What was worst customer service experience you’ve ever had with a brand or store?
What was the worst customer service experience you’ve ever had with a brand or store? How do you handle a negative customer service experience? Do you ever swear off a brand?
Barney’s. I ordered two palettes online ($55 each!) but only received one in the mail and received a shipping notification for that palette. I thought they had split the shipment, but after a week with no word, I called to ask when they expected to ship it. They said it was with the first – well, there was no receipt or invoice in the box to begin with, and there was just one. They proceeded to make me feel like a criminal/thief and told me that if I had a problem to dispute the charge with my credit card company (which was just my bank). A couple of years ago, I ordered three pairs of shoes from Nordstrom, which had supposedly been delivered but weren’t on my doorstep when I looked (I imagine it was stolen). I called Nordstrom, and without having to ask, the customer service representative offered to overnight replacements and they would take care of everything else. Nordstrom replaced a $300+ order in two minutes. It took me at least two months to deal with Barney’s.
Thanks to Miss J for today’s question! Have a question idea? Submit yours here.
yup that sounds like barneys, saks and louis vuitton stores also have horrible customer service. also for over a wk now the entire bloggers collection have been in stock at mac online. well all except the purple lipgloss.
Having my IP blocked by a paranoid webmistress because I was browsing too much (Anya’s Garden and the Natural Perfumer’s Guild).
Haha fail 🙁
I have no idea what that is, can you explain? I can’t believe someone would block you… That’s nuts!
I cannot explain another person’s thought processes. All I know is, when I asked, I was told that I was blocked because it was highly disturbing and deeply suspicious that I checked her blog twice a day for three days to see if she had told me why I was blocked.
Again: I cannot explain another person’s thought processes.
IP stands for Internet Protocol… In simplest terms, each computer/laptop/whatever has one and it can be used to identify your location (I think the specific it can get is your town), your internet service provider, etc. This website must have seen her IP in their logs a lot (it logs the time spent on the site), thought something was fishy and basically banned her from visiting their website.
the first time I went to a MAC store, I was completely ignored. I can only imagine how confused and overwhelmed I looked, but instead of helping me, I got ignored by MUA’s who were doing nothing but standing around. I haven’t been back to that store since. I stick to the MAC counters now. I’ve often gotten ignored in Sephora, too, but I know my way around there better. recently, a Sephora employee all but stalked me and acted like she thought I was trying to steal something. I should’ve asked to speak to a manager about her or said something to her, but I’m very nonconfrontational, so I just left the store.
The people at MAC ignore me too! That is until I take matters into my own hands and start opening drawers and picking out the items I need. Then they get all mad and are like “You should have just asked!” So frustrating.
I once got treated really rudely by a MAC counter MUA. She was really pushily insisting to me that one of the permanent lineup of lip glosses was “EXACTLY THE SAME!” as the limited edition Strange Potion (which had sold out at the time) – I told her no thank you, but she continued to insist “BUT THEY’RE EXACTLY THE SAME!”. She may as well have said “BUY THEM, DAMMIT!”. I’m scared to go back to that counter now.
Yes! Sephora always tails and stalks me every time i go in. Ugh 🙁 makes me feel rushed and unwelcome.
This is so true! One time I rushed into a Sephora trying to grab a brow brush (I was on vocation and forgot to bring it), the lady just tailed me everywhere as if I was gonna steal something. And when I was looking at the brushes, she just STOOD RIGHT NEXT TO ME and watching over me.
I was so pissed that I had to tell her to give me some space.
I hate when clerks follow me around. If they do start, I’ll drag out my time even more. Eventually they leave me alone haha.
I once used a similar technique on an SA that would not stop asking me questions. I gave her short answers and barely made eye contact. What seemed like half an hour later I high-tailed it out of there, practically wounded from the billion questions she asked me.
She asked my favourite colour, whether it was my birthday, if it was somebody ELSE’s birthday, if I’d shopped with them before, if I liked purple, if I wanted a newsletter, if purple was my favourite colour, if I was having a nice day, if I wanted to see a catalogue -ARGH MAKE IT STOP!
Ugh I hear you on MAC, first time iwent to the MAC near my house I was their only client and got ignored by all 4 MUAs and when i walked to one and asked for help he sounded like I was a bother….they weren’t doing anything!!
I have tried going to MAC several times sicne then but I always get ignored so now I unconsiously just avoid the brand altogheter. They aren’t as great anyway, plenty of other nice make up brands out there.
I actually prefer it when the MUA’s don’t come up to me and start asking questions and stalking me, I’d rather just have them help me if I ask a question. I’ve never really experienced TERRIBLE customer service.
