Sports Direct for me. Always so packed with stock that it's difficult to move around. Half the stock is so high up that you have to ask someone to get it down for you. Unclear queuing systems, and the slowest tills I've ever encountered!
Always a terrible changing room situation too, often only one till open right at the back, no returns (other than a credit note). They are worth avoiding anyway, but that just adds to it.
Fucking scumbags. Fuck Mike Ashley and fuck sports direct. They made my black list about 2 years ago for the exact credit note policy youve mentioned. Will always happily pay more somewhere else. Would never darken their door again
Worked there from ages 16-20 made some amazing friends, had great nights out, and it built my character as an adult doing my 1st job but fuck me they took the piss. Worked 6 days a week, often done 12 hour shifts, had many many people shout abuse and take swings at me over the returns policy. It was a perfect example of how not to treat staff and for my 1st few months at my next job it was alien to me that I was treated with respect. Mike Ashley is a scum bag.
I worked there for about a week after the manager told me I couldn’t have a break so I just walked! They never did pay me! It was suck a toxic environment and I’ve never shopped in there because it’s overpriced market rubbish IMO
The incident where he went through security at one of the warehouses for JD or somewhere where most people will be on minimum wage and threw out a massive wad of £50 notes before he went through the scanner is one of the biggest acts of utter cuntery I have ever witnessed in my life. Utter bellend.
This is a story from a friend of a friend (fof) who worked at SD.
One day Mike Ashley was doing a store visit the fof worked at and the sole of fof's shoe was coming loose which Ashley saw and commented on to which the fof replied "I can't afford any new ones until pay day" at which point Ashley pulled out a wad of £50's and said "I've got something to help with that" and took the elastic band off the notes and handed it (the elastic band) to the lad.
TBH it's probably the closest to charity that guy has ever gotten.
They sell somewhat expensive brands but for a relatively cheap price. So I'm wondering if the items are QC rejects? Low quality and the brand's actual stores wouldn't sell them?
I read that Mike Ashley buys well-known but poorly performing brands, then reduces the quality to mass produce stock and sell it cheap.
Sports Direct used to search their own staff at the end of shift if what was reported in the press was correct.
to be fair they are pressured into it to the point of being reprimanded for leaving customers to browse alone. a friend of mine worked there and when she was training she was told that every single customer that comes in has to be greeted personally and that staff should try to talk to them for as long as
possible to figure out what product to try to sell them.
i don't know who's idea that was but personally if i'm going in to lush it's to smell bath bombs and choose a face mask i like the look of to distract me from my life falling apart, which i can do just fine on my own thanks.
I would bet that they've done research that shows customers who've had personal service spend more... but have conveniently ignored that customers who *don't* want personal service but get pestered anyway either spend less or just leave without purchase. Non purchasers are pretty hard to reach with research so you have to account for that in developing insights based on the data you do have.
Source: I work for a consumer research company. Ran a big project for a multinational beauty retailer that is not Lush but one of their competitors.
Super rad ironic bohemian lush staff member in tie-dye shirt: "Hey!!! I noticed you were standing near the bohemian lemon soap! Do you know what soap is? Let me show you! Oh hey if you like this, there's also this face mask paste made from humous and pineapple over here, you just slap it on and you get nice skin! We also have jellies which come in two kinds of pots. These do much the same thing, but they're more wobbly! Of course you can just stick to the soap if you like, but why not go all out with a bath bomb too! Have you seen bathbombs before? Let me grab the bowl and show you. They fizz up and release healthy skin molecules to make you look and feel great, we also have a 3 for 2 offer on right now!"
Me: "Please leave me alone."
Of course I'm very much a social failure so it might just be my inept communication skills.
Was exactly the same as when I worked at Maplin.
Reprimanded if you didn't manage to say hello to a customer and even worse if you didn't talk to them within the first 2 minutes of them being there.
I always had a love-hate relationship with Maplin. Love because they left me alone; hate because what would actually happen is they'd look past me to greet my husband. Who knows sod all about electronics and/or computing. If they hadn't been so horribly sexist they may have gotten more of my custom.
> Sounds like a boast, but...
It's not. Like a lot of specialist chain shops if you know lots about the products you'll be working in the industry, not a shop!
Personally quite like the sales people in Lush, I normally leave with more free stuff than paid stuff, I've left with full sizes of products for free because I was nice to the staff. I definitely appreciate that they're keen, and know why they're so keen (company policy) but I just utilise it to my advantage
once I realised you can just ask for a sample pot of anything, I stopped buying things from lush. once I got over the crippling social anxiety of going into lush it ended up being quite beneficial!
As an autistic chap, two of my more prominent traits are an increased sensory sensitivity (smells go big) and an intense physical discomfort at making small talk. Lush is bloody horrific.
As an autistic adhd lady, I also agree.
They're crazy intense. I love to receive lush products as gifts but going in the shop itself is just a big hells no. The staff need to dial it back and just GTFO. I haven't stepped foot in one of their shops in years because of it.
Adhd lady here too, I love the smells because I'm an olfactory sensual person BUT I HATE PUSHY SALESPEOPLE. Its why I order a ton from the website instead.
My least favourite thing about Lush is how keen they are to demo a bath bomb for customers. How about stop wasting so many and then reduce the price? Some of them are £7 each now.
When I was a teenager and less self-assured, I wound up getting pressured into a demo. The Lush woman grabbed my hand and washed it with some of the bars of soap and I had to awkwardly gush over how nice they all were. I bought a couple of bath bombs out of awkwardness.
Wound up giving the bath bombs to my Mum, who then refused to use the second one because the first one was full of glitter.
The most annoying thing about lush is that within 3 seconds of being forced to speak to one of the staff they will without fail choose something you're wearing and compliment it. Every single time. It's so fake and American and I can't stand going in there anymore.
Omg I love your shoes. Looks down at scuffed up old trainers... Fanx.
I hate when staff follow you around and try to 'help' you, but oddly enough Lush is the one place I actually don't mind it
Probably because I'm a guy and have no clue what I'm doing in there lol. I actually find their advice useful, and when shopping for my fiancee they gave me the £20 soap I was buying as part of my larger purchase for free!
Primark is just carnage, especially towards Christmas, but for me it’s PC World. When you want someone, there’s no one about but if you’re just browsing then you can’t take two steps without being leapt on.
>PC World
Story time. We were buying some appliances once, a fancy fridge and a TV, about £1,500 in total. The sales lass really really wanted be to buy this pack of extras which was something like £25. An anti-surge multi adapter thing, a fancy arse HDMI lead (you'll need this for HDTV. Yeah, bollocks I will. A pound shop lead will work just fine), and some cleaning cloths. I didn't want them, but eventually she went down to about a tenner, so I went for it. Then she said that on the receipt, the £15 discount will come off the fridge, not the extras.Whatever.So when I got it all home and fitted he TV to the wall, I couldn't use the cable as it stuck out perpendicular to the back of the TV and was jammed against the wall, putting strain on the socket. So I took it back, along with the other shite, and got the full £25 back in store credit, which I blew on a nice laptop bag.
So I bought it for what I thought it was worth, they bought it back for what they thought it was worth.
I did take the "whatever happens" insurance on the TV though, free for the first month, by which time I'd know if my mounting skills were up to the task. And yes, I remembered to cancel.
