M&S Open Letter

[amateur51]

I will not hear a word against M & S since they had the good sense not to destroy the case I inadvertently left in their Euston Station branch yesterday, and did not attempt to retrieve for at least half an hour.

What a relief, jean!

It was in the Marble Arch branch of M&S a couple of years ago that I accidentally poked Una Stubbs with my stick and on apologising I realised that it was her, so I told her how wonderful I thought she was as Mrs Hudson in the TV series 'Sherlock' whereupon she flung her arms round my neck, gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek and said 'Thank You!'.

[Beef Oven!]

'Fully-formed' in the sense of having the full complement of rights and responsibilities.There are many things that a person under 16 is not allowed to do by Law. These restrictions are fully removed by age 18. Between the ages of 16 and 18 people acquire some rights & responsibilties of an adult but not all.

It took you all that time to come up with that damp explanation!? Have you been at the Sherry already?

[amateur51]

It took you all that time to come up with that damp explanation!? Have you been at the Sherry already?

As always, I feel momentarily that I should hang my head in shame at not being able to meet your high standards.

But oddly enough, that's not why I'm on this planet.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I never go in M & S. I used to buy nearly all my clothes there and regularly bought food. Then they introduced Per Una and with it a ghetto blaster. I complained, to no avail. Consequently I turned terrorist and located the offending noise polluter, either turning the volume down to zero, or turing it off, or locating the plug and disconnecting. I even told them I was doing it and why. However, they finally defeated me by refurbishing the shop with a piped music system which I couldn't tamper with.

I now shop elsewhere, especially in charity shops.

[Petrushka]

As I've related elsewhere, I find M&S clothes frequently of poor quality and shoddily made. Shirt collars fray in no time, trouser zips don't last five minutes, and socks develop mysterious holes after a few wearings. Country of origin of this shoddy stuff usually turns out to be Egypt, Indonesia or Thailand. M&S quality, once so famous, is now a joke. The trouble is that in today's throwaway society, no=one seems to mind.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

…once proudly advertised as 100% British in origin. What happened there?

[Dave2002]

M and S is an organisation providing goods and services. The issue appears to be about organisations which offer a range of goods and services, yet some of their employees do not wish to participate in the selling of such goods and services. it is plausible that this situation can occur from time to time. A pragmatic solution appears to be that if the employees concerned generally sell most goods and services without objection, that they be allowed to avoid being involved in the sales of some specific goods and services.

I believe that this is what M and S has done.

To test the ideas out, consider various goods and services. There are two particular cases.

1. Goods and services which "you" would not wish yourself. "You" have no objection to providing the goods and services to others.

2. Goods and services which "you" would not wish yourself, and also "you" would not wish others to have or participate in.

Most reputable firms offer goods and services which are generally acceptable. Some hypothetically possible goods and services might be illegal,
so we may assume that most employees would not offer them. In the particular case of selling alcohol, it is not illegal in the UK (subject to some constraints) for an organisation to offer this service. This is where the conflict arises.

[Ferretfancy]

As I've related elsewhere, I find M&S clothes frequently of poor quality and shoddily made. Shirt collars fray in no time, trouser zips don't last five minutes, and socks develop mysterious holes after a few wearings. Country of origin of this shoddy stuff usually turns out to be Egypt, Indonesia or Thailand. M&S quality, once so famous, is now a joke. The trouble is that in today's throwaway society, no=one seems to mind.

Their shoes aren't much good, but they are the only store in the West End that still sells wool mixture socks. The thing that always slightly depresses me in M&S is the familiar sight of middle aged men being told what to wear by their wives on the principle that you can have anything you like as long as it's beige or navy.

[eighthobstruction]

Their shoes aren't much good, but they are the only store in the West End that still sells wool mixture socks. The thing that always slightly depresses me in M&S is the familiar sight of middle aged men being told what to wear by their wives on the principle that you can have anything you like as long as it's beige or navy.

....and in summer soft beige slip ons shoes....yuck

....whooops no politics in post....er....ah....er....um vegans might not want to sell them unless they suedette....

[Flosshilde]

they are the only store in the West End that still sells wool mixture socks.

I prefer wool socks, too. Pity M&S's a're in such boring colours though. John Lewis have some rather livelier ones (but still in single colours, rather than patterns or stripes), albeit a bit pricier.

[teamsaint]

Their shoes aren't much good, but they are the only store in the West End that still sells wool mixture socks. The thing that always slightly depresses me in M&S is the familiar sight of middle aged men being told what to wear by their wives on the principle that you can have anything you like as long as it's beige or navy.

And the behaviour (by the wives) round the men's shirt racks in the sale is awful.
I vowed never to visit M and S at sale time ever again.

edit: No politics in post... I blame the government.

Super Edit. What is all the fuss about in this thread?

[Dave2002]

I like their breakfast cereal with the chocolate bits in. Maybe it's meant for kids, but ...
The food shop at Waterloo sometimes has it, so worth stocking up there when reserves get low.

The dinner deals at weekends are sometimes good.

Some of their wine is good - if you can afford it. Trouble with wine (not just at M and S) is that usually you have to go up into the £10+ or even £20+ regions in order to get something more special, otherwise at affordable levels a lot of wine is merely OKish - and just about bearable.

Otherwise I try to avoid. I am old enough to remember St Michael.

[Beef Oven!]

I like their breakfast cereal with the chocolate bits in. Maybe it's meant for kids, but ...
The food shop at Waterloo sometimes has it, so worth stocking up there when reserves get low.

The dinner deals at weekends are sometimes good.

Some of their wine is good - if you can afford it. Trouble with wine (not just at M and S) is that usually you have to go up into the £10+ or even £20+ regions in order to get something more special, otherwise at affordable levels a lot of wine is merely OKish - and just about bearable.

Otherwise I try to avoid. I am old enough to remember St Michael.

The meal deals are good sometimes, and reasonable plonk comes with.

I'm young, but I still remember St Michael, in fact, I hadn't realised it had gone!!!!

[jean]

...I am old enough to remember St Michael...

But the association came in handy for my local railway station:

[St Michaels Station] opened in 1864 as part of the Garston and Liverpool Railway line between Brunswick and Garston Dock. In 1865 the station and line were incorporated into the Cheshire Lines Committee.

The station closed in 1972 but reopened in 1978 as part of the Kirkby–Garston line of the Merseyrail system. The reopening of the station was part-funded by Marks and Spencer, because of that company's use of the "St Michael" brand; this is recognised by a plaque at the site.