I also prefer when the SA/MA doesn’t come up to me! I mean, greeting me is great, and an occasional check-in if they feel so inclined, but if I say I don’t need help at the moment and just want to browse then I mean it! Most of the time my MAC girls are great, but there was this one that stalked me the entire time I was there and interjected every single time I picked something up. “Ohhh, that’s so pretty, you’ll just love that. Are you going to get it?!” I don’t know why they don’t take the hint and back off when you nicely say you don’t need help and want to test products alone.
I have been treated horribly at MAC before. The saving grace is their other crew is super nice.
Sephora is always so strange, lol. When I need someone, I take like ten laps around the store trying to find an employee. When I’m just doing swatches, three different people ask me if I need help!
Here in New Zealand, most brands like NARS and MAC are only available in department stores at counters. I swear every time I’ve visited a counter, the shop assistants there have given me the dirtiest looks because of my age (I’m 16). Yet if I was a professional looking 40 year-old woman, they would be fawning all over me. Even worse, when I’ve purchased something that’s quite expensive, I got condescending remarks like “Oh, do you realise how much this is?”. Service that is vile, yet I can’t buy these products in other places.
That is so sad! It may not be your age though… I am in my mid-twenties and I get rude service at the MAC counters here in the states as well. Are you able to buy the products online? Nothing like trying them on in store though… Sigh.
Ouch! I know how you feel. I get it all the time too. (I’m 17). Prices here where I live are very high as well and it seems like the snooty attitude is way too common. I get lots of snooty looks from brands like MAC and some Sephora SAs. I think service here suckc in general. It’s hard to find good service so when I do, I’ll keep going back to that counter.
Oh my goodness! Me too, I went to Sephora last night and they creeped on me like I was going to steal. Just because I am 16, does not mean Im not willing to pay for more expensive items. But I was mad and went to Lancome in Macy’s, where they dd my makeup and treated me like a customer.
I’m 16, and the first time I went in to MAC I had no makeup on, I was ignored and they gave me weird looks. I asked for help choosing a foundation shade (that was the reason I didn’t wear makeup that day), but they just went to the other customers.
When I went back a few weeks later, with makeup, they treated me good. It’s like they don’t think you’re worthy of their help if you don’t wear makeup at the time, haha…
Oh, I hate that. I’ve even gotten that attitude while buying some Cinnabons at a rest area (“You know they’re $4 each, right?”) when I was 23. I guess I just look broke.
Glad you had a good experience with Nordstroms! I unfortunately did not. I order the coveted MAC marine life highlight powder from them the hour the to the beach collection came on their site. The order conformation e-mail said to allow one to two weeks for shipping. After two weeks still no package and the tracking link wasn’t working. I emailed the store and asked them why my package hadn’t arrived yet. That’s when they told me that when I ordered the product they didn’t actually have one in stock, so they had nothing to give me. I was furious that they never told me because now it was two weeks after the collection came out so I couldn’t get it anywhere else. I ended up paying twice the original price for it on Ebay. They gave me a code for free shipping but I was pissed off after what happened I never want to shop there again.
ULTA. I have one very near my house and visit constantly due to my blog, and their constant $3.50 a purchase coupons help my addiction. Several store associates and even a manager were hateful to me after I made a return. The word “snotty” doesn’t even begin to cover it. I don’t need a polish I already have, so I returned a few times in brand new, unopened condition. They must not have liked that because eventually they stopped greeting me, and then the rudeness got worse. Once, an associate actually told me “not to touch” polishes I was looking at on a rack.
After the manager was rude to my mother and grandmother, I finally had had enough. I contacted customer service and spoke with a very kind representative. He included in his email to corporate that I actually provide a measure of free advertising on my blog- his words, as I did not expect him to bother with that, though it is true. Four days later I received a personal call from the local district manager, who was extremely apologetic and sincere. I was offered a gift card to try them out again, and agreed, but I’m not sure that I’ll go back after that. Maybe to a different store, given the sweetness of the other Ulta employees I spoke with, but never to that particular store. It’s sad that a few people can make an entire company seem unappreciative of it’s customers.
I have the same problem with one Ulta store as well. I live 50 miles away from that store, I have driven there very often during the holiday season due to the gift shopping, I did also make a few returns with unwearable/new conditions, however, the associates and even the store manager treated me as a criminal that they though I was doing the returns just for fun. They asked me if I talk to any of the employees before I make a purchases so that I would be satisfied and not make the returns any more. For god sake, how do I want have fun by driving 50 miles one way while the gas price is so high? I havent been back since then, I stick with Sephora.
