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?

Lol...eh no.

I had this when I was a young professional. I went to an expensive makeup counter in a large department store one Saturday, dressed similarly to the OP.
I asked for the item I wanted, explaining that a colleague had recommended it. She said ‘this is the one but I think it might be too expensive for you’.
I took out my Amex card to pay at which point she rang it through the til and packed it beautifully. Then I said ‘Do you know what, I’m so offended by what you said, I’m going to buy it from xxx department store instead. ‘ Meant I had to walk to the other end of town but it was worth it.

That said, I had jobs in retail and hospitality when I was a student and have experienced the way customers can talk down to you. Where would we be without people doing those jobs? Respect, it’s much harder graft than anyone who hasn’t done it realises.

I once went into a car showroom with my mum, it was only the local Renault showroom, so we aren't talking Ferraris/Rolls Royce etc . We were looking at a new model of car that had just come out, when the salesman, an older gentlemen, suddenly appeared and when we asked him what was included with the car, how much for extra upgrades etc he put his hands on mum's shoulders and steered us towards the row of used cars lined up outside and actually said "I think there is something here much cheaper, that would suit you ladies far better". We certainly weren't wealthy but what he didn't know was that my mum had just had an investment policy mature and in her handbag was her Halifax account book with 60k in it. She'd offered to buy me a brand new car, an extremely generous once in a lifetime gift, which she eventually did, but it wasn't from that particular car showroom!

Your post is snotty. Cloaking its snottery in language that you think affords it a layer of plausible deniability, maybe. But snotty.

I wandered into an Aspinall shop in Covent Garden and the shop assistant was so lovely. I definitely wasn’t dressed up ! I bought a wallet and my sister bought a fabulous bag ,her manner definitely swayed us.

The English accent probably helped why they treated so well.
They’re a sucker for an English accent.

He was probably doing you a favour.

Renaults are crap. I knew someone who had one and it was always breaking down. And you had to take half the car apart to change a light bulb.

Maybe it's part of the training. Those shops ooze exclusivity (or we only want you if you have £££). May depend on the store. I bought a Chanel bag in 1991/Hong Kong. Lovely assistant, no issues, bag sold £500 then think it's over 3k now. Bond St or Sloane St might be different. Went in Gucci/Milan, a fantastic sales assistant came to me and made my shopping experience a real pleasure. He was a credit to the company. There was no judging by him. This was in Milan, fashion capital SOLD!! I still have those shoes and smile whenever I wear them
Once got refused access to The Ritz in Paris as I was wearing jeans. I wanted to look at restaurant menu but Non! Went around the corner to The Crillon, a hotel so plush it wouldn't take Madonna as she wasn't their sort apparently (Material Girl era). A waiter came to us, explained the menu and took the booking. The luxury brands try it on with this attitude but I understand it. I do know my money is as good as anyone else so I can take my custom elsewhere

I had this in LV once. Honestly I felt like she had personally attacked me so I went to mulberry and the assistant in there was just lovely.

I think that to embrace those brands, you have to be hugely interested in "style", and they may be looking down on you for your "style" rather than your apparent ability to spend. Obviously this doesn't make it any better! I personally think you'd have to be bonkers to be that interested in what passes for "style", and it's just doubly embarrassing if you can't afford it, but each to their own.

There can't be many MNers without some experience of working in the service industry. The public can be truly ghastly, and it's entirely fair to call it what it is - absolutely nobody deserves to be treated like crap just for doing their job.

But this thread is about something else entirely - sales assistants who think their own personal status working with expensive brands gives them the right to look down on customers who for whatever reason, they deem as low value.

Two things can coexist.

You’re not wrong OP.

DD loves to save up and spend her pocket money in Selfridges - sometimes a Jellycat, sometimes something from the beauty section. So far I’ve encountered just one person who appeared willing to give her any sort of a nice shopping experience. And even then, it was like they were hiding a smile from other staff and whispering to her.

The rest ignore her, whilst she stands at a till, likes she’s just a waste of their time. She’s only 11, stood there with the biggest goofy smile on her face, all excited at getting a yellow Selfridges bag with her goodies in, so hasn’t yet picked up on how inappropriate it is for any of them to be working as a store assistant, and not have an ounce of assisting or customer service skill.

