Bra shopping is rarely any fun, so it can feel like you've struck gold when you find the perfect boulder-holder for your body.
This is what happened to one shopper, Natalie Brayshaw, who found a great bra in Primark, tried it on and was about to pay when she learned that it had actually been abandoned in the store by another customer.
The student, from Glasgow, has gone viral with her tweet about the incident, racking up more than 28k retweets and 141k likes at the time of writing.
"Tried on a bra in Primark & it was nice so I went to buy it but there was no tag so the guy went to find a supervisor to get a code, comes back & goes 'this isn't ours, it's a swap' so someone has literally left THEIR OWN BRA on a hanger in order to shoplift one AND I TRIED IT ON," she wrote.
tried on a bra in Primark & it was nice so I went to buy it but there was no tag so the guy went to find a supervisor to get a code, comes back & goes "this isn't ours, it's a swap" so someone has literally left THEIR OWN BRA on a hanger in order to shoplift one AND I TRIED IT ON
— natalie (@n_brayshaw) January 31, 2018
Many women, presumably scarred by their own bra-related struggles, shared their sympathies with Brayshaw and the retail staff who have to deal with such behaviour.
😂😂😂😂 That's hilarious, it's hard enough to find a bra that fits well but to discover it's someone's second hand one OML laughed out loud on this x
— Julia Wilde (@LifeCoachSpain) February 2, 2018
— Maxine Shaw (@rhocky__) February 1, 2018
Eww!!!! People in retail don’t get enough credit for the crap they put up with!! pic.twitter.com/Vnc6kXzxRB
— Olivia (@Okiedokie_Liv) February 2, 2018
Judging by the avalanche of sympathetic responses Brayshaw has received, swapping old clothes for new ones without paying – also known as stealing – is rife on the British high street and in the US.
Hun people literally do the same thing at Debs, last week I found a Matalan top in the changing room.. pic.twitter.com/VSKSe0W1S8
— Dani Spencer (@_danivictoria) February 1, 2018
This reminds me of the time when I was shopping with my nan and I put her old shoes on the sale rack while she was trying stuff on and a lady put my Nan’s shoes on and went to buy them and my nan had to tell her they were actually her old shoes
— purple orange Ⓥ (@isthatsophiep) February 1, 2018
Happened to me in TJ HUGHES Middlesbrough liked a pair of boots opened the box to try on the other one and there’s a pair of stinking sweaty old boots in there. Called the assistant who rolled her eyes and said oh lord. Not again!!! @stephbreakfast 😂
— Julia (@Bowes4Julia) February 2, 2018
I caught a woman doing this at Walmart when I worked the fitting room!! Like, girl I can see your deodorant stains on it😫😖
— Bailey 😋🌀 (@baileymkbeads) February 1, 2018
I used to work in retail. I've known people to leave their old bras to take new ones way back in 2002. But not actually known anyone to try one on before 😂
— Kim Louise (@Kinseys_speaks) February 2, 2018
I used to work in Topshop, people did this with jeans All. The. Time! With a bra is proper nasty though!
— Jodie (@JodieTip) February 2, 2018
Primark apologised to Brayshaw, adding in a statement that the store aims "to provide... an enjoyable shopping environment at all times and we are sorry that we didn't on this occasion."
If ever there was an argument for checking the tags more diligently before trying something on, this is it.
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