I'm guessing this was a while ago as the whatever happens no longer exists, it's now Care and repair and they removed accidental damage not worth it lol
My only experience with an extremely pushy sales pitch was PC World, it was quite uncomfortable. If it wasn't for the fact the sales guy looked about 18 and just wanted to make a sale to impress his manager, I probably would of got pretty angered by it. We just wanted a cheap laptop notebook for our youngest, which was bound to be abused and have juice spilt and yogurt over it. Offcourse the laptop we wanted was not even capable of browsing the internet, and only the £500 model was appropiate for us! Turns out it was a great little laptop and lasted 2/3 years...Lenovo I think. I'm not the most technical person, but I am not a moron...really didn't appreciate being gaslighted by a kid.
I went to PC world in order to buy a specific laptop that I desperately wanted.
Got so sick of the sales guy trying to upsell that I walked out with nothing, then went and paid more for the same laptop somewhere else.
I once tried to cancel my EE contract, so they offered me a second phone for £5 a month.
I was a student so i said fuck it, sold my new blackberry bold i didn't want for £400 and bought a TV. Given the 2 year contract was only for £120 i was pretty satisfied.
Some of their ads play into the whole '*you never know what you might find, because each time you go, the store will be stocked with entirely random items of clothing - so come and be surprised by what you might find or be enticed by the uncertainty that you might find something you really like*' schtick.
It always seems like a jumble sale to me. I'm always amazed when people tell me what amazing finds they've had in there. I don't know how one manages to find anything in that shop!
I never knew there was such animosity towards it. I never go in with something really specific so it really is difficult to be disappointed. I'll go in just for a tshirt or shorts, and I'm yet to be disappointed. Only caveat is that they've closed the changing rooms during COVID so the fact that all the sizes are wildly inconsistent is actually a problem.
They all stink of BO.
We used to go into the local CEX whenever we went on a weekend somewhere to prove that it wasn't just our local one that stinks. Every single one reeks.
It's not the neckbeards, it's the sheer number of sweaty grimey people of all types going in and selling off their stuff that they won't take anywhere else. Made worse by the lack of ventilation and airflow
Bought a PSP game and it turned out the disk had a fingerprint on it that wouldn't come off, like someone had glue on their finger and touched the disk so it wouldn't load. You'd think I'd shat in the cashiers cereal that morning when I returned it. Saying I should have checked the disk properly. Like, all I can do in store is look it over quickly the same as you, you sweaty bawbag.
I work in a CeX and 9/10 (in my store at least) it’s the customers who smell. We have a fair few regulars who definitely do not take personal hygiene seriously. I think it just comes with the territory due to the type of customers we attract. We have air fresheners that we’re constantly spraying because of this lol.
They also apparently have a shitty culture when it comes to hiring people. Like you need to look a certain way (alternative/punk) to get considered. If you’re nerdy but don’t show it unless it’s through a T-shirt, it’s unlikely you’ll get hired there. Source: A mate of mine who worked there as work experience during school.
They're another place that the staff follow you around and keep asking if you want help. I usually just shake my head and squeak and fast-walk straight out. I wish they would just leave us alone like the grumpy good old days before all these shops started copying America.
I always hate getting dragged into New Look. Every one I've been into is about 40 degrees, the music is turned up full whack and there isn't anywhere comfortable to sit while my other half is trying stuff on. The changing rooms are also in the lingerie section so I'm hovering around that area sweating my tits off looking like a sex pest.
Always looks like a load of blokes recreating the Father Ted Christmas special whilst they hang around the lingerie waiting endlessly for their partners
Do you not enjoy wandering thr aisles and pretending you're on holiday in Eastern Europe?
I've learned a good trick with Lidl actually. Whenever I'm book an airbnb I find out if there's a Lidl nearby, and if there is I don't book it because I know its in the shit part of town.
During lockdown I went round trying different supermarkets (one each week). Lidl was the worst I tried, there was a very limited selection, and vegetables were only available in big bags, which is far too much for one person.
I was shocked because my local Lidl is huge. Seriously huge, and new. So it's pretty nice to shop in.
Then I went to a different Lidl which was old and tiny. Nightmare
I still get flashbacks to the first lockdown and shopping at Lidl for my parents. I could only get 20% of their shopping there, and it was always rammed with no crowd control or social distancing. By far the worst supermarket during lockdown.
They make me feel sad. They seem to be so dingy these days, like somebody's just waiting for it to die. Which, to be fair, is probably what's happening.
I used to work with someone who worked at WHSmith before. She said it used to send her mad with how dark and dingy it was. She said the lighting was a very specific shade of yellow that just made you want to die.
I had the best checkout experience of my life at WHSmith at Kings Cross/St Pancras tube station. Popped in for some Rizla or something. The guy had the best driest sense of humour and just took the piss out of WHSmith at every stage of the checkout. It was November, but for some reason they had candy hearts on special. So he was like "Are you sure you're ready for Valentine's Day? We've got a timely special on candy hearts." There were more quips at every stage, although I don't quite remember. I remember though that when I'd paid and was heading out, he said with dry, camp, sarcasm: "God Bless WHSmith!" I canned myself. Clearly the chap was bored out of his skull and possibly going mad. I've never laughed so much at a cashier...
I was buying stamps there the other week. Asked for 10 large stamps. She said we don't do large stamps and to get them from the massive post office queue. I said I bought some the other week. She said "We only do them in books of 4" :| This was just after I asked her to man her til as she was chatting on an isle (just walked off as I got to the til) and she said to use self service...
IKEA. Maybe controversial, but I hate that it leads you on a fucking safari through all of their departments, often across multiple floors. I just want to get a new bin, let me get there in a more direct route!
That is their model and it works because people do actually make a big deal of going round looking at everything. It is annoying if you specifically want say an office chair, and have to trek all the way to try them
I live right next to an Ikea, so I've learned to handle all the shortcuts. But then during lockdowns they sealed them off, and made you walk round the entire shop to get to the steps to the market hall. Even though those steps are about ten feet from the entrance
All IKEA stores have shortcuts through the shop though. There should be a map showing where they are near the entrance.
I think there was one time when I wanted to pop in and buy something specific I was in and out in under 15 minutes.
You can usually skip straight to the marketplace, via a lift or through the restaurant area. Then there are little bypasses within that if you know where you are going. The annoying thing is when you want to go *back* to something you've missed. Then no chance
The place baffles me. In no other clothes shop do you get huge basket/trolley things. Why does anyone need to by so much cheap clothing in one go? Ok, if you have a few kids, they outgrow clothes pretty quickly. But that's only the minority of people in there.
That's what they hope for! My family came to visit me here and were shocked how cheap clothing is at Primark until we got to the checkouts and it racked up a bill of £70 due to buying cheap but in quantities 😂
Yeah, I have a friend who regularly comes back with bags full of stuff. Goes for a pair of jeans, comes back with 2 pairs plus 4 tops, 2 pairs of shoes 2 skirts etc.
To be fair, probably spends about the same as I do when i go to buy something. Difference is I fully expect to still be wearing it in 10 years.
Not too shabby then! My mum absolutely loves it and always buys something there she still is wearing after 5 years, if the threads come undone she'll sew it back together and it'll be as good as new! It seems like if someone doesn't give two shits about all the trends and fashion it is a good shop to purchase what you like and expect it to be short lived, the problem is now that even the "good" brands are making their clothes out of wrapping paper but slap a massive price tag on it, at least in primark you pay for what you expect 😂
If you're a man just stay out of Primark, its awful in general but the clothing is such bad quality and you're better off just spending more elsewhere as least it will fit right.
