Associate asked me to put all clothes I was leaving back on a hanger

So, the other day I had a retail clothes shop. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but now I think I should have put it in the report.

I was in the fitting room, and the associate told me to put all clothes that I was leaving back on the hanger. I would say there were 3 people ahead of me in the fitting room. The associate told all customers the same thing. The store had steady business, some periods were busier than others. However, the store was messy (I counted 20 articles of clothing on the sales floor), and it was hard to find an associate for help (had to go to the cash register to ask for someone to help me).

Thoughts please...should I have put in the report that the associate asked me to return all the clothes I was leaving on the hanger?

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I would.

Yes, I would have reported it. May be store policy, may not be. We do not assume.

I don't put the clothes I'm buying back on the hanger, much less the clothes I don't buy. If they told me that, I'd have left them in a pile in the corner of the dressing room floor tuned inside out. If they were sarcastic, a few price tags would have fell off them as well. Needless to say, I don't do clothing shops. I'm not female and hate trendy mall clothing stores. The aromas they pump in those places give me a headache.

I buy most of my clothes online and out of state so its tax free. I buy my summer clothing in the fall and never pay more than 30% of what it was selling for at the beginning of the season. I'm even guilty of show rooming when I shop for shoes.

If part of the report is customer service, well, that customer service sucks. If I want to hang up clothes I'll just go to my dressing room. I don't go shopping to do housework.

See, I do put the clothes back on hangers when I return them, and the ones that I'm buying, I keep off the hangers. Which is why I didn't think anything of it. I wonder though where I would have put it. The report had an opinion section, and a fitting room section. My instinct says it should go in the fitting room section, but it could also leave a customer with a negative impression...thus belong in the opinion section.

I always put back everything back in hangers after I tried them on but I don't think the salespeople have the right to order the customers to put them back in hangers. That part is I think officially the job of the staff though out of courtesy we try to put them back in the hanger. In the report regarding the state/cleanliness of the fitting room, I would have added that the fitting room was messy with clothes from previous customers still in the room. They get points on the neatness/cleanliness of the fitting room. Then I would mention in passing that I was asked to return the clothes in hangers.

That's like your waiter asking you to stack your dirty plates on the table and scraping all the food onto the top plate after your done eating.

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Seriously, nobody cares that you're offended.

Hoju, that's a very good analogy. It's interesting though that some of us do these kinds of things out of courtesy, as rizinghorizon said, and others don't. We don't assume yes, but I wonder if the client knows that it will get different reports, from different shoppers, based on each shopper's own personality and experience in life.

I certainly put the clothes back on the hangers out of courtesy, but if I was told to do it I'm not sure I would. I would definitely find it off-putting if I was told to do something that was in no way required or expected of the typical shopper because it's entirely the job of the person telling you to do it.

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Seriously, nobody cares that you're offended.

Well like rising horizon said, it's one thing to choose to do it, and quite another to be ordered to by the staff. I'd be furious if my staff treated my customers like that. That is how I always think about it when determining whether or not to include something. If it were my store, would I want to know?

I disagree - bad analogy Hohu. Totally different situations, unless you are in the military. You go to a restaurant to have your meal served and the table cleared and you are paying for that service. I am not the neatest person but if I try something on in a store's dressing room and don't buy it I put the garment back on the hanger and return it to the rack. Perhaps that comes from my retail days years ago and appreciate a little customer courtesy.

See, @LIJake, courtesy is what they should be expecting but not requiring. And I'm not sure I agree with your disagreement (Here comes the circular logic).
We ARE paying for that service by paying for clothes. You pay a price for the clothes you buy that includes your part of paying that person for doing their job. You only notice it with waitstaff because you pay them directly via your tip instead of through your food purchase.

I suppose if you're not buying anything and just trying crap on then ya, you're right. But it's not exactly a bad analogy.

And it's Hoju. Not Hohu. You insult my people when you mispronounce my name like that.

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Seriously, nobody cares that you're offended.

I'm another one who hangs up my clothes (and leaves hotel rooms tidy) because I was raised to be courteous. It hurts me to see other customers treat sales associates like their personal servants. Despite that, I would have no problem being a horse's ass and leaving the clothes on the floor if the sales associate had not shown me the same basic courtesy

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

Sorry Hoju. Type-o. H is next to J and typing (at about 20 words per minute) is not one one my strengths. Spell check doesn't catch everything. My apologies to your people.

I would mention it in the report. It reminds me of H&M shops.. often the fitting room employee tells everyone to bring the number tag back. How does that encourage the employee to check the fitting room to prevent theft or promote cleanliness? Anyway, if it were me I would write about it. Who is this employee to demand that or assume one wouldn't do it? I'm not paid, even when mystery shopping, to do your job for you. Pfft..

Silver Certified ~ Shopping all of Toronto and beyond

It's true, there's a premium that we pay with whatever we buy, from restaurant meals to clothes. The cost of service is built into the cost of business. But, I really didn't think anything of it, because I do it, regardless if I'm told or not. If she hadn't told me, I still would have done it. But, I do see now how it could leave a customer with a negative impression. I've emailed the scheduler, and explained. Hopefully, she will get back to me and let me include the information. Would you still report it even though the store was moderately busy, and was messy as a result of the customers? Another thing I saw on this shop was kids swirling the round racks that had tights hanging on them. Swirling and swirling and swirling...and a good 6 pairs of tights fell to the ground. The mother saw what happened, but didn't pick them up, just yelled at the child. The employee didn't say or do anything though, not even go and pick them up. If I was working there, I'd walk over and start picking up the tights, so that the mother would get the hint....would that be bad customer service?