I think @bleakmidwintering the problem is that a lot of these women are young and have limited life experience. I disagree @UPFoff the people I know who work in those shops were all relatively recent graduates who wanted to work in luxury retail and were mainly working there for CV points but mostly the staff discount. If you are into high end luxury fashion that's a big deal.

The days of the elegant elderly aunt figure as a shop assistant are long gone, someone wise, experienced and actually knows all about the product, like the woman who eventually helps Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman in the department store don't exist really.

It’s a tale as old as time. Everyone has heard of a bloke in jeans who gets ignored in the Ferrari garage even though he can buy one with cash. I think part of it is that these staff get treated very rudely by wealthy people who have delusions of grandeur. As a single example: I was in Selfridges a few weeks ago and a woman was sitting on a sofa in Louboutin with champagne in one hand and her phone in the other while an assistant was putting shoes on for her. Too important to get off her phone and do it herself. Money goes to some people’s heads. If I had to deal with dickheads like that all day, I’d probably be grumpy.

😉🤭🤣

It's about protecting the brand. They want the brand to be associated with rich people and the stylish. The way you do this is by making it more exclusive.

That means occasionally they are going to piss off someone who turns up dressed like a wreck but is willing to spend money. But these people are few and far between anyway, most of them will just be tyre kickers, when you kick a scruff out of an expensive shop the odds are that they would never have bought anything anyway.

The same with posh restaurants. They want to maintain the image as a place where the stylish and monied eat. If that means refusing entry to a few scruffs and losing a bit of money so be it. The posh don't want to be sitting at a table next to a bunch of ill mannered plebs and will pay decent money to avoid them.

If you want to be treated with respect then you have to jump through the hoops and look like you are the kind of person worthy of the establishment you wish to frequent/purchase from. If you want to buy a luxury car you need to look like you could afford one, not like you have just been dragged out of a river.

People may come up with their tall tails of how they were about to spend a hundred grand but then decided not to because of the attitude of the assistant, but these are what they are, tall tails and even if true are few and far between.

It does work kind of in reverse as well. A lot of nightclubs for example have certain dress codes, because of the kind of reputation they want and the crowd they wish to cater too and the culture they want to represent. Even if you turn up in your 10K suit or with your 20K handbag you still might not be let in because you don't fit the profile.

Probably not as embarrassing as using the phrase "grown ass adult"

How effective do you think most places would be if solely run by under 18s? You'd soon be begging for those "grown ass" adults to return!

The fact you mentioned you earn 4 times their salary speaks volumes about you tbh

At least Topshop were equal opportunities, they sneered at absolutely everyone

I understand maintaing the brand but if the wife of some warlord or drug baron is classed as better than us then I'll give the shop a miss. If you get a great experience then you will remember that and tell others. Bad experience? Well you won't shop there again and can come on here and tell us why. The assistant can be a bit snooty but the management should say that the young woman looking round may have just sold out Wembley. Think of Billie Eilish, maybe not a Chanel customer but could afford the shop

I can’t be the only one who had to Google what a 2.55 is.

No, it’s your attitude. They are responding in kind. I earn little money but it’s very unusual for me to receive poor service in a high-end shop. I walk in, greet the door man, and when someone approaches me I ask how they are. I get treated extremely well in return.

I'm a grown ass adult working in luxury retail, full time. I still do the shop floor on occasion.
If i saved my last four years of bonuses rather than spending on holidays or frippery, i could have bought another house.
Consider that next time you fancy a little sneer.

I still remember a shop assistant asking my dad if he was in the right store because he had an old leather jacket on!

I think it's very much dependent on the place and assistant. I've also been on the receiving end of it at high end hotels....a concierge at a well known 5* hotel asked DH and I if we were lost when we walked in! Granted we weren't dressed like the usual clientèle but it was snowing so we had ski jackets and snow boots on!

I haven't noticed that and I'm extremely ordinary. Don't most people wear a mac and trainers when out shopping?

I think it is more likely that they are trained to be low key and say little, to float around looking unconcerned. It's a pose that goes with the job, they are probably quite different when not in work.