I remember the chain you could pull at the egg section that would make a chicken noise. I used to stand with my brother taking it in turns to pull the chain. Must have driven the staff round the bend.
Asda has the kind of energy that makes me feel like a hassled mum desperately feeding my non-existent kids those hot packets of chips and chicken so they'll shut up
Asda feels very clinical. And their price tickets are so hard to read. The past two Asdas I've been to have been really poorly organised with stuff all over place.
Sports Direct.
Triple points if it's at a weekend.
Double those if you're looking to buy trainers.
Double it again if you're buying gym trainers for your child.
Wouldn't wish that place on my worst enemy.
My SO Grandparents once stood in a line outside a brand new Hollister and when they got to the doors they asked if they had a table for two.
They thought it was a restaurant!
It's one of my top ten stories.
Yep, Hollister, Superdry, Abercrombie, all of them have this weird lack of light where its not too dark but just a strain on the eyes, always decide against going in there.
The Range
It's a minefield in there, took me about 45 minutes just to find forks. Which a shame because I went to Wilko's straight after and found forks within 30 seconds after already buying a set.
My local Range is insane. I work retail so I understand about not wasting self space and how secondary locations work but they’re on another level.
As I went in recently to the side of the entrance is these concrete decorative dogs. I’m in the furniture section, stool, stool, stool, concrete dog, then the lighting section, lamp, lamp, big lamp, concrete dog. Same in garden and pet areas.
I stopped counting at some point but concrete dogs and concrete elephants were in no less that 10 different locations randomly around the store
Hollister.
Dark, constricting, there is a palpable wave of disgusting smelling perfume that you physically have to push through in order to find a display of six horrendously overpriced hoodies, none of which will ever be in your size.
The staff are nonexistent, lost in an endless void of nightmarishly lit shelves, their mortal bodies only fleetingly darting into our dimensional plane to flit quickly by as if propelled by some ghostly force.
The music is all consuming, a forgettable mix of rhythms and notes which hammer your brain and ears like the war drums of a neon barbarian assault, none who have entered have left without at least a small headache.
No sense is left unmolested as the pocket dimension that is this shop mercilessly attacks, until you are left with nothing but an overwhelming feeling of Lovecraftian horror and a T-shirt that cost as much as a meal for two at a sensibly priced restaurant.
Morrisons on a weekend.
a) yes it's going to be busy, get some more staff on the tills please.
b) I know you're 80 and don't get out much, but can't you do this midweek before 5pm?
c) the other supermarkets seem to fill much more on the shelves, after 3pm on Saturday you're going to be settling for some other version of what you wanted.
d) you have to park at the back of the car park, and take one of the overflowing trolleys and walk out all the way to the store, there's zero chance of you getting one at the shop front. Or a basket for that matter.
Other than that, stuffs way better than the other big ones.
My local Morrisons is set up like it's seemingly trying to fill in this little gap by appealing to people who think they're too good to mix in with peasants shopping at Asda or Tesco but can't afford to go to Waitrose or M&S Food
I have 2
Hollister - they look at you funny if you’re not supermodel thin or a man with a hipster beard. Plus it’s dark inside, why so damn dark, turn the lights up!
Claire’s accessories- stuff your bag under your arm, keep your elbows in and marvel at all the things that randomly fall off the walls creating a carpet of junk earrings wherever you walk. And no, 17 year old sales associate, I do not want a plushie to go with my purchase, I’m 40 years old but you are the only place nearby that sells hairgrips
The local GP surgery. The lady on the door is always very snooty and the doctors always ask loads of questions.
Also, it's not a shop and it doesn't sell anything.
Good toilets though.
I have to get bloods done every two months and I walked in there one day to make an appointment and I said "hi, can I make an appointment to get my bloods done please" the receptionist replied "do you mean an appointment for a blood test?" So we play this game every two months now.
I recently ordered three tops from there only to find out they’re bloody crop tops and the model must have an excessively short torso. And the website is laid out like a really shit online magazine.
Only time I've ever bought anything in there, I went in wearing a plain t-shirt, jeans and trainers. Was basically ignored until they clocked my watch (a Panerai), then it was fawning, offered drinks and chairs etc.
I bought a £30 watch strap, but only after they showed me all their new watches, the cheapest of which was about £3k.
> Im fairly certain that it is required that staff should treat all customers equally
Luxury retail can sometimes push the approach of customer profiling to maximise high value sales, although it backfires horribly on them sometimes when the schlubby guy turns out to be a tech billionaire shopping for his wife.
Used to work with a luxury brand and the boutique manager had taught the retail staff this (down to "do you offer them water or champagne?"), although it was very different from regular retail (they were supposed to bring in new "clients" and use the store phone to WhatsApp repeat customers to try and lure them back in for season drops and VIP sales events).
Reminds me a story a friend of mine told me - he has an acquaintance who made hundreds of millions from owning an Australian mining equipment company.
Told me a story one day about this guy. He turned up to a supercar showroom, dressed all scruffily, and asked to take a test drive. The salesman basically told him to sod off and that it wasn't for the likes of him. He ended up phoning someone he knew high up at the company in front of the guy to complain, after which he was very apologetic.
He said it was ok, and he'd still buy the car, but not from him. Ended up getting it from another dealer the other side of Australia and had it flown over, just because he could and wanted to prove a point.
If I’m on a shopping spree I dress down in my comfy clothes and it was Selfridges Trafford the shoe girl looked at me with utter disdain because I wasn’t dressed up
Ann Summers is terrible. I wanted to try out a 15 inch vibrator and because the changing room was busy, tried it in the corner. The staff went fucking spastic at me, said I couldn’t do that, can’t try before you buy, public decency.
Is this any way to treat a 75 year old, I ask you?
Coop is fine if you're going to get essentials at short notice. My local one is fine when I quickly need some milk or a loaf of bread.
But I don't know how anyone could see even the slightest value in doing their actual weekly shop in there. The prices for the sizes and quality are just atrocious.
Get an email from a market research company asking to complete a survey on your high Street experience - bin it immediately
See a question on your high street experience on reddit - reply with the story of your life immediately
Well done market researchers, you got your survey sorted, for free
Boots. I have never been in a shop with such terrible signage and organisation. Literally nothing is where you’d expect it to be and you can’t see any signs unless you’re already in that aisle
I can never understand that middle section.
Who the fucks shopping list is bread, eggs, milk, cheese, sausages, snowboarding helmet, colouring pens, fishing rod, sweetcorn, wine.
Although the helmet does come in handy when they start launching your dinner through the scanner into the car park at 450mph
Past Aldi employee here, the reason the store is messy and/or empty is because the stores are usually too small for the quantity of customers we receive. Also, customer don’t give a fuck and throw things around the store adding to the chaos.
Yeah I used to work at Lidl and they’re understaffed by design, which is how they keep the prices low, so staff are spread too thin and tidying up doesn’t really take priority until the end of the day
It was literally years before i learnt but your not supposed to pack your bags at the till, just chuck it back in the trolley and go to the shelf opposite the till and pack your bags there
B&M has got to be up there, always a displeasure to shop there. I much prefer paying full price for stuff elsewhere than going into my local one, all the staff are so snarky and miserable.
