To be so angry with the British high street?

[peoniesarejustperfect]

Went sales shopping yesterday with my elderly Mother yesterday. We went to an 'affluent' city in the south east. We always go shopping after Christmas and it's a bit of a tradition and we normally really enjoy it. Yesterday was just so depressing - it made me fizz with anger. I hardly know where to start!!

The shops were just horrible - full of badly merchandised sales stuff which looked totally uninviting.

In several of the shops we went into there were no staff on the shop floor - we wanted to ask where different departments were (to save Mum walking too much), but no one to ask and poor signage.

In House of Fraser (one of the stores which is remaining open) we waited for 25 mins in the luggage department for a member of staff - there was no one there to help - no tape measure, no useful signs about cabin luggage allowances and no one to take any cash. We hung around for ages with two other families - no chairs to sit on, we just stood around. After a while we all gave up. The same in lingerie - no staff on duty. We had lunch there, which was really nice, but the restaurant loos were closed for cleaning when we went in at 12:15. What restaurant shuts its loos at lunchtime??? They suggested we left the restaurant and 'popped down' two floors to use another loo.

The British high street keep moaning but really, why on earth would anyone want to shop there? Why do they deserve our hard earned cash? It's incredibly expensive to park and the retailers don't seem very keen on keeping customers happy - let alone delighting them! There's not enough staff and with some notable exceptions, many of them are poorly trained - it all seems a bit of an effort for them.

Last Christmas we went to the US. I know it's different in America, but every morning in Macy's, when the doors open, a group of staff clap the shoppers in. We couldn't get over this and asked a sales assistant about it - she told us it's an honour to be picked - to welcome customers, look them in the eye and say thanks for coming. US retail is facing similar challenges, but what a different response. Helpful staff directing you to places, gorgeous merchandising, seats everywhere and staff trained to sell.

Anyone else fed up with the high street?

Staff are being made redundant because profits are down and the high street dying. I feel more sorry for them.

Customer service on the UK high street is dreadful. Customers are eithertreated like an inconvenience or ignored.

Maybe the lack of staff was because people who are paid a pittance to start with would rather be at home with their families over the christmas?

There were no useful signs about cabin luggage allowances

Why on earth would you expect that?! 😂😂

I live abroad and used to love coming home to shop in the UK. I give it a miss now - apart from a very few exceptions (at least in our local area) it is pretty depressing.

Staff are doing the same job on zero hour contracts with half the staff and a fraction of the revenue

It’s not the lack of customer care that bothers me (I like to be left alone), it’s the cleanliness. Clean, neat shop floors are now the exception rather than the norm which is very sad.

Clap the shoppers in? Fuck that! Customer service is important of course but there's no need for such patronising(to both parties) stunts or kissing the customers' backsides.

All my American friends complain regularly about customer service there.(Perhaps I just know a lot of grumps) but their experiences are often worse than what I've encountered here so I'm not convinced that customer service is that much better in the U.S , especially considering how huge and varied the country is.

High Street shops are very poorly staffed, often with staff who seem to really resent customers. But I don't much like the sound of the American version either. If I was clapped into a shop I'd think they were being sarcastic

They were only cleaning the loos - could you not just have waited and gone in after? (I’m sure you would have complained if they hadn’t been cleaned.) You we’re prepared to wait twenty five minutes for luggage after all.

The thing is we’ve created this. We shopped on Amazon and ASOS so the high street needed to cut costs to compete. Staff are always the first thing to go, remaining staff are overworked and underpaid and generally spoken to like shit by the public, there’s no money for training and development. Opening hours are increasing on the same staffing levels so shifts are stretched out. Then we complain that shops are crap 🤷🏻‍♀️ I’m as guilty as anyone else I have no doubt I’m part of the problem.

Clap me in to the shop?? How embarrassing, I’d avoid that shop!

And I detest being asked 'could I interest you in this perfume/bar of chocolate/random thing that we desperately need to get rid of?'

I'm always polite to the staff, and say no thanks, and I feel sorry for them as they clearly hate being forced to do it. But I hate that some senior manager in an office somewhere, who never shops in the shop himself/herself, and who doesn't have to face an angry customer, has decreed that it must be done.