Macy’s. At the M.A.C. counter. I went to turn some empties in for the back 2 m.a.c., and the girl at the counter accused me of bringing in fake products, when in fact, they were limited items from the pro store. She had the nerve to argue with me in front of all the customers, even though i actually provided her with proof that they werent fakes. I was so insulted, that i went home and called her regional manager. The manager confirmed that i was right, and the girl was wrong, and when she confronted the girl, she LIED about how she acted to me. Thats ok, the store had security cameras, and it confirmed my story. The girl got suspended, and macys sent me a bunch of gift certificates and free makeup services. While ive used the gift certificates, after i used them, i never went back.
you seriously never went back after management corrected the problem?
i can deal with a snotty salesperson, but the real problem is bad management. if someone’s having a bad day or there was a hiring mistake that’s one thing, but if there are continuous problems with customer service that’s not fixable.
Yeah…if she was having a bad day, she really shouldn’t have taken it out on you or at least admit to her awful behavior when confronted. And if she didn’t recognize the products, she could have called a PRO store or something.
I didn’t know you could use empties from limited editions for back to mac. Or even PRO stuff. That’s good to know…
You can B2M everything that has a B2M sign on the flap of the cardboard box. Sets of Minis (like lip gloss or pigments) count as one item.
It does not matter whether it´s pro or LE, as long as the sign on the box says B2M, you should be good. Only not B2M-able are products that get used up totally, like pencils which you sharpen. (Also in some areas, the pro-pans are not valid, because you don’t pay for the plastic packaging the first place).
That is one of the reason I keep the boxes of all MAC-items; if anyone would comment on an item not being counted for B2M I could prove the opposite by showing them the boxes, too.
Wow, that was so rude of her. Even though the management fixed the problem, but the aftermath of that one extremely bad experience does linger. I would not go back if I was in your situation too. Arguing with customer and then lying about what she’s done? Some one needs a lesson in proper manners. Good thing the store had security camera.
Hands down, Sephora at my local mall. the employees were very unfriendly and rude when i asked if they could help match me to try foundation samples and just made me feel very unwelcome. if it wasnt the closest sephora to me i would not step foot in there again.
Definitely!!! Inglot!!! I ordered 3 palettes and 17 eyeshadows but one eyeshadow wasn’t coming,, so I sent lots of emails and tweets but nothing happened… 🙁
(even though I live in Delaware, but shipping was so late..)
I had the same problem with Inglot! They shipped all of my stuff extremely late, and when I emailed them about my products, they never responded.
I recently went to pick up Force of Love lipstick, which I had pre-order. Instead I got Clarity es! I told the MUA that Clarity was from many months back, and I cancelled my pre-order over the phone. Apparently my pre-order of clarity was not cancelled and my credit card was still charged. And since that es came out in July of last year they couldn’t refund my money today. Also the MUA who originally sold and cancelled my order was no longer working there…I wonder why! So now I’m stuck with a MES that I don’t want and had to pay 20$!
I hate when customer service accuse people of trying to steal. I had an issue with birchbox, my box with shipping info inside was sent another persons box she actually called me to tell me (she was very nice) when I called birchbox they almosted sounded like they wanted her to ship it to me. Then on top of that I had a issue with a nail polish I bought from them using my points. As were with Mac I was shipped the wrong eyeshadow and not only did they send me the right one they also let me keep the wrong one ^_^….though I’ve heard horror stories about Mac as well.
Barneys was terrible. But I do need to say kudos to Nordstrom and MAC online. They sent me the wrong studio sculpt shade and sent out the right one and told me to keep the other one.
I love Nordstroms the whole company is just amazing with great employees! I prefer to shop at the MAC counter in there because the ladies are so much nicer! In the MAC store the ladies just ignore me the whole time Im looking around so I normally just leave because they don’t help me with anything and go to the counter. Granite I am 15 years old but what those ladies at the MAC store didn’t know was that I had a $300 gift card in my wallet to spend there…
Agreed. I actually look forward to my visits to Nordstrom.
My worst experience really has being ignored at a MAC store although the counter in Macys is perfectly fine. But I’ve moved on from MAC from all the onslaught of collections. I’ve had a very good experience with Nordstrom as well. I ordered 2 items which disappeared, UPS claimed to have delivered them but they were not where they were supposedly left. I was worried they would think I was a crook but they were actually very nice about it. One item was sold out so they refunded my money for that and resent me the second item, express no less to make sure I go it. No charge for express either. Good customer service = more purchases!