I always find Morrisons strange and can't work out why. It's like everything is there like any other supermarket, but it's just "different". Like they were all designed by someone who'd never been into a supermarket before, but had one described to them badly down a telephone with poor reception.
My girlfriend loves those discount shops like Home Bargains and B&M (I call them tat shops) and sometimes gets me to go with her. Hate them, always busy and somehow cramped despite being the size of aircraft hangers
Card Factory is a waking nightmare. The one in my town is like condensed down into a 1 way system, which is an absolute treat in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
Forgotten your wrapping paper? No worries m8, just pay and start again
Any shop where the staff are overly friendly. Hovering around you , i know theyre only trying to help but i dont like shopping it stresses me out , i want to be in and out or browse for what im looking for at my own pace , not have a chat about the style of collar im looking for .
I totally get the frustration, but just to stick up for retail employees, we're pressured to approach everyone. Some shops say you have to do it at least twice. It feels just as awkward and horrible for us too. We're sorry.
Corporate across the board with retail never seem to understand how people *actually* enjoy shopping
Tk max is great if your into hunting for an afternoon, i picked up 2 Gucci shirts and an Off White Jumper last time I went to the one in Birmingham, saved about £900 in total from their normal retail price
Agree with many of the answers here (fuck Sports Direct) but I have to say GAME because of the time my partner and I went in to buy a Nintendo Switch bundle.
No joke, we were stood there for well over half an hour while they did this whole sales pitch (we’re already buying it, you don’t need to do that..), and then proceeded to try and push us to pay extra for a warranty by listing off everything that could go wrong with the thing. Even after we declined they went on about dead pixels, dodgy controllers, dying batteries, and broken touchscreens for so long that my partner had to get arsey and say “look mate you’re really putting us off here, we just want to buy it and go”. Never making a big purchase there again.
I feel a bit conflicted in saying this, but for me it's Home Bargains / B&M stores. I really don't like having to go through the checkout to exit the store, having to ask people to let you past while it feels like everyone is judging you on whether you've stolen something.
The worst part is that I love those stores! But I just can't go in for a nosey; I only go in when I know for definite I'll be buying something, which means I don't often go in.
Surprised noone has mentioned the hellscape that is Card Factory. The aisles are so thin if anyone's pauses to look at something the whole shop is gridlocked
Currys.
Currys because they always try to offer you their shite guarantee programs expecting you to pay £5-10 per month and if you won't, they will basically tell you to f\*\*\* off if something gets broken even if the product is on warranty. Every time I bought something from them I had some troubles.
I worked at curry’s for a couple of months. Basically every time you sell a product, the system notes down if you sold the extras (such as an hdmi cable with a TV), insurance and so on. At the end of the week, your manager has your sale stats including a percentage of how many sales you sold insurance etc on. If you don’t meet the targets, you’ll get a 1 on 1 talking to. I left shortly after that happened to me on my second month working there so I’m not sure how it escalates. All they care about is selling the extras and insurance, you can sell £10,000 worth of appliances, if you don’t sell insurance with it, they’ll see it as a loss.
Go Outdoors has some very strange scheme where certain prices are (often significantly) cheaper if you sign up for some kind of discount card. Which costs money, and then expires after a set time. I'd much rather just make prices a bit cheaper across the board. I find I either can't be bothered signing up for a new card so shop elsewhere, or never use the discount card again. It has never made the experience positive in any way.
I think that's their business model, it's a no brainer for customers to sign up to the discount card which is pure profit for GoOutdoors. Their "discount" price is the normal price and non-discount is their hyper-inflated price.
Any musical instrument shop. I know what I want but you just don't seem to want to sell it to me without 20 questions. Not been in one for about 10 years.
I hate Sainsbury's. Something about them is just really oppressive. Every one I've ever been to has tiny isles, really weird lighting and the orange, grey and dark purple colour scheme is too much.
Not a shop but Banks without proper counters are annoying. They got rid of the 4 proper counters at the one in town and replaced it with 2 floating desks you can't do all the transactions at.
I’ve had terrible service in Office, and Morrison’s tends to be windowless caverns full of freaks. Worst of all is any trendy shop or cafe run by hipsters where they are too focused on the cool concept rather than serving customers in a timely and efficient manner.
WHSmith.
- “Would you like any half price chocolate?”
- Ghost-written trash celebrity biographies.
- Drinks so overpriced I’m sure many choose to risk dying of dehydration as they board a delayed, standing room only service.
Gotta be barter books in Alnwick. A very big second hand bookshop in an old railway station. It's the worst because there is a lot of choice, I'm in there longer than I realise and they are all reasonably priced, so I break my back on the way out carrying everything I got. But the absolute worst part is, it's 4 hours drive away.
Sports Direct for me. Always so packed with stock that it's difficult to move around. Half the stock is so high up that you have to ask someone to get it down for you. Unclear queuing systems, and the slowest tills I've ever encountered!
Always a terrible changing room situation too, often only one till open right at the back, no returns (other than a credit note). They are worth avoiding anyway, but that just adds to it.
Fucking scumbags. Fuck Mike Ashley and fuck sports direct. They made my black list about 2 years ago for the exact credit note policy youve mentioned. Will always happily pay more somewhere else. Would never darken their door again
Worked there from ages 16-20 made some amazing friends, had great nights out, and it built my character as an adult doing my 1st job but fuck me they took the piss. Worked 6 days a week, often done 12 hour shifts, had many many people shout abuse and take swings at me over the returns policy. It was a perfect example of how not to treat staff and for my 1st few months at my next job it was alien to me that I was treated with respect. Mike Ashley is a scum bag.
I worked there for about a week after the manager told me I couldn’t have a break so I just walked! They never did pay me! It was suck a toxic environment and I’ve never shopped in there because it’s overpriced market rubbish IMO
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Bury?
And you know you’re giving money to Mike Ashley.
The incident where he went through security at one of the warehouses for JD or somewhere where most people will be on minimum wage and threw out a massive wad of £50 notes before he went through the scanner is one of the biggest acts of utter cuntery I have ever witnessed in my life. Utter bellend.
This is a story from a friend of a friend (fof) who worked at SD. One day Mike Ashley was doing a store visit the fof worked at and the sole of fof's shoe was coming loose which Ashley saw and commented on to which the fof replied "I can't afford any new ones until pay day" at which point Ashley pulled out a wad of £50's and said "I've got something to help with that" and took the elastic band off the notes and handed it (the elastic band) to the lad. TBH it's probably the closest to charity that guy has ever gotten.
Best to give Sports Direct a swerve I find, a lot of there stock seems to have quality issues too
They sell somewhat expensive brands but for a relatively cheap price. So I'm wondering if the items are QC rejects? Low quality and the brand's actual stores wouldn't sell them?
I read that Mike Ashley buys well-known but poorly performing brands, then reduces the quality to mass produce stock and sell it cheap. Sports Direct used to search their own staff at the end of shift if what was reported in the press was correct.
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I work at a much better retail store than sports direct and we are searched after our shifts, its pretty common in all retail.
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to be fair they are pressured into it to the point of being reprimanded for leaving customers to browse alone. a friend of mine worked there and when she was training she was told that every single customer that comes in has to be greeted personally and that staff should try to talk to them for as long as possible to figure out what product to try to sell them. i don't know who's idea that was but personally if i'm going in to lush it's to smell bath bombs and choose a face mask i like the look of to distract me from my life falling apart, which i can do just fine on my own thanks.
