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Original poster

Changing room etiquette: asked by staff to hanger the clothes

217 replies

Lostkitty · 09/09/2018 23:24

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?

OP posts:
oooompa · 10/09/2018 09:35

Yes, it's incredibly rude to not put the stuff back on the hangers, the staff have enough to do without having to clean up your mess!

This is from 5 years experience of people leaving clothes in piles on the fitting room floor/chair outside fitting room/thrown over the clothes rail with no hanger in sight.

TinoTheArtisticMouse · 10/09/2018 09:58

It wouldn't even occur to me not to put them back on the hangers. How lazy and cheeky!

Rufustheyawningreindeer · 10/09/2018 10:01

Depends on the clothing and shop in my opinion

So in most high street shops yes you should

If its a really fiddly bit of clothing and in a quieter shop like the one i work ini wouldnt judge you for not putting it on the hanger assuming you were apologetic/explained the problem...not just assume ive nothing better to do

But normal clothing...yep yabu not put them back on the hanger

Rufustheyawningreindeer · 10/09/2018 10:03

So customers like melj Grin

Rufustheyawningreindeer · 10/09/2018 10:13

In the shop i work in we put the clothes in the changing room for the customer and we are given the clothes when they have finished, we quite often tell them to leave the clothes in there if they have a lot

Jux · 10/09/2018 10:16

You are rude rude rude.

Rehang the clothes.

HermioneGoesBackHome · 10/09/2018 10:23

I’ve never ever heard any staff in a shop making such a comment.
I have seen many many times, the staff redolding things, putting them back on the hanger the way they want (when they were ALREADY in the hanger!) or told to just dump the stuff there.

I think that was rude of the staff tbh.

Eliza9917 · 10/09/2018 10:29

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?

Yes and yes. Do you seriously really need to ask this?

AngeloMysterioso · 10/09/2018 10:36

I served my time in retail hell in New Look. I hated fitting room shifts- - you’re stuck in a tiny corridor, people would hand you back a pile of clothes that was inside out, unbuttoned, you name it- and a tangled bench of hangers. I’d be trying to get customers in whilst also trying to sort all that crap out, eventually the backlog would get so big I’d have to put it in a fitting room meaning it couldn’t be used, then the wait would get longer, the queue would get longer and the customers would get even more arsey. All because some people are too bonidle to give things back the way they found them.

carbuncleonapigsposterior · 10/09/2018 10:37

My son had a retail job during A levels and briefly after university before he gained meaningful employment. This was a boutique type shop that was under the Sports Direct umbrella, it folded a couple of years ago. He opened my eyes as to just how badly some customers treat the staff, dropping clothes on the floor once they had given them the once over, he even got trodden on whilst scrabbling about on the floor recovering discarded garments. The shop, being run on a shoestring, didn't have security cameras so merchandise got nicked frequently. It took hours after closing time to rearrange and restock the shop floor for the next day. Yes I think it's the least you can do OP to put clothes back on the hanger and be mindful of the staff who have to relocate garments back to where they need to be displayed.

SleepingStandingUp · 10/09/2018 10:45

Rufustheyawningreindeer I suspect you work somewhere posher than Primark or New Look

9amtrain · 10/09/2018 11:28

When you took the clothes to the changing room what were they on? Yes a hanger Confused

TrickyKid · 10/09/2018 11:30

Yabu. So glad I don't work in retail anymore.

Bombardier25966 · 10/09/2018 11:50

My son had a retail job during A levels and briefly after university before he gained meaningful employment

Retail is not meaningful employment?

It's that kind of attitude that makes people think they can treat the staff like skivvies.

rainbowsandsmiles · 10/09/2018 14:33

Retail is not meaningful employment? It's that kind of attitude that makes people think they can treat the staff like skivvies.

Agree. What a charming attitude. Hmm

ShatnersBassoon · 10/09/2018 14:39

My son had a retail job during A levels and briefly after university before he gained meaningful employment.

And you wonder why people treated him as insignificant!

BusterGonad · 10/09/2018 14:40

I've worked in retail and when customers would do this to me I'd take one item, and then one hanger and very slowly do it while they were left with handfuls of stuff! Ha ha. They hated it but no one treats me like a slave! It's common (maybe not so common) curtesy!

Bluecloudyskies · 10/09/2018 14:44

Just can’t get the staff these days ! Grin

HeckinGoodDoggo · 10/09/2018 14:45

spunking in the pockets

Shock Hmm Shock

Joinourclub · 10/09/2018 14:48

I always hand back stuff neatly on the hangers. Though I was a bit peeved one time in h and m when the staff told me to put the clothes back on the rails myself! I wouldn’t have minded in a small shop but the h and m was 3 giant floors. I’m still annoyed I just meekly did as I was told!

NinaMarieP · 10/09/2018 14:51

Waves at @AngeloMysterioso, former New Looker here too. 9 years of hell, hated the fitting rooms when it was busy.

It's just sheer disrespect to come out of a fitting room with clothes in a crumpled heap separate from the hangers and shove them into the staffs' hands. Likewise to leave them on the floor in the cubicle.

Staff are there to assist you to find what you need, to use the fitting room and to make a purchase. They are there to maintain standards of tidiness across the shop which although higher than any customer would naturally recreate that doesn't mean it's ok to knock merchandise on the floor and leave it or throw clothes on top of racks or leave a bloodied tampon in the fitting room.

hannnnnnnxo · 10/09/2018 14:53

When I worked in Topshop (busy, large flagship) I would happily tell customers to put their items back on the hangers unless they were taking them to the till. I would be stern too (let’s be honest, it’s rude to hand someone a tangled ball of clothes/hangers like I’m your bloody maid). However most customers hung the clothes up to begin with, honestly the rare few were dodgy so harshness is necessary.

EG a lady takes in 8 items of clothing and come back out with 5 in total, but all in a messy, inside out heap in an attempt to confuse you - the other 3 items are in her bag. So I would tell them that everything needs to come back on the hangers so I can count them for security reasons. Once a woman then went back in the fitting rooms and came back with extra items that she tried to steal as they weren’t present before. This is also an opportunity for clothing swaps etc.

Lax fitting room policies will lead to an increase in theft. Fitting room staff have other duties beyond hanging clothes. They have to standarise and sort everything perfectly by trend quickly so it can go back on the shop floor - or else they are just holding up their colleagues and get a bollocking by management. They also have to maintain customer service whilst being vigilant for dodgy customers - get sizes, maintain radio communication, watch out for someone that security has given them a heads up about etc. Clear out fitting rooms, fill in security logs. Fetch clear rail from different floors and tills. Make sure colleagues are actually clearing and not talking. Whilst also being chronically understaffed. So honestly unhung clothes are the lowest priority.

hannnnnnnxo · 10/09/2018 14:54

Ew, yes customers would leave used tampons/sanitary towels and NAPPIES in fitting rooms! And a woman urinated in one too, getting that all over the clothes she was trying on! There were toilets a short 2 minute walk away!

2rebecca · 10/09/2018 14:56

I put them back on the hangers although some clothes are really hard to get on hangers and I hate the way bras on hangers always have the straps pulled tight so you have to loosen them right off. Can't believe many women have torsos that small. I could often do with longer straps and I'm not overweight and only a bit taller than average

yumyumpoppycat · 10/09/2018 15:22

I got really irritated when I went to Primark and was asked to make sure to rehang the items before going into the changing room. I always rehang which is why it annoyed me, and it just sounded a bit uncustomer servicey maybe if she had said it in a nicer way I wouldn't have minded. However from reading this thread I guess they probably have a big problem with people handing back jumbled clothes.