I got into MAC when I was 17, and at the time I wasn’t aware that there was a MAC counter at my local Nordstroms 4 miles away. So, when I got my license I would drive 25 mins from home to the Dallas Galleria mall, that’s how I’d always get their products. I was 19 when the Venomous Villains collection was released and I wanted to go to buy a bunch of the collection. Yes, most was for me, but I was also buying some pieces to sell on eBay to try to make some of the money back. The store was packed and I couldn’t get an employees attention to help me, I remember it being VERY understaffed. I knew what I wanted, so I thought it be ok to help myself and open the drawers where the products were store. I started making a collection of a few hundred dollars worth of product I wanted to buy. I was still on my knees picking out boxes when an employee came up, and in a VERY snotty, rude voice “asked” what I was doing and that I’m not supposed to be opening the drawers, she slammed the drawer I had open. It escalated and I was accused of trying to shoplift, she then called mall security. They took my to the back of the store and I agreed to having the mall cop search my bag and coat to prove I wasn’t stealing. I then purchased all the product, and left very embarrassed. Didn’t want to fight about it until after I cooled down and hid my face for a bit. The next morning I call the store and asked to speak with the GM. She offered me a $100 MAC store credit and said that the girl would get a probation. I now ONLY ever use the MAC counter at my Nordstoms. Even when Nordstroms doesn’t get specific collections, like the Iris Apfel, I refuse to go. Fortunately, I also found out there was another MAC store nearby, but I’m still kinda turned off from buying MAC products in a MAC store.
I can’t help but symphasize with the MAC employees…
Definitely Benefit! The Benefit store in Islington (London). They had a special free (but ticketed) event a few years ago and I got two tickets for my sister and I. They had cupcakes, drink, a goodie bag and free make-overs, but the make up artists were horrible, and by that I mean incredibly rude. They snapped at us, rolled their eyes at my sister, and treated us like idiots. The event was enormously overcrowded so I guess they were stressed out, but they were so incredibly rude they ruined what was meant to be a nice sisters’ day out. I haven’t bought a Benefit product since. I get that they were busy but their customer service was a total joke- and as far as I know, Benefit is famous for the quality of their service!
I can’t believe some of these stories though. I guess mine’s not as bad because I didn’t lose any money! They just wasted my time. I’ve never ordered make up online, and I feel really bad that so many of the readers have been ripped off financially. Maybe next time we should ask where the best customer service experience was, to cheer ourselves up 🙂
I agree!!! Barneys by far has the worst customer service. They do make you feel as though you are a criminal and they do not notify you of what is going on. I really try to avoid purchasing from Barneys via mail if at all possible. I had the same scenario where Fed Ex just did not deliver it to the right address (I did not get the package at all even though it said it was delivered) and Barneys was awful, they said there was nothing they could do, and to replace the items, they would lose money etc. It was just a nightmare. And Nordstroms does have the best customer service indeed!
Forever 21!! I ordered a few things from their website and never received them. Finally I called and they told me that since Purolator didn’t have my buzz code (F21 hadn’t put it on the box) my items had been shipped back. Since it was their mistake they would either refund my purchase or ship it again. I agreed to have it shipped again. This time, they included my buzz code, but they shipped it to my BILLING adress which is in a completely different city. When I called them to tell them about their error, they said they’d used the only adress I’d provided them with (and yet the first time it was sent to the right address?). It had now been three months since I had ordered, and they told me that if I wanted my package sent to my shipping adress, I would have to pay again for shipping. Needless to say, I asked for a refund, and I won’t be ordering from them again anytime soon.
The employees at my local Ulta are really ready to help a customer out, even if it means they leave the customer they’re currently talking to :-/ I was asking about mascaras one day and the woman who was assisting me just flat out walked away from me mid-sentence and went to help a woman who was just browsing eyeshadows and gave no indication she needed any assistance. I walked clear to the opposite side of the store after that and pretty much avoided her, even if there was a chance she would come back and “finish” helping me.
Online, I ordered from Too Faced and will never order from them again. I ordered two leopard print cosmetic bags (same exact bag, just one for me and one for my cousin). I got my box and the invoice was marked quantity two but I only received one! It took me three weeks to finally get a replacement, and that was after several phone calls and e-mails. Then one day, out of the blue, I receive an e-mail that’s one sentence long saying they’re shipping me my other bag. No apology for the delayed response, no communication indicating they were in the wrong, and no consolation for the error. Just a simple “We’re sending you your item. It will arrive in x – X business days. Regards, Too Faced Cosmetics” At least they gave me the item I ordered, but since they didn’t even make an effort to apologize or make up for their error, I will never buy another item from them.
MAC online, period.
