you were lucky if they picked them off the floor.

Quite possibly cultural. I live in the US. Every fitting room is full of dumped clothes on hangers, on hooks, on the seat or occasionally on the floor. It’s a bit weird because they do also have the unwanted rail system that we have in the U.K. but not everyone seems to use it.

I always rehang. Takes seconds, makes someone else’s day a tiny bit better.

YABU on two counts.

1. Hanger is not s verb. Don’t start it!
2. To not rehang the clothes. That’s rude.

How hard is it to re-hang a garment? It would never occur to me not to.

There’s a huge difference between not putting something back on a hanger which is clearly just normal basic manners and not hanging it in the fancy way the shop wants. To say you won’t do the first because you can’t do the second is like saying I won’t put mugs and plates on a tray in a self clear cafe because someone will have to wash them up anyway.

It wouldn't even occur to me not to hang them either.

What do you do when there's no changing room attendant? Leave them in a pile?

is like saying I won’t put mugs and plates on a tray in a self clear cafe because someone will have to wash them up anyway. maybe that's why the lazy buggers leave it all over the table

Yes you should hang them up!!! Good for them for telling you.

It's rude and most people do it, however, I have done that job before and would never have asked someone to do it. just silently told you to fuck off. They can't make you.

Have you never been in a clothes shop before, OP?

Surely everyone does that. Its normal practice. Everyone does it. The only time i havent its because i cant get it on the hanger so return item, hanger and apologise ive not been able to get the hanger on

Hanger is not a verb. Don’t start it!

^ this! Although I note that someone on this thread has used the new MN verb of “perioded” which I think is growing in acceptability!

OP you were lazy and BU, and I think you know it really. Retail staff who work hard for low pay are not your servants , don’t treat them as such.

I'm sure the staff will rehang the clothes in the correct way before putting back out on the shop floor, but while they get round to it the clothes need to be stored some way, that's why they have the hanging rack by the door

Nobody would want to see a pile of clothes in the corner on a busy day getting creased and crumpled

I used to work retail. The most dreaded shift was changing rooms. Might as well throw the clothes in their faces.

YWBU. I bet you also leave your shopping trolley in the parking lot instead of returning it to the marked spaces.