Having saved my pennies and some birthday money I hot footed it to Gap to get my much coveted biker boots. I loved them last year but didn't get a pair and this year I waited patiently until I'd saved my £69.
So on Monday November 17th at 9:30am at Oxford Street Gap near Selfridges I skipped through the door to buy the boots. But what no boots on the shelf they'd graced a few days earlier. I asked a seemingly helpful sales assistant where they were. Oh they'd all gone, puff, just like that. I was perplexed, supposedly they'd done an ad campaign on them and suddenly all and sundry rushed in to nabbed them. But hey guess what the helpful one told me - I could go to Topshop and buy some similar ones there!
I spied one left foot boot on the counter and asked if they had the other one, nope it was just a solitary item. Sorry it was one of a two left foot pair! Then ever hopeful I spied a few pairs on the mannequins. Would I be able to have one of those? Oh no, replied the not caring one, they had holes drilled in them be on display.
Now call it natural curiosity but I then went off to examine said boots on mannequin and surprisingly there were no holes. In fact I then counted the number of no holes drilled in the bottom pairs of biker boots on mannequins, at 24 I got bored of my point. Heading back to negotiate one pair of boots with the now really not very helpful couldn't careless one, I met with a no they are for display purposes only and the boots would have been ordered in specially to be ON DISPLAY.
At this point I asked for the number of the store in Kingston, phoned them twice reserving two separate pairs of boots under two different names - I wasn't taking any chances and went to get them the next day.
I also phoned Buffy the GAP PR who did call me back and I relayed the story to her and asked was this their policy to turn paying customers away while mannequins could be well shod. She was very lovely and nicely spoken but never did get back to me about policy. Now I'm officially stomping around in the marvellous boots I'm bored of my investigative journalist attempt on consumer matters. Mind you I did think about a flash mob event to lift the mannequins up and rightfully return the shoes to the shelves to be sold to CUSTOMERS!
I think there is a gap in the market for this - customer service.....
Hi there-oh, swoon, these are just fabulous, I'm so pleased for you!! Whats up with Gaps customer service? How infuriating that they turn away money in this climate, they're lucky you didn't hot foot it to another retailer for your purchase!! Well done for saving up too, they'll be that more cherished now!!
ReplyDeleteGreat boots - but I know I never would have had the patience to put up with that rigmarole and would have given up on them. I applaud your forbearance!
ReplyDeleteSharon-Rose, you know what waiting for them has meant I'd already had a 101 uses for them and I do. I must learn now not to wear them so much! As for Gap....
ReplyDeleteSkye - I waited so long 14months in fact it was worth kicking off!
I hate when shops do that. Why leave stuff on the mannequin that actual paying customers can buy? Especially when they are already sold out and therefore the displays are useless anyway. It is so freakin' annoying.
ReplyDeleteLovely boots! You showed exceptional patience and tenacity in snagging them, which probably makes wearing them all the sweeter.
As an aside, do you twitter? I've just signed up and it's much fun but I need more people to twitter with and it's impossible to find people.
i'm glad you finally got them!!! they are fantastic!
ReplyDeleteI might have started undressing the mannequin for you if I was there. What could they do to you? They are usually busy talking to their friends and actively avoiding customers to notice. I am delighted you found your boots. They were worth the wait.
ReplyDeleteLOL at "counting the number of no holes."
ReplyDeleteNice! Love the color!
ReplyDeletexoxox,
CC
Oh wow how frustrating. You went through aLOT for those boots lol! They will do you so well though cause they're gorgeous.
ReplyDeletex Grayburn
girl i am so glad you got a pir in the end!! i know that sometimes the customer service here in uk is unfortunately non existent!they dont get paid very well but still no excuse.same thing happened to me the other day in two shops on oxford street that i will leave un named.
ReplyDeletemuah!
Marian
I'm glad that after so many troubles you got your boots.
ReplyDeleteOH GOD... customer service.....
xoxo
Such rigamarole. At least you got your glorious boots in the end. Perhaps the struggle made victory all the sweeter?
ReplyDeleteWhat a great feeling when you finally own something you have wanted for ages - shame it was such hard work getting your hands on them!
ReplyDeleteI am so happy that you got your boots! I had this mannequin thing happen to me several times... I have similar biker boots, but yours are cooler!
ReplyDeleteHave a great week!
xx
These boots are terrific and you will love them, look great in them and wear them for a long time. But what crap customer service. It's that kind of thing that turns me off ever returning to a store.
ReplyDeleteI'd have joined your Mannequin Mob. This has happened to me before, and it's not very nice, is it?
ReplyDeleteI love your new boots! Congratulations on the score.
if you counted no holes then they were stinking liars right? Damn liars.
ReplyDeleteGood that you got what you wanted in the end. Why can't they make things easy for customers. Stupid!
arseholes.
ReplyDeleteIt's gas, last night we were talking about how there are some jobs in the Uk where the customers treat you like servants (barman in city pub for eg.) And then there are some shop assistants that treat you like something stuck to their shoes. If only they could meet.
the boots are worth it, but boy, I would have been torn between not buying and buying for spite alone.
xx
I wish they were mine instead haha
ReplyDeleteHmmm, I've been known to show little restraint and patience when it comes to mannequins wearing the Exact Sized Item I require. Let's just say that I've left a few mannequins looking less than dignified in my time...
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't win me any favours with shop assistants (especially in Paris when I got a blast of 'non, non, non!' in my ear).
Glad you ended up with the right boots. Hurrah. xx
That is just bad customer service. Just last Christmas my husband purchased a scarf that had sold out at GAP (the multicolored striped narrow long scarf) off of a mannequin that the sales person had just put it on. He sighed dramatically, but un-knotted it and rang it up. I had asked about the scarf, they said it had gone - then while leaving saw the display and sent the husband back in.
ReplyDeleteThat was just that sales person being difficult. I doubt thee is any such policy. And they never would damage permanently an article that is saleable for display only. That is BS.
When dealing with sales "help" like that, I always think of the Edina line from AbFab - "you just work in a shop you know".
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I am in the US, so customer service is a bit better (I was the anon comment). I always thought the whole "no/bad customer service thing" in Europe/Uk was a myth. Then I shopped there....
ReplyDeleteIn a regular job one would get fired for driving away business, no?
Hmmm! Enjoy your boots! After all, you put a lot of effort into getting them :)
ReplyDeleteI would have bum rushed the mannies to snatch those shoes. My thoughts are why work in retail if you don't like people and in my years I've never heard of shoes being drilled for display purposes!!!
ReplyDeleteConsider the flight booked...I know you'll love working on the next shoot!
I just wish they had those boots in the Gap in the US...of course, then no mannequin would be safe from my wrath.
ReplyDeleteA very simolar incident happened to me when I tried to buy the same biker boots in Gap today! I hunted high and low for these in 2 stores in Manchester but they had sold out ... or so I thought until I found a pair near the fitting room area. However, my problem was the price label which got lost after I tried the boots on. They refused to sell me the boots without the price label on it by initially claiming that the shoes were display shoes and had holes in them [no holes could be found], that they needed labels for all sales [but there was a label when I tried it on!]. Luckily the girl on duty at the fitting room had also seen the label. I asked to speak to the manager and they eventually sold me the shoes. But the service was awful - I was going to cite the Sale of Goods Act 1979 ... or the infamous 'invitation to treat' legal case about goods on display at a shop window. they do not seem to know their merchant law
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