At one point, I sent back about 10 items from the Wonder Woman collection and a couple of other items as I had ordered doubles and realized I didn’t need them. I sent the items back in a box that was insured with tracking, as they were worth well over $200. Well, after a couple of weeks, I noticed a small refund from MAC on my checking account. I called them, and they stated they never had received the Wonder Woman items, even though they were in the same box as the other items they had returned. I was angry, saying how could they miss 10 items from a collection with such distinct packaging. They finally connected me to their manager, who was also not very helpful. I explained to her the situation, as well as the fact that I had insured the box for a certain amount that was equivalent to the price of the makeup I had returned, even sent her the receipt for the shipping and insurance. She in turn asked me for the weight of the box. How would I have known to have kept a record of the parcel’s weight?! Long story short, after weeks of staying up well past midnight to call MAC (big time difference where I am), they finally told me they couldn’t help me since I couldn’t tell them the weight of the box so that they could verify that I had sent the items. I couldn’t claim anything under USPS insurance as they had received the parcel and I was out a whole bunch of money. They are HORRIBLE.
That sounds like an absolute nightmare! I honestly just don’t know how they get away with things like this. I would never even think of recording the weight of my parcel. When you return something you just don’t expect to go through something like this! At least you’ve learnt a valuable lesson now I suppose is the only good that can come out of this!
I had to call MAC three times to ship a product I ordered online. I placed an order, one of the products didn’t come in the box, so I called to have it shipped out ASAP. I received the box, the product was damaged, and by damaged I mean obliterated into a fine dust that was basically everywhere inside the package. I call again to explain this is the second time there’s been an issue. This chick mumbled her name into the phone and muttered the entire time speaking. She took a rude and accusatory tone through the whole conversation, too. She got all pissy with me because I said the signature on the packing slip wasn’t initials at all, but just a squiggle. She got pissy that I didn’t take the issue up with the shipping company, but there was no damage to the box, and the shipping company only tends to take care of those issues if there’s clear damage to the package. Then, she talked to me in an accusatory tone when I said it was crushed to bits, and then had the audacity to ask if I could just use it as is. Anyway, it was shipped a third time, and was the wrong shade. I called again, but only to ask about something on the slip that came with the package. I was just over it, and didn’t even want to deal with the situation anymore. When I called, though, the woman was the woman who helped me the first time (She was the only one who wasn’t rude to me.). She asked if I got it, and I told her the whole long story. She truly seemed appalled, and offered to send it to me again, but I thanked her and said that I didn’t know if I wanted to go through the trouble; told her I didn’t want her in trouble and that I’d already basically been accused of trying to get free product. She had the manager call me, and what does the manager do? Well, she basically acted like it was my fault. No apology, no offer to send it again, no offer to refund my money, and just said, “Well, can you just use the one you were sent?” She had the audacity to act like the whole situation was my fault. I mean, how freaking tacky can you be asking someone to use a damaged product or a product that they sent the wrong shade of?!
Looking back, I should have had her send it to me or refund my money, but I just didn’t want to deal any longer. I honestly felt like they were going to sic the cops on me or something since they acted like I was doing something wrong the whole time, lol.
And no, I don’t boycott. I would if it somehow impacted them, but it doesn’t. Not buying products I like just feels like I’m punishing myself. I hate when companies act like their customers are expendable and the customers should bow down to them.
Thanks for featuring this question, Christine! I want to know, has anyone verbally flipped on a CS rep in a situation like these ones?
Actually, I just remembered an even worse experience that I’d like to share. I went in last summer to get my hair cut short because it was getting too hot having it so thick and mid-back. I get thick, dry, scaly/flaky patches of skin due to a medical condition. It’s a struggle and work in progress to find the right meds and products to help it, and it’s something I’m extremely self-concious about. When meeting the cosmetologist, the first thing I did was make her aware of this and told her that it’s not contagious, that it’s not lice, etc. It’s just dry, dead skin cells that build up due to a medical condition, and it does get aggravated by too hot water and certain products. She used very hot water until I asked her to turn it to lukewarm. I told her not to use any shampoo/conditioner that was mentholated, but she did. She basically did everything possible to aggravate my scalp that I told her would. She was almost finished straightening my hair when she told me to hold on, and she ended up grabbing the woman who checks her work (Beauty College), and this woman is rifling through my hair and says, “I’m checking you for lice.” I had to explain my medical condition all over again, which she completely ignored, talked down to me like she knew better than my doctor, and acted as if I was a leper. She was saying all this so loudly in front of so many people, and they were throwing disgusting looks my way. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more angry and humiliated in my life. It took all the strength I had not to scream and not to cry.
I have not and will not get my hair done anywhere ever again after that experience. People seriously need to use some common sense before speaking and acting…
That’s AWFUL to hear Miss J!
