To find these retail practices annoying

[Mistlewoeandwhine]

1. Having to pay 10% service charge added to the bill (with no pre mention of the fact) in Yo Sushi - which is expensive enough for what it is anyway. I only noticed when I read it on the receipt afterwards. I always tip waiting staff 10% anyway but I give it in cash to the actual server so I know they get it. If Yo Sushi want to pay their staff higher wages, they can do it themselves.

2. Lush - I know some people hate it but I don’t. I like their products but I can assure you that I buy FAR LESS when some stranger is standing beside me, disturbing my rare moments of peace and making me smell stuff I’ve no interest in.
   Stop it Lush!

I hate that when I’ve just bought something high quality in a shop, they can’t help tucking a freshly printed receipt with a scratchy staple inside the bag. Why would I want to risk staining or snagging something mere seconds after paying for it? Wouldn’t it make sense to use tape instead of stapler, and at least fold the paper receipts so the ink is on the inside?

Even when you specifically ask them to hand you the receipt separately, their muscle-memory often overrides your request and they do it anyway. It recently happened while buying a delicate white silk shirt. I made them take the shirt back out to check it hadn’t been marked or snagged by the receipt. You’d think I’d asked them to do the Macarena, naked on the counter.

I am irritated by the extra "seasonal" displays a lot of shops have on a cardboard stand in the middle of the existing aisle. I have a side by side buggy and it is impossible to get around some of the shops with these. Goodness knows how wheelchair users manage in shops.

Yes email receipts are the way to go @phoenixrosehere except it seems nobody wants to give their email address.

I always put paper receipts safe in my purse so no chance of losing them, or them blowing away etc...

The invasive Lush lady sprayed some perfume on my child asked them if they thought it was lovely.

This would piss me off, as I'm allergic to lavender. It is actually an assault! Someone got prosecuted a few years ago for doing it in a department store. If they do this again - have a word with the manager.

When you ask for a online receipt with big stores such as “newlook” they link your email address with your card details.

How does that work with GDPR? Unless you have specifically consented, I don't think that should be happening?

I think I know about restaurants asking if your meal is OK though, that's to stop people disputing the bill later, not to see if you actually like your food.

You all need to develop a resting bitch face. Shop assistants leave me well alone. Including the ones in Lush.

Matalan!! Why can't I just buy something without being asked if I have my card and then if I don't asking for you postcode, urghh

I used to live in Canada and being mothered by store assistants is much worse there and is in most of the stores.

I once went into Lulu Lemon and they never left me alone, I went into the changing rooms to try on their overpriced yoga pants, they asked my name and then wrote it in chalk on the door of the changing room. Every 2 mins I had someone calling out "how are you getting on Mrscainndingle"
"Can we get you anything else Mrscainndingle" I ran out of the store trying not to scream 😱
It was a relief to be mostly ignored in shops when we came back to the UK.

mithered not mothered

Body Shop this weekend as I walk in through the door ”I’m just going to give you this basket” he’s says whilst thrusting said basket at me.
Erm, no thanks, you’re not, I’m perfectly capable of picking one up if I need it!
“No thanks!”

Yes to piles of tat on the counter card factory is awful for this.
Had b&m try to sell me chocolate crap at the till. I've just passed your food isle if ide wanted some I would of picked some up there.

Benefit! They are a nightmare for pushy sales people. Urrgh!!

I had an interview with them when I was a teen. Had never even stepped foot in there to be fair so I had no idea it would entail pushy sales. I was just desperate to leave the other retail job I was in and saw they had a job going. Thought it would be a standard interview but when I got there another applicant and I were pitted against one another to go out and entice people off the street and give them a makeover (off the back of 5 minutes of being shown the products when we got there). We were encouraged to sell a particular product to them and shoehorn in the amazing things it apparently did. It was utterly soul destroying and I'm so glad the other girl got the job and not me!

Matalan!! Why can't I just buy something without being asked if I have my card and then if I don't asking for you postcode, urghh

Come to think of it, why do they even bother with the stupid card?
They don't tailor their comms to you, so they're clearly not using the data for that purpose. In fact I don't even recall the last thing I got from them!

