Shopping for heels

[secondreaper]

So I took the day off work, Wife was at work, woke up and decided today was a good day to go buy myself some new shoes!......left the house dressed in normal clothes and went to the mall, went to some of my favorite shoe stores, BEBE, Rue21, Charlotte Rousse, I love glam heels. as I was in few of these stores and shopping I was looked at quite odd. i was fine with this until I saw some workers of the store snickering. dont get me worng if I was a worker at these stores I would question why a male is there looking at heels, but it was such a rush, I loved it, the most enviting store is def BEBE........i know most of the HHplace comunity is from Europe but I wish I was there, seems to be much more layed back

[jo]

Write to the company head office. "I was in your store contemplating purchasing some shoes (you don't have to say who they were for) and your staff were behind sales desk snickering at customers." They'll have some explaining to do; and they either won't do it again, or next time you go, there will be someone else behind the desk.

[jwhite44]

I'd add the line, "It made me feel very uncomfortable and unwanted in your store". Also, make sure to include the store location and the time (of day) you were in the store. That will help them identify who was working them, and possible take correction against those workers.

[roniheels]

Write to the company head office. "I was in your store contemplating purchasing some shoes (you don't have to say who they were for) and your staff were behind sales desk snickering at customers."

They'll have some explaining to do; and they either won't do it again, or next time you go, there will be someone else behind the desk.

I'd add the line, "It made me feel very uncomfortable and unwanted in your store". Also, make sure to include the store location and the time (of day) you were in the store. That will help them identify who was working them, and possible take correction against those workers.

I would definitely do this. There is no excuse, especially in this economy, to discourage a customer from buying something, no matter how uncomfortable the customer might feel. And it is the duty of the employees to make the customer feel at ease and help them make a decision as to their purchase. This behavior by employees should not be tolerated.

[legs777777]

As a store manager in a large supermarket ( not a shoe store unfortunatly ) I have to agree with all the comments, get a letter in stating all of the facts with the time and day, the way the world is at the moment with every one fighting to get sales in their buisinesses, all letters of complaints are dealt with as a priority. No one should be made to feel unwelcome or embarressed visiting a shoe, or any store, at any time, I deal with these letters not very often, but they do get dealt with.

[HappyinHeels]

secondreaper, I have no experience with Bebe or Rue21 but have shopped at Charlotte Russe many times. The outlet store at Gurnee Mills in northern Illinois is particularly helpful and has the advantage of having most of their stock on the floor so you can try on whatever style and size you like. I have tried on heels there a number of times and a few times right along side other women...and nothing happened..no snickering or comments either by other customers and certainly not by employees. Anyways, CR is headquartered in San Diego,CA if it was that one.Like others have said, there is no place for that crap in a retail situation and in this economy ANY money coming into the store is good money. HappyinHeels

[HappyFeat]

I do a lot of shopping...for both heels and other items. The vast majority of the time I get excellent service. However, I have noticed one major difference: I tend to get better service when wearing heels. In my opinion, it leaves no doubt that I am a serious customer and it also takes those thoughts of "are they for him..." off the table. In fact, there are a lot fewer strange looks, whispers, and off-putting behavior from the clerks. I will give you a case in point. A few months ago, I was out of town and went to a Macy's. They had these great Bandolino wedge heel knee-high boots. Not terribly sexy, but very functional. I sat down and tried them on and the clerk who was waiting on me, who had been quite friendly, became cold. I could her two women muttering in Spanish about me (yes, I can understand Spanish.) I just thanked her and left the store. Later that week, I went to Macy's near my house, bought the boots and had good service. Of course I was wearing heels this time. I completed the online survey giving the second sales person high regard and mentioned my poor service at the first mall. Another trend I have noticed is that it takes a couple of visits to a store for the staff to warm up to you. Once you become a regular shopper (like once a month or even once every 6 weeks,) you will get more and better service. I have several stores that call me when they get in something that they think I would like. In fact recently an Ann Taylor Loft pulled about 12 items for me to come in and try. However, even though I typically have great shopping experiences, they don't always go well. Just this week, I had some coupons from New York and Company to blow. I had gone to one store and shopped for three hours, finding several nice things, and having a dressing room tied up the whole time, but they didn't have all the things I wanted in my size, so I went to another store in town. When I asked for a dressing room I was told they were for women only. I asked if it was company policy and the clerk said it was. I kindly handed her the items I had selected and went to a third mall where I found the items, got to try them on and now I have all I was looking for. I had given some thought about writing a letter to the office, but instead I decided to just frequent the stores where I was welcome. So, if you decided to protest, I encourage you. Men shop for women all the time. We should be respected in a store the same as female customers. If a man like heels, he should be allowed to buy them. I think companies should know if their employees bigoted, narrow-minded, sophomoric behavior is costing them sales. If I was a manager, I would want to know that as well. Good luck in however you decided to handle it.

[SleekHeels]

I've only recently started trying on heels in the store. Before that, I remember getting a range of reactions, mostly neutral but sometimes negative or occasionally even positive. What I regret is that I've usually made the purchase regardless of the reaction, because my fear of being discovered took away my dignity.

Since being more open about the heels being for me, I'd be far more inclined to agree with HappyFeat and speak with my money, leaving the store if I'm not treated respectfully. I thought admitting it and trying on heels in the store would destroy my dignity even more, but actually it's rejuvenated it. Being more open has given me the confidence to take the initiative in being polite to the sales assistants and to other customers, and if I can leave them thinking "wow, he was a nicer customer than that rude woman who was here this morning" or "Oh! Guys who wear heels seem quite nice" then that's just as satisfying as owning a new pair of heels (and I got to have fun trying them on too).

[HappyinHeels]

Right On HappyFeat!! Very well articulated indeed. While I never agreed with the Walmart slogan of "the customer is ALWAYS right" as it invited some really nasty behavior by some people towards store employees I do think that people in retail stores ARE THERE TO ASSIST THE CUSTOMER REGARDLESS OF THEIR GENDER OR WHO THEY ARE SHOPPING FOR, period. Those that engage in narrow-minded and degrading behavior are embarrassing themselves and giving the companies they work for a black eye. Money talks and BS walks which is why any and all of us should report names, dates, and locations of all such clowns so that they can be given their walking papers. Dignity...first and foremost and never optional. HappyinHeels