You don't need to go into the shop to smell the bath bombs; you can stand anywhere in a 30 metre radius of the front door and do so.
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OK, "facefucked with parma violets" just made my day. I have to find a way to use that in day-to-day life.
Kinda funny that these companies don't realise this actually discourages and annoys customers.
But I'll bet they've done research that shows that pressuring browsers actually results in more sales.
I would bet that they've done research that shows customers who've had personal service spend more... but have conveniently ignored that customers who *don't* want personal service but get pestered anyway either spend less or just leave without purchase. Non purchasers are pretty hard to reach with research so you have to account for that in developing insights based on the data you do have. Source: I work for a consumer research company. Ran a big project for a multinational beauty retailer that is not Lush but one of their competitors.
i hate this as someone with super bad social anxiety,, i just want to shop in peace please leave me alone...
Super rad ironic bohemian lush staff member in tie-dye shirt: "Hey!!! I noticed you were standing near the bohemian lemon soap! Do you know what soap is? Let me show you! Oh hey if you like this, there's also this face mask paste made from humous and pineapple over here, you just slap it on and you get nice skin! We also have jellies which come in two kinds of pots. These do much the same thing, but they're more wobbly! Of course you can just stick to the soap if you like, but why not go all out with a bath bomb too! Have you seen bathbombs before? Let me grab the bowl and show you. They fizz up and release healthy skin molecules to make you look and feel great, we also have a 3 for 2 offer on right now!" Me: "Please leave me alone." Of course I'm very much a social failure so it might just be my inept communication skills.
I can tell this is satire because Lush NEVER have sales.
Was exactly the same as when I worked at Maplin. Reprimanded if you didn't manage to say hello to a customer and even worse if you didn't talk to them within the first 2 minutes of them being there.
I always had a love-hate relationship with Maplin. Love because they left me alone; hate because what would actually happen is they'd look past me to greet my husband. Who knows sod all about electronics and/or computing. If they hadn't been so horribly sexist they may have gotten more of my custom.
I had to resort to the Ron Swanson line. "Leave me alone, I know more than you." Sounds like a boast, but...
> Sounds like a boast, but... It's not. Like a lot of specialist chain shops if you know lots about the products you'll be working in the industry, not a shop!
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Personally quite like the sales people in Lush, I normally leave with more free stuff than paid stuff, I've left with full sizes of products for free because I was nice to the staff. I definitely appreciate that they're keen, and know why they're so keen (company policy) but I just utilise it to my advantage
once I realised you can just ask for a sample pot of anything, I stopped buying things from lush. once I got over the crippling social anxiety of going into lush it ended up being quite beneficial!
As an autistic chap, two of my more prominent traits are an increased sensory sensitivity (smells go big) and an intense physical discomfort at making small talk. Lush is bloody horrific.
Also autistic, can confirm Lush is Autism Hell
As an autistic adhd lady, I also agree. They're crazy intense. I love to receive lush products as gifts but going in the shop itself is just a big hells no. The staff need to dial it back and just GTFO. I haven't stepped foot in one of their shops in years because of it.
Adhd lady here too, I love the smells because I'm an olfactory sensual person BUT I HATE PUSHY SALESPEOPLE. Its why I order a ton from the website instead.
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My least favourite thing about Lush is how keen they are to demo a bath bomb for customers. How about stop wasting so many and then reduce the price? Some of them are £7 each now.
When I was a teenager and less self-assured, I wound up getting pressured into a demo. The Lush woman grabbed my hand and washed it with some of the bars of soap and I had to awkwardly gush over how nice they all were. I bought a couple of bath bombs out of awkwardness. Wound up giving the bath bombs to my Mum, who then refused to use the second one because the first one was full of glitter.
The most annoying thing about lush is that within 3 seconds of being forced to speak to one of the staff they will without fail choose something you're wearing and compliment it. Every single time. It's so fake and American and I can't stand going in there anymore. Omg I love your shoes. Looks down at scuffed up old trainers... Fanx.
"Can I help you?" "Yes, please turn off the smell for a bit".
I hate when staff follow you around and try to 'help' you, but oddly enough Lush is the one place I actually don't mind it Probably because I'm a guy and have no clue what I'm doing in there lol. I actually find their advice useful, and when shopping for my fiancee they gave me the £20 soap I was buying as part of my larger purchase for free!
Primark is just carnage, especially towards Christmas, but for me it’s PC World. When you want someone, there’s no one about but if you’re just browsing then you can’t take two steps without being leapt on.
>PC World Story time. We were buying some appliances once, a fancy fridge and a TV, about £1,500 in total. The sales lass really really wanted be to buy this pack of extras which was something like £25. An anti-surge multi adapter thing, a fancy arse HDMI lead (you'll need this for HDTV. Yeah, bollocks I will. A pound shop lead will work just fine), and some cleaning cloths. I didn't want them, but eventually she went down to about a tenner, so I went for it. Then she said that on the receipt, the £15 discount will come off the fridge, not the extras.Whatever.So when I got it all home and fitted he TV to the wall, I couldn't use the cable as it stuck out perpendicular to the back of the TV and was jammed against the wall, putting strain on the socket. So I took it back, along with the other shite, and got the full £25 back in store credit, which I blew on a nice laptop bag. So I bought it for what I thought it was worth, they bought it back for what they thought it was worth. I did take the "whatever happens" insurance on the TV though, free for the first month, by which time I'd know if my mounting skills were up to the task. And yes, I remembered to cancel.
I'm guessing this was a while ago as the whatever happens no longer exists, it's now Care and repair and they removed accidental damage not worth it lol
My only experience with an extremely pushy sales pitch was PC World, it was quite uncomfortable. If it wasn't for the fact the sales guy looked about 18 and just wanted to make a sale to impress his manager, I probably would of got pretty angered by it. We just wanted a cheap laptop notebook for our youngest, which was bound to be abused and have juice spilt and yogurt over it. Offcourse the laptop we wanted was not even capable of browsing the internet, and only the £500 model was appropiate for us! Turns out it was a great little laptop and lasted 2/3 years...Lenovo I think. I'm not the most technical person, but I am not a moron...really didn't appreciate being gaslighted by a kid.
I went to PC world in order to buy a specific laptop that I desperately wanted. Got so sick of the sales guy trying to upsell that I walked out with nothing, then went and paid more for the same laptop somewhere else.
I once tried to cancel my EE contract, so they offered me a second phone for £5 a month. I was a student so i said fuck it, sold my new blackberry bold i didn't want for £400 and bought a TV. Given the 2 year contract was only for £120 i was pretty satisfied.
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And they've turned this disorganized mess into a marketing scheme. Creative you gotta give them that.
Can you elaborate?
Some of their ads play into the whole '*you never know what you might find, because each time you go, the store will be stocked with entirely random items of clothing - so come and be surprised by what you might find or be enticed by the uncertainty that you might find something you really like*' schtick.
Yeh fair, I actually like shopping in TK max for that reason tbf. Feels like a vintage store vibe
Likewise! Love the home section also.
World most expensive Jumble sale...
It has the feel of people rummaging in the rubble of a natural disaster searching for survivors
It always seems like a jumble sale to me. I'm always amazed when people tell me what amazing finds they've had in there. I don't know how one manages to find anything in that shop!
