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Original poster

To feel uncomfortable in Harrod’s?

360 replies

Chocolattay · 08/03/2022 20:05

I went in with my mum and baby recently on a day trip to London. I obviously knew I wouldn’t get very far with my measly £200 spends but I thought I could at least get earrings or something for baby.

Goodness me, I was very quickly humbled. I immediately felt insecure. Staff buzzing around me constantly and when I said “Oh I’m just looking around” they stared me down and walked off.

I just felt very unwelcome and inadequate the whole time. We did have a meal in one of the restaurants which was nice but I couldn’t get away quick enough afterwards. It didn’t help that we ended up getting lost for half an hour trying to find the exit, and the area with the escalators etc made me claustrophobic.

I breathed a sigh of relief when we got out. Then I went and spent my money in the nearby Zara instead.

All my friends say they love snooping around Harrods but I hated it. Anybody else?

OP posts:
SpanishPapers · 09/03/2022 09:48

These days, it's mainly for tourists wanting branded merch and the international rich, with not very much for those in between. I used to quite like the food hall and toy department at Christmas though.

As for feeling inadequate, I think this is one of those occasions to remind yourself that no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

gunnersgold · 09/03/2022 09:50

I hate Harrods , it's stuffy and claustrophobic. I have money to spend but look normal and the other day a girl was so rude to me because I obviously didn't look rich enough to try on £309 jeans ! 🙄.. i much prefer Selfridges! ✅

Gonnagetgoing · 09/03/2022 09:51

I disliked Harrods at the best of times.

I used to go there a lot with family but never felt comfortable there (no matter how I dressed).

The food hall and toy department is nice and I used to go to the pet department (think that's closed now).

What really put me off (think that's gone too) was the sickening memorial to Dodi and Diana and I swore after seeing that, that'd I never set food in there again. Harvey Nicks is much nicer and less up itself. Or Peter Jones just a short walk away!

Gonnagetgoing · 09/03/2022 09:56

The thing I do recall once, was I was with a friend from abroad, we were on a day trip to London and she was wearing shorts and wanted to go in Harrods! I told her, no, they won't let you in wearing shorts but she was desperate to go in!

We went somewhere like Benetton or Zara (a few years back) and she bought a more suitable skirt and changed in toilets of a cafe and we entered Harrods and all was fine. I think she bought earrings and something in the food hall and a Harrods logo bag and teddy.

The staff are snooty but as people say, on the same level as Gucci etc.

I just ignore them, my money is just as good as the next persons.

CindyMaeLouise · 09/03/2022 10:01

30 odd years ago I knew someone (my boss) who lied about losing her engagement ring in Harrods. Whilst in the loo, she saw a rich Arab woman remove her rings before washing her hands & then put them back on again after. So once home she phoned in & told them she'd done this & forgotten to pick her ring up again, had it been handed in? There were no cameras & no witnesses. She bought a new car with the insurance money. I left the company not long after, they were awful.

Thoosa · 09/03/2022 11:32

@gunnersgold

I hate Harrods , it's stuffy and claustrophobic. I have money to spend but look normal and the other day a girl was so rude to me because I obviously didn't look rich enough to try on £309 jeans ! 🙄.. i much prefer Selfridges! ✅
The struggle is real, eh?
Lndnmummy · 09/03/2022 12:14

Not unreasonable OP, I feel the same in there. I only go when my parents are in the UK as my mum likes to buy Harrods tins with tea to give as gifts for friends and family. My aunt who now has dementia loves them and have kept them all so my mum doesn't have the heart to stop going in there when she comes over to the UK.

Landedonfeet · 09/03/2022 12:16

Just checked glass door

Average shop staff salary at Harrods is £12 an hour

They will hardly be the last of the big spenders!

limitedperiodonly · 09/03/2022 12:18

Some people on this thread are exposing their own inferiority complex about posh shops - especially those who are at pains to say they don't look down on retail staff and then insist "but they are no better than me."

There's also a whiff of xenophobia about vulgar people from various countries who have a lot of money and like to show it off

SpanishPapers · 09/03/2022 12:22

Not really on point but back in the day lots of my friends took Christmas jobs at Harrods while they were students. Fayed used to walk round the shop floor quite often before opening and, when he did, the staff used to hide all the young, blonde female employees in a cupboard because he was such an enormous creep to them.

limitedperiodonly · 09/03/2022 12:28

The memorial to Di and Dodi and the seagull made me smile but I don't think it's there any more. I think the new owners insisted Mohamed Fayed took it with him when he sold up.

Thoosa · 09/03/2022 12:34

I think it was possibly an albatross, which just made me laugh all the more.

