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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not want to ‘order it online’ FFS?

73 replies

JetRocket · 25/09/2021 07:21

Apologies for the grumble but I’m in desperate need of a new wardrobe and every effort just gets me nowhere!

Why do you even keep these massive stores operating (Next I’m especially looking at you here) if you never have popular ranges available in sizes 10/12/14?
They’re never on the shelf, you never have them in the back. There’s always a queue of women jumping on one singular staff member for sizes and all being told ‘we don’t have it but you can order online’ people didn’t come to the store to buy online.

I hate spending £xxx online then it not fitting or suiting and having to wait 3-5 working days for a refund not everyone has a huge surplus in their account to spend that way. People who go to shops generally want to try on, buy what’s right and take it home.

Maybe if you did actually have these (obviously very popular) sizes then the high street wouldn’t be dying so quickly. You’re quite literally just turning customers away.

OP posts:
Hadenoughofthisbullshit · 25/09/2021 09:53

@ithoughtisawapuddycat

I have a similar issue with the likes of Next, they stock plus sizes but not in store so I can never try them on. Trust me they get very nervous when I ask them (in a fairly loud voice) why they discriminate against plus size women and that it's clear that they don't want 'fat' women to be able to go into the store and shop in the same way slimmer women can. Never changes though.
No it won’t because you are shouting talking in a loud voice to someone with zero power over how the business is run. Hope it makes you feel better though.
Thatsplentyjack · 25/09/2021 09:57

Yes! Next are really really bad for it. That's where I buy ds his black skinny joggers (they don't even last long but j can't get anything else that he likes that are similar). I'm talking plain black joggers here, nothing fancy. They NEVER have his size. They will have maybe 2 pairs in the shop, but never the ones a need, and never in the back. They always say "oh we can order them in for you" we'll no, because I Don want to make this trip again in a few days time!

NotAnotherPylon · 25/09/2021 09:58

@PileOfBooks Same issue here with my 13yo DS. He’s 5ft 8, so technically the height of an adult, but he has a child’s physique, so needs children’s clothes. Most of the shops I tried stopped at age 12, occasionally 14. It was as if teenagers didn’t exist. The next size up is a men’s small, which is enormous on him. So I’ve had to order online. No issue getting school uniform in store though!

INeed2P · 25/09/2021 10:00

I hate hate hate this! No shops stock "tall" ranges in store really anymore so I have to order almost everything online. I have bought some jumpers from h and m recently and that's the first in store purchase I have made in perhaps 3 years! It's so frustrating, sending things back is a faff (and they often don't refund postage obviously) when I could have just tried things on in store.

Thatsplentyjack · 25/09/2021 10:00

@ithoughtisawapuddycat

I have a similar issue with the likes of Next, they stock plus sizes but not in store so I can never try them on. Trust me they get very nervous when I ask them (in a fairly loud voice) why they discriminate against plus size women and that it's clear that they don't want 'fat' women to be able to go into the store and shop in the same way slimmer women can. Never changes though.
No idea why you would be shouting at the retail staff. What could they possibly do about it?
Fizbosshoes · 25/09/2021 10:15

My experience is that the clothes are at least one size bigger than the size on the label. I given up shopping there. It’s just frustrating.

Same here. I am a size 8. Not skinny (and fairly straight up and fine- no tiny waist) because I am very short. I bought a next skirt about 10 years ago in a 6, because it was the sale and that was the only size they had.i squeezed into it but it was very snug. About 5 years later I bought another size 6 skirt and its so big I need a belt!

starfishmummy · 25/09/2021 10:17

@Kiduknot

I took the wardrobe literally at first 😂

I’m after some bedroom furniture, and was going to wholeheartedly agree with you. I really don’t want to order online really expensive furniture that would cost a fortune to return. The choice in actual shops is abysmal and I can’t find what I want.

Me too!! I was envisaging the OP staggering up to the check out with a wardrobe and then trying to get it home!!
Original poster
JetRocket · 25/09/2021 15:17

Well inspired by a couple of there vanity sizing comments, today I tried on size 8’s in M&S and Next, although didn’t get long as DS decided to have a melt down in his class and we had to dash Sad

All the 8’s fitted Confused it’s been about 2 years since I shopped on the high street but my god has vanity sizing really increased this much?
I’ve had two babies back to back, I’m not in fab shape by any stretch and I would have estimated myself at a solid 10/12. Certainly a 12 in jeans as I have solid thighs. Nope, 8 was fine!

I once dreamed of fitting a size out but now I just find it a bit of a hollow victory

OP posts:
ithoughtisawapuddycat · 25/09/2021 15:26

To be clear I have never shouted at retail staff having worked in retail myself. I simply talk to them politely in a voice that can be heard by others near me. I know the staff can't do anything personally but the more feedback they get the better. More often than not the staff completely agree with the sizes not being in the store and assure me they will pass on my feedback. The last lady I spoke to in Next said she had the same issue with them not stocking much from the petite rang in the store.

escapisum101 · 25/09/2021 15:43

@ithoughtisawapuddycat
So by having worked in retail yourself you should know that is a really shitty thing to do to the retail worker. To put them on the spot so others can hear and watch you rant.

