So I was in Topshop [don’t ask] last weekend and bought a rather tasteful [read: not very tasteful] t-shirt.
I went up to the register to pay only to be told by the man behind the till that I was at the wrong counter.
“Oh, sorry …” I replied, “… could you tell me where I go to pay then please?”
He looked at me with a weary stare before saying, “… the other side of this counter”.
Because there was no way he could of meant the till that was two feet to my right, I actually looked to see if there was a pay kiosk on the other side of the store, but no – the silly sod literally meant I had to take a small step to the right to be at the correct till.
I would like to say I questioned the sanity of this decision but I was so shocked – especially when I saw the guy move to the side and then act like he’d never seen me before – that I quietly stepped across, handed over my cash and left wondering what I’d just experienced.
I appreciate Topshop and Topman probably have different P&L’s, but this is ridiculous.
I’m sure their store scanning devise could automatically separate items purchased by division and even if they can’t, a simple button on the till would allow staff to make that call.
Hell, what does it say about the kind of staff Topman/shop employ if they feel if necessary to have a totally different till for them to make that judgement???
I know there’s a lot of clothes that seem unisex, but even I – with the fashion sense of a 14 year old boy from 1984 – could work it out so I’m sure they could too.
I have a nasty feeling a ‘brand consultant’ came up with this idea to drive ‘brand individuality’ [hahaha] – however it doesn’t matter how individual your brand is if you piss off all your customers is it?
Almost as fucked as those shops that have an escalator going down into the store but only stairs coming up.
“Come in … come in …” they cry in their seductive tone, only to kick you out without a second thought as soon as they’ve got what they wanted.
Abit like teenage boys really, ha!
Sort it out Topman/Topshop – it’s mentalness and not in a good way!