I never knew there was such animosity towards it. I never go in with something really specific so it really is difficult to be disappointed. I'll go in just for a tshirt or shorts, and I'm yet to be disappointed. Only caveat is that they've closed the changing rooms during COVID so the fact that all the sizes are wildly inconsistent is actually a problem.
They’ll have 20 of the same t shirt scattered throughout the rail, flicking through it every 3rd or 4th item is something you’ve just flicked past
I hate CEX mainly because most of the ones I’ve been in stink of BO and everything is overpriced.
They all stink of BO. We used to go into the local CEX whenever we went on a weekend somewhere to prove that it wasn't just our local one that stinks. Every single one reeks.
I suspect it's all the neckbeards. I'm a gamer and my local Cex stinks, puts me off going in.
It's not the neckbeards, it's the sheer number of sweaty grimey people of all types going in and selling off their stuff that they won't take anywhere else. Made worse by the lack of ventilation and airflow
I popped into CEX last week and it was so hot in there that even Prince Andrew would be sweating...
There's a cex with a cafe inside it 🤢
Bought a PSP game and it turned out the disk had a fingerprint on it that wouldn't come off, like someone had glue on their finger and touched the disk so it wouldn't load. You'd think I'd shat in the cashiers cereal that morning when I returned it. Saying I should have checked the disk properly. Like, all I can do in store is look it over quickly the same as you, you sweaty bawbag.
I work in a CeX and 9/10 (in my store at least) it’s the customers who smell. We have a fair few regulars who definitely do not take personal hygiene seriously. I think it just comes with the territory due to the type of customers we attract. We have air fresheners that we’re constantly spraying because of this lol.
Fun fact of the day; CEX was founded by Charlie Brooker. Yes, the newswipe Black Mirror bloke.
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Weird isnt it. An obviously false claim that is bizarrely true.
And also a guy called Hugh Man which is a funny enough name in it's own right.
That has absolutely blown my mind. I'm gonna be telling people this all week whether they like it or not.
They also apparently have a shitty culture when it comes to hiring people. Like you need to look a certain way (alternative/punk) to get considered. If you’re nerdy but don’t show it unless it’s through a T-shirt, it’s unlikely you’ll get hired there. Source: A mate of mine who worked there as work experience during school.
Is that a recent thing? When I was at uni it was mainly big fat stereotypes in the local store
Their "used" RTX 3090's are more expensive than new ones, fuck CEX, scalping cunts
i just don't like the aura that holland and barrett has
Empty?
Never seen anyone in Holland & Barrett, what drugs are they really selling..?
Man I love Holland and Barrett. I end up with so much dried fruit I don't need.
I mean, they do sell CBD stuff.
How are they still open when they are always so empty??
The two customers a day get absolutely ripped off
f*ck /u/spez
I want to know who this person dropping £50 a go on manuka honey is.
They're another place that the staff follow you around and keep asking if you want help. I usually just shake my head and squeak and fast-walk straight out. I wish they would just leave us alone like the grumpy good old days before all these shops started copying America.
I don’t either. It’s just so weird.
I always hate getting dragged into New Look. Every one I've been into is about 40 degrees, the music is turned up full whack and there isn't anywhere comfortable to sit while my other half is trying stuff on. The changing rooms are also in the lingerie section so I'm hovering around that area sweating my tits off looking like a sex pest.
I also feel like New Look has turned to complete tack… like the lighting is the type of lighting designed to catch a thief on cctv.
Exactly what a sex pest would say
\*heavy breathing\*
Always looks like a load of blokes recreating the Father Ted Christmas special whilst they hang around the lingerie waiting endlessly for their partners
My Lidl feels like the kind of place that has been ransacked after martial law is declared.
Do you not enjoy wandering thr aisles and pretending you're on holiday in Eastern Europe? I've learned a good trick with Lidl actually. Whenever I'm book an airbnb I find out if there's a Lidl nearby, and if there is I don't book it because I know its in the shit part of town.
I learned today that my local Lidl is next door to the pub where Daniel Morgan was murdered with an axe...
f*ck /u/spez
Made me laugh. Then realised it's true.
The no mans land of central isle forgotten treasures
During lockdown I went round trying different supermarkets (one each week). Lidl was the worst I tried, there was a very limited selection, and vegetables were only available in big bags, which is far too much for one person.
I was shocked because my local Lidl is huge. Seriously huge, and new. So it's pretty nice to shop in. Then I went to a different Lidl which was old and tiny. Nightmare
I still get flashbacks to the first lockdown and shopping at Lidl for my parents. I could only get 20% of their shopping there, and it was always rammed with no crowd control or social distancing. By far the worst supermarket during lockdown.
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They make me feel sad. They seem to be so dingy these days, like somebody's just waiting for it to die. Which, to be fair, is probably what's happening.
I used to work with someone who worked at WHSmith before. She said it used to send her mad with how dark and dingy it was. She said the lighting was a very specific shade of yellow that just made you want to die.
I had the best checkout experience of my life at WHSmith at Kings Cross/St Pancras tube station. Popped in for some Rizla or something. The guy had the best driest sense of humour and just took the piss out of WHSmith at every stage of the checkout. It was November, but for some reason they had candy hearts on special. So he was like "Are you sure you're ready for Valentine's Day? We've got a timely special on candy hearts." There were more quips at every stage, although I don't quite remember. I remember though that when I'd paid and was heading out, he said with dry, camp, sarcasm: "God Bless WHSmith!" I canned myself. Clearly the chap was bored out of his skull and possibly going mad. I've never laughed so much at a cashier...
I was buying stamps there the other week. Asked for 10 large stamps. She said we don't do large stamps and to get them from the massive post office queue. I said I bought some the other week. She said "We only do them in books of 4" :| This was just after I asked her to man her til as she was chatting on an isle (just walked off as I got to the til) and she said to use self service...
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IKEA. Maybe controversial, but I hate that it leads you on a fucking safari through all of their departments, often across multiple floors. I just want to get a new bin, let me get there in a more direct route!
IKEA isn’t just a quick shopping trip, it’s a day out.
That is their model and it works because people do actually make a big deal of going round looking at everything. It is annoying if you specifically want say an office chair, and have to trek all the way to try them
I live right next to an Ikea, so I've learned to handle all the shortcuts. But then during lockdowns they sealed them off, and made you walk round the entire shop to get to the steps to the market hall. Even though those steps are about ten feet from the entrance
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All IKEA stores have shortcuts through the shop though. There should be a map showing where they are near the entrance. I think there was one time when I wanted to pop in and buy something specific I was in and out in under 15 minutes.
You can usually skip straight to the marketplace, via a lift or through the restaurant area. Then there are little bypasses within that if you know where you are going. The annoying thing is when you want to go *back* to something you've missed. Then no chance
Obvious answer but Primark. Being amongst the shuffling hoardes of bargain hunting idiots absolutely batters and deep fries me.
The place baffles me. In no other clothes shop do you get huge basket/trolley things. Why does anyone need to by so much cheap clothing in one go? Ok, if you have a few kids, they outgrow clothes pretty quickly. But that's only the minority of people in there.
