How are you supposed to shop when you are treated awfully?

[Mummypig2020]

I popped to jojo this morning as Dd needing some shoes. She’s 3 and Dh works during the day so I took her with me.

We were barked at as soon as we walked in (no one else was in the store). Don’t let go of dds hand, no touching anything. I don’t mind these things but to be made to feel utter shit about it. It was horrible and I really had to bite my lip from not crying (hormonal!).
I just felt so sad for Dd, she normally loves that shop :(

I said jokingly “wish we could just go back to normal” to be shouted that it won’t ever go back and if I touch something it will not keep other people safe 😑😑

Sod that. I would have taken my custom elsewhere.
Bloody jobsworth.

My experience of every food shop I've been in since the lockdown started is that the staff literally couldn't give a flying fuck about social distancing and have just carried on as usual.

People saying shop elsewhere - you do realise that the same rules apply in all shops?

I have worked in a supermarket all through this and customers have been good up until the last two weeks, since lockdown has been eased a lot of people think it's all over. I have found myself telling people to go down the first aisle, possibly loudly but these are regulars who know how we have been operating. We are all getting a bit frazzled now and don't appreciate being told how lucky we are to be working and not bored. So much for being in this together.

People saying shop elsewhere - you do realise that the same rules apply in all shops?

It's not about the rules. It's about the rudeness of staff. If staff are rude then I take my custom elsewhere and always have done.
If staff can make customers aware of the rules without being unpleasant then there is no problem.

YANBU OP. It’s one thing to explain the rules to you but the comments about things never going back to normal and you not keeping other people safe are very weird and definitely not what I would expect from JoJo, which cultivates quite a soft fluffy image.

Also, it’s not unreasonable to think that they might have put a procedure in place to measure feet.

How do people buy things if they can’t touch (particularly if hanging sideways like many things do in JoJo) Do you point and ask a member of staff to show it to you and take it to the counter if you like it?

I’m intrigued why you said your husband usually pays though, when you actually have a joint account.

sorry tohijack can we try on shoes then-i thought they were stopping all things like that

i have to try them on never get them online

This reminds me of a trip I made to a big Asda near me- they had huge men at the entrance who were clearly nightclub bouncers in normal times, shouting at people to keep moving round the shop and stay no longer than 20 minutes. It was a really unpleasant atmosphere. By contrast my local Sainsbury’s and Morrison’s manage to achieve the same without any aggro.

Well if they were rude being scared or anxious about being back at work isn’t an excuse, I’ve been working frontline since day one and I’m still nice to people!

On a side note, my baby has started walking through the lockdown, so I need to get her measured at Clark’s for her first shoes, do you think this will be allowed?

Its very unwelcoming going into shops atm.

Im buying everything online. I can understand how stressful it is if your child needs shoes though (i buy online and fit my own children's shoes)

I wouldn't go anywhere that wont let me touch the shoes as i pick loads of shoes up if im shopping for the kids (i like to feel how the shoe moves, how flexible it is etc)

GabsAlot - yes you can try shoes on. I run a shoe shop for a chain , we ask you to wear socks at all times, we will get styles for you and assist where needed whilst wearing visors and gloves. Any items you try and don’t buy are quarantined before going back into stock. All the other measures you see elsewhere are in place. As others have said, we are managing an entirely new element in our working day, most people have been lovely and so pleased to see us open, there have been exceptions though!

I refuse to exercise my discretionary spend “in store” until shoppers are treated as normal human beings again and not as walking viruses. Am rubbing my hands in glee at all the money I will save 😆

You should have warned your dd that it wasn't like the old experience
Did you read this before going?

www.jojomamanbebe.co.uk/stores-reopening

I am in the habit of looking for info like that and will before I next see my dentist and hairdresser.

I've never been in JJMB but if it's a shop with little tables to do colouring etc I would have assumed that sort of toys/furniture was gone like at schools.

Were there warning posters on the door? My kids are too old for clothes shopping with me but I think it's reasonable for shops to prefer customers who are shopping on their own or with children in a sling, buggy or pram

The shop assistants sound like they over reacted but they are the ones who have to clean everything your dd touches and don't want to find their store as a place where you pick up CV so I understand their anxiety.

Personally I'd never return as there's lots of competitors who will welcome your money.

I need to replace my son's school shoes before September. I hope that John Lewis will start bookable appointments like at Clark's so I don't have to wait around. (I won't buy his shoes in Clark's as they've sold me the wrong size twice)

Well, they sound rude. I also went shopping today for something I really needed but had been putting off:

Them: Hi. Do you mind using the hand gel? Please put anything you touch in this basket so we can wipe it over, and let us know if you need any help.

There are ways and means to put across the rules!

Some of the language used on this thread is so hyperbolic. Children it seems no longer merely touch things, they maul them.

Barked is probably also hyperbolic

What a shame..I had to go with my daughter to Sports Direct earlier and it was fine...the assistant was helpful and service like normal. To be barked at is not acceptable..we are after all the customers!

Nothing in that link that Flamingochill posted says they will not measure kids’ feet. Remember measuring is different from trying in- you could easily buy a pair of shoes without trying them if you knew the child’s size.

I’ve been working throughout this whole thing ( supermarket ) you have no idea *just how vicious some customers have been!
We have a strict social distancing policy I place / a good half of the people through the door act as if we don’t!
Rude if you suggest a self serve.
Rude if you let them know where to wait
Rude if * they have decided you’re standing too close to another colleague even!
So... cut retail workers some slack. You just need to visit - we are stuck with the general public and the concern about the virus our entire shift!

@cocopops

I refuse to exercise my discretionary spend “in store” until shoppers are treated as normal human beings again and not as walking viruses. Am rubbing my hands in glee at all the money I will save 😆

But there is a pandemic on, and customers are walking viruses! Taking it personally is very silly. Retail staff are being exposed to a potentially massive viral load each day for minimum wage or just over, why on earth would they be vomiting rainbows and shitting sunbeams at such a prospect.

I think you could put this down to anxiety on the part of the person concerned, particularly if their company has put stringent precautions in place as shops re-open, which would have encouraged them to feel safe as they go back to work after lockdown, I would feel nervous if I was a shop worker just resuming job again. They might feel it threatening if think customers are not necessarily going to observe the new practices. Can you feel a bit of understanding for this shopworker OP?

Went shopping for some bits in a city yesterday, was very quiet and we had a really nice experience- staff seemed glad to be back. Except one, an independent shop selling something that you can’t get easily. I got to the front door, no one else in shop. She said ‘STOP’ with a hand. Looked at her clipboard, wrote a few things then said after about 2 mins ‘ok, you can go in now’. It was bizarre, I nearly walked away but I needed the thing and it was slightly funny. Some people just love it. I won’t be going there again though.

I started reading this thread hoping that those mners who don’t have to spend all day standing in an unventilated room with hundreds of people traipsing through it in the middle of a global pandemic in one of the top three countries for death rates for the privilege of earning less than a tenner an hour could extend some empathy and understanding towards those individuals who do, and why some of them may not quite be their best selves atm, how over optimistic was i hahaa

@laloue

GabsAlot - yes you can try shoes on. I run a shoe shop for a chain , we ask you to wear socks at all times, we will get styles for you and assist where needed whilst wearing visors and gloves. Any items you try and don’t buy are quarantined before going back into stock. All the other measures you see elsewhere are in place. As others have said, we are managing an entirely new element in our working day, most people have been lovely and so pleased to see us open, there have been exceptions though!

thanks @laloue hope its going well