A shopper has spoken candidly of the crushing moment she was cruelly "shamed" by a sales assistant after asking if she could try on a dress in a larger size, with the snide remark leaving her in tears.
Vanessa Spano, 27, had been shopping at an unidentified retailer on Australia's Gold Coast when she asked the store's sales assistant if the dress she liked was available in an XL.
But Spano, who typically wears a size 12 to 14, wasn't prepared for the disparaging response she received.
Recounting the moment to 7Life, Spano said the employee icily replied, "We don't carry your size here", in what the shocked 27-year-old described as "the meanest possible tone of voice".
Stunned by the staffer's response, Spano said she immediately felt "hurt" and "embarrassed", particularly as other shoppers were within earshot at the time of the exchange.
"It made me feel like I don't matter because of my size and that I don't deserve the same level of service as a smaller woman," she told the outlet.
However, that wasn't the only pointed remark the assistant made to Spano. Before the nasty comment, Spano said she flagged down the staffer from the fitting room in the hopes of her finding the next size up in a dress she liked.
"I was like, 'I was wondering if I could get another size in this dress?'" she recalled.
But before she could even finish her sentence, Spano claimed the employee shot her a look and interjected: "Yeah... a bigger size I'm guessing?"
Taken aback, Spano said she politely reiterated she would like the next size up in the garment she was trying on.
"So the girl [then] asks me what size I was wearing and I said, 'I'm wearing a large so can I please have an extra large?'" she continued.
"And in the meanest possible tone of voice, she turned to me and said, 'We don't carry your size here'."
While Spano said she accepts not all retailers carry an array of sizes, she noted the assistant's response had been humiliating - particularly in front of other shoppers in the fitting room.
Lost for words, Spano said she quickly got changed and handed the clothes back to the assistant, who didn't "even acknowledge [her] whatsoever". Feeling humiliated and dejected, she said she then returned to her car and cried.
"If she had just said to me, 'I'm really sorry but unfortunately, we don't have the dress in an XL', I would have been so fine," she explained. "But she was so rude."
The 27-year-old admitted it isn't the first time she has felt discriminated against due to her curvier body, claiming retail assistants often behave differently when catering to "curvy girls".
Having gained weight during the COVID-19 pandemic, Spano said the difference in her dress size has also led to a perceptible difference in how she is treated as a customer.
"Coming out of COVID... it's definitely a whole new experience. Some workers look at you differently and speak to you differently."
She told 7Life that by speaking up about her experience, she hopes her story will resonate with other curvier women who may have been subjected to similar treatment; and is perhaps heard by retail assistants who have been guilty of discriminatory customer service in the past.
"I had to speak up, not only for me, but for all of the other curvy girls out there who get treated this way. All we want is equality and to be treated with respect and kindness."
