M&S - it's over

[Floisme]

I've been known to defend M&S on here but if this is their attitude they can fuck right off.

www.theguardian.com/business/2017/nov/05/not-just-for-over-55s-ms-chairman-says-chain-needs-younger-clothing

Because of course the over 55s just loved The Pink Dress. And all that yellow. We can't get enough of it.

No, Mr Norman, you haven't been 'buying too much for the over 55 customer'. What you've been buying, is too much shite.

I've realised that I started on this thread as a M and S apologist - and I've now ended up pretty much deciding I should boycott them for their completely patronising attitude to their customers.

That's quite a turnaround.

Ok thecat as I said I am sorry.
I'm not sure I can offer anything more than that really.

I cringe when people offer virtual hugsif I'm being honest, so not sure what I thinking with the virtual percy pig.

I am getting it spectaculary wrong here so again I will just offer my apologies.

And I am sorry to hear about your relative.
I dont mean that to sound twee, or patronising. I truly am.

countrosco upthread totally spot-on. M&S needs to re-excel in good quality basics/capsule items in wide variety of colours.

I was working near Moorgate (central London) in the 1990s when the huge M&S had recently opened. It was a fail safe about once a week when I had to go to work in yesterday’s clothes , I’d run in before work and was guaranteed to be able to get a reasonably priced, decent quality cotton/wool top, knickers, often trousers or even a suit in about 15 minutes. The clothes weren’t frumpy, weren’t polyester, weren’t particularly fashion-forward but were totally wearable good quality natural fabric clothes in straightforward styles with no gimmicky shit like frills, cut-out shoulders, sequins etc. Most of the first suits I bought for work were m&s when I was in my 20s. I haven’t bought anything there for probably 10 years.

CouldWouldaDidnt

Wow. You seem very angry.

Angry? What a silly thing to say.

thecatfromjapan - extract

I'm afraid I really don't like Percy Pigs. And I find being offered a virtual Percy Pig really rather twee.

I've a brain, and I'm old enough to dislike being patronised or manipulated - especially by someone who seems to be taking on the job as 'lovely, fluffy' representative of a company that trades on being a kind of retail-charity, whilst I know that they are not above exploiting workers for profit.

And a lot of your clothing really is - still - hideous.

I absolutely concur. What is a Percy Pig, please? Lol

Reading through this thread and itt's taken a bit of a nasty turn The M&S' person apologised and then apologised again . Percy pigs are sweets, and about the only thing I go in for nowadays.

Back about 15 years ago when I was pregnant with DD1 M&S did a brilliant maternity capsule wardrobe - 6 mix and match items in good quality black jersey for about £70?

They were so comfy and washed brilliantly and I wore the items to death. The black didn't fade and the jersey didn't bobble and they were still in such good condition that I gifted them to my pregnant SIL, who also wore them to death. I think she might have also lent them to a friend afterwards too?

Why can't M&S produce stuff of such good quality now???

I was also pretty puzzled by the vehemence towards this hapless M&S employee, who agreed with much of the criticism of M&S, but was then taken to task as if she was responsible for all that was wrong with this British ' Bastion' .

TheOtherGiirl I am sure I bought that when I was pregnant too! The black trousers I wore faaaaaar too long after I had the DC than is appropriate too..They don't even stock maternity wear in our local store
They still stock percy pigs thankfully

Me too teta It was really uncomfortable for me to read, especially after they apologised, and yet the poster carried on at them.

teta and coulda

I am going to apologise for my vehemence.

I can see why you are so loyal to M and S, coulda : both you and your mother have worked for M and S for many years - I can see that such a strong, family, commitment, over the generations, can lead to you feeling such loyalty and posting on this and other M and S threads. I'm sure I would feel the same and do the same if I were you.

Obviously, the fact that one of my family members has not had such a positive experience when working for M and S (outsourced) has led me to bridle at suggestions that not purchasing M and S goods is tantamount to an immoral act against a bastion of workers' rights.

