The Savemart Blues
I am ashamed to admit I behaved like a Diva today, during the worst shopping experience I have had in my entire life. Admittedly in Morocco my life may have been at stake, but no-one drew blood unlike today. Not only did I suffer an injury, I had my monthly treat taken away! As regular readers will know I loved pre-loved clothing. Savemart are pile them high and sell them cheap. So cheap they staple the labels to the clothes and sometimes they don't take care over it. Up until now I have had no complaints. I love a bargain and Savemart is 5 minutes away. However today was to be a whole new experience.

It started with a pair of jean. THE perfect pair of jeans. The ones that make your ass look like a peach and your legs like Cameron Diaz. I pulled them up, they slid over my thighs and as I buttoned them triumphantly, something sharp and nasty digged into my stomach. As I squealed and unhook the staple from my tender flesh the label came away, but at the time I was more bothered about the trail of blood and the pain.

With a lacerated stomach I proceeded to the checkout. I smiled at the lovely lady and handed her my haul, telling her that even though the jeans had bit me I was happy to buy them. Expecting profuse apologies for my injury, the smile was wiped off my face, when I was told that as with no label attached I couldn't buy them. Even though I had carefully kept the label in the back pocket and they were the same price of every other pair of jeans on the rails.

Not only did I receive no apology for my injury I was then told that I was overeacting when my perfect pair of jeans were ripped from my trembling hands and wheeled away. To be taken to the warehouse and put back on the rails - 'sometime next week'. SHAME you Savemart! With your stray staples and bad customer service. Most of your clients are poor families who can't fight back.

The Savemart Saga continues...
Now here's a novel new way to deal with an unhappy customer - accuse them of self mutiliation. This saga is starting to reach heights of pythonesque surreality. I called the Savemart manager this morning quite willing to accept a verbal apology, only to be accused of having caused the injury myself! Apparently the deep scratch in my stomach could not possibly have been caused by dodgy staple application. Therefore I must have done it myself! Then he hung up on me.

Attaching labels to clothes with staples is simply crazy, especially with children shopping there. It's not the first time I've been poked with a Savemart staple, and only last week Chelfyn put a deep scratch in his leg trying on a pair of boardies. I've often had one poke into my thumb while going through the rails and dread to think how many of those staples have already drawn blood. They are not only dangerous they are unhygenic, but as the Savemart management repeatedly told me this morning,
"We don't care".

Update:
I now have not one but two pairs of the perfect jeans found on Trade Me, both barely worn and without a staple in site.