It's just a way to try and make you look clever and the person your talking to look wrong. When there is literally absolutely nothing they can do about the situation.

(They won't give feedback to whoever makes the clothes because head office and the wear-houses and who ever makes the clothes really aren't going to care about one woman talking loudly for all to hear in the middle of next)

Next time just think about the retail worker you're speaking to, Likely on minimum wage who you could be making feel completely shit 👌

Plotato · 26/09/2021 10:11

@JetRocket

Well inspired by a couple of there vanity sizing comments, today I tried on size 8’s in M&S and Next, although didn’t get long as DS decided to have a melt down in his class and we had to dash Sad

All the 8’s fitted Confused it’s been about 2 years since I shopped on the high street but my god has vanity sizing really increased this much?
I’ve had two babies back to back, I’m not in fab shape by any stretch and I would have estimated myself at a solid 10/12. Certainly a 12 in jeans as I have solid thighs. Nope, 8 was fine!

I once dreamed of fitting a size out but now I just find it a bit of a hollow victory

I'm exactly the same, recently had a baby and even M&S size 10 (normally generous sizing and I'm usually an 8 there) is tight, yet I've just bought a size 6 in Next. I'm nothing like a size 6, BMI around 23 and average height.
TowelStripes · 26/09/2021 13:34

It's just a number. There's no 'victory' being a smaller size and it's this thinking - smaller = better - which means shops bother with so-called vanity sizing.

RedRiverShore · 26/09/2021 13:37

Us taller people have had to buy online for a long time, tall clothes aren't generally stocked in store

Mercedes519 · 26/09/2021 13:39

We went sofa shopping last week. In person because, you know, you actually want to sit on the damm thing before you punt thousands of pounds on something.

Apparently the model I saw on their website is online only. It’s a flipping sofa?! Would you ever buy a sofa online?!

gogohm · 26/09/2021 13:41

I find they usually only have 8-14 in store, dd is a 6, I'm a 16. We've given up on next

icedcoffees · 26/09/2021 13:45

@ithoughtisawapuddycat

To be clear I have never shouted at retail staff having worked in retail myself. I simply talk to them politely in a voice that can be heard by others near me. I know the staff can't do anything personally but the more feedback they get the better. More often than not the staff completely agree with the sizes not being in the store and assure me they will pass on my feedback. The last lady I spoke to in Next said she had the same issue with them not stocking much from the petite rang in the store.
As an ex-retail worker yourself, you should know that that's a really shitty way to treat people.

When customers spoke to me like that, I used to feel utterly useless and about two inches tall.

If you have an issue with sizing and stock levels, ask to speak to the manager or go directly to customer services/Head Office. Don't act like a jerk to the minimum wage staff who can't do anything about whether they have size 20 jeans in stock or not.

Yondergoat · 26/09/2021 14:28

I had the same issue when the schools switched back to normal uniform after months in PE kit. Went to the shopping centre to get some school blouses as none of DD's would do up. Usually get them in John Lewis, but no school uniform in store. Asked staff - oh no, it's all online.

This was months ago, long before the lack of lorry drivers.

Went to M&S. Loads of boys shirts, loads of little girl's blouses. Nothing big enough. Big sign; if your size isn't in stock order online. I have driven to the shop to buy it now because she needs it Monday! I don't want to order it and have to come back, or pay for postage.

escapisum101 · 26/09/2021 14:52

@Yondergoat it's not just the lack of lorry drivers to be fair, the deliveries have been disrupted for a very long time now because most of it is being shipped from overseas and there are delays that side of things.

icedcoffees · 26/09/2021 14:54

This was months ago, long before the lack of lorry drivers.

There has been a lack of lorry drivers for months now.

WrongKindOfFace · 26/09/2021 15:06

@escapisum101

Retail worker here as well....major major disruption to deliveries right now every single day there is an issue.
It’s not a new problem though.
escapisum101 · 26/09/2021 17:06

@WrongKindOfFace I didn't say it was? I've said the opposite in my last comment in fact.

WrongKindOfFace · 26/09/2021 17:32

[quote escapisum101]@WrongKindOfFace I didn't say it was? I've said the opposite in my last comment in fact. [/quote]
So you did.

It most definitely pre dates covid though, which seems to be the catch all excuse.

Looubylou · 26/09/2021 17:40

Most of the shops I bought clothes in have closed down during pandemic. It's not worth going to my local shopping centre, which used to be a good day out, once in a while. Trousers are the worst for buying online - the lengths are so unpredictable.

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