Ever seen a "Pretty Woman" Moment?
 

Most of us know the Pretty Woman movie where Julia Roberts goes to the Rodeo Drive shops and they won't wait on her and tell her she's in the wrong place despite having plenty of bucks from old Richie Gere.

Anyone seen their own Pretty Woman moment? I love the thought of a shop assistant or hotel staff gobsmacked at an undiscerning person, in a 10 buck pair of shorts pulling out their Centurion credit card and buying drinks for the whole bar.

[Reference to title's spelling error edited by Moderator in view of title correction.]

I actually don't really like the concept of a Pretty Woman moment. It doesn't happen too often, but when I plan to make a purchase and go into a store where I'm not helped out (perhaps I'm wearing my workout clothes, or going in with my kids) I will vote with my dollar and leave.

This is especially true in cases where people work on commission. I'd rather avoid the amazing moment just to make sure that the snobby staff didn't get a dime of my money!


..that being said, it would be interesting to see :)

My grandmother had one some years ago.
She was about 80 at the time.
She would normally dress up nicely for an occasion, but on normal days she didn't care much what she wore.
This time she was working in the garden when she decided that she wanted a new pair of shoes. She always wore clogs in the garden.
Obviously she wanted the shoes right now because she went to town without changing her clothes or foodwear, so she probably looked a sight/(fright).
Due to needing a very small size she couldn't get shoes just anywhere, so she went to a fancy shoe shop in the middle of Copenhagen where she knew they had a good selection of shoes in small sizes.
The person working in the shop was being condescending and my grandmother got so miffed that when she decided on a pair of shoes she asked for one in each colour....
( Luckily they only had 3 colours and my grandmother always said that was money well spent just to see the look on the shop person's face )

Observing racism in action, I've seen this happen in too many places -- be it at hotels, at airports or at stores. But my suggestion is to try not to reward such customer-facing, prejudiced persons with additional business (unless it's of the sort of business that is a loss-leader sort of sale for the seller).

The customers' largely immutable characteristics being used to treat the potential customers as if the customers are thieves or poor is not the kind of sales staff behavior which I want to encourage. Nor do I wish to encourage such approaches even when it comes to attire matters.

Exactly. I don't see why you'd respond to condescension, prejudice, etc. by showering the establishment with money.

+1

I look young for my age, thankfully earn more than most my age, and am not of the racial majority in my country.

In one instance, I was at a nicer, mid-tier men's clothing store trying to buy a suit. Without even offering to measure me or otherwise assist, one of the salespeople came over to me, asked if I was shopping for myself, and then told me that the boys department at Macy's might be a more appropriate place to shop.

I immediately went to the front of the store, let the manager know what my budget that day was (which was adequate to buy nearly anything in that store), and that at his employee's suggestion I would be taking all my future business elsewhere. Never stepped foot in there again.

Most cases I've seen or experienced like this have been in retail establishments. Hotels and the like seem to be better about treating guests with dignity.

Many years ago I worked in retail and made it a rule never to judge a book by its cover . One great instance comes to mind when an elderly, dumpy lady dressed in uninspiring black came up to my counter and bought a few things then asked me to hold them while she went upstairs which I gladly did. She came down later burdened by some clothes on hangers and I asked to help her out to her car. She then upped her purchase to about $500 and when we got to her car it was a long black caddie with a chauffeur. Loved it.

Used to happen to me all the time when I was younger, especially in Saks. I would walk through the front door and instantly turn invisible. And if I did find something I wanted and took it up to the counter to pay for it, I could always count on a disdainful look from the clerk. I used to tell my friends that Saks must have a special training program for its clerks to teach them the right degree of sneer for each customer.

Doesn't happen to me any more since I discovered online shopping.

If you've seen the movie, this is actually the essence of the Pretty Woman moment. They wouldn't wait on her, she ended up shopping at another store, and went back to the first store with all her bags and showed them the commission they missed.

There are ways of letting people know their assumptions are wrong without rewarding them for those bad assumptions.

If you've seen the movie, this is actually the essence of the Pretty Woman moment. They wouldn't wait on her, she ended up shopping at another store, and went back to the first store with all her bags and showed them the commission they missed.


Saying "Big Mistake!"

Happened to my wife, who likes to shop at discount stores in NY like the former "Filene's Basement" (RIP). My grandmother bought my wife a sweater from Henri Bendel (and my Grandmother buys a LOT of stuff at that store) and when my wife went to exchange it for a smaller size she happened to throw it into a Filene's bag when she left the house. The saleslady accused her of trying to buy a sweater at Filene's and return it to Henri Bendel. My wife insisted she look up my Grandmother's name in the computer and saw in fact that she not only bought that sweater there, but also is a good customer. The salesgirl was very apologetic after that!

I've run into this in restaurants more than anywhere else. I started to notice it when I was dating my husband--when we started going out, we took turns paying for meals, and the practice stuck. It got to a point where he was still finishing school, but I was working at a job that brought in serious bank. On "my turn," we might go somewhere more upscale. However, at some places, the waitstaff would completely ignore me while fawning all over him, assuming that he would be paying.

When I run into that, I don't go back.

A friend of my dad went to buy a new car wearing ratty, grease stained work clothes.

He was looking a a fairly nice car and the salesperson kept trying to steer him towards a lower price point car.

The guy heard him out and left.

The next day he returned with the same model car he wanted, and showed it to the salesperson, telling him he paid cash up front.

Yes.. have seen the movie, but I answered the way I understood the OP's question.


My best story was years ago when I went into the now bankrupt Circuit City to buy a computer. I was dressed down (probably sweatpants if I can remember correctly..)and had small kids with me. I couldn't get anyone to pay attention to me to save my life and I really tried. I finally asked for the manager, let him know what had happened. When he apologized and offered to get someone to help, I respectfully let him know that I would not spend money there. I just wanted him to know why I was leaving the store and that there might be others that do the same and don't tell him.

Needless to say I was very happy when they went out of business!