But unfortunately people are just like that, especially when they are afraid of “catching” some unknown or even known disease. It’s only out of fear that they act so obnoxiously. Many times in my high school years, I’d be completely humiliated because of my acne. I had terrible cystic acne and there were days when my face would be covered with huge welts that had pus blisters popping up on the surface.
I was also in varsity cross country and track and after and during practice, we’d wipe our faces with towels. People frequently shared these towels, which understandably isn’t the most sanitary thing to do but it’s just sweat, and hey it’s just more practical, so that not everyone had to carry a towel. Well, several times, the other students, looking at my face, would be like, “Ew. Keep away from me. I don’t want to catch your leprosy… even though they knew that I just had bad acne.” Things like that happened quite often.
I know that it hurts, but in the end, it just allows you to stand alone more strongly and resolutely. You’re kind of like tempered steel: words and actions like that are empty; through your hardships, you are or will be more resilient and that’s something that’ll allow you to do endure so much more than other people. But I’m sure you knew that already! 🙂 Keep working it, Miss J!
Thank you for the reassuring words, John. 🙂 Sharing my story was more to say, “If you are someone acting like this, cut that s***, it ain’t cute, and you look like an ignorant a**hole!”
I totally get people’s fear of “catching” something, which is why I always state first thing what’s up, so there’s no issue, but these people were just stupid as f***! My dry skin condition is mostly due to endocrine conditions, so pretty sure no one can catch my sucky genetics, LOL. I just don’t do well with stupidity/ignorance.
Miss J, I’m so sorry you had to go through that. I have complicated skin conditions myself so I can relate to how people either think you are making up your skin condition or you just have incredibly bad diet or habits. I’m going to scream if one more person tells me to try cutting sugar to see if my skin conditions get better. 🙁 I can’t believe this sort of behavior was tolerated. I’m so sorry for how you were treated. Hope you can find an understanding hairdresser who will work with you. *pats*
That is horrible and I can’t believe they did that to you. I feel really bad. I don’t think everywhere would behave that badly; there must be hair salons where people aren’t so bleeping rude and ignorant.
Thanks, DP. Please feel bad for them, though, and not me; I think they need sympathy more than I ever will cuz ignorance and stupidity are far uglier disorders, lmao. And no, not everyone behaves like that at all; that was the first experience of the kind. First thing I explain at salons when it comes to hair is that issue, and from that point there’s never been an issue until that day with those people. Thankfully, I’ve learned to cut my own hair, so I don’t need to explain that to people anymore.
Ulta’s hair salon and 20 minute facial spot treatment. I went there thinking if I spend 40 bucks I might get a decent hair cut. When I walked in my hair was down to my butt, when I left it was upto my shoulders. I told her before even sitting in the seat not to cut it too short, needless to say, she cut it too short and to top it off, she butchered it. I left there crying. I called the next day to have my hair cut done by the lead hair stylish and thank goodness she knew what she was doing because she was able to fix my choppy hair. I also had reward points for a free facial, and let me tell you, never never get a facial from Ulta. They reuse the same Clarisonic brush head on all their clients. I own a Clarisonic Mia2 and if I’d known that’s what my facial would consist of, I’d never have wasted my points on that. Also, she was rough scrubbing my skin while using the salon’s dye stained towel on my face. I broke out the next day and now have painful acne on my face. Makes me cringe thinking of that experience.
I also had a very bad experience at an Ulta salon. The stylist was supposedly a lead stylist but seemed very unorganized and sloppy, she didn’t section my hair and she blowdried my scalp more than my hair. After telling her my scalp hurt, she would stop herself from doing it but when she went back to doing it again, she kept saying “oops, sorry” “sorry”. Plus to make matters worse, with the way the seats were set up I had some snotty woman staring at me and laughing at all the misery I was in. If that isn’t bad enough, the stylist kept commenting on how thick my hair is, not in a complimented way but in a “wow that is gross” sort of way. Then she kept saying things about how the hairdryer is going break and how her arms were getting tired, etc. The snotty customer across from me got a laugh at those too. And just to make it clear, she wasn’t joking with me either, I can take a joke pretty well. It was clear she was just being insulting and seemed to be in a crabby mood or something. I left feeling pretty humiliated and needless to say I never went back there again.
That’s really terrible about your “facial” experience. A dye stained towel? Crazy. I used to be curious about those and I have to say I’m glad I never went to get one.
One time at a make up counter I was talking with an employee about a product. She noticed my boyfriend off to the side looking bored and offered him some candy. He still think she was implying that he was fat.