So they're just wasting tons of plastic sitting in people's purses for no reason. Like TK Maxx and every other shop that wants you to have a membership card before they let you buy anything. Talk about delusions of grandeur.

I used to work in retail. They made us take turns wearing a sash with CAN I HELP YOU? written on it.
Miserable.
I once failed a mystery customer report due to the fact I was... doing my job. I had to put out big containers of PVA and to do this I had to crouch on the floor. The Mystery Customer stood behind me and made not a peep until I stood up. I was supposed to know she was there by telepathy I think.
I have pity on all retail workers. It's a tough job, management insist on one thing but customers hate it. You can't win.

In M+S I asked the assistant to fold and put the items in my bag and she said 'oh we've stopped doing that, it's about health and safety'. WTAF???

Lazy fuckers.

Even in Tesco the fold the clothes coming off the conveyor belt at the till

In my lunch hour, a while ago, I was taken in by the Lush staff member's enthusiasm and thought I would listen as I had gone in to buy some presents.

After 15 minutes of demonstrating and agreeing to their suggestions (and me telling her twice that I had limited time in my lunch break), I went to pay and she told me they could only take cash that day. I just left my smellies and went. What a waste of time. Never been in since.

Coop, asking every fucking time if I have a members card.

No I don’t because you are shite, your fruit and veg is always fecking mouldy, prices are ridiculously high, never, ever have adequately stocked shelves, the most miserable pissing staff.

The only reason I am in your shop is either because everything else is closed (live rurally in small village with mostly cafes and charity shops) or because I couldn’t get a free space outside Tesco extra so I used your free car park because I’m too lazy and cold and pregnant to walk any distance.

If I was a member, I would give you my bloody members card. Stop asking me every.single.time.

I resisted getting the members/points cards until I found that certain ones came with discounts because of my employer.
I also have to resist giggling when i am behind someone in Holland and Barrett who is buying homeopathy tablets and the assistant is asking if they are on any other medicines and to make sure they do not exceed the maximum dose.

For those talking about Lush being particularly bad, I can recommend the Estee Laundry Instagram account. It’s an anonymous account for people wanting to talk about how bad the beauty industry is to work for. Lush come up a lot on it as having an awful culture for staff. Maybe that’s being translated into a bad shopping experience.

I work in the head office for a large retailer (not one mentioned here), we do look at reviews online a lot, and take them into account when making decisions.

I haven't been to a lush in years, but the trick for pushy shops is to catch a time when all the staff are busy harassing other customers, grab what you need and join the queue ASAP. (helps if you have a good resting bitch face too!)

And I detest email receipts. I tell them I don't have email (actually the truth is, my email address is the same as when I was 13 and is highly embarrassing to say/spell!) and they look at me like I have two heads and sigh and print a paper one.

@Sparklingbrook

Yea and the people that tend to not want to aren’t as organised as yourself and usually are asking us to take the item back without it days or weeks later or even past the refund date later (hoping we wouldn’t notice, we can tell if an item is out of season and not a sales item) and annoyed they only get store credit.

I know in our store, the receipt is only sent to email and nothing else. No promotions or newsletters unless the customer gives permission for us to do so. Our system doesn’t automatically save email addresses with the customer’s card information. We can only go by what is on the receipt whether it’s an e-receipt or paper one because it tells us how to refund the money when necessary.

You don't have to prove you paid for stuff. If they accuse you of shoplifting, they have to prove you didn't.

The people who stop you have to see you actually take something and leave without paying.

Totally agree on the sales assistants not packing bags now we tend to bring our own, it happens so often in clothing stores and it's a right pain when you're having to get your purse/card/cash out and then take the receipt as the hand it to you while you're still packing the bags!

I don't know how people have the nerve to try and take something back without being able to prove they bought it in the first place.

I asked for help in IKEA yesterday, to take stuff to the car. They said I'd have to wait half an hour. A girl of about twelve offered to help me, I said no thanks initially, I didn't want to put her to any trouble, but then her mum offered for her to push my trolley while I took the heavy big item so I took her up on it. Was better than waiting half an hour.