It’s symptomatic isn’t it? High street stores are struggling to stay open so they cut expenditure by employing less staff. House of Fraser for example is limping along, you must be aware of that? So much retail is carried out online now, the way we shop has shifted hugely. This has some real advantages in terms of convenience but there are downsides in terms of the impact on shopping areas, no point being furious about it though

Tippexy I've seen such info on luggage for sale in TKMaxx.

Although Ryanair changed their allowed sizes so it's probably too complex for assurances to be given and "check with your airline" is probably the best advice anyway.

The thing is though, service is pretty poor on the high street. The one thing that will make me go to a shop and makes it different to shopping online is the service. If they can't get that right, serve you efficiently and effectively, deal with questions and queries, be friendly and welcoming we might as well shop online.

There are a few local businesses I support. Could get it slightly cheaper online, or in a big store but I go back because the staff are friendly and knowledgeable.

In the supermarkets near me the staff at aldi are friendly and efficient, manage to have a conversation with me while serving me, know their products etc. The staff at Tesco spend more time chatting to the till operator behind them, or the supervisor about when their break is, or what shift they want next week.

It's a real difference. And replicated on the High Street. The staff at our local Next are very good. The staff in Matalan rubbish. Sports Direct are shocking, JD Sports just over the road pretty good.

So it is possible to have motivated, happy, helpful staff in retail. Even on low wages.

The ones that would rather be with their families and reflect that in the service they provide to customers are the ones that don't help the High Street and will be doing the sad faces when made redundant.

Apart from price the difference between shopping online and on the High Street is the experience. If the experience is poor more people will shop online. It really is as simple as that.

I found Macy's too much. Someone saying good morning, how are you?
Literally every few minutes it was all so fake and annoying.

I do agree that the UK High St is the opposite I think we need a happy medium. However I feel shoppers should be with their families on boxing day. So don't blame them.

I wouldn't like the clapping, but I agree with everything else you say. Unless the loo was closed due to an accident, it should have been open over the lunch time period

My DS wants to go into town, and I'm half thinking, oh sales, and half thinking can I be bothered.....

In think the past thirty years of chains taking over every UK high street have left us in a precarious position too. So much tat available but stuff I actually want is hard to locate.

I wouldn't expect to be treated like a princess (except in very posh stores!) but just because someone is on minimum wage or working over Christmas would still expect them to be polite and helpful. They're at work for God's sake and I'm parting with my hard earned cash. As for untidy stores and messy displays, I'd go and shop somewhere else, there's no excuse for that, even in the sales

Well given how little these people are paid you can’t really expect them to know (or care) how to behave. If you want good customer service you either have to pay for it (by paying more for your goods) or live in a society where the government deems it acceptavleto leave jobless people without meaningful support (like they do in America). In Britain shop workers are paid so little that if they are asked to work too hard the majority will just quit and go on benefits. I personally just online shop.

I agree up to a point - but if customers do all of their major spending on Amazon and then expect to be entertained over Christmas when they might buy one or two things in the sales you can surely see that it is unsustainable.

Staff are low-paid and poorly trained. Customers go after bargains and will buy where it is cheapest, They won't pay a premium for the nice shop, the seats, the service as they will always say "Oh I can get it cheaper online".

You might OP - and I might - but most won't

Well, every time any one of us has bought anything online over the last few years, the high street has died a little bit more. We have no one to blame but ourselves once it's all gone.

I agree. The high street need to realise that they aren't going to compete against the internet by being worse.

I actively avoid going to our local city to shop. It's a poor experience all round - expensive parking and hit and miss for stock - why would I bother when I have a far greater choice online?

Ditto white goods - why would I go to Dixon's or even John Lewis when I can read hundreds of reviews on line, and compare dimensions and features from the comfort of my sofa?

For specialist goods, online is a far better experience too. The internet has also enabled specialist shops to reach far beyond their historic geographic footprint.

Adapt or die - the high street needs to be more about what can't be replicated on line.

I was in department stores in Asia this year. It was busy and quite exciting, like shopping was when I was a kid!

UK stores with a few rare exeptions are not looking good.