This made me LOL so hard hahahhah
lol
Maybe this : when at Sephora’s the security told me I was not allowed to help myself… Well, it was the last straw because when I go shopping there I exactly know about the rules and terms ! Another time I was asked to open my handbag. I hate that kind of things.
I’ve had pretty poor service from Sephora. I have two relatively close to me and the one at the more high end mall tends to have horrible customer service. I assume it’s because I look quite young (I’m in my mid 20s and often get mistaken for being in my teens) and don’t really wear most of the brands carried in that mall. I’ve actually approached a sales associate before and had her look me up and down then turn around and walk away without saying a word. I’ve also had sales associates edge their way in front of me as I’m sampling/swatching products to help someone else, no excuse me, nothing, just suddenly they’re there blocking the products, like they’re trying to get me to stop touching things. Given how much of an Urban Decay junkie I am though, swearing off Sephora isn’t really an option for me.
OH! Can I FINALLY tell my NARS story?! LOL! It’s going to sound SO trivial when I type it out I know… but it bugged the HELL out of me at the time:
About a year after I started making videos on YouTube and everything was going well, I started reaching out to cosmetics companies and start building a relationship with them as a reviewer (most companies are actually friendly and some even excited to work with you).
At BEST I was ignored at NARS. When I COULD get somone on the phone I was told things like, “The PR department doesn’t have a direct line, there’s no way to talk to them.” Once I made fun of and laughed at (I sh*t you not… ACTUALLY LAUGHED at) when I told someone why I was trying to get in touch with NARS PR. I remember this because I have NEVER before or since had to say to someone, “Don’t laugh at me. That’s rude!” Not my snappiest comeback but I was stunned at the time.
But it doesn’t stop there… when I finally DID manage to reach someone in their PR department the woman on the phone (who was very find of interrupting me with single-word answers to every question I had) said she would take my information but to not expect a call back. Frustrated I asked for someone else I could talk with and she told me “no one here will talk to you.” Again… I sh*t you not. I actually repeated it back because I couldn’t believe what she actually said but yes… it was true. She said it and apparently she meant it.
Needless to say I have no products by NARS. Not a single one. The way I see it until Francois himself calls me to personally appologize, they can take a flying leap. Not that I’m bitter about my experience or anything 😉
That’s really awfull of them Dusty, even if they want to say no to you there are nicer ways to do it. That’s no way to treat a person, if i were you i wouldn’t buy from them even if Francois sent me roses :P.
I’ve never bought a NARS product, but maybe I’ll join you in this boycott. Dusty’s honor means more to me than NARS does.
narsies lost much when they ignored you 🙂
My worst was also Barneys! They sent me an eyeshadow with a big chip in it. I had to talk to 3 different people. They wanted photos and said they would review it and get back to me. They also wanted me to mail it back. I was done with Barmeys after that!
Is it a shock to say mine was at Sephora? It’s not? Didn’t think so. I think I speak for all of us when I say I don’t need to elaborate.
Barry M. A couple of years ago I ordered a stack of nail polishes, dazzle dusts, bronzer, lipsticks etc. Everything was badly packaged and one bottle of nail polish broke and leaked over everything. I tried to get in touch with their customer service people for about 5 months to see if I could get a replacement polish, given the shoddy packaging was to blame and not the postal system. I tried emails, their website, twitter, Facebook, the customer service phone number. Nothing! Up until then I’d been using Barry M products since the early 90s, but I stopped buying their products from that point. It just irked me that they couldn’t even acknowledge my messages seeking their advice, regardless of whether or not they would have sent a replacement polish. I know there are more important things in life and Barry M polishes hardly cost the earth, but this struck me as a pretty basic customer service ask.
/rant
The Mac store in Oslo City. Worst behaviour ever!
i never walk away from the bobbi brown counter here without feeling insulted. either they get angry at me for walking by and asking for help without making an appointment, or they talk down to me. the MUA there acted like i was crazy because i wanted to pick up the concealer. he was all like, you don’t even need it! yeah, maybe that day…
if they ignore me at mac for more than 5 minutes, like without even acknowledging me or making eye contact, such as asking me to wait or something, i just leave.
i’ve been stalked like they expect me to steal stuff at sephora too. i just leave -.-
Stars Makeup Haven! Aproximately four months ago I ordered almost full range of their eyeshadows plus some lip glosses, they charged me about 300 dollars for it but never delivered:-( I’ve been writing them e-mails every other day but they apparently have non existant customer service because nobody is answering. I honestly don’t know what to do, since they don’t even have phone number or address available at their web. Any idea what to do? I’m from The Czech Republic and SMH is the US brand. Not sure if czech police could do anything for me…I’ve already tried to solve it with my bank and I’m waiting for their statement
I had the same problem with Stars Makeup Haven. I ordered 3 empty eyeshadow palettes and waited for some kind of tracking info or confirmation email from them and received nothing. 2 weeks go by and i’m wondering where my package is. Finally, I emailed them and no response. It took them one week to respond to me and all they had to say was .. sorry, we were out of stock. For reals! Why the heck didn’t they inform me of that beforehand?! I call BS. They didn’t want to admit that they messed up. I finally received my items 4 week later. I live in the US so there is no excuse as to why it took so long for delivery. I will NEVER order from them again.
