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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Hamleys demo lady left dd 6 in tears.

617 replies

Bornfreebutinbiscuits · 11/08/2019 10:16

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!

OP posts:
cheesydoesit · 11/08/2019 11:03

FuriousVexation

Of course we haven't been there! We're normal, average wage earning plebs

Grin I am beginning to get this vibe.

sweeneytoddsrazor · 11/08/2019 11:03

We get it OP. Despite many people telling you that YABU you wont have it. So my suggestion would be just shop in Harrods which is far more suited to you and leave the rest of us who cant possibly know what these sort of toy shops are like to jog along with our dcs and bag of pennies to somewhere more befitting for us like the Entertainer.

Original poster
Bornfreebutinbiscuits · 11/08/2019 11:04

Lemony we have always come out with something over the years, as said in pp sometimes bag sweets and sometimes much much more. This time both dc had small budget and one came away with another (shite) demo toy.

What I am finding interesting is that not many pp seem bothered that her cs skills were crap and whatever her issues were with the product its the way she conveyed them to a child in supposedly the world's best toy shop that was v surprising.

Also that pp don't agree that the demos and freebies are all part and parcel of the general experience. Interesting!

OP posts:
BeingATwatItsABingThing · 11/08/2019 11:04

I think the sales lady was incredibly rude. Regardless of whether you’ve had a long day or done 1 million tattoos, you don’t take it out on the child. Your DD had done nothing wrong.

Were you BU for expecting excessive freebies? Yes but I can understand why you expected it. They are usually more than willing to bend over backwards for you in the hopes that you buy something.

WhatAGreatDay · 11/08/2019 11:05

Your DD didn't get what she wanted and cried a bit. Kids cry about all sorts of things and they aren't damaged by not getting everything they want.

I think the Hamley's woman was right that it's a demonstration and not a freebie for every child.

YetAnotherSpartacus · 11/08/2019 11:06

I can't understand why you are getting a hard time OP.

This is a toyshop. It's full of children. It's offering freebies to entice parents to buy. Children aren't the most rational creatures around toys. Of course, they are going to want anything that is offered, and then want it or change their minds, or not want it and then change their minds. It's the nature of the beast. If demo-lady can't grasp that and if those who are trying to sell their probably crappy produce can't grasp that then they should not be in the toy business. And if they make children cry because children want what children want then they certainly should not be in the toy business.

Ginmel · 11/08/2019 11:06

No other dc in the store on amazon day during the summer holidays? Okay OP keep digging. You shouldn't have made such a big deal out of it and taken dd2 to another stall.

Btw in your op you say you only buy a small bag of sweets but then later say you buy the tattoo set. Which is it? The former I bet.

I'm sure Harrods will be delighted to have you back Biscuit

Ginmel · 11/08/2019 11:07

Wish your aibu button had worked

WorraLiberty · 11/08/2019 11:07

Actually the whole Hamleys thing is a bit of a red herring.

Go to any toy shop or market where the sellers are demonstrating to the parents how something works and there'd still be no need to demonstrate it twice to the same parent.

"You've seen how it works. Do you want to buy it?"

That's all the demonstrator wants to know.

herculepoirot2 · 11/08/2019 11:07

If demo-lady can't grasp that and if those who are trying to sell their probably crappy produce can't grasp that then they should not be in the toy business

If the product is that crappy why did the child want it? If the child wanted it that much why wasn’t the OP prepared to pay for it?

Oulidae · 11/08/2019 11:08

It is clear from your follow up posts that you're a cheeky fucker that has no respect for the demonstrators/salespeople or their time, you just want to treat them as free entertainers for your kids.

YetAnotherSpartacus · 11/08/2019 11:08

Actually OP I've just figured it out. If it was at a fair or down-market shop you'd be getting a lot of sympathy. The fact that it is Hamleys has brought out the venomous green-eyed monsters.