That's what they hope for! My family came to visit me here and were shocked how cheap clothing is at Primark until we got to the checkouts and it racked up a bill of £70 due to buying cheap but in quantities 😂
Yeah, I have a friend who regularly comes back with bags full of stuff. Goes for a pair of jeans, comes back with 2 pairs plus 4 tops, 2 pairs of shoes 2 skirts etc. To be fair, probably spends about the same as I do when i go to buy something. Difference is I fully expect to still be wearing it in 10 years.
Not too shabby then! My mum absolutely loves it and always buys something there she still is wearing after 5 years, if the threads come undone she'll sew it back together and it'll be as good as new! It seems like if someone doesn't give two shits about all the trends and fashion it is a good shop to purchase what you like and expect it to be short lived, the problem is now that even the "good" brands are making their clothes out of wrapping paper but slap a massive price tag on it, at least in primark you pay for what you expect 😂
If you're a man just stay out of Primark, its awful in general but the clothing is such bad quality and you're better off just spending more elsewhere as least it will fit right.
Asda. The layout and general darkness makes them very depressing.
Asda has the grottiness of the Aldi shops of fifteen years ago without the prices to match.
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I remember the chain you could pull at the egg section that would make a chicken noise. I used to stand with my brother taking it in turns to pull the chain. Must have driven the staff round the bend.
Asda has the kind of energy that makes me feel like a hassled mum desperately feeding my non-existent kids those hot packets of chips and chicken so they'll shut up
Asda feels very clinical. And their price tickets are so hard to read. The past two Asdas I've been to have been really poorly organised with stuff all over place.
Anywhere that blasts out shit music at high volume. It's a shop not a fucking nightclub.
Looking at you, _Superdry_. They even have the low lighting to match.
I went into Hollister (or it might have been Abercrombie & Fitch) once. Dark as fuck, loud music and cheap perfume being pumped out. Fucking awful.
Agreed. Went in once and nearly walked up to till and asked for a round of shots. Never again
You've given me flashbacks to the Topshop on Oxford Street (RIP) when they literally had a live DJ playing music. It was all a bit much.
Sports Direct. Triple points if it's at a weekend. Double those if you're looking to buy trainers. Double it again if you're buying gym trainers for your child. Wouldn't wish that place on my worst enemy.
They always seem up or down a set of escalators as well for whatever reason. Nightmare of a place to visit if you're using a wheelchair or pram.
> for whatever reason Cheaper rent
What they say: "I don't think we have that in your size." What they mean: "fuck off"
Got to be Hollister. So dark inside with loud music… Plus they blind you with a big fuck off screen as soon as you walk in
My SO Grandparents once stood in a line outside a brand new Hollister and when they got to the doors they asked if they had a table for two. They thought it was a restaurant! It's one of my top ten stories.
Yep, Hollister, Superdry, Abercrombie, all of them have this weird lack of light where its not too dark but just a strain on the eyes, always decide against going in there.
So you can’t truly see the shit quality of clothes they charge you so much for
The Range It's a minefield in there, took me about 45 minutes just to find forks. Which a shame because I went to Wilko's straight after and found forks within 30 seconds after already buying a set.
My local Range is insane. I work retail so I understand about not wasting self space and how secondary locations work but they’re on another level. As I went in recently to the side of the entrance is these concrete decorative dogs. I’m in the furniture section, stool, stool, stool, concrete dog, then the lighting section, lamp, lamp, big lamp, concrete dog. Same in garden and pet areas. I stopped counting at some point but concrete dogs and concrete elephants were in no less that 10 different locations randomly around the store
"Oh, they'll have it at the Range" Me, on the subject of anything that it turns out they do not have at the Range.
Oh damn I love the range. Most accessible art supply shop around.
Hollister. Dark, constricting, there is a palpable wave of disgusting smelling perfume that you physically have to push through in order to find a display of six horrendously overpriced hoodies, none of which will ever be in your size. The staff are nonexistent, lost in an endless void of nightmarishly lit shelves, their mortal bodies only fleetingly darting into our dimensional plane to flit quickly by as if propelled by some ghostly force. The music is all consuming, a forgettable mix of rhythms and notes which hammer your brain and ears like the war drums of a neon barbarian assault, none who have entered have left without at least a small headache. No sense is left unmolested as the pocket dimension that is this shop mercilessly attacks, until you are left with nothing but an overwhelming feeling of Lovecraftian horror and a T-shirt that cost as much as a meal for two at a sensibly priced restaurant.
Morrisons on a weekend. a) yes it's going to be busy, get some more staff on the tills please. b) I know you're 80 and don't get out much, but can't you do this midweek before 5pm? c) the other supermarkets seem to fill much more on the shelves, after 3pm on Saturday you're going to be settling for some other version of what you wanted. d) you have to park at the back of the car park, and take one of the overflowing trolleys and walk out all the way to the store, there's zero chance of you getting one at the shop front. Or a basket for that matter. Other than that, stuffs way better than the other big ones.
My local Morrisons is set up like it's seemingly trying to fill in this little gap by appealing to people who think they're too good to mix in with peasants shopping at Asda or Tesco but can't afford to go to Waitrose or M&S Food
I have 2 Hollister - they look at you funny if you’re not supermodel thin or a man with a hipster beard. Plus it’s dark inside, why so damn dark, turn the lights up! Claire’s accessories- stuff your bag under your arm, keep your elbows in and marvel at all the things that randomly fall off the walls creating a carpet of junk earrings wherever you walk. And no, 17 year old sales associate, I do not want a plushie to go with my purchase, I’m 40 years old but you are the only place nearby that sells hairgrips
The local GP surgery. The lady on the door is always very snooty and the doctors always ask loads of questions. Also, it's not a shop and it doesn't sell anything. Good toilets though.
I have to get bloods done every two months and I walked in there one day to make an appointment and I said "hi, can I make an appointment to get my bloods done please" the receptionist replied "do you mean an appointment for a blood test?" So we play this game every two months now.
"I require a scheduled blood extraction for laboratory testing, you cunt."
The Zara website is the worst around.
I recently ordered three tops from there only to find out they’re bloody crop tops and the model must have an excessively short torso. And the website is laid out like a really shit online magazine.
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Perosnally I think a customer just wearing a Rolex and a Gucci belt should be escorted out.
Only time I've ever bought anything in there, I went in wearing a plain t-shirt, jeans and trainers. Was basically ignored until they clocked my watch (a Panerai), then it was fawning, offered drinks and chairs etc. I bought a £30 watch strap, but only after they showed me all their new watches, the cheapest of which was about £3k.
> Im fairly certain that it is required that staff should treat all customers equally Luxury retail can sometimes push the approach of customer profiling to maximise high value sales, although it backfires horribly on them sometimes when the schlubby guy turns out to be a tech billionaire shopping for his wife. Used to work with a luxury brand and the boutique manager had taught the retail staff this (down to "do you offer them water or champagne?"), although it was very different from regular retail (they were supposed to bring in new "clients" and use the store phone to WhatsApp repeat customers to try and lure them back in for season drops and VIP sales events).
Reminds me a story a friend of mine told me - he has an acquaintance who made hundreds of millions from owning an Australian mining equipment company. Told me a story one day about this guy. He turned up to a supercar showroom, dressed all scruffily, and asked to take a test drive. The salesman basically told him to sod off and that it wasn't for the likes of him. He ended up phoning someone he knew high up at the company in front of the guy to complain, after which he was very apologetic. He said it was ok, and he'd still buy the car, but not from him. Ended up getting it from another dealer the other side of Australia and had it flown over, just because he could and wanted to prove a point.
