General Chat

"Racist no - but preconceived idea that a black woman could not afford that bag - yes."

A preconceived idea that a black woman could not afford that bag is absolutely racist - how else could you describe it?

Racist no - but preconceived idea that a black woman could not afford that bag - yes.

I feel sure that this shop is the type that many of us would not even enter as we know we could not afford to shop there. So I am thinking that this woman was very stupid.

Bad publicity for her shop from the one of the richest woman in the world........

My local radio was talking about the Oprah incident, but what came across was not
the fact she was refused the chance to purchase the bag but that Oprah would even consider spending that much on a bag in the first place.

Oprah would have been dressed top to toe in expensive designer clothes. She always is.

A person working in that kind of handbag shop would have recognised the clothes instantly. Racism is the only explanation that makes sense.

I would be surprised if the comment was racist I just think it was a matter of price and thinking Oprah could not afford it , not good sales manner but probably not meaning to insult, Now if I went in that would be the first thing I would expect to hear in fact have had assistant saying, "That is very expensive but we do have a cheaper one" but I wasn't annoyed about it

Years ago we went to Wales on a summer holiday . At that time we had our trusty motorbike and sidecar that on its way there developed a problem that the AA temporary fixed at the roadside but recommended we get a permanent fix asap .

OH found a dealer in the area and we took the it in but was told it would be a several hour wait to get it so we wandered around the area but it was really quite a samll village with nothing to do . We then decided to go into a tea shop for a snack and we went in and were the only ones there.

We discussed what we would have and an assistant hovered BUT then 3 ladies came in too and on hearing us speaking changed to speak in welsh AND the assistant went to them first to take their order.

I was FURIOUS OH was calm down we want to get something to eat but I wasnt happy and walked out leaving him and daughter sitting there.

problem was it was the only tearoom !!

Still annoys me some 40 years later

I think selling items where hire purchase is needed is were the sales person actually makes their commission not on the sale it self

I agree about playing the racist card, The sales assistant probably never gave the colour of her skin a second thought

I think all car salesmen/women must be racist, The sales people always try to sell me a second hand car when im looking at the new ones in the showroom

And they all assume i need credit to buy a new car

Roy

You know what they say in these fancy pancy posh shops that dont display the prices " if you need to ask the price then you can not afford it " :-D


However working in a supermarket 30 yrs ago in the posher part of town, it wasnt a big shop only 1 manager that looked John Mills 1 full time shop assisent who sat on the till filling her nails or playing wiht her hair and taking none stop about her pending wedding the following year, 1 dipsy overweight glass on a chain who had to eat every 15 secs or she would die and talked with a plum in her gob should of retired years ago part time assisent and then me the very jnr ( all the other staff were local and called it a village store Phfffff my a***) I found most of the people who came in to shop wasnt always infact hardly ever paid over the top for anything, they would protest loudly about the price of everything and grab the reduced bargins. Every week a retired couple would come in we called him Captain or was it corpal no Major anyway they would come in the same time of day every friday and buy the same stuff I would have the same conversation with him whilst I weighed his cheese and ham and pate'. He would have to know the exact price and weigh and if it was 1p more war would brake out. Did me head in that place :-(

I heard this about Oprah on radio yesterday, and thought it wasn't so much about race as the assistant thinking Oprah didn't look wealthy enough!! :-D

Wales again oh no :-0...stuck up assistants all over the world unfortunately :-(

Good for you dave!

I suspect that Switzerland is slightly more racist than us due to the 'Guest Worker' visa's they tend to issue.
As the Assistant was willing to show her cheaper bags, she was probably fed up with American Tourists (and other tourists?) who had handled expensive goods in the past without making a sale. Prejudiced, certainly, but if they could afford to travel to Switzerland and had the 'courage' to walk into a high-end shop, they would probably been fairly wealthy.

One of the problems with high end shops is that they don't display the prices. Unless you can turn a label over, you can't tell if its in your price range.

I agree with you Dave.

I also think that most of us have had an experience with a "stuck-up" shop assistant. I remember one time I said I would take an item of furniture & the salesman directed me to the office... he ASSUMED I wanted to set up an account and pay it off!

The woman who insulted Oprah was NOT a good sales assistant!!

A lot of shops have closed in Rhyl, Dave. Was this one of them? Possibly a Poundstretcher now - perhaps they employed the plummy lady :-) ;-)

LOL @ Hayley. I left that alone as I think Dave is very coy about his age ;-)

Wowww 1885 did you know my GGrandparents could you please tell me why people hid in the cellar on the evening of the 1891 census. :-D

I keep hearing of the RACIST snub over Oprah Winfrey bag .

Aprox 1885 I sold up in Middx and moved to wales to start anew , letting my young daughter ( who went with me ) choose furniture , wallpaper etc . we were walking through the town of Rhyl , where we had purchased a little cottage , looking for every-thing . for the home . She saw this dining room set , it was realy nice , fancy , price just over a thousand pounds , I had , because of sale of house , plus all furnishing , abt £15,000 , , £3.000 in my wallet .. -We walked into the shop , I was wearing as normal , Jeans , shirt, trainers , clean shaven , short hair , , shop looked posh , but I ignored this , we requested to look at the set and asked how long delivery , ? - intending to pay cash on the spot . - The female assistant , very dressed up , talking with a plum in her mouth acent , looked at us and said some-thing like , " Let me show you a cheaper set , this will be out of your range " , I said " No " , my daughter wants this one . again , without asking my finances , insisted I look at the cheaper sets . - This upset me , I just got my wallet out , pulled out the money , all in £50, notes , looked at her , told her she should not judge people by their clothes , , I apologised to my daughter , then we walked out . The look on her face was -------- -.
We walked around looking , bought some things , but she was up-set not having the furniture , , by sheer stroke of luck , we were passing another furniture shop and the same set in the window , £850. We could not believe it . - Going into the shop, the lady assistant did not speak posh , but with a Welsh acent , could not be more help-full. - Because I paid cash for it , got a discount as well !

We headed back to the first shop with the receipt , Name of set on it , etc , I waited for the same assistant , then politly showed her the receipt , showing paid CASH ..Her face fell , we turned and walked out .
I did not make a big fuss , nor wanted to . why should I .?

I cannot say racist , even though both assts were Welsh , us English , because the second was so help-full..

We should not jump on the band-wagon , claiming Racist every-time . :-0