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?

How could I have an idea when this is the first real shopping trip I’ve done? I’ve not bought much, besides a few pairs of trousers which are now clinging on with a belt. This was my first real excursion out shopping.

M&S needs all the sales it can get right now. If she’d said that to me, I would have handed back every single item of clothing and told her - loudly - that I was taking my fat arse and my £450 to Next. And (edited to add!) M&S sizes are all over the place, right across every range, so you really do have to try things on.

If the store manager overhears her being that rude, she’ll be on a warning soon enough. Well done on your weight loss - don’t let this rude cow diminish it for you.

As someone who worked in M&S many years ago, her behaviour was really rude and actually unacceptable.

Congratulations on your weight loss OP and I think you should complain to her senior

You've clearly not lost a lot of weight. Every single item and from different colours in the same item can need to be in a different size to allow for changes in shape, variations in rise, cut, positioning of the waist, whether there's more room at the rear or the front, meaning that something fits on the rise or front of the abdomen but gapes at the back. And, of course, there's also the variability of leg lengths between items and different colourways.

Shops here run on minimum staff and its not uncommon to be helping 4 or 5 customers at the same time while also trying to complete a list of jobs in a period of time none of which take into account any time with customers and then have to explain to a manager why this hasnt been done.

I understand that people are busy. But I have told you that this was not the case at this particular M&S! There were 10 fitting rooms free and one item on the rack for her to return.

My apologies OP. I missed the "if this is the after!!"
I'm sorry, definitely report her.

Iv been anywhere from a 6 to a 18 and yo yo back and forth for about 15 years. But im always aware of roughly what size I am. How do you think people manage to buy clothes online

Do you think thats her only job?

This. We can have full fitting rooms, rails of clothes to go back on the shop floor, and still be running back and forth to stock rooms and shop floor to find different sizes for customers. Plus basically being stylists. It’s tough and most customers are understanding and patient. We are massively understaffed and overworked where I am. But I would never dream of being rude like that to a customer.

Even if she had a million other jobs I don’t think it justifies what she said, nor does it mean I can’t try stuff on?

personally I buy about three of each item in difference sizes and return the items that don’t fit, but I went in store so I didn’t have to do that!

For the billionth time I never said what she said was ok. Again please show me where i did?

I work on a fitting rooms, and at times I’m pushed to my limit, but never ever would I speak to you like this, in fact people like you who need support and care are why I enjoy it, I would of been running off to get you other sizes and help you feel good about yourself. You need to complain and she needs to be sacked!

I'm sorry but you can't blame rudeness on the heat. It's M and S for eff sake they have air con. Nasty girl should have kept her mouth shut. I would complain, I'm sure Mark's would be annoyed that one of their staff is so rude to customers.

Yay another person on benefits great just what the country needs

If you think retail staff are lazy you have no understanding of the retail environment. That staff member will be running around doing different tasks all day and hugely over worked. It’s no excuse for awful customer service, but you might be seeing an empty fitting room and one item after a busy rush. She and others could have been working hard to clear rails before you came in. You’re just seeing a tiny snap shot.

Sorry but you’re talking out your arse. There’s nothing wrong with taking 14 (or more) items to try on. Especially when retailers can’t get their shit together with consistent sizing, which M&S are terrible for. I range from a 14 to an 18 in their clothes, sometimes with variation in the same design.

if OP had purchased it all to try at home there would be even more human resource used in the process of returning it all.

Nobody in life should be speaking to you like that, never mind a store “assistant”. She’s right to tell you you can’t take it all at once, the rest of it was being a rude cow. Heat is no excuse.

Cut her some slack, what for? Unbelievably rude and it's literally her job to be nice to customers.

@TwinTantrums even if you can’t find out the name of the manager I would email customer services with the store and the time you were in the changing rooms (I think you said it was on a photo you took).

I think that however hot it is or how busy you are at work it is inexcusable to speak to anyone like that. People can be going to buy clothes for events like funerals, imagine if someone spoke to you like that 😔

A thankless job? M&s is air conditioned usually.
A lot of jobs are 'thankless'.
You dont get to be pricks to your clients.

Never once did I say she was lazy? And I’m sorry but even if she had been busy, it doesn’t mean I can’t try items on and it doesn’t mean she can say that! I was shopping in store, I’m allowed to try things on.

The more I think about it the more I want to return some of the items I got, because they’re short dresses and now I’m worried I’ve not got the right body shape to wear them