Today we went looking for some Sandals. We found the specific brand on the internet and so went to the Sesto ShoeX on Watton Street.

Our first impression of the store was shocking. The store is so poorly merchandised that it looks more like a border's house rather than a shoe store. Clearly someone needs to help this store to eliminate all the extra styles and colour ways that don't fit.

The store is also in shocking condition. The chairs are old and broken and covered in duct tape. It generally looks dirty.

All this can be forgiven with good customer service, but that was the worst of all. There were two employees in the store. A woman who was so busy speaking with a customer that appeared to be a friend that she totally ignored us for more than 10 minutes. Eventually and elderly man came out to help, but when asked for for a size in the style of shoe we were looking for, he looked very unhappy, made a dissatisfied noise, and went off to the back to look. He came back out provided the shoe asked for didn't have the right sizes.

When my wife tried on the shoes she immediately said it was too tight. His response, without humour and with what sounded like an annoyed tone, said "you give up too easily".

When trying on another shoe, the shoes' buckle was not functioning. In order to help, the sales person got down to see what the problem was, only he used my wife's leg to help him get down, leaning on it for support! He didn't ask permission to allow the touch.

This sales experience was not only poor but inappropriate. Customers should never be touched, other than perhaps the feet, without permission. When customers ask for shoes to try on, this should not be responded to with negativity, but rather positivity. Stores should be merchandised to make finding shoes easy, and the store should be easy to navigate. When a customer says that a shoe doesn't fit, that should be taken seriously. Never should this be responded to with negative remarks about the customer not trying hard enough.

An outstandingly poor experience.