The recession has been a huge disappointment to me. It’s the lack of haggling I find so hard to come to terms with. When the great financial crisis began we were told we were going to get all sorts of eye-watering bargains. Everything was negotiable, it was said. Even the cheese counter at the supermarket was doing dodgy deals on Stilton. If you offered the man on the fish counter a fiver, he’d slip you an entire cod.
What nonsense. There is no haggling. I haven’t found a single shop that has been prepared to have any of it. I tried it in Zara with a black dress with a hole in the seam. ‘I’ll give you £60 for it,’ I said firmly.
‘I’m afraid this dress costs £80, madam.’
‘Yes, but there’s a hole in it so…’ I winked… ‘Let’s call it £60 and I’ll take it off your hands.’
‘The dress is £80, madam.
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