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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:
WorraLiberty · 11/08/2019 11:13

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

Because she is a child.

She's a child who already has the tattoo kit

YetAnotherSpartacus · 11/08/2019 11:13

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

Yes. I'm trying to imagine any poster here managing a situation where one sibling got something and the other didn't and one sibling (especially the younger one) was treated rudely and made to cry... I can't really imagine them saying 'toughen up sunshine' to their own DC.

herculepoirot2 · 11/08/2019 11:14

YetAnotherSpartacus

But surely it’s either so crappy it’s not worth having, or crappy but worth paying for because the child wants it? For some reason the OP thinks she’s entitled to it for free.

PurpleFlower1983 · 11/08/2019 11:14

I have been and I think YABU, they usually demo one then wait a while to sell some before demoing more, it's not a freebie stall.

TatianaLarina · 11/08/2019 11:14

Hanging around Hamleys and Harrods toy departments, expecting them to entertain your kids, when you can’t afford to buy much, is cheeky and likely to end in upset.

OhTheRoses · 11/08/2019 11:16

I think the op's had a hard time. If the lady was dping nothing else and didn't have a queue no problem to have done it.

Lets not forget stores do this as part of their branding. It was poor PR. They have lost repeat business, recommendations and this thread has given their reputation a hit.

In the 60s my grannie used to leave me at the Harrods toy dept., just as many others were, while she had tea with a friend. If I'd needed her I could find my way to the tearoom. If we'd missed each other a member of staff would have helped.

My DC are in theor 20s now and the only YABU in my mind is that Hamleys/Harrods now do such tacky stuff. When I was a child you cd by a threepenny packet of tattoos from the corner shop and we did. And our mums and grannie's scrubbed them off as soon as they saw them.

TotallyWipedout · 11/08/2019 11:18

I took my DC to Hamleys, and to Harrods toy departments many, many times when they were younger, so I am completely familiar with the demonstrations you are describing, OP.

The tattoo-demonstrator sounds pretty unpleasant overall. But you had your demonstration with DD1, so YABU to expect a re-demonstration with DD2 (who had in any case initially said she didn't want one). As PP have asked, why not buy a kit yourself? I get that you might not want to fork out for that kind of stuff (I wouldn't have done) - but in that case, why get the children's hopes up by allowing them to be demonstrated on at all? It's nonsense that you 'get sucked in'. You can say no, can't you? As for the crying: I'm afraid I wouldn't have had much patience with that if it had been any of mine. At that age, they soon get over this sort of thing. Your children will encounter many more people who aren't that nice, and they need to learn (from you) just to shrug it off.

I also think YABU to "expect better" of Hamleys or Harrods. They're both vile. The John Lewis Oxford St toy department is a rather nicer experience (you won't get any freebies, though).

yesthatstheone · 11/08/2019 11:18

It's not a f'in experience day Hmmit's a shop trying to sell goods. Yabu...and it's all rather embarrassing.

sweeneytoddsrazor · 11/08/2019 11:18

Venomous green eyed monsters

As opposed to the lets stick our nose in the air and behave like anybody who thinks anything less than Harrods is shit on a shoe brigade?

WorraLiberty · 11/08/2019 11:19

The child wasn't made to cry ffs

The child cried because she couldn't get the same freebie as her sister and her mum wouldn't or couldn't buy the toy being demonstrated (lesson learned there).

It's down to the OP to explain to her kids how these things works but since the OP views this shop as an 'experience', I doubt the child will ever really understand.

AndSheWas85 · 11/08/2019 11:19

The demonstrator talking harshly enough to make your DC cry is not on. So YANB
It was her job to interact kids all day, she was working in a toy shop FFS.
We all have tough days at work but most us mange not to make little kiddies cry.

slashlover · 11/08/2019 11:19

I bet OP takes her kids to a pet shop to pet the animals instead of paying for a petting zoo.

TotallyWipedout · 11/08/2019 11:20

Cross posted.

I can't really imagine them saying 'toughen up sunshine' to their own DC

I have done, many times, and still would.

