Rude Southampton Shopkeeper says your too fat to try on my clothes

“Your not trying that dress on, your far to large for it and clearly aren’t a size 10-12. I don’t want my stock ruined by you!” Those were the words used by a shop owner of Lillies, Marlands store, Southampton to Sophie Roberts today.

Friends Charlie Maidment and Sophie Roberts were out shopping in Southampton today looking for an outfit to help boost Sophie’s self confidence but Sophie was left sobbing and extremely violated.

The pair entered the Lillies store in the Marlands, Southampton and after 10 minutes had picked out three dresses Sophie wished to try on so they headed to the changing rooms.

Upon heading to the changing rooms the owner then walked out from behind the counter and snatched a dress from Sophie’s selection. ‘Your not trying that dress on, your far to large for it and clearly aren’t a size 10-12. I don’t want my stock ruined by you.

Shocked and horrified at what had happened Charlie asked the store owner to repeat what he had said. He repeated what was previously said and continues to add that it’s people like Sophie that ruin his stock and puts him out of pocket.

Absolutely speechless and near enough in tears Sophie tries to justify her choice for the dress (not that she should have to) by saying it’s a stretchy material, he smirks then giggles and delivers the line you clearly aren’t a size 10 love, it might fit your mate (referring to Charlie) but not you. He is adamant she isn’t allowed to try it on even to prove her point.

Charlie stated; At this point, I demand an apology I think that’s the very least he can do. But instead he claims he’s calling security – I told him to! I knew even they would see how out of order he had been.

Instead he goes next door to the other lillies store and gets a woman who backs him up and starts telling Sophie she needs to be honest with herself about her size and if she wants she can help her in finding a dress for a woman of ‘her size’.

We were then demanded to leave, and told in any shop there we’d of been treated the same.

There were two woman behind us waiting to buy something, he says to us move on now so He can serve some paying customers.

The woman behind me looked at him in disgust and says I definitely don’t want to buy this now, your attitude and customer service is absolutely disgusting and we won’t be coming back!

I called him a silly man, and said he was out of order to say anything about a woman’s size or weight it’s not something that is ever taken lightly. He grew aggressive towards me and began to raise his voice.

Reviews on Google state somewhat of the same behaviour over a long period, here is some of the reviews;

Emma Sutton a year ago- Absolutely awful shop. Mangers are rude and harass you. Wanted to return something as it ripped before i wore it once and they blamed it on my size and have refused a refund!! DO NOT SHOP HERE!! managers have no respect for anyone. Have been reported to trading standards.

Raquel Costa a year ago- The customer service at this store is absolutely atrocious. I attempted to exchange a top that had a stain on it two days after I bought it, it still had the labelon and I still had the receipt from when I bought it. Not only did the manager refuse to exchange the top, he called me a liar and claimed I had washed the top and put the label back on. He then proceeded to insult me by implying I was stupid for buying the top like that in the first place. I am absolutely appalled and disgusted that any store manager would treat his customers like that and I am very upset that I lost almost £18 because I was refused an exchange for a top that was already damaged. I will never visit this store again and would definitely recommend no one else does either.

jessica morgan 39 minutes ago- Manager was so rude to customers whilst I was in the store I left immediately

Samantha Baker a month ago- The customer service was awful and was on the phone on speaker the whole time.when my friend was going to try one of their dresses he said “aren’t you go and ask me first” in an annoyed tone. When we tried to put the dresses back he was like “can you put them here” where my friend asked why and he started getting funny with us. Do not recommend to shop here.

We are pleased to say both Charlie and Sophie have now found an outfit and are off for there night out hoping to get over the shock.

We have contacted Lillie’s for a statement.

Lillie’s is Run by Lilly Arora, and Husband Rajiv Arora, a statement on Visit Southampton states; We are a small independent husband and wife company which started with an idea of doing something of our own. With our background in design and manufacturing, fashion retail was an obvious choice. We have a brick and mortar presence in Southampton and Poole and our customers have been demanding our on-line existence. Although our stock is mostly made in Italy, France and UK, we keep our prices competitive without compromising on the quality.