to ask if there's any shop you avoid for a particular reason?

[OhDeari]

For me, it's Tescos.

Simple reason - I was on my way home from work last winter (office job, so well dressed) and popped into local large Tesco to pick up something. Was innocently wandering around when I got a tap on the shoulder - it appeared to be a staff member (so having my headphones in) didn't hear what he said, so just replied, 'No, I'm fine thanks'. He taps again and I took headphones out and he said 'We have a NO HOODS POLICY in the store'. I took my hood down but was secretly seething - FFS, it was sub zero outside and I'd just come inside.

So I'll do everything I can to avoid Tescos.

Any others?

I hate Curry’s. The staff are utterly clueless but try to mask their ineptitude by patronising and mansplaining.

Halfords because everything I’ve ever been in for they’ve managed to fuck up. Also the staff in our local one seem to have very poor personal hygiene.

My local PMT (music shop). The staff are all cocky young men who ignore me for ages, then patronise the hell out of me. I’ve been playing guitar longer than you’ve been alive pal, I think I know what I want, thanks.

Vape shops seem to be a particularly common place to find creepy inappropriate men. In one the manager asked my son, 9 years old, if he wanted to smoke some crack. Another one recently the bloke behind the counter told me, laughing, that he could hit me because it’s easy to get away with hitting women. I’ve never been in either of those shops since.

Curry's. Went in there to buy a bunch of appliances and a new laptop. The male staff refused to acknowledge me even when I asked one to serve me - he looked straight through me and walked/ran towards the penis owner who had just entered the store. My DP. Who is one of life's artists, not its engineers, so knows fuck all about electrical goods unless they are ones that plug into an amplifier (and I still know more about those than he does).

I stood there for a few moments more until anger drove me into brandishing my (posh type) credit cards 'HELLO? TWENTY FIVE THOUSAND POUND CREDIT LIMIT AND A HOUSE TO FURNISH?'.

They fucking noticed me then.

I told the dick who was now all 'oh hello madam, what might you be interested in?' that I wanted to order x brand, second highest model. Which I did. As he trotted towards the ordering computer, I told him 'you know what? After the way you treated me earlier, I'm going next door.' and went and spent a fuckton in their main competitors because they treated me like a human being instead of the invisible fucking woman.

Lush because the smell makes me feel sick and gives me a headache. I hate txmaxx too because I can never find anything as it's always a mess. I have been given a gift card to use there

I would definitely shop in lush as I actually really like their stuff but I can’t stand the pushy sales assistants, it’s so off putting. There’s a big lush branch near me and it’s always empty so I can’t be the only one who feels like that.

Sure, ask me if I’m looking for something, but when I say “nope just looking” then leave me alone!

Apple Store.
They are rude, and act as if they are doing you a huge favour by allowing you into their store to purchase their overpriced goods. Two recent bad experiences- i will never enter their store again. (and I was trying to buy a phone- not complain/get something fixed)

Trago Mills. Like Ikea, they somehow manage to make the shopping experience absolute hell.

Primark and Aldi - miserable, rubbish products in both.

I'm not one for coffee shops very often, but when I do, I usually go to Starbucks out of habit. They were and, I believe, still are the only chain to be completely non-smoking here in Japan. So I suppose I avoid all the others.

It's not often that I actually go into a shop now. I can buy almost everything I need from Amazon, so I usually do that.

Lush - too stinky
Any Arcadia shop

Primark, because I would rather have fewer clothes that last longer and give the clothes makers reasonable working conditions. I'm surprised so many people have cited Lush for ethical reasons but not Primark.

Local Lloyd's chemist, the pharmacist is a real jobsworth, I went in for some Goldeneye as I had the start of conjunctivitis, he wouldn't sell me any because I hadn't seen a doctor & I wouldn't let him look at my eyes. I went to the in store pharmacy at my local Tesco & bought some without being interrogated. I couldn't go to the doctors, I would have had to wait 3 weeks for an appointment as it wasn't life threatening. He has been an arsehole at other times, I had been given a prescription for antibiotics by my GP for the third time for a very nasty uti, he made me stand & wait until he had rung the surgery as he thought I had been prescribed too many antibiotics, doctor gave him an earful & I got my prescription.

There is a branch of White Stuff I used to use where the assistant think they are moral guides rather than sales staff. I bought an expensive garment for my DS’s birthday and it was raining so I asked for a bag. I had a smirking sanctimonious lecture about bags being bad for the planet. ‘But I want one of your paper bags,’ said I. I was then told I could have one if I contributed to the charity jar. ‘No thank you, I have my own charities. I just want a bag.’ I had a huffy, bad- grace bag thrust at me as if I were a worm. I had the wit to say before I left, ‘You have made me feel very bad.’

Free paper bags are actually White Stuff company policy and the idea of someone paying hundreds of pounds for goods without even a clean bag to put to put them in seems outrageous to me. Needless to say, I carry bags for life on me at all times for food purchases but I would not put clean new clothes in one of those.

Assistants not assistant.

@sceptre86 you can shop Tkmaxx online!

IKEA. Can't find what I want, if I do find it I can't find were to pay for it. And I can't find the way out.
LUSH for the reasons everyone else says.
Phone shops. Boring as hell and cheaper elsewhere.
Clinton's because they always badger me to buy those cancer fighting pens. Iv got a jar full of the things.

BHS when it was open. They had that store card thing, like a credit card but you got points on it.
Told the sales assistant I didn't want one... about 5 times I had to repeat myself. In the end I asked to speak to a supervisor What part of NO don't you understand.?

White stuff too.
Maybe the local one where I live but it's the local hangout for dog owners and their dogs. They are actively encouraged to bring their pet in store.
Nearby city centre White stuff not the same.

Lush

Can’t stand the smell, it makes me feel 🤢

Lush due to the smell and their politics.

Can see why they asked you to put your hood down.

How to deal with over friendly LUSH up sellers sales assistants...
Smile, say 'I'm fine thanks' and turn slightly away.
Repeat every time you move to a new section of the store.

Ah yes its Hollister. Awful shop.

Lush, it stinks
Morrison’s , I bought 42 items recently and the diy self check out needed me to ask for assistance 17 times!
Clark’s for kids shoes - measuring system all over the place, poor quality, high price shoes, stupidly gendered styles. I finally fell out with them when they refused to sell me “boy’s” shoes for my 2 yo DD. Since I have size 9 feet, I still shop there for myself, since very few other retailers do women’s shoes bigger than a 7 or 8.
Body Shop, since they sold out to L’Oreal. May return now though, but would rather use toiletries that are in glass packaging (Holland &Barrett have a choice).

Credit to my local Bodyshop then as when I went in recently to buy the one product I wanted (and could afford!) I was approached by the sales assistant who offered help but wasn't pushy at all. I told her I knew what I wanted but that was the only thing and she pulled it off the shelf for me and didn't upsell at all.

Another one for Lush, I cross the road to get away from the smell.

Lush too smelly!

TK Maxx I cant stand how it's all set out. It's like a glorified jumble sale.

Lush. The shops and the politics both stink.

Clinton’s because I read a newspaper article many years ago when the boss boasted of ripping people off.

I don’t go to the local ASDA because I’ve nearly been run over/reversed by people obsessed by getting a parking space near the entrance.