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?

There are many reasons someone may not know the correct etiquette for changing rooms:- social anxiety/ eating disorders may make people avoid them, so I think some pp here are being a tad harsh in judging the OP. However OP it’s always courteous to try to tidy/clear up after yourself. Even if you think you’re making the situation worse people appreciate effort.

When I worked in retail as a teenager in a popular high street store, fitting room was my least favourite task as you would get loads of people thrust all the clothes they've tried on at you, not hung up / missing hangers / inside out, then while you are trying to sort them the next customer comes along to hand over their unwanted clothes and your hands are full from the last lot, never mind trying to give numbered tags to other customers going in to the fitting room. Hang your stuff up, at least they can put them on the rail straight away to deal with other customers and then re-hang or style them in the spare moments they have. Just thinking back to it now is filling me with rage! I always make sure I hang the clothes nicely back on the rail when I try things on now, and that was 10 years ago.

Not only have I never been told to do this, but, when I do try to put the unwanted clothes on the hanger, the salesperson almost always says something like "Don't worry, I'll do that", pleasantly and politely, and takes the things from me. It doesn't always happen, but definitely more than half the time.

JellySlice wouldn’t it be better to put the clothes back on the hanger whilst you’re still in the cubicle? If you’re faffing about with them at the changing room exit, no wonder the assistant takes them from you - you’d be getting in their way.

I don’t understand, when you try something on and don’t like it, where do you put it while you try on the other things? On the floor? It’s the shop’s property, what gives you the right to risk damaging it?

It’s good manners to hang them back. I always do.

However, I am surprised the staff member was so curt. They can’t force customers to do this and really should just hang them back themselves if customers don’t bothei was in New York years ago and the shop assistant was shocked I hung the clothes back up. He said most customers leave them on the floor if they don’t suit!!!

I always hang clothes back and even do buttons if I'm not in a hurry. If it's one item and I remember the location and it's on my way, I'll put it back on the rail rather than leave it in the changing room rail.
I even fold clothes back to the shelf if I'm just looking.

But, I'd judge any changing room attendant who told me to put clothes back on the hangers. And I'd give them back the clothes I intended to buy too, followed by a word with the manager.
It would be different if they asked me to, please, if they were busy.

You know what, I never put the clothes back on the hangers because that's why they employ staff. I don't pay hundreds of pounds for clothes in a shop to waste my time doing what somebody else is employed to do. Entitled, hell yes.

Christ almighty. Some of the replies on here are ridiculous. How about just giving it a go, make a half decent attempt at re-hanging clothes and stop being massive twats?

"You know what, I never put the clothes back on the hangers because that's why they employ staff. I don't pay hundreds of pounds for clothes in a shop to waste my time doing what somebody else is employed to do. Entitled, hell yes.*

You know what, I never put the clothes back on the hangers because that's why they employ staff. I don't pay hundreds of pounds for clothes in a shop to waste my time doing what somebody else is employed to do. Entitled, hell yes.

Ah, so rude and lazy behaviour is fine if you’re rich. Thank you for clearing that up for us Joe66

I'm fairly wealthy and spend a lot on my clothes too.

But I didn't exchange my manners for wealth so I always put the clothes back on the hangers out of basic courtesy to the person sorting them.

I can't believe the rudeness of some people. And the attitudes too, speaking in such a derogatory way about shop workers.

We have customers that pay 100's for clothes
(Thats only a day dress and two tops where i work...or one of our ballgowns at £300)

They all put clothes back on the hanger

Its not the amount you spend on clothes... its how much of an inconsiderate git you are . Luckily our customers are by and large lovely

And as jelly said, ours is a shop where we will happily put clothes on a hanger for a customer or clear the changing room...we dont have anyone on changing room duty the shop isnt big enough

I wonder if op is from another country? Otherwise I'm not sure you would get to adulthood and not know this was expected.

Thing is though, Joe in this country they are NOT employed to routinely put clothes back in hangers for lazy customers. Anyone planning rotas/staffing in a shop in the U.K. would work on the basis that most clothes will be returned on the hangers and will only need a bit if tidying up/adjusting before they go back in the racks. Yes, if a lazy customer does throw a pile of clothes at them, of course it is their job to re-hang those clothes but it’s not a standard part of the job.

Anyway, I am still bemused. If you try on and reject an item worth “hundreds of pounds” where do you put it before handing back to the assistant if not on the hanger? Conversely, if you expect us all to behave like this, does that mean that you are not bothered that your expensive item has been dumped on the floor by all those who previously tried it on?

Absolutely jessie

We sometimes get customers complain, rightly obviously, that an item of clothing is damaged or grubby

They should see the way some of the customers treat them!

Thank you to all the lovely ladies for your responses!

Yes, I should have mentioned that I am from a different country and have recently emigrated to the UK (some of you are really smart and guessed it already!). Back home, when you are shopping in medium to high-end stores typically when you pick an item off the rail one of the staff will walk up to you and will collect the item and keep it in the fitting room for you. And in all stores, low/med/high whether crowded or not, once you have tried on the item, you hand the discarded items over to the staff in the changing room (the hangers are already taken off the clothes before you take them with you in the fitting room by the staff at the entrance of the fitting rooms). Sometimes there is a big bin as well for you to leave the clothes in there.

So, when I was asked by the staff, I was taken aback, however I put the two items back on hanger and then was wondering about it while in the queue to purchase the selected item. I noticed that most people had hangers on even on the items that they wanted to buy (which I found odd TBH) and decided to check out here as to what is typically expected of you while shopping for clothes - hence my post :)

I am happy to go along with what is typically expected in a country.

Now, in response to some of the "holier than thou attitude" people - NO, I don't leave the clothes on the floor or "throw" them at the staff - I hang them on the rails/hooks/keep them on the sofa in the changing rooms while I am trying on and then collect my discarded clothes and hand them to the staff - as is expected of the customer.
NO, the store was not busy, this was Topshop, and surprisingly, just me and one other customer (who was told to do the same ) in their 10 -15 changing rooms, and the staff at the changing room entrance was just standing there and chatting up with the other staff) and did n't look too swamped at the time. Anyways..

Once again, thank you to the people who have responded nicely and in a considerate manner, this has been helpful :)

this was Topshop
Ah.
I imagine customer service is not a priority.
I'd just have given them the clothes or dropped them there. It is literally their problem, not yours.

However, for future reference, yes, it's a good idea to keep clothes in their hangers. I find it easier to sort the clothes and then carry them to the tills.

Well lost if the store assistant had silently seethed you’d have missed out on all this useful information!

Oh then I take it back. When I have shopped in the US the staff took everything off me before I knew what was happening!

Pah! All depends what shop.

New look - yes, rehanger them.

Christian Dior, New Bond St - fling them anywhere while quaffing the champagne they've provided.

I always pop mine back on hangars and return but a friend of a friend once said that her and her friends always left the clothes they didn’t want to buy in the changing rooms for the assistant to deal with. No idea is this was in a heap or on hangars but that always struck me as really lazy.

Was this the first time you’d ever been clothes shopping OP? 😂

What sort of world do you want to live in? A world where people can’t be arsed doing tiny things to make other people’s lives a bit easier? A world where people demonstrate that they don’t care whether their actions/inactions make other people’s lives harder? You are being reasonable if that is the world you want to be in part responsible for creating.