Was this my fault?

[Whyamisopathetic]

We’ve had a horrible year financially, so DH and I agreed a £50 max spend on each other, give or take, as we are on top of everything now, and want to stay that way.

I wanted to get him something classy he’d love, but obviously £50 doesn’t go far. All the aftershaves he loves were way more so I found myself completely flummoxed.

On Christmas Eve (yes I know) I went into Flannels and saw a lovely leather travel size aftershave case that I could have decanted with any Creed fragrance for £55. The assistant showed me the blue one and told me it came in grey, which she said she much preferred. I said I much preferred the blue.

After much deliberation, I chose the fragrance and paid and she went to decant it. As I was watching her do it, I thought it was weird that she was grasping such a delicate item in a kind of fist, as she was filling it. It was only when she stopped that I could see she’d filled the grey one and not the blue I’d chosen.

i immediately said “Oh! You’ve filled the wrong one, I said I preferred the blue” She said “Oh! I thought you wanted the grey one, and besides we don’t have the blue colour available, but I can give you a couple of free samples” Another assistant (who I think was her manager) was also there. She looked very annoyed and told me they would not give me a refund and I’d have to take it. I kind of just stood there feeling really upset and stupidly said it didn’t matter and was probably my fault.

I’m so upset and angry with myself, because I know it wasn’t my fault and now realise they got me to pay before they’d filled it because they knew I’d see it was the wrong one. I think she held it in her fist to hide the colour on the case, as both had gold tops which is all I could see as she was filling it. I believe the blue one was a display model.

I feel really cheated that the one and only gift I could buy him was the wrong one.

YABU - Accept it was a mistake and forget it

YANBU - It was done on purpose because the blue was out of stock

Oh, I see you’d already paid. Well I’d have stood there till they refunded and told everyone who came to the counter not to purchase because if there’s a problem you won’t get a refund. I did exactly this when I opened a Christmas bottle of Gaultier a years ago & the spray mechanism had snapped off inside the tin. Ex had bought it at Debenhams but lost the receipt. They refused to exchange as no receipt so I stood there for almost an hour telling everyone who came to the counter how bad Debenhams customer service was. They finally exchanged to get rid of me 😁

Ah right gotcha, sorry I was reading in the midst of writing up a work report and wasn't sure if I had it right. Thanks for clarifying - am so sorry that the second person was so aggressive and unrelenting, that's enough to put anyone off.

Tbh I didn’t really give it much thought about paying before she’d decanted it. I now think I was asked to do that to get my money asap before I had chance to notice.

According to the voting most people think I’m being unreasonable though.

Also @Whyamisopathetic (and by the way you are not pathetic!) Creed fragrance is awesome, it's a lovely gift either way. If you've ever seen Gordon Ramsey's US Kitchen Nightmares people are always remarking on how lovely he smells and he never divulges what he uses other than to say Creed!

Bless you @Frith2013

I hope you are ok. I always feel really sad for posters who make these kind of comments. Their own lives must be so mundane that they feel the need to make unpleasant comments to other posters, just to make themselves feel good.

You take care now ♥️

It wasn’t a cheap fragrance. It was Creed, and was decanted into the leather travel holder.

You're being unreasonable inasmuch as you did not stand your ground and demand a refund.

You wanted the blue, the assistant gave you grey. It's immaterial that you paid for it, they made a mistake and gave you an item you did not ask for. As it's now a fortnight later, I don't think there is anything you can do. A costly mistake.

You could try writing a review on Trustpilot as that can be a way to get their attention and make right on this. I know I would most certainly try this as I think going back to the store will get you precisely nowhere.

It’s not really relevant though, is it? The thread isn’t “Is this a nice gift?” or “What would your DH think of this?” It’s about the situation in the shop.

I think you have misunderstood.

The £55 is for an empty perfume atomiser. That is the product - nothing more. It’s just like other small leather goods. People buy them for the luxury packaging and convenience as opposed to anything else like scent or value. It is reusable and refillable - you can put whatever you want in it. It doesn’t have to be from the same brand.

However in this case, the store had an offer on where they would fill it with Creed perfume for free. However if you were to buy it on their website, they wouldn’t do that.

So it’s not quite £55 for 5ml of perfume, it’s £55 for the reusable leather case.

I think £50 is a decent budget, but it probably requires planning ie shopping around and ordering in advance. If you leave it to Christmas Eve your options are going to be limited as the good stuff is sold out. Probably why OP felt pressured in the moment.

Yes! She showed me the blue initially and said “This also comes in grey. I actually really prefer grey” I told her I much preferred blue. She then filled the grey and when I complained said the blue one wasn’t in stock. I can only assume that the blue was a display item only.

I feel it’s worth contacting both Flannels and Creed over this.

When you buy a special or luxury item, it does get tainted by experiences like this. You might be put off shopping with Creed and Flannels now after all.

Creed would be mindful of customer service and they might want to offer you something to make it up to you. The product you bought is out of stock in all colours now so there may be truth in it being a display model, but the sales assistant should have communicated that to you. The colour of your purchase should never be a surprise!

As it’s an expensive brand, she probably didn’t put a lot of effort into your sale because you didn’t buy a big ticket item perhaps? Which isn’t great.

Also their no-refund policy may be a blanket Flannels approach, if Flannels now operate on the same shit policy as House of Fraser. (No returns or credit note only). So I get why you feel misled by the sales team.

Stuff like this stresses me out too. I'd have done the same and just reluctantly took it. I'm also not one for sticking up for myself if I'm all flustered

Your DH liked it so just concentrate on that 😊

So glad my husband is colour blind lmao

Honestly I think this is probably just the shit cherry on top of a shit cake for you OP, if you'd not had a crappy year I doubt this would still be bothering you. It's easier to wave off bad experiences when you're not feeling raw from lots of other bad stuff.

I don't think it's worth kicking up a stink about it now, to what end? Let it be part of the crap year you had and put it behind you, I'm sure your husband is pleased with his gift.

That's what I was thinking. I don't imagine the staff would be able to refund you whether they wanted to or not.

Classic

@MJconfessions

Thank you so much for your great clarification. X

No they didn’t though! I told them I wanted blue. They incorrectly filled the grey one and when I complained said I had to take it and they would not refund it.

Unfortunately @Frith2013 cannot buy herself a personality transplant.

Agree. Defo looks bad on manager. Some sales assistants are looking for commission(Flannels strikes me as the sort of place where they get commission). I have been a retail manager and honesty is always best policy.

I would love a dislike reaction as one poster above was really nasty. No in grand scheme of things it wasn't a major deal. However OP sounds like she has had a pooh year and wanted to get something nice to show her appreciation for hubby. And she didn't get what she paid for.

OP get in contact with Flannels HO or CEO if need. Explain the issue and see what happens. If all else fails, go to the bank and explain what happened. If they didn't provide you with what you paid for, there is an arguement that it was missold.

Chin up, we are in a new year with fresh opportunities.

You are certainly not pathetic! That was a perfect response to someone who can't even back up their lame effort at offence!