I hate being ignored in shops and worry it's due to being a middle aged mum!

[iloveshetlandponies]

Went in JD sports earlier with one of the DCs . We were looking for Uggs for me and converse for DC so I was going to be spending a good £200 or more

Stood there for ages trying to get someone's attention so we could try some on and got completely blanked and ignored by the teenage staff. It wasn't even busy in there, I'd understand it more if it was

Ended up walking out muttering to dd that perhaps we'll try John Lewis instead as you get better service in there . Which made me feel even more middle Aged

Absolutely Fuck middle age and the way it makes us completely irrelevant and invisible . It really makes me feel shit . Left the house today feeling like I looked pretty good as well. But Obvs not

Wait till you go in Sports Direct, to get someone’s attention in there you pretty much need to strip naked, do star jumps and holler ‘GOT THESE FOOTBALL BOOTS IN A SIZE 2 MATE?’

They are so inept it’s actually quite funny.

We had a minor car crash a few weeks ago and pulled into a BMW garage to exchange details. I went into the showroom to look at the cars with the two DCs and not one single person in there came over to me or even looked at me. It was honestly like I was invisible!

I clearly looked like someone that couldn’t possibly buy a BMW… probably because I was a woman with kids. It really angered me.

Some of you really do have a chip on your shoulder

@Blackfluffycats We noticed a few of the different car make showrooms are like this now. I wonder if they're transparent pricing like Volvo, and hyundai. The salesmen just don't make as much from it now, so they don't need to chase people.

At least they have staff! My youngest loves Sports Direct and he always wants to get trainers from there. There are no staff to be seen!! I have resorted to knocking on the stockroom door as loudly as possible without being aggressive, but to be fair there is rarely anyone hiding in there (so I'm not scaring the shit out of them), but I hope a member of the staff on the shop floor wonders what the noise is and comes running. They don't usually as there doesn't seem to be any staff. So I just grab the 6 left feet (or is it right feet?!) of the shoes he wants to try on and put them on the cash desk with a confused expression (kind of like how the hell do you buy anything at this place?!) and someone will radio for someone to help me. I especially love it when there's no barcode in the shoe and they can't scan it and ask me where it came from. I just say I have no clue all 6 black trainers look the same to me (they pretty much do!) and I don't work here. Pretty sure the staff member mutters 'Karen' under their breath but I just find it amusing now.

Some of us have worked in retail in our youth and never got away with such shit customer service.

John Lewis is a better place to shop anyway. X

Exactly. I prefer to be ignored in shops so that I can just browse in peace.

I'll ask for help if I need it, politely, assertively and firmly if necessary. It isn't hard.

I'm not on about good or bad customer service I'm on about people believing standing in a shop not saying anything expecting a 16 year old who works 8 hrs a week around school on minimum wage to approach you and when they don't thinking it must be because I'm a middle aged woman so walking out in a strop. Trust me it has more to do with their age then it does yours

That is nasty!
Did you leave a review?

It’s not just you…. Meanwhile, not only are they hiring ill-mannered eight year olds because they’re cheaper, shops seem to have a policy of having their stores under-manned.

I think customer service is just a bit of a dying art. It’s not a you problem.

This is true. Asking people if they would like any help is something you learn. I worked my way up the Saturday job ladder in retail and was pretty good by the time I got a much prized job in the Body Shop, which in the 80s was the pinnacle. I was paid £20 for the day in 1988 for 7.5 hours, which was a lot more than the first 2 places. There no longer seems to be the disparity in wages between retail jobs so I don’t think we can expect better customer service in JD, which would be considered a relatively prestigious place to work these days.

I’m 34 and not noticed any change on how I’m served in shops. Though I’ve never waited around for someone to come and help me. I’ve always actively tracked down a staff member to tell them what I want/need. The only time I wait is if there is an obvious queue. I find it quite odd that you just stood there and didn’t actively say or do anything if you actually wanted to buy something.

Honestly I think it's a collapse in customer service- I've tried to buy shoes for example recently and had to practically beg staff to get the size. Clothes shop- staff say go online as the shop doesn't have much stock!

I’m middle aged and get served in shops without any difficulty. I always go up to them if I need something. I thought that was how it worked as a lot of customers don’t like being hovered over.

Being ignored by teenagers when you're 44 has no link whatsoever with how good you go out looking. Your efforts will be typically only noticed by your peers with levels of awareness of you declining in relation to how far from your own peer group you are. Same is true for general visibility, and also in reverse.

It is how it works in actual life. People on here are a different breed

I find many shop assistants in supermarkets will talk to each other rather than you. They’re not kids either.

Go to Schuh, they’re lovely in there.

I tried buying a pair of trainers in JD Sports, I approached a member of staff who told me I had to go to the counter to request the size I wanted. Apparently that's how it works.

Unfortunately they didn't have my size in any colour if the size I wanted, and were generally unhelpful about it so I ordered them from a a different retailer online.

I think even in John Lewis they don't approach you, just make their presence known so you can ask for help if you want it? Or maybe that's changed.

🤣🤣🤣 You’ll never get served if you stand there looking at them. Go and talk to one of them… it’s not that difficult!

It's like the school gate "clicks" honestly and the supposedly mean mums judging you..Nobody is judging you..Nobody is even thinking about you.

If they weren’t busy couldn’t you have asked one of them to get the shoes?

Minimum wage minimum effort

Floor staff don't give a shit that you went elsewhere and rightly so

I like that about the UK

Yeah I kind of agree with this tbh.