The evils of Debenhams and House of Fraser

I have never been one to purposefully devote leisure time to shopping, much preferring to run up hills, drink beer, watch movies or read a book. However I do upon occasion venture into the shops which populate the centre of Milton Keynes. Some of them are good, and some, namely Debenhams and House of Fraser, are, well c**p.

Debenhams' problem is poor quality stock. They charge double or triple the price of stores like Matalan, but Matalan clothes last for years whilst Debenhams clothes fall apart within weeks or months. My wife is now the proud owner of 3 pairs of bust trousers and 3 bust shirts / tops. Buttons fall off, hems come undone. Not what you want or expect. The response to a complaint from my wife was to say that stores offer a 20% off if you are willing to effect a repair yourself. Not really the point, and having a standard response like this shows they know that their products are of poor quality. Don't shop at Debenhams.

The problem with House of Fraser is just with one member of staff in their Milton Keynes branch. I was standing with our daughter waiting for my wife to look at some tops. My daughter was touching some dresses which were hung up, when a rather stuffy lady full of 'children should be seen and not heard' attitude came over stating that our daughter was pulling on the dresses and that she should stop. My daughter clearly wasn't pulling, she was feeling the fabrics, something that all shoppers do. Her hands were clean so I failed to see the problem. We left promptly and won't be buying anything from there again. I'd advise others to do the same. Why spend money in an unfriendly, unwelcoming, anti-child store?

There. I feel much better now. Catharsis via blog post is great.