VBT2 · 11/08/2019 11:08

Obviously, it’s not good for anyone to make your DD cry, that’s really poor on her part. But she obviously had you sussed as a time waster (which tbf, you were). They all work on commission, often with no basic and insane targets (usually out-of-work actors on a treadmill, pushed off quickly and replaced when they don’t meet their targets). Her job is to sell the kits, not entertain kids for free.

howwudufeel · 11/08/2019 11:08

What do you want? A woman who is probably in a minimum wage zero contract job to be fired because your Dd wanted something she wasn’t entitled to?

ShawshanksRedemption · 11/08/2019 11:09

Could she have been kinder when speaking to DD? Yes, she could.

However, I think she knew after DD! getting one that you were not intending to buy but using it as a freebie, and therefore refused on those grounds.

I think however your feeling that DD2 should have got one regardless is what you need to address because you are setting your children up for disappointment when refused.

WorraLiberty · 11/08/2019 11:10

What I am finding interesting is that not many pp seem bothered that her cs skills were crap and whatever her issues were with the product its the way she conveyed them to a child in supposedly the world's best toy shop that was v surprising.

In the tiny snapshot you saw, her skills didn't seem up to much but for all you know they could normally be fantastic.

Also, it's not completely unrealistic to think you might have considered her more 'curt' than she actually was, because you didn't get your way and your child was upset.

Some parent's 'curt' can equal - "I didn't like being told 'no' "

YetAnotherSpartacus · 11/08/2019 11:10

If the product is that crappy why did the child want it?

Because she is a child.

limitedperiodonly · 11/08/2019 11:11

'Grabby', 'entitled' and 'cheeky fucker'. My Mumsnet Miseryguts Bingo Card is filling up nicely.

Danglingmod · 11/08/2019 11:11

Why would it being Hamley's bring out the green eyed monsters? It's not upmarket at all, it's pretty tacky!

WorraLiberty · 11/08/2019 11:12

Actually OP I've just figured it out. If it was at a fair or down-market shop you'd be getting a lot of sympathy. The fact that it is Hamleys has brought out the venomous green-eyed monsters.

Green eyed monsters because the OP is using a massive toy shop to entertain her children for free? Confused

Jeez I've heard it all now.

Wishihad · 11/08/2019 11:12

Just out of interest the people commenting, have you been there and experienced it?

Yes. Alot.

It's a demo. You wanted 2 free hand tattoos. You had no intention of buying it.

They arent a walking advert. Other kids and parents arent inspecting kids hands.

I think you are more pissed that the woman was aware you just wanted freebies.

Food stalls dont invite all your family to try the products. its unbelievably rude to take food samples for all the family with no intention to purchase.

Food samples are there to sell a product. Not to give you a nice day out.

Had you have, perhaps, said ti the woman 'can my other daughter have one. If they both like it I will be purchasing one's you might have found it different. But you had no intention of purchasing.

She shoildnt have been rude to your dd. But I can see why she was annoyed at you.

Buddytheelf85 · 11/08/2019 11:12

Not that your budget is relevant, but if you had a small budget why on earth would you go to Hamleys?!

AdelaideK · 11/08/2019 11:12

Couldn't you have just bought it for dd2 then?
You could see what it was like on dd1 when you got a freebie and then you could have bought it for the other one.

BlackberryBeret · 11/08/2019 11:13

Also that pp don't agree that the demos and freebies are all part and parcel of the general experience. Interesting!

This is your problem I think. "The general experience" - it is not an amusement park. It is a shop. It is a business that has very high overheads in central London.

What you refer to as "the general experience" is the shop trying to entice children to buy.

I agree with you that your demo lady could have been a bit more polite "sorry but we are trying to limit it to one child per family" would have done or she could have tried to spin you a sale then with charm.

That's different from your attitude of entitlement to free entertainment in a shop particularly when your child could have had one at first. That's exactly the situation that should lead to a sale.

Weezol · 11/08/2019 11:13

It is not an 'experience'. It's a shop.

The more you post, the less I believe that the demonstrator was 'curt'. Sound more like she has excellent CF detection abilities.