Marks and Sparks

I've been disappointed with Marks and Spencers for some years, they always want to appeal to the young, but most youngsters don't really want to be associated with M & S.
Yes you can count on Debenhams for better quality.

Their sizing is hilarious - like others here I have M and S clothes in two or three different sizes. I was given some vouchers a few months back and couldn't find a single thing to buy, so I spent it in the food hall - which is wonderful. My one purchase this year has been a coat, which was well made, beautifully lined, reasonably priced and had a matching skirt. I do despair of their clothing - the fabrics are usually awful, and they seem to be trying to encourage a revival of nylon for various tops and blouses - yuk yuk yuk.

Yes, M&S have lost it along the way. Sad, as I always liked to go shopping there for my children's underwear when they were little, not so for my grandchildren it seems! But fashion there is now awful, who is their buyer?
Still like their food department though, but don't start me on their coffee shop tables never seem to be cleared and cleaned and yet there always seems to be numerous staff behind the counter chatting! I have written to the store's manager before and H/O but no reply, think it says it all!

M&S trousers used to be good but now sides are like jodhpurs and the lengths vary so much. Recently tried on 'regular' pair that was too long and 'long' pair that fitted. Didn't actually buy either as the sides were twisted which meant the seams were all over the place.

I’m at a loss to know where to get trousers nowadays. M&S seem to be designing for the Kardashians there is so much spare fabric round the hips. ☹️

I have bought my jeans and trousers from M&S for years - because their 16 Long fit like a dream and long meant long (33 inch inside leg). I have tended to purchase about 6 pairs of classic navy/black trousers every two to three years to wear to work with jeans for weekends, walking etc. The last lot of trousers are wearing out already and going mis-shapen (I sit at a desk) and the jeans don't cover my waist (I am too old to wear hipsters now!) Where else do I go to get well-fitting, good-quality trousers???

I popped into my local M&S yesterday as I had some time to kill. Well it looked more like TK Maxx with clothes piled everywhere. I made a hasty retreat...
The only thing I buy there now is underwear which is still a reasonable standard.
I used to love the days when they had counters and all the jumpers were carefully placed and you could find what you wanted.

Quality-wise I'm afraid M&S have hit rock bottom. And they give anyone over 40 the "choice" of either being the late Queen Mother or a colour-blind tart.

This will be the next chain to go down the High Street drain......

Yes, I agree, I think they are so desperate to sell to young people they forget we've been loyal customers all these years. But what they don't realize is their fashion just isn't young and anyway they are too expensive for them.

Henetha + you must live somewhere near me!

May I buck the trend in regards to M&S food. I feel it’s just posh processed food. Might be a little bit better tasting than some cheaper brands, but still highly processed.

I myself am a make from scratch person though and imho nothing tastes as good as home made.

As for their clothes. People have generally covered it. The price point might be appealing but the quality of the fabrics and the cut of the clothes is dire.

One example is:- I used to love their jeans, most ranges including Autograph. Last few pairs (won’t be buying again) it appears the front leg panels are all cut the same size and the sizing goes up or down with the cut of the back leg panel. This means on jeans sizes 12 and above the side seams are slightly placed towards the front rather than down the sides, which affects your silhouette. This is a production cost cutting measure. I’d rather pay a bit more and have correctly sized/fitting/cut jeans.

I was a long standing customer of nearly 40 years loyalty. I havnt always been able to afford shopping there, but I felt indulgent and privileged when I could.

Now I have more disposable income I’m finding the appeal to shop there is gone and I no longer shop at M&S for anything. Boden & Hobbs all the way now for clothes. Food from butchers, fishmongers, bakers and fruit & veg markets.

I’d always regarded MandS’s beauty and makeup ranges as over priced,even though I’d never tried many of the brands stocked! However,after having had the Advent calendar for the past 2 years,I’ve been really impressed with some products,especially hair products like Philip Kingsley and This Works. Even better when they’re included in 20% off offer.

Well I still love MS clothes, underwear and food

I love M & S knickers and bras but not much else. Always bought my sweaters and trousers there, but find he trousers just don't fit properly and the sweaters are all short - I love those that cover my hips as I wear them with trousers not skirts. I now buy most of my sweaters and trousers from TU - really good quality.

