To think the M&S cyber attack has shown up how awful the shops are?

[CaterpillaNavilla]

I have a wish list full of things I can’t buy online so have taken trips to the two M&S’s closest to me to try and buy in person instead. The selection of clothing and homeware was awful.

I’m occasionally a size 8 in M&S trousers but neither shop stocked an 8 in any trousers. Nothing seemed to have a full selection of sizes with only 5/6 of each item.

The homeware bits weren’t available or were only available on the wrong sizes (e.g. every size sheets but double in the style I wanted).

Not a single navy cardigan in either shop.

If only I needed towels - the only thing they seemed to have in abundance!

OP, reread your post and then consider this - the Co-op Food chain suffered a cyber attack at the same time. Many communities rely on the Co-op as their only food retailer. Extreme cases of this are many Scottish islands where it is literally the one and only shop. They were unable to buy bread and milk let alone anything else. If you live somewhere with a handy M&S that sells clothes, you must also have other clothes shops nearby. Go on, branch out and see what else is out there. You have the choice; the people on Lewis, or wherever, don't. And while you're at it, start educating yourself about cyber crime and it's far reaching effects. It will help you and stop you looking very silly on online forums.

I always got the DC’s uniform from M&S and they never had what I needed in store even years ago, so I’ve always bought it online. The store here dramatically reduced in size many years before covid.

You do realise that the cyber attack doesn't just affect the online ordering system? It has been widely publicised in the news that it affects stock levels across the business, so in store and in the food hall too.

They are having to rebuild all of their systems from scratch, I understand. It will take weeks or months and can't happen overnight.

I'm afraid you have made yourself look rather silly here. A cyber attack is not a small glitch, and all large organisations are vulnerable. Harrods and the Co-op were attacked at the same time as M & S. The NHS was attacked a few years ago too.

I have been to the Marble Arch flagship store and the other oxford St one today. Could not find what I needed. The shelves look fully-stocked but there are many normal items missing and they are filling the shelves with other stuff to make them look full.

Ours is pretty good. In the last two weeks I've bought a size 8 dress and top (the red puffy one that is advertised with the skirt).

They're out of stock of chocolate flapjacks though.

Of course people understand that it will take time to recover, but it’s pointless for them to keep promoting online, when you can’t order online and if you were to go to a store to buy something you’ve seen online, the likelihood is that it won’t be in stock and certainly not in the size you need. Many lines are online only anyway.

The trouble is that people will find alternatives, because no one wants to wait weeks for a cardigan or pair of trousers.

M&S's response to this was fantastic. Lucky if you have a clothes shop you can go into. We had a fab one in Staines but they've moved and now it's just a food store. Some of their stuff online is fab.
I had to return an item and in Staines as long as it was in the original packaging they were putting it in cage to be processed for refund later. I took a pic with the store helper holding it. Took 2 weeks for refund to come through but I was expecting longer.

I love m and s, the one near me always has lots of size 10s and 12s and the quality is always good. We shop at Ocado and the m and s stuff being mainly out of stock has been really noticeable I didn’t realise how much we must normally buy. Looking forward to them being back to normal so I can have my chocolate covered custard creams back (realise that’s a very first world problem!)

Coop stores were also hit with a cyber attack recently

Empty food shelves in my local shop

I think OP means BEFORE the cyber attack.
I've been in to m&s to try source things I seen posted on Facebook, like a nice cardi but couldn't find it, when I eventually found someone, they told me to order online.

New look is the same, the sales assistant told me I'd get 15% off if I ordered online instead of buying in store. The very things I wanted my size wasn't available so back to online I go.

I've been looking for a sports bra, tried sports direct, matalan and primark but none in my size. Gave up and ordered online

The smiggle shop local to me is closing down, they've got a 50% off sale. But the prices online are still cheaper than buying in store with 50% off 🤨 it doesn't make sense but it's easy to see why online is so favoured

Even before the cyber attacks in store shopping at M&S was not a good experience. Even in the largest store near me , there were never any size 12s in stock. I usually left empty handed. The smaller store at my nearest retail
park is useless, the stock
there seems to be geared towards the over 70s so is not even worth looking at.

You are so ignorant.
Every organisation suffers cyber attacks every day but they have the software, processes and technology in place to repel them.

I am sure their stock levels in shops have been affected but in general the on,y way I can ever buy anything from M&S is by ordering it online. I have posted about this before - but there is quite a large M&S near my work in central London - so I often pop in to have a look on the way home. They never seem to have any small sizes.

Yes they do and my data has been stolen in a few of them. I don't really worry about it, I don't get spam hardly ever anyway, probably because I'm not on Facebook or WhatsApp and use a lot of different email addresses and block all unknown numbers. you need to do it from your side as so many places do lose our data.

My friend was moaning yesterday that she took a day off to go dress shopping for an event and couldn’t find much. I asked her when was the last time she had gone to the shops in person rather than ordering a bundle online. ‘Oh it’s been years!’.

Not really. I've shopped online since 1999. The big chains were almost always a boring and frustrating experience and tried to kill off the high street themselves, taking shopping out of town, long before the internet. I prefer a high street of small chains and independent shops. I don't "go shopping" as a leisure activity.

A high street with small chains and independent shops usually means you need quite a bit of money to shop there so lovely for the middle class MNters

I agree. When I've gone shopping in-store lately, it's been terrible - sizes and items not in stock, employees not knowing where things are. You have to go online or do click and collect otherwise you won't find anything. I worked in retail years ago and it wasn't like this

I hate the self service everywhere thing in M&S too. They’ve gone too far. The last time I was in there buying a load of not cheap glassware that I didn’t want to fumble and break I got told off for requesting the only manned till left with somebody to help scan and wrap.She spent the whole time lecturing me how I could do it myself.😳

The age of some of the hackers in the groups widely thought to be responsible has been known for a while now.

The huge impact this is having on soany people is dreadful, I dont imagine they can comprehend it

Aren’t they demanding ransoms?

They don’t have the popular sizes like 14s either in store. They do a variety of lengths and sizes but only stock a couple of each so the popular sizes go. If you ask staff if they could check on stock in the stockroom( you’d think not a hard thing to do with today’s tech) they don’t want to know.

I don't work at M and S, I only know what I get from the news like everyone else, I'm not sure what you're asking. No one can demand a ransom, you can ask but you can't make the victim pay you

Do M and S shops have stockrooms? In fact do any shops have them nowadays, I'd have thought modern supply chains mean they are no longer necessary and a waste of selling space

M and S always has a dire selection clothing wise. I do like their food. BUT - sizing!!! Dear God! Their size 8 is like anyone else’s 12. Literally can’t shop there anymore for trousers as I end up looking like a clown in great big flappy things with a vanity sizing label. Who do they (and anyone who buys these things) think they’re kidding?!