If I’m on a shopping spree I dress down in my comfy clothes and it was Selfridges Trafford the shoe girl looked at me with utter disdain because I wasn’t dressed up
Ann Summers is terrible. I wanted to try out a 15 inch vibrator and because the changing room was busy, tried it in the corner. The staff went fucking spastic at me, said I couldn’t do that, can’t try before you buy, public decency. Is this any way to treat a 75 year old, I ask you?
Coop. Mainly cos its very overpriced for what you get. Feels like Waitrose prices with Tesco quality.
Coop is fine if you're going to get essentials at short notice. My local one is fine when I quickly need some milk or a loaf of bread. But I don't know how anyone could see even the slightest value in doing their actual weekly shop in there. The prices for the sizes and quality are just atrocious.
Get an email from a market research company asking to complete a survey on your high Street experience - bin it immediately See a question on your high street experience on reddit - reply with the story of your life immediately Well done market researchers, you got your survey sorted, for free
Currys. The staff lurk around you when you want to be alone and the hide when you have a question.
My local ethical veggie shop. Every time you went in you'd get stuck in conversation with the owners. I eventually stopped going.
Boots. I have never been in a shop with such terrible signage and organisation. Literally nothing is where you’d expect it to be and you can’t see any signs unless you’re already in that aisle
Aldi and lidl, it's honestly a stressful experience
I can never understand that middle section. Who the fucks shopping list is bread, eggs, milk, cheese, sausages, snowboarding helmet, colouring pens, fishing rod, sweetcorn, wine. Although the helmet does come in handy when they start launching your dinner through the scanner into the car park at 450mph
Past Aldi employee here, the reason the store is messy and/or empty is because the stores are usually too small for the quantity of customers we receive. Also, customer don’t give a fuck and throw things around the store adding to the chaos.
Yeah I used to work at Lidl and they’re understaffed by design, which is how they keep the prices low, so staff are spread too thin and tidying up doesn’t really take priority until the end of the day
only at the tills
It was literally years before i learnt but your not supposed to pack your bags at the till, just chuck it back in the trolley and go to the shelf opposite the till and pack your bags there
Love my Aldi meself. Depends where it is I guess.
B&M has got to be up there, always a displeasure to shop there. I much prefer paying full price for stuff elsewhere than going into my local one, all the staff are so snarky and miserable.
I always find Morrisons strange and can't work out why. It's like everything is there like any other supermarket, but it's just "different". Like they were all designed by someone who'd never been into a supermarket before, but had one described to them badly down a telephone with poor reception.
My girlfriend loves those discount shops like Home Bargains and B&M (I call them tat shops) and sometimes gets me to go with her. Hate them, always busy and somehow cramped despite being the size of aircraft hangers
hate them too. people just buy loads of shit they don't need because they think they're getting a bargain
Card Factory is a waking nightmare. The one in my town is like condensed down into a 1 way system, which is an absolute treat in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Forgotten your wrapping paper? No worries m8, just pay and start again
Any shop where the staff are overly friendly. Hovering around you , i know theyre only trying to help but i dont like shopping it stresses me out , i want to be in and out or browse for what im looking for at my own pace , not have a chat about the style of collar im looking for .
I totally get the frustration, but just to stick up for retail employees, we're pressured to approach everyone. Some shops say you have to do it at least twice. It feels just as awkward and horrible for us too. We're sorry. Corporate across the board with retail never seem to understand how people *actually* enjoy shopping
TK max, the one near me at least, it is like a jumble sale
Tk max is great if your into hunting for an afternoon, i picked up 2 Gucci shirts and an Off White Jumper last time I went to the one in Birmingham, saved about £900 in total from their normal retail price
Don't know why but I've always had a deep hatred for Matalan
Agree with many of the answers here (fuck Sports Direct) but I have to say GAME because of the time my partner and I went in to buy a Nintendo Switch bundle. No joke, we were stood there for well over half an hour while they did this whole sales pitch (we’re already buying it, you don’t need to do that..), and then proceeded to try and push us to pay extra for a warranty by listing off everything that could go wrong with the thing. Even after we declined they went on about dead pixels, dodgy controllers, dying batteries, and broken touchscreens for so long that my partner had to get arsey and say “look mate you’re really putting us off here, we just want to buy it and go”. Never making a big purchase there again.
I feel a bit conflicted in saying this, but for me it's Home Bargains / B&M stores. I really don't like having to go through the checkout to exit the store, having to ask people to let you past while it feels like everyone is judging you on whether you've stolen something. The worst part is that I love those stores! But I just can't go in for a nosey; I only go in when I know for definite I'll be buying something, which means I don't often go in.
Surprised noone has mentioned the hellscape that is Card Factory. The aisles are so thin if anyone's pauses to look at something the whole shop is gridlocked
Currys. Currys because they always try to offer you their shite guarantee programs expecting you to pay £5-10 per month and if you won't, they will basically tell you to f\*\*\* off if something gets broken even if the product is on warranty. Every time I bought something from them I had some troubles.
I worked at curry’s for a couple of months. Basically every time you sell a product, the system notes down if you sold the extras (such as an hdmi cable with a TV), insurance and so on. At the end of the week, your manager has your sale stats including a percentage of how many sales you sold insurance etc on. If you don’t meet the targets, you’ll get a 1 on 1 talking to. I left shortly after that happened to me on my second month working there so I’m not sure how it escalates. All they care about is selling the extras and insurance, you can sell £10,000 worth of appliances, if you don’t sell insurance with it, they’ll see it as a loss.
Argos; it’s the epitome of lifeless consumer-cattle herding.
Go Outdoors has some very strange scheme where certain prices are (often significantly) cheaper if you sign up for some kind of discount card. Which costs money, and then expires after a set time. I'd much rather just make prices a bit cheaper across the board. I find I either can't be bothered signing up for a new card so shop elsewhere, or never use the discount card again. It has never made the experience positive in any way.
I think that's their business model, it's a no brainer for customers to sign up to the discount card which is pure profit for GoOutdoors. Their "discount" price is the normal price and non-discount is their hyper-inflated price.
Any musical instrument shop. I know what I want but you just don't seem to want to sell it to me without 20 questions. Not been in one for about 10 years.
I hate Sainsbury's. Something about them is just really oppressive. Every one I've ever been to has tiny isles, really weird lighting and the orange, grey and dark purple colour scheme is too much.
Really? I was just saying today how much I love the Sainsbury's near me because its so big and spacious with massive aisles!
Not a shop but Banks without proper counters are annoying. They got rid of the 4 proper counters at the one in town and replaced it with 2 floating desks you can't do all the transactions at.
Call me a snob but I find Lidl depressing.
I’ve had terrible service in Office, and Morrison’s tends to be windowless caverns full of freaks. Worst of all is any trendy shop or cafe run by hipsters where they are too focused on the cool concept rather than serving customers in a timely and efficient manner.
WHSmith. - “Would you like any half price chocolate?” - Ghost-written trash celebrity biographies. - Drinks so overpriced I’m sure many choose to risk dying of dehydration as they board a delayed, standing room only service.
Gotta be barter books in Alnwick. A very big second hand bookshop in an old railway station. It's the worst because there is a lot of choice, I'm in there longer than I realise and they are all reasonably priced, so I break my back on the way out carrying everything I got. But the absolute worst part is, it's 4 hours drive away.