Hamleys demo lady left dd 6 in tears.

[Bornfreebutinbiscuits]

Summer hols day out, theatre and hamleys.

Having fun trying all the toys on display and v small budget to buy a toy.

Older dd goes to lady for hand tattoo. I asked younger if she wanted one she was shy and said no. However once older has one she wants one. So she gets in position and very curtly lady says 'no. Its not a freebie for all children it's a demo. I can't do another child' no smiles, no kindness and she looked as hard as nails as dd face crumpled and starts to cry.

Not a big cry! In the past they have always dine both dc, in hamleys and harrods.
And we have actually brought the set into the past but it's the fun and part of the toy shop experience to have something done there!

Not the experience I expected from hamleys of all places. Or was she right!

It's not someone's kindness. It's her job and it worked well here. It's sales. She did your makeup which she is trained to both do for customers and to offer it

^^ This is why I would never accept an offer from one of the make-up demonstrators. If I accepted, I'd feel obliged to buy something which I a) probably don't need; and b) can't afford. This is the point of these demonstrations, surely?

I think they need to get signs up then, only one demo per family /group if they can't offer to all and manage expectations better

OP, no. You are the one who needs to manage expectations better.

Honestly, I don’t often say things like this but you just sound cheap and tight. I bet if you come round to your house for a cup of tea you’re given UHT in a little green-topped pot and whatever brand of tea you were able to snaffle from the sample rack

That is one of the most ludicrous things I have ever read on this site

YANBU

It's a child's toy shop - it's really horrid to do it for one sister and not the other. Agree with poster above who said it's a glitter tattoo not a supercar test drive ffs.

People are obsessed on MN with 'entitlement' and children should be grateful for a stick to play with. A grown woman snapping at a tiny girl in a toy shop is just shitty. She hadn't broken anything or wrecked a display or anything - I've never been to Hamleys but should imagine OP is talking about a supermarket freebie type set up. One per child only then fine but not picking and choosing which child gets one.

OP, it is indeed the nature of children (especially siblings) to want what the other has got. It is the job of the parent to teach them that they can't always have what they want, and that their turn will come.

Browsing with no intention to buy is very different from trying to grab a freebie. I had a browse around M&S yesterday. I didn't have any specific thing in mind - I just wanted to look at what was on offer. I didn't buy anything (other than a sandwich and a packet of crisps). But neither did I take anything from them for free.

YANBU OP. I can't believe there are people arguing that it's okay to make a child cry in a toy shop. You don't give a treat to one child and not the other in a sibling set. And if the OP was using the toy shop as a bit of free entertainment, so what?

YABU for your entitlement and presumption that you can have a 2nd demo / freebie. However, lady doing demos could have had better people skills for dealing with the shyer more sensitive little ones

browzingss
It’s not the responsibility of the shop to ‘provide’, it’s your responsibility to be a better parent and ‘manage expectations’ on your own.

Managing expectations - like teaching a 6 year old that her sister has helped out with a 'demo'' and not received a 'freebie'? The stuff they do is clearly aimed at attracting children. Once a child is engaged, pretty ridiculous to then expect parents to retrospectively explain previously unclear rules.

Have a look at the stuff on the Hamley's What's On link below. What do you think the charges or rules are for participating in those activities?

www.hamleys.com/explore-whatson-london.irs

Honestly, I don’t often say things like this but you just sound cheap and tight. I bet if you come round to your house for a cup of tea you’re given UHT in a little green-topped pot and whatever brand of tea you were able to snaffle from the sample rack.

But I just bet you do say things like this, online of course because you don't have the nerve to say it in rl.
Nasty and spiteful.

So many sourpusses on this thread!

Surely a toy stop stays in business by virtue of being a generous and welcoming environment for kids? Some of the people on this thread are genuinely justifying someone being curt to a child (not to the child's adult parent...) because they think it will teach them a lesson about entitlement.

Maybe the sales assistant really is forbidden from doing a demo on two children from the same family. But was she physically incapable of saying to the child 'oh I'm so sorry, I can't do another one - maybe you would like your nails painted instead?' and pointing her to another demo?

It just seems so miserable to be mean to a kid just for asking for something they thought they could have, and that is a weird ethos for a toy shop.

Spot on @untoldstories.

So many harsh comments in here! People saying you shouldn’t take your child to a toy shop if you aren’t going to buy anything is ridiculous. What if you’re on a limited budget and want to see what your child might love for a birthday present?
YANBU to be a bit sad about a member of staff making your dd cry when you thought you were all having a nice time. Even if the last was on peanuts. Did she not smile at all and apologise to your dd for upsetting her?

lady not last

Op it’s a business who use demos as a marketing/selling technique, people who do this job are usually told to try and avoid people who aren’t going to buy (yes you can usually tell) the product their showing. I think yabu, these people are working for commission (with minimum wage) and you want to potentially make them miss a sale because they where giving our dd a tattoo instead of an customer who could actually buy the product, I think this woman knew you where never going to buy product so put a stop to you getting a freebie out of her and rightly so in my eyes.
Oh and yes I’ve been to hamleys and harrods more times than I can remember (I currently live in London) and buy from them and other big stores in London regularly.

@OhTheRoses

In the 60s my grannie used to leave me at the Harrods toy dept., just as many others were

Depending on which end of the 60s I could well have been one of those others - my DGM used to do exactly the same and we also often dropped in to play after school.

