To find it hilarious that shop assistants in these stores look down their noses.

[bleakmidwintering]

I’m wandering about shopping in London. I’ve been into a couple of stores where the shop assistants have been off hand; one in Chanel, one in Occitaine. I certainly don’t look like I’ve got bags of money in my rain mac and trainers but I probably earn 4 times their salary. Are they trained to be off hand or is it purely their attitude? AIBU?

I expect she meant that, my comment was a bit tongue in cheek. I thought I got treated rudely because I didn't look well groomed enough for their brand (which is just as bad - I need it more.)

Are you seriously suggesting that you'd never shop in a store again based on one bad interaction with a random kid stacking shelves?

Bit much.

OP wasn’t about a random kids stacking shelves, was it?

So what if it was snobby and goady. It's an open message board. It wasn't abusive or full of swear words. It doesn't seem to me to be the sort of thing that crosses a talk guidelines line. It's just an opinion some people won't like - if you don't like it, just ignore it.

I don't want to divert the thread but it really seems that so much gets deleted unnecessarily these days and that was a prime example. It's a bit spoonfeeding/nanny state and that way lies a homogenised and censored echo chamber where no one can disagree.

I really don't want to divert the thread so won't respond again on this.

Because it wasn't a disagreement. It wasn't voicing an opinion. It was someone being a twat about retail workers.

There's no implicit right to air your thoughts on the internet, it's not censorship because MN don't want arseholes posting goody messages. If someone doesn't like it they can start their own blog instead.

I think you are getting it wrong OP. Their snobbery is nothing to do with money but to do with appearance. There is a type of well groomed attractive woman that sneers at less groomed less attractive women. That's all..claiming you earn more only makes you look petty too. They are probably thinking you could have all the cash in the world but you still don't have style. To them that's worth more than money.

Customer service is generally awful everywhere. But when it isn’t it shines forth. I love getting smiles from people and like to think that’s how I enter a shop - hoping for the best. Frequently though I’m disappointed.
I could afford any number of Chanel handbags by the way. Not my style tho, so fortunately won’t have to run that gauntlet!

It’s always been like this in certain upmarket shops. Just ignore them. 🙄

When I worked retail a sale is a sale and you learn to never judge a book by its cover and treat everyone who walks through that door as potential revenue.

Yes, many of the people I see clutching shopping bags from the major designer stores look like very ordinary folk.

It's the ones who insta their haul (including some pics of their laden car boots) that are the outliers.

They’re probably bored shitless

what is Occitaine? Is it a designer brand ?

Piano playing colleague stopped by the Steinway Piano showroom in Vienna and went in to look around. Do Not Touch was the mantra. £100k plus concert grand piano that you can look at. He didnt buy it!

I used to work for virgin holidays, I never noticed what customers were wearing but then again
i don't notice in day to day life either 😬

Skin care stuff..nothing to be snobby about.

I took my daughter into Occitane in Paris (near Opera, right in the middle of tourist hell) to get her a birthdsy present and they couldn't have been nicer. I look like a bag lady, no point sugar coating it, so hats off to the woman for not being snooty.

I had this in Rome, where I was followed by a shop assistant, so I purchased the same bag from their airport shop. Same in Tiffany's, Bond Street, where my DH wanted to buy me a matching ring for a necklace I already owned. They were so rude and actually ignored us for a couple that came in after, so we left and dumped that purchase. I compared their appalling snobbery to how great the service was in the NY store, where nothing was too much trouble and purchases were made.

Yes, this!

Actually the men can be worse with this than the women to be fair…😊

I was thinking of just this scene!

Eddie is in an art gallery trying to buy art and asks for someone to show her around after the gallery assistant is rude to her, when a man comes she turns to the assistant and says “you only work in a shop you know, you can drop the attitude”

The staff should treat everyone entering a designer store with equal courtesy, good manners and respect, no matter what the customer looks like.

I once went into a designer franchise shop in Selfridges London to get my friend a filo fax insert. I was in a very expensive but not very stylish winter coat - made for Nordic winters not style. Whilst I was paying for my purchase I happened to notice a lovely leopard print scarf and fell in love. I thought my husband could buy it for my Christmas. I asked the sales assistant the price so I could arm my husband with a description and a price. She looked me up and down and said “More than you can afford Madam”. I was stunned into silence but the man behind me in the queue actually asked her how she could be so rude. I just smiled and paid and then said very quietly you should never judge a book by its cover. The next day I raised a formal complaint with both Selfridges and the Franchise. I got grovelling apologies and some freebies. I also got the scarf for Christmas but not from Selfridges.

My friend used to be a personal shopper in Harrods. There was a definite change in friendliness from the floor staff if they think you are shopping with someone from By Appointment.

Jugendstiel: "I think she means that shop assistants shouldn't assess people's wealth and treat them rudely if they assume you have no money."

I don't think it's about money at all. As someone pointed out, most of the profits of these companies don't come from "rich people", they come from average shoppers of these kinds of products.

It's more about "looking the part", i.e., appearing to be a member of their target demographic (people who care about their appearance and presentation in a brand-conscious way) and not embodying the wrong message about who buys this stuff.

Even so I imagine there's a lot of leeway. They don't expect people to be dressed to the nines and perfectly groomed when they are, after all, just going shopping. On the other hand if you wander in looking like a tramp, they might well "usher you towards the exit", either actually or symbolically.

And no, you won't be treated differently if you're one of these alleged "billionaires who like hobos" because they don't rely on the patronage of such people.

I used to work in Harvey Nicks as a new graduate back in the 1980s. In training we were told not to judge the customer by appearances- that bag lady may well be Lady Talbot Mountbatten worth squillions.
The truly rich don’t feel the need to make an effort at all. Guess these girls didn’t get the same message.

I used to work in Harvey Nicks as a new graduate back in the 1980s. In training we were told not to judge the customer by appearances- that bag lady may well be Lady Talbot Mountbatten worth squillions.
The truly rich don’t feel the need to make an effort at all. Guess these girls didn’t get the same message.