Selfridges to offer psychic services!

[Muse]

Selfridges to offer psychic services

By Katie Kilgallen
04/04/2006

Upmarket department store group Selfridges has employed two psychics to work in its Oxford Street branch.

Selfridges claims it is a first in retail. A spokesman said that the store was well on its way to becoming a “one-stop shop for all your needs, including spiritual”.

Selfridges head of home Dawn Rose said: “The arrival of the Psychic Sisters in Selfridges will be especially welcome by people who have always wanted to try psychic services but were bewildered by the choice available and unsure of the quality on offer.”

The “Psychic Sisters”, Jayne Wallace and Christine Murray, started in the store on Monday. Both have experience as television clairvoyants.

A session with the psychics will cost £40 and last 40 minutes and can include tarot and crystal ball readings and help with any issues you may have, including shopping addiction.

http://www.retail-week.com/nav?page=...source=4622497

I don't know what I find the most shocking about this..Could it be;

• That this can be interpreted as a mainstream endorsement of the psychic industry and demonstrates a certain level of irresponsibility on the part of Selfridges.
• How can one determine the 'quality' of a psychic who's talents cannot be proven?
• How can a psychic help with one addiction (shopping) at the risk of creating another (psychic junkie)
• How can these or any other psychics help with 'issues' when both apparently have no training in counselling/ addication etc.
• On that basis alone how can they justify a charge?

:(

[Admin]

It looks like a cynical money-making scheme to me.

This is the sort of thing we'll probably see more of.

At the end of the day they're a business and if there's a market there then they'll cash in.

I had a rant about this issue here: http://www.skeptics.org.uk/commentar...hats_the_harm2

The crazy thing is, there'll probably be a queue of people waiting to get in. :-\

[chillzero]

OK Guys - let's do something about it.


http://www.selfridges.com/index.cfm?page=1039

connect@selfridges.co.uk

By Post
Customer Relations
Selfridges Retail Ltd
PO Box 5157
Leicester LE3 1ZW

I'm going to spend some time thinking of the best wording for an email/letter to them, and ensure I include the best links. I think a good way to start is with quality guarantee issues, and perhaps a nod to the fraudulent psychics act.

[chillzero]

Also:

A session with the psychics will cost £40 and last 40 minutes and can include tarot and crystal ball readings and help with any issues you may have, including shopping addiction.

Are they seriously suggesting that a retail outlet will endorse 2 employees discouraging shoppers from spending their cash there?

???

Somehow, I doubt it.

[Mojo]

...and perhaps a nod to the fraudulent psychics act.

definitely worth mentioning the Fraudulent Mediums Act

... any person who ... with intent to deceive purports to act as a spiritualistic medium or to exercise any powers of telepathy, clairvoyance or other similar powers ... shall be guilty of an offence.

A person shall not be convicted of an offence under the foregoing subsection unless it is proved that he acted for reward; and for the purposes of this section a person shall be deemed to act for reward if any money is paid, or other valuable thing given, in respect of what he does, whether to him or to any other person.

There is a get-out clause covering "anything done solely for the purpose of entertainment" which stage mediums generally rely on, but I would have thought their claim to offer "help with any issues you may have, including shopping addiction" would take them outside "solely for the purposes of entertainment".

The "intent to deceive" bit might be difficult to prove, but they do seem to be claiming to offer an actual service rather than something that could be regarded as purely entertainment. There are still occasional prosecutions under this act. Should we alert the authorities?

[Mojo]

Are they seriously suggesting that a retail outlet will endorse 2 employees discouraging shoppers from spending their cash there?

At £40 a pop without having to invest in any stock, I don't see why not.

[Muse]

OK Guys - let's do something about it.


http://www.selfridges.com/index.cfm?page=1039

connect@selfridges.co.uk

By Post
Customer Relations
Selfridges Retail Ltd
PO Box 5157
Leicester LE3 1ZW

I'm going to spend some time thinking of the best wording for an email/letter to them, and ensure I include the best links. I think a good way to start is with quality guarantee issues, and perhaps a nod to the fraudulent psychics act.

So pleased that this one's struck a chord. Well done chillzero.

My own email went off yesterday. I await their reply with great interest.

