rude worker in whsmith upset my 8yr old d

[pastapestofor6]

my dd 8 has been saving up to buy some hsm magazine, she has got the required 3.50 so today was the happy day for the long anticipated purchase to take place,
she went into smiths, I sat on bench directly i mean DIRECTLY outside with 2 younger ds's, she entered shop and the shop assistant[who i might add i dont know] said 'where is your mum?'
dd says 'just outside on the bench', woman then says 'what you doing in here' dd replies'just looking around', woman says 'do you have any money?' dd replies 'yes £3.50' to which woman replies'well you wont get anything in here for that' at which point dd fled the shop white as a sheet and shaking
I made to go in the shop and give her what for, but dd begged me to leave it, considering her upset i did so, very reluctantly i might add!
but aibu for letting her go into shop on her own [she is nearly 9]
and if not , then what should i do?

Well done on complaining. I hope you get an apology. And your DD should get one too! And vouchers!

ooops posted twice , not sure how that happened

I was in WH Smith in Derby the other day and an assistant came up to show another customer something on one of the shelves. Meantime, I walked by and the assistant hadn't realised I was there, stepped backwards and lost his balance completely in his desperate bid not to squash dd2 in her pushchair. He tottered for what seemed like three minutes before falling to the floor with a heavy thud.

Sorry to say I PMSL...

That's bookshop kharma maybe...

Yes, demand vouchers!

Please let us know what happens. WH Smith have got some grovelling to do to your daughter, imo.

sorry mmj I was out at the park with DS - but I see WendyWeber has been holding up my literary credentials for me!

PS Wendy if you are still reading, I always smile when I see your name as I love Posy Simmonds and the Webers are my parents' alter egos - although my mum has never tied an umbilical cord with her shoelace, as far as I know.

Anyway, sorry for namelove hijack. Grr! Still cross at silly WH Smith. Perhaps they should just install one of those illegal mosquito things and have done with it - then no kids would be tolerated within 100 yards of the shop in case they gave it evils or flaunted their asbo in the wrong manner or something.

right they have just phoned me back,
'we apologise on behalf of the store and on behalf of whsmith, but in our defence there have been numerous incidents where young children have come into this particular branch and run around without purchasing anything'
WTF
so that was that, nothing else was offered or suggested
now I am REALLY pissed off, its a shop not a FFing museum filled with priceless artifacts

what do you all think now, let it go or fight on till the death
[IMSERT DRAMA QUEEN EMOTICON HERE]
haha

What an utterly crap response!
Crap store though. I try to buy exclusively from John Lewis! Shame they don't do magazines!

Write an articulate and detailed letter. They ruined your kid's experience. Soured forever, after she saved so hard. Poor little girl! I don't think their excuse is up to snuff. Disgrace!

it is crap isnt it, bunch of rude buggers!

Yes, write to them and write it as soon as possible so you can remember exactly what they said.

And so what if kids have come in, run around and not bought anything? It's hardly crime of the century, is it?

I quite often go for a browse in Smiths without buying anything.

Never realised I was breaking some law or other.

Message withdrawn

I've been lurking and not contributing to the general shock and dismay but ffs! how dare they suspose that your child will be badly behaved because she is a child. I would be full of indignation as well! i bring my children up properly to be respectful etc and would be extremely cross at someone thinking my child would behave in a disruptive manner. I would be contacting their head office and stressing that you are very disappointed and have up to now been a loyal customer, but you won't set foot in that store again until your dd receives a proper apology - what sort of example to your child is this woman!?

just read back and that response was from head office? blimey.

Write to them. Ring the shop. Make a nuisance of yourself so they will sort it out.

Perhaps you should point out to them that they are a family store and that unless they stop selling products marketed at children they should expect to have children browsing in their stores. Make a big song and dance about child-friendly policy - isn't there even some organisation that promotes children's rights/equality?

WH Smith are crap - had a bit of a barney with them myself a while back (may have had PMT ) - when I bought a few largish things and they didn't have any large carrier bags. I got all sorts of excuses as to why they rather than I couldn't go to the shop next door to borrow a few...

I'd much rather go to our lovely local shop where the workers know my kids names and talk to them....

YANBU. You were enabling her to learn how to do grown-up things, yet by staying outside you made yourself easily available when she needed you. I think you've done an excellent job.

You should complain to the staff member and to the manager. That staff member should be made to apologise to your daughter. This will also teach your daughter something else - that it's important (and not totally scary) to stand up for yourself.

Well done for being a great mother and it's a real shame that a horrible old cow made it such an unpleasant experience for your DD.

its a fob off
ring back and complain again

That is rubbish PP46. She sound slike charm personified doesn't she?

I only wish she was having a bad day and not like that all the time.

Write a real stinker of a letter. Pathetic response!