Went to Zara on Oxford Street (the one that's nearest to Regent Street) yesterday and was met with 2 horrible examples of how Sales Assistants should NOT behave.

Example 1:
I went to the fitting room with four pieces of clothing and there was a long queue since there was a huge sale going on. When I had reached the front of the queue, a woman came out of one of the cubicles and handed clothes and the tag to the salesgirl.

For the previous customers, she'd immediately say, "Next please" and then hand them a tag etc. However, for that instance, she went, "Put the clothes on the table." to the previous customer (the one who just came out). When the customer did that, the salesgirl went ahead to hang the clothes etc and ignored me. There was a bloody long queue behind me and I wanted to minimise the waiting time as well. As such, I went past the table and approached her, telling her that I had 4 pieces. Guess what was her reaction?

"Go wait behind the table please." in a super irritated tone and facial expression.

Okkk....and then, she went on to hang the clothes etc. Soon, a bunch of people came out from their cubicles and caused more 'mess' near the table because everyone has to pass her the tag and to place the clothes on the table. She literally took their clothes and threw them on the table as if she were really pissed off with the clothes.

Only once was she done with the throwing and hanging that she said to me sarcastically, "Now, you can tell me how many pieces." Seriously...like WTH??!!

Example 2:
Despite the earlier bad experience with that salesgirl, I managed to find a really nice dress that I can wear for cocktail events. All I need to do is to alter the sides slightly so that it is more fitted. Anyway, the bad service was given by the cashier this time.

Look at the dress below. I remember seeing it in Singapore for around SGD 80-90. The normal retail price was EUR 49.90...so GBP 14.99 on the tag is really a HUGE discount! I thought it was GBP 14.99 and since I didn't have a lot of cash, I decided to pay with my credit card.

However, at the till, the further discounted price is GBP 5.99! Since it is such a small amount, I decided to pay by cash instead. So, I placed a 10-pound note on the counter while I fished for 9p. I wanted to get rid of all my coins. I had already taken out 6p when she went, "Can I take this GBP 10? I've got another customer waiting."

By "another customer", she meant the customer who was standing next to me and had a pile of clothes on the counter. Her mum went off to either exchange a piece or something and had JUST returned when I had taken out my 6p out.

She hadn't even put the dress into the bag before passing me my receipt and my change (without bothering about my 9p)! Another WTH moment.

My elation over finding a steal was overshadowed by two irritating SAs. GRrrr.....

Mind you, this is the first time I've received such shitty service in this country and those two SAs are NOT British. So...what am I implying? That service staff ought to be taught about proper service first before they face customers!