Bad experience in M&S fitting rooms

[TwinTantrums]

I’ve recently lost a lot of weight and so need a lot of new summer and holiday clothes.

I came over to M&S this morning and had a trolley full of clothes and other such items, walking up to the fitting rooms and the woman looks me up and down and then asks how much I have, as “8 items is the maximum, to stop some types” from stealing. I offer to split it up and she rolls her eyes and says “I suppose you can”

I go in, try on my eight items, split them into what I do and don’t want and come back out, she then huffs and asks if I really need to go again? I said yes, as I’ve lost a lot of weight and don’t know what size I am. She looked me up and down and then asked how big I had been before if this is the after!! I just took the number from her and went back in.

AIBU or was she totally out of line?

Honestly if everything was the same size then yes, but I did also remove things from the try on pile after. I only tried on 14 items, I didn’t think that was too excessive!

If you weren't happy with what she said you should have said something at the time.

That’s nonsense. If the OP for obvious reasons wanted to take a lot of garments to try, she can. The “assistant” didn’t meet her job description at all. I’d write to Customer Services via the website, if I were you OP.

BTW - did you find anything that you liked?

But thats 14 items that now need to be put back. 14 is a lot most people would take a couple of tops and a couple of bottoms to get a grasp of the sizing. Like I said she should of kept her mouth shut and been polite but in retail you are already doing the job of 3 people and are on a time scale so when your given extra work unnecessarily its annoying. Retail isnt this easy laid back job people think it is. Their is a lot of pressure to get a lot done in a very short period of time.

£450 worth 😳 it’s full of lovely bits, but my issue is I’m bigger around my hips. My top half is a size 16, my bottom is a 16-20 depending on the cut of the items. So I needed to try them on!

No, it’s 4. I kept the majority of them.

This. I wouldn't never grass someone up to their manager but I absolutely would say something to their face.

I work in retail and cover fitting rooms, that behaviour is completely unacceptable, we are there to help. Can you remember the time you were in the fitting room? People are put on in shifts so knowing the time will narrow down the staff member.

Contact the store with your feedback.

She was right about the maximum due to thefts but she should have offered to hold onto the extra items.

Yes, I have pictures of some of the items on (I’m so indecisive, I asked my husband for his opinion!)

I thought you walked out

A lot of knee jerk complainers egging you on OP.

I've never seen anywhere as eager to complain as Britain. For trivial enough things where people could lose their job because someone was a bit offended. Not attacked, not robbed, not short changed, not given rotten goods, nope.

Leave it be OP, I don't agree with vengeance.

As I said earlier, you should have mentioned it to the assistant at the time.

You don’t need to apologise for having a lot of things to try on. It makes no difference if it’s you with 20 garments or 4 people with 5 garments. Her job is to count them, give out tokens and make sure all are returned or taken to a till.

Politeness is probably also part of her job, but I wouldn’t bother reporting her because she’d just deny saying it and no one seems to give a shit about anyone else so the manager will just say whatever will get you out of the shop soonest

No, no, no. I've worked in retail and met some right arseholes but this is inexcusable. "How big were you before if this is the after?"??? That's nothing to do with being ratty in a crap job, that's really really rude and nasty no matter what job you do or don't do. I would absolutely have expected to lose my job if I had body shamed a customer or made such a personal remark. It's so out of line that it makes me think she wants to cause trouble.

I didn’t say that 😂 I said I took the number from her and tried on the last items then went to pay

Even if it’s 14 things to put back (which op says it wasn’t), then that’s just life working in retail!! (And I’ve done it). If you’re after a whole new wardrobe, of course you’re going to have to try on loads of things. You’re not the same size in everything depending on the fit, some things look amazing on the hanger and horrible when you try it on. There’s no need for that staff member to be rude, especially about the Ops weight.

Where did I say it was ok for her to be rude?

anyway @TwinTantrums, you were in the right!! And well done on your weight loss!! Amazing achievement!!

Fuck no.

I’ve done retail. But that is throughly fucking rude.

I don’t understand those saying grab a couple of bits and you’ll know what size you are - in the same shop but slightly different styles/fits and my size varies drastically, so I’d have to try everything on too!

You probably grabbed an excessive amount, but who cares, you were going to spend the money!

I don’t think anybody can excuse what she said to you at the end though, that’s disgusting and I’d definitely complain. It would be horrible enough for just a passerby saying something like that, but someone who is meant to be there to help, nasty!

You’re making excuses for her. Yes everyone at work is doing work of extra people. But if Op wants to try on every single item in the whole bloody shop, she has every right to, whether the shop workers are overworked or not.

Jesus..who made you the changing room police? I work in retail and yes, some customers are rude arseholes but in this case it's the other way around. The only thing the OP did wrong was not telling her how rude she was for a start and then not complaining to her manager. She's got one job she should bloody well get on with it. Vile person.

Yeah I don’t think I’ll complain because what’s going to happen? But I didn’t say anything at the time because it’s one of those comments that really took me by surprise

I think I’ve been changed by living in the US for many years now but I can’t see anything wrong with wanting to try 14 items of clothing on. Shop assistants here would be falling over themselves to help and get more for you if needed.

The rules on the number of items are clear, staff deal with people stealing all day, she could have been kinder, you should also have an idea of what size you need to buy now.
Use a measurement tape.
Her response to your weight loss was clumsy.

Im not making excuses for her i said if you had bothered to read the thread i would of said something to her face and that the worker should of kept her gob shut