Love bombing in shops

[PlateSpinningQueen]

When did this become a thing.
just been in an Me+Em, Jigsaw and Hobbs- just browsing.
Every other customer gets a:
”I love your jacket”
”Your jumper is beautiful, where did you get it?”
”Your shoes are amazing”.

so insincere, had to leave it’s so nauseating!

feeling old and grumpy!!!!

No one ever says this to me 😭 I must look really rough!

i love this guy! His competitive mums sketches are amazing!

I think I must look like a shoplifter

Oh god, I actually fell for this recently and now feel mortified! Greeted by two assistants who both asked me where I got my dress from. I genuinely thought they liked it 😂.

The only upside I guess is that it tells me how very little time I’ve spent shopping for anything I can’t eat or drink over the last 12 months!

Fake flattery made worse when calling you 'lovely / my lovely' multiple times !

I went into the Ordinary a few years ago and got this treatment. They told me I had beautiful skin. Felt great about myself until I heard the assistant say exactly the same thing to the next customer!

Yes thats what love bombing is.

Not clothing, but I got stung in that Rituals shop earlier, went in for a bit of a sniff and came out 60 quid lighter due to the promise of free gifts etc etc

They saw me coming alright.

Me too. 🙃

@EnjoythemoneyJane
Oh god, I actually fell for this recently and now feel mortified! Greeted by two assistants who both asked me where I got my dress from. I genuinely thought they liked it 😂.

Similar thing happened to me recently. I fell for it. Glad I'm not the only one. Have only just realised reading this thread.

Edits: got in a muddle.

I remember a review on Tripadvisor went viral once for the response of the shop owner, think it was a tea house ooop North and the response was that they still celebrate the great Northern Curmudgeon in all their glory and they were non apologetic for surly service

AI also tells me this when I search for the great British curmudgeon shop assistant

Core Traits of the Archetype

The Sarcastic Sigh: A deep, audible exhalation performed the moment a customer asks a basic question like "Are you open?" or "Do you sell stamps?"
Suspicion of Browsing: Looking at items without immediately buying them is treated as a minor criminal offense.
Pragmatic Bluntness: Zero use of corporate customer-service jargon; transactions are swift, transactional, and peppered with dry local dialect ("Nowt else?" or "Ta").

😆😆

I once had something similar in Lush years ago. Guy in there insisted on ending every sentence with m'lady. I don't know what he was thinking, because it had the opposite effect to the one he probably wanted. By the time I left the shop I was annoyed and exasperated and it put me off returning.

it's the same in italy.
just in italian...

That’s completely acceptable 😍

Just answer Primark, Shein or Temu every time although in my case Primark probably won't be lying

Poor buggers that work in shops are made to do this and probably get shit if they don't

Were you served by"parker" the chauffeur in Thunderbirds.

Yep, I would choose it over miserable sods also. I suspect there are a few miserable sods on this thread!

BrendaHollowayWhenImGoneNsoul
No, I don't think so. I think he was trying to be more a chivalrous knight 🤪

I’ve had this done to me twice in specsavers! So bizarre. One spoke to my partner and didn’t realise we were together saying she loved my look (!) then a few months later another said to her colleague who was dealing with me that she loved my outfit. It kind of took the pizazz out the first compliment, which I suspected wasn’t 100% sincere at the time, as it confirmed this was likely a store policy that they’d been trained in. They were both women and I wonder if they’re told to stick with their own gender, or for men to leave female customers alone - I do think I’d have been more creeped out if a male employee had started telling me how fab I looked in my shabby coat and ankle wellies!

—I don’t get how they think it will encourage you to buy things there tho, if you clearly look amazing in stuff not bought from there 🤔

Well.. let's just say that they make you feel that you are not "good enough" to shop in their stores. I'm not talking about Primark, H&M and those kind of shops obviously.

I bloody hate being approached in shops . I like to browse in peace and if I need help I’ll ask for it .

It hasn't happened to me in any of those shops. I just get ignored. I think I'd quite like it!

I absolutely hate being approached with fake flattery. It’s so disingenuous and feels pushy. It really puts me off.

Its 10 x worse in the US and Canada though.

I was in Sweden in the summer, and it’s bliss there. You have to virtually wrestle an assistant to the ground to get attention. They rarely make eye contact let alone approach you with fake flattery

I'd love that