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!

I was in Hamleys last week and would also have been surprised by that member of staff's reaction. They were stood at the door enticing my daughter in and as soon as we were in she was handed a bubble gun to play with and someone was trying to paint her nails.. I don't go in often ( I live up north) but each time we are in London we make a visit and they do make a point of putting on a show for the kids.

She was very unkind. How upsetting for your daughter. But I have to say yabu for saying brought when you meant bought.

“We truly value our talented people as they are the ones who ensure we continue to grow and thrive as industry experts. They do this by delivering the Hamleys unique experience, developing the toys we sell and creating childhood memories that last a lifetime”.

This has been taken straight from Hamleys website. Why not take a look at their values on providing a unique service etc... I’m sure they’d be thrilled to hear about this situation and the childhood memory made of the mean woman making a young child cry.

As someone eluded to, the internet is taking over. Shops struggle to remain competitive as it is. Hamleys whole brand is about providing a fun, unique environment to maintain its success in the industry. Making children cry will not ensure a sustainable future for any shop. I dare any Marketeer on here to disagree.

Those that disagree with the Op are taking rubbish quite frankly. Complain Op. Complain.

Talking rubbish

Been to Hamleys many times and don't feel these demos are part of the experience as you say, it's to lure parents into buying these things for kids. Her reaction may not have been appropriate, but maybe she was feeding of your approach? Just something to be mindful of next time you're in the store perhaps. Hope your daughter got over it and went on to have a fabulous day. I know such things can we gut wrenching for them at that age.

Sb74

"... aimed at heads the clouds"

Went over a bit high, methinks :)

Can’t believe the number of people saying OP is BU! It’s their job to sell stuff, not piss off potential customers. Whatever an adult customer does, it isn’t the fault of the child. There is NO need for rudeness towards a child, let alone one who is obviously timid. It was mean-spirited of the demo person to refuse. Presumably they have so many tattoos that they can do in a day. If she’d got to her limit, she could have politely said. For all the demo lady knew, OP would have bought it had both girls liked it. YANBU OP. It seems there are a lot of miserable bastards on this today!

YABU. I work in a shop and annoying when people take the piss out of demos with no intention of buying. To be fair she was BU but probably fed up with people expecting something for nothing.

I honestly felt she wanted to hurt dd

DD was lucky to escape with her life in this tale of high drama at Hamleys

Hamleys is hideous - overpriced and no atmosphere, very dated. Harrods’s toy dept is fab and has a bit of magic, you’ll ALWAYS find a toy in Harris’s that you’ve never seen before.
DD had a sticker demo in Hamleys - they stuck it on her and it took a big patch of suede out of her jacket.
I didn’t know that people went round toy stores as s day out! There are so so many better activities to do in London! Loads free!
Get rid of this horrible tradition and take them to the museums and galleries!

Let it go.

The op is being completely reasonable and if I had been in that position I would have summoned the manager immediately and gone mad

Ha ha

Demo woman sounds quite bitchy and ill suited to her job.

YABU - she'll be on commission and you don't need two kids done to see how a product works - if you had intention to buy and liked it on DD1 you'd have bought it, she knew what you were doing. However, she's being unreasonable too - no excuse to be so brusque in front of children even if you were taking the piss a bit.

People are being really nasty here too. Go to Hamleys the lot of you. You deserve it.

I'm finding the previous insistence that only a small minority agree with the OP a bit odd as there seems to be loads of posters agreeing with her.

I was in a shop. Some woman was giving out demos, I commented how hubby would be very please with said demo and she gave me another for myself - you know, cos they’re not her own personal property - she’s there to demo them!!! I assume this woman would be the same - the extra tattoo wouldn’t be out of her own pocket - it was no skin off her nose to give the kid one. And if they have some ridiculous policy where you get one demo per family then I suggest that they make that fucking clear - many families with more than one kid would then just avoid to save tears/arguments/jealousy.
I don’t think ywbu at all. She was being a mean bitch for no obvious reason.

You were given an extra demonstration to take away, Holyshitbags? Maybe op should have asked for that.

Had a similar experience in hamleys a fee christmas' ago. Disgusting

Just back from work and clearly not going to RTFT but the woman sounds horrible, shouldn't be working in that role at all (bit like the grumpy ice cream sellers you come across) and if it was my 6 year old daughter she did that to I would be fuming too and would definitely report her and I let a LOT of stuff go. Hope your DD enjoyed the rest of her day.

I'm UCF (Union of Cheeky Fuckers) have been alerted and are now out in force.

I think OP should definitely complain. If you put things in writing you usually get a response.

I think the OP has gone in for multiple NC to judge by some of the more recent posts

In fairness, I think Carol, Limited & Purple are genuine posters in their own right and not alter egos of the OP

You should definitely report that if you think it @TotallyWipedout. Sock puppeting is against the rules you know