Customer care - what not to do

I was shopping at one of my favourite high street clothes stores at the weekend in Oxford Street - and learned a lesson in how not to retain customers.I handed a shirt to the cashier, which was clearly priced at £26. The cashier scanned the label and then, without speaking to me, called to the store manager. The manager and the cashier then discussed something in hushed tones, again with no acknowledgement of my presence, before the manger hurried over to the rack from which I'd selected my shirt, grabbed about five similar shirts and flung them on the counter in front of me. She then proceeded to heatedly tell me that all the other shirts were priced at £29 and, therefore, I had no right to expect to purchase my shirt at a lower price. At this point, no-one had told me there was any discrepancy over the price and I certainly had not questioned anything - being totally in the dark, how could I? During the entire process I'd felt like a spare part, then suddenly I was being told very sternly about my statutory rights. I paid without too much argument - it was obvious from the manager's rude performance that it would get me no-where. Needless to say, I won't be returning - why would I with so much choice in mid-price high street fashion these days? It did bring home to me how poor client care can lose a potential regular customer - even when it is completely without provocation. This was a relatively innocuous example of poor service, but it was enough to put me off using the well-known high street brand again - or at least until I've stopped smarting. Matthew Hji