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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

539 replies

OhDeari · 30/10/2019 09:08

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?

OP posts:
myusernamewastakenbyme · 30/10/2019 10:52

For me its Savers...Body Shop and Lush....bought some bits in Norwich Savers yesterday and got the assistant desperately upselling at the till.....Body Shop and Lush because they pounce on you as soon as you walk in the door and will not let you browse.

HunterAngel · 30/10/2019 10:53

Another vote for Lush! Have to hold my breath walking past it stinks so much.

My local Iceland, poor service once and I’ve never been back.

Sports Direct, way too crowded. I took the pushchair in there and got stuck, it took me ten minutes just to find a way out around the sales racks and other customers!

Grandmi · 30/10/2019 10:56

Lush ..for all the above reasons
TKmax...overpriced jumble sale
Asda...layout and quality
B and Q...layout and lack of help
WH Smith’s...massively expensive
Boots...expensive
M S...crap dowdy clothes...used to love it .Like the food though !!
Sports direct..hideous layout and staff treated like shit by the company!!
Waitrose...expensive and not particularly amazing

SpookilyBadOooooooh · 30/10/2019 10:56

I like TK Max - but I don’t go into the clothes sections! I like the stationery/kitchen/kids dressing up clothes.

LUSH I actually avoid the entire mall as much as possible because of the smell of lush.

Then again, I avoid going to the shops as much as is humanly possible. HATE HATE HATE shopping.

SpookilyBadOooooooh · 30/10/2019 10:57

Actually don’t mind B&Q.

Jaxhog · 30/10/2019 10:59

I also avoid Primark, in my case due to being pick-pocketed there. It was a clever action involving a woman with a baby in a sling and shoulder surfing while at the cashpoint.

GinisLife · 30/10/2019 10:59

Lush - hate the smell. I cross the street to avoid it
Amazon - for all the reasons @Adoptthisdogornot gave
TK Maxx - it's like a jumble sale.

IdClimbHimLikeATree · 30/10/2019 10:59

@MarianaMoatedGrange Aye, that's the one! I don't even buy their famous Christmas trees any more Grin Blush

Jaxhog · 30/10/2019 11:00

I love Lush though!

GinisLife · 30/10/2019 11:00

I forgot Starbucks - another tax avoiding company

SisterFarAway · 30/10/2019 11:00

Another one: A DIY store in my hometown in Germany, I went in once knowing exactly what I wanted and was treated like I couldn't possibly know what I was talking about simply because I'm a woman.
Female family members had the same experience and they now shop elsewhere.

EleanorReally · 30/10/2019 11:01

debenhams, Cannot find any clothes, do not understand the layout.
M & S - what a disappointment

The80sweregreat · 30/10/2019 11:02

I avoid Debenhams as the staff are not very nice and managers worse. ( worked there for a while ) primark as it's too much like a jumble sale and lush as the smell in there makes my eyes water !
My big Tesco is ok though .

YetAnotherSpartacus · 30/10/2019 11:02

Lush - can't bear the pressure selling.

EleanorReally · 30/10/2019 11:02

sports direct is exhausting

TheCanterburyWhales · 30/10/2019 11:02

TK Maxx for jumble sale reasons mentioned above.
Primark after 10am.
L'Occitane/Body Shop etc for the pouncing and following around. Love the stuff, hate the aggressive selling.

BrightYellowDaffodil · 30/10/2019 11:04

Lush - I absolutely love their stuff and the smell of their stores, but I will not give my money to those who support hunt sabs(/terrorists). Then there was the very ill- thought out anti-police campaign and god only knows what now. I really miss their products but my principles matter more. I’m as left wing as they come but they’re WAY off the mark with these campaigns.

Primark - I KNOW there’s decent stuff in there, occasionally I’ve picked up something I’ve really liked in a charity shop and been surprised to see a Primark label, but where IS this decent stuff in the store? On the occasions I’ve been in it just seems like a sea of cheap tat. And that’s before the hordes of people

Sparklingbrook · 30/10/2019 11:04

I don't mind the upselling at tills. It's not the staff's fault and it's not hard to say 'no thanks'.
I love Savers and everything in there is much cheaper than other places.

I had to buy a gift for someone and they love Lush. Having never been in there before, I was only too happy to be pounced upon and the member of staff was very helpful.

Jupiters · 30/10/2019 11:06

My main one is Lush. I like their (overpriced!) products, but they have ethics I disagree with. I work for someone they have an issue with so I assume my money is no good to them.
TK Maxx as every time I go in there is like a jumble sale.
Body Shop... Sold out to Loreal. So lost their ethical credentials in my eyes (I know they are now owned by another company but it's the principal!)

Greencustard · 30/10/2019 11:07

Superdrug. I love the shop but the last few times I've been in, the staff have left me standing for ages at the till without serving me, even though there were staff members behind the till [ hmm], they were chatting on the phone, tidying behind the counter and acted as if I was invisible. I just left the stuff on the counter and left the shop, shocking customer service. I don't mean they left me standing for a minute, I mean 10 minutes passed and it was getting embarrassing.

misspiggy19 · 30/10/2019 11:08

Aldi & Lidl- tried both. Both were shite.

SheBloodyNameChangedAgain · 30/10/2019 11:09

TK Maxx, hate browsing clothes.

Lush but not because of smell, because they insist on helping you. They want to know everything about your personality to enable them to work out which fucking bag bomb suits you most.

It's a shame because I love their products

SheBloodyNameChangedAgain · 30/10/2019 11:09

*bath

NoraThePessimist · 30/10/2019 11:10

Shops who get over invested in political/ideological issues generally don’t get my money.

This.

And any shop that upsells at the till.

And Aldi because they sell shitty too ripe bananas £0.x per item instead of by weight, they're ok if you get the big ones first in the box but by the time I get there only tiny ones left. I get really irate every time I go in there only to be faced with a fixed price crap banana AngryGrin

Hoppinggreen · 30/10/2019 11:11

Asda, not the store generally but the one closest to me is in an “interesting “ area. Half the shoppers look like extras from The Walking Dead, I saw a fight in there once and I dont think I’ve ever been without seeing someone swear at or even hit their child. Took DD when she was 6 or 7 and she asked if we could leave 10 minutes in
Staff are lovely though and I like some of their stuff so I brave it once a year and then remember why I don’t go.