BlackberryBeret · 11/08/2019 11:20

and this thread has given their reputation a hit

No it hasn't!! Have you even read this thread?

Most people see it for what it is- a probably low wage worker possibly on commission trying to sell by demo-ing to as many families as possible.

A demo takes time so it's pointless saying there was no queue. There will be new people and potential purchasers passing all the time. If she's tied up doing a demo no 2 to a parent who is clearly a non-purchaser, she's losing out on a chance of a demo leading to a sale and commission.

I've been into Hamleys many times and nothing in this thread has changed my view of it all all.

At best it is one demonstrator who could have been more polite on the OP's account. That's all.

ineedaholidaynow · 11/08/2019 11:20

Surely OP's attitude seems to be she wanted a free tattoo for both children, and if comparing to food demos it would be like treating the food demo as a free snack for the children without any intention of buying any food.

YetAnotherSpartacus · 11/08/2019 11:20

She's a child who already has the tattoo kit

Can you point me to where the OP says this?

As opposed to the lets stick our nose in the air and behave like anybody who thinks anything less than Harrods is shit on a shoe brigade?

And who on Earth said that on this thread?

I really do think people here are jealous.

yesthatstheone · 11/08/2019 11:20

She didn't do her job badly- you parented badly. End of.

JellyfishAndShells · 11/08/2019 11:22

Yabu and acting very entitled... You wasted the demo lady's time getting her to do your older dd's hand tattoo knowing full well you would not be purchasing that product, and then you wanted the demo lady to waste even more of her time doing a tattoo for your younger dd? The lady is not offering a free hand tattoo experience, she is demonstrating the product for thise that are interested in purchasing it!

This, with bells on.

lollipopguild · 11/08/2019 11:22

Op says they've previously bought the kit in the opening post
@YetAnotherSpartacus

WorraLiberty · 11/08/2019 11:22

She's a child who already has the tattoo kit

Can you point me to where the OP says this?

"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!"

Livelovebehappy · 11/08/2019 11:22

Wierd that some people think it’s a jealousy reaction from some posters saying op ibu. Harrods/hamleys doesn’t have an entry policy that says you can’t browse without a large bank balance. And the op by her own admission was on a tight budget. Anyone can wander round and buy or not buy, or take advantage of the free demos. TBH it’s usually the better off people who don’t spend in these places, because they are usually self entitled and want/expect freebies.

Thoughtlessinengland · 11/08/2019 11:22

I presume demo stands for demonstration? They have people who have been asked to demonstrate products to each set of parents/each purchasing unit? Perhaps they have been set targets? Yes, OP? So she demonstrated how the product is done to the parent who presumably has the purchasing power and decision making power as to buy the product or not. Why should she demonstrate the same product to the same parent/purchasing unit all over again? Or have i misunderstood the word “demo” and it does not stand for “demonstration” after all?

And what is this “experience” you keep talking about? Why would you go to a commercial organisation that does NOT exist to sell experiences (ie not a theme park), but a shop that sells things, with a small budget and then expect an “experience”? Have you paid for the experience? Are they selling experience as one of their products?

Are you also the kind that does to House of Fraser to get a full face of make up and perfume done before parties? Is that why you think those stands exist? To create a House of Fraser “experience” for you to buy a £2 eye pencil sharpener? Why do demonstrations exist you think? You cannot possibly think they exist for the “experience”?

Mummyoflittledragon · 11/08/2019 11:22

If this is the worst thing that’s happened to your 6 yo she’s really had a charmed life. Even if it is not, you should perhaps consider working on your resilience.

My dd has never been to hamleys because me, her mummy is far too ill to take her. She has far bigger worries than a hand tattoo.

Wouldn’t a cuddle and promise of a treat later sufficed? If you were really that eager to get it done, you could have bought the kit and done one yourself or got the lady to do it with your stuff.

Fraggling · 11/08/2019 11:23

It's fine she didn't want to do it.

She really should have been nice about it to a little kid though, the saying no.

herculepoirot2 · 11/08/2019 11:23

There is no bad PR here, unless making the place less attractive to people who have no intention of purchasing is bad PR.