[Jocky]

Great stuff, Muse and chillzero 8)

I've emailed them as well, quoting chunks of the 1951 act and constructing a case for a prima facie breach. The clincher is their claim to

help with any issues you may have, including shopping addiction

This not only undoes the 'entertainment' defence, but also helps to establish an "intent to deceive" which is required by the act. If they're giving counselling to people with serious behavioural problems on the basis of tarot cards and crystal balls, when such methods have (to put it mildly) no proven efficacy in such matters, then they are skating on thin ice indeed.

At this rate, Selfridge's might start to sense a bit of a conspiracy - and they might even decide that the 'Psychic Sisters' are not worth the bother ...

[chillzero]

Item 2 of the act:
(2) A person shall not be convicted of an offence under the foregoing subsection unless it is proved that he acted for reward; and for the purposes of this section a person shall be deemed to act for reward if any money is paid, or other valuable thing given, in respect of what he does, whether to him or to any other person.

£40 per person taken by Selfridges - no doubt the sisters get paid wages... therefore - reward.

[Admin]

I stuck a little rant up on the commentary yesterday: http://www.skeptics.org.uk/commentar...-06#selfridges

Unless they place a 'for entertainment purposes only' disclaimer clearly on display, they're in breach of the fraudulent mediums act.

Unless of course their psychics are genuine.

I can't believe that a company that prides itself on its image has got involved with this. It really discredits them.

[Jocky]

Nicely ranted, John.

The thing that really gets my goat is the claim that these charlatans will be able to counsel people who might actually have a significant problem. 'Shopping addiction' is not a recognised condition as such, but the behaviour it describes can really mess up people's lives (for example, see http://www.oxfordstudent.com/ht2003wk2/news/shoe-dunnit)

How dare they claim that some self-proclaimed psychic can help someone who might be messed up in this sort of way >:( If ever there was a job for a qualified counsellor or psychotherapist then surely this is it. It is not hard to see the potential harm in this.

But then again, maybe Selfridge's don't want them to be helped to shake off the addiction - that would no doubt be bad for profit margins.

[Admin]

I find it hard to understand just how willing some people are to place their complete trust in people who claim this unverified ability. As psychic ability has never been proven, it simply means that they are allowing complete strangers to make often life-changing decisions for them. Decisions that they are not qualified to make.

"One of the most alarming things about the mediumistic racket is how completely some people put their lives into the hands of ill-educated, emotionally unbalanced individuals who claim a hotline to heaven...That people who ask such questions of a medium are risking their mental, moral, and monetary health is a shocking but quite accurate description of the matter."
M. Lamar Keene - The Psychic Mafia.

[Mojo]

Item 2 of the act:
(2) A person shall not be convicted of an offence under the foregoing subsection unless it is proved that he acted for reward; and for the purposes of this section a person shall be deemed to act for reward if any money is paid, or other valuable thing given, in respect of what he does, whether to him or to any other person.

£40 per person taken by Selfridges - no doubt the sisters get paid wages... therefore - reward.

Whether or not the "sisters" get paid is immaterial. The "any other person" bit at the end of that section means that as long as the marks hand over money to somebody the "sisters" would be considered to be acting for reward.

Incidentally, I assume that if anyone was to be prosecuted under this act it would be the "sisters" themselves rather than Selfridges. I wonder if Selfridges could be charged as an accomplice.

[chillzero]

Item 2 of the act:
(2) A person shall not be convicted of an offence under the foregoing subsection unless it is proved that he acted for reward; and for the purposes of this section a person shall be deemed to act for reward if any money is paid, or other valuable thing given, in respect of what he does, whether to him or to any other person.

£40 per person taken by Selfridges - no doubt the sisters get paid wages... therefore - reward.

Whether or not the "sisters" get paid is immaterial. The "any other person" bit at the end of that section means that as long as the marks hand over money to somebody the "sisters" would be considered to be acting for reward.

Incidentally, I assume that if anyone was to be prosecuted under this act it would be the "sisters" themselves rather than Selfridges. I wonder if Selfridges could be charged as an accomplice.

Good catch!
I will be raising that, if I get a response to my email. I asked for a contact to discuss my concerns with, and gave a few questions. If I get a response I will follow up with a few more.

Unless of course the article is incorrect, as I can't find any information anywhere else about it. I am sure they will let us know if that's the case.

No one here living in/near London who could do a little recognisance mission?

[Admin]

Incidentally, I assume that if anyone was to be prosecuted under this act it would be the "sisters" themselves rather than Selfridges. I wonder if Selfridges could be charged as an accomplice.

I think the article said that Selfridges employed the psychic sisters. So I think that they could be prosecuted too.