SleeplessInEngland · 09/03/2022 12:44

@limitedperiodonly

Some people on this thread are exposing their own inferiority complex about posh shops - especially those who are at pains to say they don't look down on retail staff and then insist "but they are no better than me."

There's also a whiff of xenophobia about vulgar people from various countries who have a lot of money and like to show it off

If you've been to Knightbridge you'll have seen the gold Ferraris. Now that's an inferiority complex.
limitedperiodonly · 09/03/2022 13:13

@SleeplessInEngland I like to look at luxury cars but a Ferrari - gold or standard red is something I cannot afford to buy, That doesn't spoil my appreciation of them. Nor does it make me feel inferior or automatically lead me to believe anything else about the owners aside from the fact they are richer than me and like to show off their money with consumer goods.

I am aware that most of the owners of those cars are young men some of whom drive them recklessly and behave in an anti-social manner. They annoy the neighbours but that is not exclusive to groups of young men in cars from any particular ethnic or income background or their neighbours.

What does the gold Ferrari-driving demographic of Knightsbridge say to you and why?

Knittingchamp · 09/03/2022 13:18

If it makes you feel better OP I was once kicked out of Harrods for having a beachy top on that was a bit too revealing (looooong time ago Grin). I went back though, with a better top on and felt good. I think you were over thinking it all, nobody really cares what other people are doing. I hear you about getting lost in there though!

SleeplessInEngland · 09/03/2022 13:23

"What does the gold Ferrari-driving demographic of Knightsbridge say to you and why?"

You seem to be fishing for a racial angle here. Sorry, not biting.

Thoosa · 09/03/2022 13:25

What does the gold Ferrari-driving demographic of Knightsbridge say to you and why?

It always says air pollution and deafening revving to me.

RealBecca · 09/03/2022 13:26

*Bromse

Yes, sorry op. My bad.

(Christ should have a capital 'C', it's a proper noun.)*

You're a proper noun.

LittleGwyneth · 09/03/2022 13:39

It's just a shop. About 75% of the staff are in the performing arts and work there between auditions. They're not looking at you and judging you, they just don't care and largely want to go home.

limitedperiodonly · 09/03/2022 13:55

@SleeplessInEngland

"What does the gold Ferrari-driving demographic of Knightsbridge say to you and why?"

You seem to be fishing for a racial angle here. Sorry, not biting.

@SleeplessInEngland Oh, so it doesn't say anything to you? I thought seeing as you made a comment you would want to expand

@Thoosa but that could be all cars driven by all people unless electric

Last year my NextDoor group was full of complaints about travellers at Harrod's I wasn't there on those occasions so I have no idea how those people were behaving

Thoosa · 09/03/2022 14:00

but that could be all cars driven by all people unless electric

You clearly haven’t heard them if you think most cars are revved like that. Grin

limitedperiodonly · 09/03/2022 14:20

I have and it's very annoying but most young men who like to show off in cars can't afford gold Ferraris and that doesn't stop them

If someone is disturbing you by driving like a prat they are probably not at the wheel of a supercar and they are more annoying to more people because there are more of them all over the place not just in Knightsbridge.

I wonder what it can possibly be about the drivers there?

Thoosa · 09/03/2022 14:24

@limitedperiodonly

I have and it's very annoying but most young men who like to show off in cars can't afford gold Ferraris and that doesn't stop them

If someone is disturbing you by driving like a prat they are probably not at the wheel of a supercar and they are more annoying to more people because there are more of them all over the place not just in Knightsbridge.

I wonder what it can possibly be about the drivers there?

Oh I see. Hmm

Well TBH the only two places I’ve ever seen that particularly twattish revving and racing behaviour is Knightsbridge/Kensington and Southend seafront. It’s not widespread.

So beyond age group and sex, I can’t see much demographic commonality. Just behavioural.

limitedperiodonly · 09/03/2022 14:39

We agree that is is behaviour predominantly indulged in by young men.

The behaviour of groups of that mindset is the same whether they are driving a Ferrari or a rustbucket Ford Mexico. They probably don't drive Mexicos any more but they used to where I lived which wasn't in Knightsbridge or Southend. And there are more of them all over the country. I can't explain why you've never noticed them. Just lucky, I guess.

But the drivers of Ferraris in Knightsbridge are a particular demographic. I wonder what makes them more annoying than the others.

WanderingLost167 · 09/03/2022 14:47

God I hate the use of the term "spends"...

But also you have the choice to feel inferior or that you don't fit in a particular place. It's not about what you wear.

I do love a bit of Zara tho lol

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