Right, we were invited to our neighbours' wedding reception last night. It was at 7pm near Stone, half an hour away...I spent an hour trying on various things in my wardrobe having had no luck shopping for something new around Birmingham yesterday. Had no luck in my wardrobe either, so at 5.45pm I was having a meltdown. John came up to get changed and had a mini-meltdown too as he wasn't happy wearing any of his shirts.
Of course, at that time all shops apart from supermarkets are closed. Asda is our nearest supermarket so we got in the car and went there. I immediately saw a dress that was quite nice so took one to try on, hardly believing my luck that I'd found something I liked straight away. The changing rooms were locked, with a sign on the wall nearby saying that they're only open daily between 9am and 6pm. We were 10 minutes too late. This is a 24 hour Asda btw. I found an assistant who said that they couldn't be opened as only management and security have the code for the padlock, so I asked if perhaps a manager would open them. She said she'd find one. She did, and the manager flat out refused to open them up as they can only be used between 9 and 6, not at 6.10 and although she knew the code she wasn't prepared to 'break the rules' and open them. Suffice to say they lost a sale, totalling around £50, as John had found a shirt he liked and had picked up a pair of trousers too and put both back. Yes, I could've bought the dress and returned it after trying it on at home if it wasn't suitable but I'd still have been left with nothing to wear.
From there we headed to Sainsburys, not expecting much as it's not an especially large store, and I found this. Their changing rooms were open and staffed by a lovely lady who even poppped off to find a tape measure to measure John's neck when he was unsure of his neck size when choosing a shirt. Excellent customer service and I'll be emailing Sainsburys to tell them, and I'll also be contacting Asda to complain about their terrible customer service.
We have John's nephew's wedding in September so I can wear it for that too, and I think it'll be wearable with thick black tights, a cardigan or chunky cropped jumper and boots when it gets colder.