FN-GM

Not in the north it isn't.

BenA

Being from Seattle, I have the same problem. Traveling in J out of west coast airports, I get consistently great service - seems like the crews are used to the tech-company set. Traveling out of east coast hubs like New York or Atlanta, I get dramatically worse service unless I'm dressed formally, and it's frustrating.

On the other hand, sometimes it loops back around again and I'm mistaken for an airline employee, which tends to get me better service (although that's a topic for a different thread...)

sjclynn

So, how about one in reverse?

Early in my career I was a sales support analyst for a computer company. I worked closely with a salesman that I will call Joe. Joe was a very senior guy and liked the nice things that came with the salary and commissions. We would go to lunch together a couple of times a week and that usually included a stop at a store that catered to his tastes. He was always impeccably dressed, this day included.

That day it was a prestige motor company. On the show room floor was a large Mercedes and an Austin Martin flanking a Rolls Royce convertible. We were largely ignored and, at least for me, with good reason; the Austin was 3 times my gross pay. Joe, never the shy one, kind of waved in the direction of the Mercedes and said, "how much does someone usually put down on one of those?'

Boom!

"Put down?" [there is really no way to convey the sneer evident on the face of the salesman at that moment]

Put down??? People [and we were obviously not in that set] USUALLY pay cash or they lease....

And with that, Joe and I left with most of our egos intact.

Bear4Asian

Drove my failing Dodge Intrepid (the headrest of which my Akita had chewed up) to the BMW dealer on a Saturday. Looked around a bit, saw a coupe I liked and went to the sales guy to ask for a test drive.

His response, "Not unless you're buying today".

I withheld any snark in my reply. He reluctantly let me drive that car. I ended up driving a 2 door coupe; a convertible and a 5 Series. Left that day with his card. No sale.

I came back the next weekend and was met by an eager young sales woman who showed me the same coupe. I asked to talk to the general and sales manager. Told them about my treatment the previous week. I made an offer with the assurance that the first sales guy would not get any commission. And they also apologized.

The there was the time I tried to enter the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok wearing shorts and was turned away...

Kagehitokiri

MO BKK situation is unbelievable (as in - not good) (but maybe it was limited to just a few staff??)
theres a comment about treating a hotel guest horribly because they thought they were nonguest

lease =
and i guess he missed luxury car companies offering 0% financing
not to mention all the US millionaires who had zero equity in anything

Loren Pechtel

Yeah--that brings to mind the old Comdex show. Attendees were mixed between the tech types (likely in very casual dress) and the managers (in business attire.)

Us techies were generally not dismissed as non-buyers but they did realize that when the choice is between jeans or a suit their time is better spent on the suit because he's likely a bigger sale. The ones that did dismiss us were the places that were hype instead of substance. Trying to use marketing hype on a techie doesn't work very well--they would see us as non-buyers when in reality we simply weren't going to buy their products.

JayhawkCO

I wonder how many people in this thread who have been a part of these moments also support dress codes in restaurants. While I agree that someone shouldn't wear a speedo and tank top to a finer establishment, I often go to restaurants plenty underdressed compared to those around me. I'm a restaurant manager so I "get it", but at the same time, I think foie gras with Sauternes tastes better while wearing jeans and a t-shirt. I wear a suit often enough in my life.

Same applies to travel. I booked an F award flying some of the nicer cabins to Asia. I definitely got looks when I boarded, but fortunately, even in SIN in the SQ F check-in, they just simply looked at my muddy hiking boots and NorthFace shorts amused as opposed to condescendingly.

Chris

BadgerBoi

I dress casually when I fly, can't say that I've ever noticed whether I've been subject to "looks" or not, nor have I noticed what anyone else in the cabin is wearing. I think most people are more concerned with what they are doing themselves to worry about giving other passengers disapproving stares.

jgreen1024

I buy everything from Amazon. Nobody ever looks at what I'm wearing. As long as my credit card payment gets approved, they happily sell me anything I want.

Kagehitokiri

if an owner of an establishment wants to have a dress code, they should have the right to do so. published dress codes should be enforced, otherwise those following it are penalized. this is a separate issue from how one feels about going to places with dress codes.

darthbimmer

A restaurant with a dress code is a slightly different situation from the scene being discussed from Pretty Woman. In the movie, the store staff treated Julia Roberts' character shabbily partly because they assumed she couldn't afford to buy luxury goods and was thus would be nothing but a waste of their time. In a restaurant, a dress code is not based on the notion that anyone not wearing proper attire is too poor to pay. Instead, the purpose is to control the ambiance of the dining room. To some degree this is also part of the reason high-end store staff chase away clientele who "look" poor. But there it's still mostly about presumed ability to afford extremely expensive merchandise.

Boarding J and F cabins on an airplane is also a different situation from either shopping or restaurants. The key difference is that with the airplane there is a simple, objective, and mutually understood way to determine whether or not you belong there: you show your boarding pass. Given that this is so simple and so elemental-- compared to, say, a shop owner or restaurateur asking for proof of funds before allowing you in-- I'm not sure why so many airline staff feel the need to be snotty about it.

JayhawkCO

But is it? Would you not assume if you were a server and saw someone come in wearing a tailored suit that they might spend more money than the guy wearing the Wranglers, Busch Light t-shirt, and cowboy hat? I have a well enough trained staff at my restaurant that we wouldn't treat anyone differently, but that's not the case at all restaurants for sure.

I understand they're slightly different, but the whole point of the thread is someone getting lackluster customer service because of how he/she looked. There have been times (a couple times in Vegas) where what I wore to dinner definitely had the server thinking he might be wasting his time with a "bad table" based on initial interactions. Typically my cocktail or wine order will ease their concerns.

I've definitely had lounge dragons tell me that the lounge was only for first class and international elite passengers before I even got a chance to show my gold card or business class boarding pass. It strikes me as the same scenario as a shop owner saying that the clothes were very expensive before seeing a black Amex.

I have a side question, and while a touch off topic, I feel it might get the most responses here. At my restaurant, we sell Macallan 25 for $105 a glass. Some of my servers get nervous and want to say something to the person ordering because they fear people freaking out once they get their bill. And it has happened. I'm always inclined to assume the person ordering the drink is educated about the typical price of the whisky. I would assume most in this thread would be a bit insulted if my server said "just to make you aware, that is our most expensive Scotch"? (As I would be, but only slightly).

Chris

GUWonder

I agree -- unless and until the dress code is a not-so-veiled effort to deny commercial service to ethnic/religious persons for no other reason that ethnic/religious prejudices.

ou81two

Where a guy picks up a prostitute and ends up marrying her? That's a no.

Bear4Asian

Maybe they should just give all the First/Business passengers their pajamas prior to boarding and have them change before boarding. Then no one will be judged by their attire. (This insures everyone looks silly)