I'm sorry if I inadvertently conflated you with M and S and responded to you as though you are anything other than what you are: a worker in a company for whom you feel a genuine - albeit critical - warmth and someone who knows, through their parent also having worked there, that M and S can be a great employer.

I'm also sorry for implying that you are anything other than a loyal worker.

I am so fed up with the subtle and not so subtle astro-turfing of the Style and Beauty boards that it has obviously coloured my responses to quite genuine posts.

I had a really good experience in M&S today.. I had ordered this in red.in two sizes / It came in less than 48 hrs to store .No problem picking it up even thought their system was down. Tried it on chose one size , got the other refunded (even though their system was down)..all in less than 20 mins.. Lovely polite friendly staff..

To be sure I have criticised stuff of theirs up thread but when the do get it right , they are still really good.

Great skirt - reminds me so much of ones I had in 1980s from M&S (old gimmer ) . and only £15....more like that and i'll keep going back

less than 48 hrs is really great , because I live on IOW btw

That was bloody lovely of you thecatfromjapan

I'm currently wearing a previous version of that skirt. They are really easy to wear and useful, and wash v well too.

I don't really understand the quality comments. All my clothes seem to last pretty well wherever they come from.

But why go to M&S? The shops are utter,y joyless. Frumpy mixed with okay clothes and prices are so high. Is high end frumpy the target market?

What happened? I only went out for the day!

Glad to see peace and love restored.

Anyway I wasn't particularly complaining about M&S clothes which I don't think are half as bad as some posters do. Well ok, some of them are but I can usually find something half decent, provided I look on their website rather than in my local store. Nor was it about M&S staff, from whom I have never had anything but good service. My beef was purely and simply with their chair who may like to call himself a businessman but who clearly doesn't have the wit to realise that insulting a core group of customers isn't the way to go about reviving a struggling company.

Prices are not high in M and S though unless you are comparing them to Primark and that is not like for like.

Radio 5 did a phone in on Marks this morning and many callers wanted a back to basics. There is difficulty with filling huge stores with basics but the message was clear. Callers wanted outfit ideas which could be purchased in one area but others wanted all the trousers in one area so that will be difficult to resolve. I think the outfit idea works best for me as long as it’s all in stock!

I go to Zara frequently and I am in my early 60s. My DDs buy from them all the time because they are fashionable. They appeal to the younger market and they are clearly successful at what they do. There is little in there that can be found at M and S apart from casual pullovers, roll necks and jeans so they are not really going to lose customers to M and S. There are frequently massive queues at Westfield but everyone gets on with it. It appears to be time well spent by those who are queuing! Their shop is way smaller than the M and S one so perhaps M and S need to scale down.

In the 80s that skirt would have been made of wool, though. And I would have bought it. I'd be happy to pay £50 or so for it if it were lined and made of wool. Which is why I have to look elsewhere these days.

You can always find something in M&S you just have to look. Zara's quality is awful for most things apart from their jackets and coats which are well made and have a flattering cut. The rest is polyester crap.

I also think M&S should stick to good quality, simple basics. However I can quite clearly remember (15-20 years ago?) when M&S were getting a LOT of stick in the press for doing just that. And being criticised for not providing fashionable clothes for younger customers. M&S was considered 'behind the times'.

That was the start of them completely losing their heads, and getting in person after person to 're-vamp' the clothes section. It has been crap ever since with bizarrely inappropriate necklines, too many shitty patterns, awful frills and flounces, and the sort of naff designs that even Matalan would not stock.

What M&S have utterly failed to do is to promote what they once had, which was a feeling of dependability, of reliability. I used to be able to go there and KNOW that I would find a good jacket in a useful colour, a great wool cardigan, a fitted T-shirt etc, etc. Now I occasionally look, and just despair.

And someone needs to sort out the bloody appalling bra-fitting service. How has that amount of pig-headed wrongness managed to survive??

canIbuffalo no my skirts then were just like the one i bought yesterday and definitely jersey with lycra or something similar. It might have been the mid 90s as they were the sort of things I wore when my son was small) but definitely no later . The reason i liked it was because they were so similar and i still like the same kind of thing now if i can with leggings and boots and big jumpers