Embarrassed in Wilkinson's ...aibu?

[cursethenroomstick]

My house I rent through housing association.
I work full time and pay my rent myself,don't claim benefits (not that anything is wrong with that,I just know people can be a bit judgemental)
Anyway my housing association did some works on my house and made such a mess.
Anyway I was given decorating vouchers to use in wilkos.
On my letter from HA it states paint,paper,soft furnishings ,rugs etc
So I got my paints etc and spotted a lovely little rug on sale for £15.
Got to the till she scanned my items and I said I was paying with my decorating card.
She snapped "you can't buy rugs it's for paint only"
I said I have my letter..she grabbed letter and scanned it
Then shouted over (whilst massive queue behind me)
You can't buy rugs can you with this free DSS voucher (not sure what DSS means ,maybe housing tenant?)
The woman on the other till said you could
She then shouts back "bloody hell thought it was just for paint ...rugs and rolled her eyes"

Aibu to think there's just no need ?
I felt so embarrassed
I pay for everything myself and the only reason I got these vouchers was because the HA made such a mess.
Im embarrassed to go back in there again now

No need at all - some people seriously lack people skills. I'd never ever think of embarrassing people like that.

You obviously do feel like there’s something wrong about benefits/DSS/handouts though, otherwise you wouldn’t be too embarrassed to go back. You also wouldn’t have felt the need to mention it at all in your OP. She said something stupid and unpleasant, that’s nothing to do with you, why should you feel embarrassed unless it’s because you think they’ll remember you as that woman with the DSS card?

This.

I'm seeing more and more and more of this type of attitude in retail lately - only in chains though. The independants seem to be doing fine. The chains must treat their staff like absolute shit on their shoes, the staff are so unhappy and fucking mean and spiteful to the customers.

Who the hell does she think she is?

Complain. I’d complain to Wilkos themselves and on Twitter publicly. They were trying to benefits shame you and their staff need training.
I imagine they have a contract with the housing association and it brings them good money, which pays this staffs wages.

I hope you asked for or noted her name. complain

What a bitch! It's fair to subtly check you could get the rug if she wasn't sure. But her attitude....ugh how gross is that woman?

Maybe because they're shocked and embarrassed, and just want to get out of the building?

I usually say ‘don’t complain about this’ too….but here I think you should.

I’d suggest some ‘customer service training’ might be in order. When people have vouchers if this style, there’s always scope to feel sensitive about them. Staff need to acknowledge this and respond accordingly. Shouting across the store shows a total lack of sensitivity at best and at worst a deliberate attempt to create embarrassment.

FWIW, people who do this kind of thing are usually struggling themselves. They are the kind of people who think benefit claimants/those living in social housing are getting too generous a deal and and somehow getting more than they are when working. It’s a widespread feeling amongst minimum wage earners.

Sorry you experienced this. That staff me enter does need retraining so that others don’t experience what you did.

DSS stands for Department for Social Security, old nam for Department for Work and Pensions.

Another vote for 'Complain'.

Absolutely complain, both to Wilkos and the HA. Disgusting behaviour! Hope you’re ok

Definitely complain. I would never usually say that because people shouldn't have to pay severely for a bad day but that's not what happened here. She judged you and when out of her way to humiliate you. She deserves to have a complaint made.

Aw don't feel embarrassed! I bet it will look lovely when its done.
What's going on with customer service lately?! It's like they got their training from my GP receptionists 😅

That’s awful OP. Even if you didn’t own your house or you did receive support from the government… that doesn’t entitle anyone to make you feel like that.

i had a meds mix up in the pharmacy (PTSD) who gave me a completely different prescription to what I needed. When I realised I walked all the way back and got an eye roll form the dispenser who snarled at the pharmacist “oh she’s always here for one thing or another”. I was just trying to pick up my sleeping tablets and antidepressants. I was suicidal and if I hadn’t have had someone at home waiting for me, I really think it would have been the last straw for me. Imagine that was someone who lived on their own.

OP, it’s shit. Please complain.

But what if those adjectives aren't 100% accurate, if that's what she said, in front of other customers then OP is definitely not being unreasonable!!
Would it be OK if she took the letter in non-grabby way? the outcome is still the same, she embarrassed and be-littled the OP in front of other staff and shoppers.

On the back of your receipt will be info on how to complete a survey. Your cashiers number will be on the receipt. I would also ring the store and complain. Just because you’re having a helping hand at the moment it absolutely does not justify people to be rude or inconsiderate.

I'd write to Wilkos and the HA.
But, if the store is convenient to you, don't be embarrassed to go back - they wont recognize you from the 100s of customers they serve each day.
I'm sorry you were treated that way, and hope your home looks lovely once you've repaired the mess and damage.

Honestly, what is it that you are embarrassed about?
That she shouted over to a colleague? That's perhaps bad customer service but nothing for you to be embarrassed about.
That she questioned whether you could buy the rug with a voucher? She didn't know, she questioned it, you bought the rug, nothing to be embarrassed about.
Or is it that other people in the queue heard that you were using a housing association voucher? As you say yourself, there is nothing wrong with that, nothing to be embarrassed about.

If you really want to complain about her customer service skills then do that. But was is really as bad as you've described? No one in that queue or anyone else in the shop cares how you were paying or what you were buying or will even remember what happened. Can you imagine coming home and saying to someone "Guess what happened today, I was queuing in Wilkos and a woman tried to buy a rug with a housing association voucher, oh my god, fancy that, she was using a housing association voucher, how shocking!" Just wouldn't happen.

To say you are too embarrassed to go back to the shop is just silly. Let it go.

I'm usually not in the 'speak to the manager' camp but in this case, absolutely, that woman was an arsehole and you should complain.

Housing associations issue those decorating vouchers to new tenants (so they don't have to pay decorating companies to paint the property). Most of the vouchers stated that they could not be used for floor coverings only paint, decorating tools, etc. That's probably why she thought that you couldn't buy the rug, but she was still an absolute twat for the way she handled it.

I got one of those vouchers 5 years ago when moving into my ha property. It gave me the rage as I had a crawling baby at the time so a floor covering was the most important thing at that time! I sold my voucher on fb and bought some 2nd hand laminate.

I would email a complaint to the store and copy in the HA. It is unacceptable that you were embarrassed by a member of staff like that. Some people are just twats.

Complain, hopefully get a complimentary voucher from Wilko's, then make sure that women is on the check out when you spend it.

I would complain. Totally unprofessional. Don't feel bad or embarrassed - she is the one standing in that spotlight. Enjoy your decorating x

That's completely unacceptable. Complain to the head office. People are bastards.

I'm sorry. It's completely understandable that you felt embarrassed, but this is all on them.