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/08/2015 02:47AM by MilessMum.

Could be worse. He could have called you Hoo-ha.

@And it's Hoju. Not Hohu. You insult my people when you mispronounce my name like that. [/quote wrote:

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

@dixiewhiskey wrote:

I would mention it in the report. It reminds me of H&M shops.. often the fitting room employee tells everyone to bring the number tag back. How does that encourage the employee to check the fitting room to prevent theft or promote cleanliness? Anyway, if it were me I would write about it. Who is this employee to demand that or assume one wouldn't do it? I'm not paid, even when mystery shopping, to do your job for you. Pfft..

I think I've been shopping wrong my whole life!!!! I always return the clothes and the number tag and leave them with the employee before I leave the fitting room. That way, the room is clean for the next customer, and the employee can do an inventory to see that what I took is what I am returning/purchasing. Isn't that how it's supposed to happen?

@LisaSTL wrote:

Could be worse. He could have called you Hoo-ha.

@And it's Hoju. Not Hohu. You insult my people when you mispronounce my name like that. [/quote wrote:

Hahaha the ultimate insult that one can be called

Yes. Don't work retail if you can't handle the (mostly) crappy customers.. I guarantee you that place is not as crazy as Walmart in which I completely expect poor customer service from there. I probably wouldn't mention the stuff on the ground from the kid swirling the rack. I hate parents like that btw. Whenever in doubt, relate the situation to what the shop asks for.. if that makes sense. I mean telling a customer to re hang clothes is not good customer service IMO. I would just state without bias or comments what she said to me

Silver Certified ~ Shopping all of Toronto and beyond

@MilessMum wrote:

@dixiewhiskey wrote:

I would mention it in the report. It reminds me of H&M shops.. often the fitting room employee tells everyone to bring the number tag back. How does that encourage the employee to check the fitting room to prevent theft or promote cleanliness? Anyway, if it were me I would write about it. Who is this employee to demand that or assume one wouldn't do it? I'm not paid, even when mystery shopping, to do your job for you. Pfft..

I think I've been shopping wrong my whole life!!!! I always return the clothes and the number tag and leave them with the employee before I leave the fitting room. That way, the room is clean for the next customer, and the employee can do an inventory to see that what I took is what I am returning/purchasing. Isn't that how it's supposed to happen?

Everyone does their own thing, both employees and customers I guess

. From my experience working in retail management, you check the room no matter what before offering it again to a customer. I think that customers should always show respect to employees and other customers but 90% of customers will not do that. Which is kind of where I come from about the not getting paid to do your job.. I will be respectful and return clothes but I think it says a lot when you have to tell a customer to do it before you even give them the chance to show whether they will do it or not.

Silver Certified ~ Shopping all of Toronto and beyond

I was a manager and then buyer for a semi upscale department store for five years and could relate horror stories about customer attitudes. Well, not exactly horror stories but some pretty rude and obnoxious behavior by customers who believed that they are paying for the right to be slobs and abuse salespeople. To this day, I will pick up a garment that is lying on the sales floor and hang it up. I won't go so far as to hang up try-on clothes left by others in the fitting room but will return what I have brought in to the rack. I consider that a matter of courtesy and respect. Maybe I'm just a bit old fashioned.

It's sad to think your courtesy may be considered old-fashioned.

I put them back on the hangers except when it becomes cumbersome. In other words, I don't mess with it and if I have issues, I don't worry about it. I just stack everything up. Yes, I would have put it in the report.

The salesperson was rude.

But I had no idea that there were people who didn't hang the clothes back on the hanger? Raised by bears? I worked at Macys for a couple of years. Everyone returned their clothes to me on a hanger.

Perhaps this is a sign of the future...brick and mortar retail is losing business to online stores so they may be attempting to cut back on employees in this way. I certainly hope not. It is already pretty difficult to find employees in some stores. But we have already seen a shift in who does what in many areas. At most fast food restaurants we are expected to take our trays to the trash. I rarely see anyone leaving trays on the table for staff to pick up. Before fast food if someone said you would eat out and have to bus your own trays people would react the same way as many are about this topic. I am not saying that is what is happening at this retail location but I would not be surprised at all if the future brings more of this kind of expectation. At my office everyone types their own memos and letters. The grocery store has a self check out aisle where you pack your own bag...Times are a changin folks.

Wow, it's evident that a lot of posters have never worked retail! Yes, the associate should not tell customers to put clothes back on hangers, but then to say that it makes you want to leave the clothes on the floor in a heap! Huh? This could wrinkle, damage or stain the clothing which would prevent a possible sale.

How much extra work is it for you to hang something up? 10 extra seconds? Meanwhile the associate has probably 50 items to hang up and put away.

Common courtesy. That's all. But then again I'm the one who does stack my dishes when I'm dining out, and tidy up the hotel room.

lol nope, I don't clean for the hotel cleaning person. Na-huh, nope, no way! I rarely take my tray in a fast food place to the trash. I'm still old fashioned that way. I pay enough for that food as it is.

Based on your description of what was going on in the store, sounds to me like that employee was feeling overwhelmed and just plain defeated.
Kinda feel bad...

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Seriously, nobody cares that you're offended.

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Associate asked me to put all clothes I was leaving back on a hanger

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