One difference I'd say was that we used to play with the toys at those big open tables and from Harrods' PoV we were effectively demonstrating their toys for them. As I grew older I realised we were often encouraged toward new items they wanted to sell!

With demos you are consuming demonstrator time and materials whilst having no intent to buy whilst the demonstrator may well have target sales to reach.
If the shop was really empty of children then yes, no skin off her nose to do both children but its also reasonable to say "no". It does seem a bit of a drama over very little.

Honestly, I don’t often say things like this

Come, come Hercule, I bet you say things like at all the time

It just seems so miserable to be mean to a kid just for asking for something they thought they could have, and that is a weird ethos for a toy shop.

Even on the OP's account of this she wasn't mean to the child. She just gave a statement that she couldn't do another one. The complaint was a lack of smiles and a look as hard as nails. That's even before you factor in that the OP may have a jaundiced view of this - but even if you take it at face value, it isn't particularly rude or mean - it's just not having a manner that is conducive to or very engaging with a child. That's not at all the same as being mean to a child. There were apparently no complaints about the service provided in respect of child 1.

This was the OP on this

so she gets in position and very curtly lady says 'no. Its not a freebie for all children it's a demo. I can't do another child' no smiles, no kindness and she looked as hard as nails

I love these threads because it always brings people who think they know all about retail out of the woodwork even though they have absolutely zero experience in retail/retail management.

That aside I'm confused as to why the OP didn't just buy the tattoo set to tattoo her daughter on the train home to match her sister?

People use shops as a kind of "zoo" experience, but it's a place of work and a place of business.

For those pontificating about Hamley's in the past, it's not the same business as it was, overheads need paying, profits need to be made and the customer experience now reflects that.

It was unfortunate the OP encountered someone snappy, but it is a tough working environment, and as someone has already said, if she has targets to make and has spent all week tattooing children for very little return then she's frustrated.

so she gets in position and very curtly lady says 'no. Its not a freebie for all children it's a demo. I can't do another child' no smiles, no kindness and she looked as hard as nails

This definitely reads as though she was annoyed at the parent’s attitude and was directing the message to her, rather than at the child.

Imagine you’re the demonstrator. A mother with 2 children come up to you to have their hands done. 1 child says she doesn’t want it. So demonstrator does one child’s hand. It’s quite clear by this point that the mother has no intention of buying the kit but after seeing her sister’s hand, 2nd child decides she’d like hers done too. Instead of thanking her and asking if it would be ok for her other daughter to have her hand done for free too, the mother assumes she’s entitled to it and says “go on then”. This attitude annoys the demonstrator who refuses on the basis that she can’t be expected to give freebies to every child in the shop.

Could the demonstrator have been more generous? Yes. But was the parent a bit unreasonable to expect 2 freebies? Yes.

The nature of dc is wanting what the other has. If the toy shop can't provide that I think it needs to be made clear so dp can manage the dc eg, one has nail done the other has tattoo
Never read a more entitled thing in my life.
It’s not the shops responsibility to teach your children. It’s also not the shops responsibility to provide a “freebie” (it’s not a freebie either it’s a demonstration) for every single child.
No they do not need signs up because most non grabby people understand it’s a demonstration, not a free gift to be expected. Maybe they should vet the adults entering instead? Might weed a few of you out.

Yabu. Ive been 100s of times to hamleys and you lucky if one member of the family gets a demo. Its packed so i bet there was a huge queue and demo lady certain right one per family if you lucky. Its a demo!

I used to work next door to Hamleys. IMO you got off lightly. The demo staff are mostly student temps on minimum wage with awful conditions and zero hours contracts. If they don’t make sales they won’t get work. It’s not surprising they get a bit snappy sometimes.

I can remember walking past there about 7.30pm a couple of days before Christmas and seeing two very drunk and angry Santa Claus beating one another up in front of crowds of very distressed children!

The nature of dc is wanting what the other has. If the toy shop can’t provide that I think it needs to be made clear so dp can manage the dc eg, one has nail done the other has tattoo 😂😂

As pps have said, the toy shop is very unlikely to be in charge of what these demonstrators are doing. More likely they are merchandisers paid by a separate company. Your entitlement is baffling.

A few of us have said you could have bought the kit if it was that important to you. But you’ve just ignored us. Funny that.

I cannot believe you’re still posting the same stuff. You clearly lead a very blessed life to think this is of such import.

Those saying YABU, and that it’s a demo to convince you to buy... well, she’s not done a good jo has she? Making someone’s child cry is pretty much guaranteeing the parent won’t buy it, and possibly won’t frequent the store again. If she had done your other daughter, pester power might have convinced you to purchase (two against one and all!) so if she was on commission she’s shot herself in the foot. Not a great salesperson in my opinion!

So YANBU IMO. Hope this hasn’t sullied your daughters trip out too much.

Those saying YABU, and that it’s a demo to convince you to buy... well, she’s not done a good jo has she?
But she wasnt going to buy anything anyway.
I dont think Hamleys will be upset that the OP wont come back.
Even if anyone on here decides to refuse to go on the back of this thread I doubt it make much difference.
Personally I think the OP is being really UR in this case.

Exactly. The OP brought her children there for 'the experience'.