Sadly their new stock isn't me they aren't listening they will rue losing us.

They are missing out big time from baby boomers like me who love stylish clothes and have the money to buy them. Whenever I see anything remotely worth a second look there is NEVER a size 12 on the rail - order more if it’s such a popular size! The frequent sea of sale rails says it all. We have the newish 2nd largest M&S in the country nearby and it’s been a huge disappointment since day one, drab clothes and dated shoes.

Chewbacca
Spend them quick ! Vouchers go out of date after two years.

I'm still reeling from the closure of my nearest M&S which I used to love. So I went to their big store in Exeter recently and must admit I couldn't find anything I liked. There are still too many tight legged trousers and I could not find a simple pair of dark straight legged trousers or jeans. And I tried on a padded jacket which was much too short and made me look like a Michelin man.

I bought a few tops from M&S last winter, one is like yours, Maw in pink. Quite pleased with them
Also a navy showerproof jacket.
Later looked round Tesco and saw almost exact copies, much cheaper. Some were made of inferior material.

I lost faith with M&S when their clothing started to be made overseas.
Always first place to go to buy my undies, but the fit varies between items, even if in the same style. Being charged extra because I wear larger than a DD is wrong and don't talk to me about knickers! If I wanted to wear g strings, I'd buy them - but even with full briefs, there is little difference in width between the front and back, so hopeless if you have any kind of bottom!
M&S always used to be renowned for it's more generous fit , but no longer. What is worrying is that those in the executive depts don't seem to realise that the poor quality and poor fit of the clothing is one of the main reasons that their profits have been dropping - they can rebrand as much as they like, but unless they actually get their clothes back to the quality as it used to be, they might as well give up!

I've had a couple of issues in M&S in the last month. I wasn't happy with the sloppy response put together on email by a call centre bod. It was an answer populated with standard paragraphs, none of which responded to the points I'd made clearly. I then asked that the correspondence be escalated to a manager for an overview. Only at that point did I get a meaningful reply from someone who read my details and got to the nub of the problem. She said she understood and gave a personal example of her own. A very efficient and helpful email followed by some vouchers.

I'm no longer happy to be satisfied with the first response from any Customer Services operator if it doesn't take my issues seriously.

On the plus side I've had some exceptional support from Mint Velvet customer services where they've gone out of their way to accommodate a refund which was well out of time according to the til receipt. Top marks!

I too have found M&S lacking in customer service. I ordered the M&S Classic Christmas Hamper for delivery to friends in Lincolnshire (we're in the West Mids) to arrive in time for Christmas.

When I heard nothing from my friends, I checked and there was no trace of my order, despite having received acknowledgement of the order from M&S (fortunately, as it turned out).

By this time (early January) the hamper I'd ordered was unavailable so I chose an alternative. This did arrive with my friends, even though it was two weeks later than planned.

M&S offered a ten pound voucher in recompense. I was not impressed!

loopylou, it was the Bath store that I was referring to, we must live near each other?

I have a problem with the length of trousers too. I tend to get them online from Damart because they have a choice of sizes but it would be nice to get some more interesting ones in a shorter length. I haven't been to Marks for years but when I did the few short ones were too short.

I can't help going back to the flowers that my D sent to me just before Christmas. She'd seen an advert about Christmas flowers at M&S so wired her order through and had told me not to go out as a surprise was on its way.

Large box arrived and as I unwrapped all the cardboard/paper there was this " normal " bunch of flowers with 3 golden cones and a bit of gold nudging. Red roses, a couple of freesias and a lily-shaped flower.

My first thought was that she must have paid a fortune for this, whereas a week earlier I'd bought a £3 bunch of flowers from Asda that well matched it. I felt so sorry for my D when she came next day and saw it-----she said " is that it ?" Then promptly let the company know what she thought about the " huge " bunch of Christmas flowers that they'd advertised. A rip off !

Again I bought another bunch of Asda's £3 flowers yesterday and they're superb, roses, variegated carnations and gypsophilia---which will last 2 weeks, guaranteed.