Two recent shopping experiences gave me pause.
1. Not to complain about H&M again (because I love that store), but I had another unfortunate experience where the final attitude of the staff was "we don't care." Take a look at this rack of girls' leggings:
How much do you think they cost? If you said 29 dirhams, you're WRONG, as was I when I took a few pairs up to the register. It turns out that most of them cost 49 dirhams. When I protested, at first the cashier tried to tell me that I must have grabbed the leggings from a different display. So I physically walked her over to the rack and showed her the display sign that clearly said, "Leggings, girls 1-8 years, DHS 29." That really stumped her...but only for a moment. Because then she told me that oh, the signs only display the lowest price of any item on that rack. Somewhere in there is a pair of leggings that costs 29 dirhams. If the pairs I actually pull from the rack cost 49 dirhams, well, it's on me to notice that.
I escalated the situation (nicely, I promise) to a manager, and then to his manager, and the answer I got was the same: H&M signage is allowed to post the lowest price of an item in any given display. I have a problem with that, and I'll tell you why. "Leggings, girls 1-8 years, DHS 29" to me means that any leggings in that display that are size 1-8 years, for girls, cost 29 dhs. If they want it to mean otherwise, they need to change the wording. How about, "Non-patterned leggings, girls 1-8 years, DHS 29"? Or "Leggings, girls 1-8 years, DHS 29 and up"? The way it stands, it's just plain flat-out lying. Too bad the manager was deaf to my protests. So I just filled out a complaint form (which maybe they threw in the trash after I left). And then wrote this blog post.
2. Outside of a sporting goods store in Festival City, we found a mini trampoline on display. Right next to it was a set up, filled up swimming pool. Does anyone besides me see that as a glaringly obvious safety hazard??
And now I'm wondering if the pool really costs 289 dhs or if the sign just says that, or 289 dhs is the cost of the water, or something. Hmph.
1. Not to complain about H&M again (because I love that store), but I had another unfortunate experience where the final attitude of the staff was "we don't care." Take a look at this rack of girls' leggings:
How much do you think they cost? If you said 29 dirhams, you're WRONG, as was I when I took a few pairs up to the register. It turns out that most of them cost 49 dirhams. When I protested, at first the cashier tried to tell me that I must have grabbed the leggings from a different display. So I physically walked her over to the rack and showed her the display sign that clearly said, "Leggings, girls 1-8 years, DHS 29." That really stumped her...but only for a moment. Because then she told me that oh, the signs only display the lowest price of any item on that rack. Somewhere in there is a pair of leggings that costs 29 dirhams. If the pairs I actually pull from the rack cost 49 dirhams, well, it's on me to notice that.
I escalated the situation (nicely, I promise) to a manager, and then to his manager, and the answer I got was the same: H&M signage is allowed to post the lowest price of an item in any given display. I have a problem with that, and I'll tell you why. "Leggings, girls 1-8 years, DHS 29" to me means that any leggings in that display that are size 1-8 years, for girls, cost 29 dhs. If they want it to mean otherwise, they need to change the wording. How about, "Non-patterned leggings, girls 1-8 years, DHS 29"? Or "Leggings, girls 1-8 years, DHS 29 and up"? The way it stands, it's just plain flat-out lying. Too bad the manager was deaf to my protests. So I just filled out a complaint form (which maybe they threw in the trash after I left). And then wrote this blog post.
2. Outside of a sporting goods store in Festival City, we found a mini trampoline on display. Right next to it was a set up, filled up swimming pool. Does anyone besides me see that as a glaringly obvious safety hazard??