Chanel.com, hands down! Because I don’t live in the US, I have a relative order me items online (because dollars are slightly cheaper for some items), and everytime she buys something for me, they send her an email telling her they won’t put through the order and will cancel it unless she calls them and confirms the credit card number. It’s gotten to be so annoying that I haven’t ordered anything for the past 6 months!
Nicole, it sounds like either the credit company or Chanel.com is implementing an anti-fraud policy. Something similar used to happen regularly to a friend of mint when he used a credit card from one country to purchase items to be sent to another country. I wouldn’t say this is a customer service issue. However, I don’t want to make any assumptions in your case. The bottom line is it’s frustrating having to jump through hoops when you are an honest consumer.
Just my 2 cents. 🙂
I am glad it isn’t just me who gets ignored at makeup counters. I am twenty-four but I am small so I look much younger. I can almost never get hel
Considering the sheer amount of scamming that goes on in a lot of those higher end retailers, I can understand a certain amount of caution when dealing with customer complaints, but that story just sounds ridiculous. There are ways to deal safely with customers without putting them out.
Hmm…worst customer experience I ever had was at a Phillip Pelusi. I’d gotten my hair cut/dyed, plus purchased a few products, so my bill rounded out around $100. I usually tip on my credit card, but I was pretty exhausted from a bad cold that day, so I’d completely forgotten to put it on there. My sister gently reminded me – not a big deal, since I had cash on me – but the guy manning the register immediately got an attitude with me implying I was an idiot. Granted, yeah, I almost walked out without tipping, but I was obviously embarassed by the near faux pas and it wasn’t intentional. I tipped the lady who did my hair quite nicely, but I damn sure never went back there again.
Hi Veronica.
Might I ask a question about tipping practices? Why exactly is it necessary? I can understand tipping the waitstaff in a restaurant, or tipping for particularly good service, but in a high-end salon? Why do they deliberately price down the services and expect a tip? Why can’t they just set the price in a way that reflects the perceived value of the service? Please don’t think I’m trying to be rude or insensitive in asking. I’m supposed to be heading to the US for a bit, and this question has been keeping me up at night. Do I need to tip in a hair salon? What about a gas station? A Taco Bell? Other people, please feel free to weigh in!
Ugh, I just re-read my comment and I sound like a total nut. Sorry, people. I’m trying to get a good idea of how much money I’m going to need for this trip and what I can and cannot afford to do there. Please forgive my rude insanity/insane rudeness.
Hi there! Tip at restaurants about 20%, more for great service! You don’t need to at fast food place or a gas station (unless you end up at place that pumps gas for you!), but at a hair salon or nail parlor it’s a good idea to tip. Even though you’re paying for the service they have to pay some of that back to the salon. Uhm. You also should tip a bit at bars and coffee places.
Have fun in America!
Thanks, Lindsey! Really appreciate the tips (HA! PUN!);-)
The only places that you are really supposed to tip are restaurants, salons, taxis, whenever someone is doing you a personal favor. How much you tip depends on how pleasant your experience was. It is not necessary, but it is greatly appreciated. 10-20% of the overall bill is a usual tip rate. You do not need to tip at Gas stations and Fast food restuarants.
Thank you, Katie. I’ll just be sure to always tip to be on the safe side. In my country, we tip restaurant staff, bartenders and cabbies , but nothing else. I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions.
Frances: You tip for taxi cabs, restaurants (NOT taco bell, anywhere you have a waiter or waitress), and hair salons.
I usually tip 20% for hair salons. 18-20% for restaurants (depending on service), and for taxis and car washes, whatever you feel is appropriate.
Oh and I say “no way!” to tipping at coffee places. I just think that’s silly.
Keep in mind that most waitresses/waiters make about $2.50 an hour because it’s assumed that most of the money will come in tips. So, if you get really good service make sure to tip well. Your tip could be the difference between the server paying their bills or not.
Have a great stay in the US. 🙂
I had a horrible experience at Sephora. I was essentially stalked through the store. I sent a strongly worded letter to corporate offices and received a $25 gift card. The moral of the story…don’t accept bad customer service. Let someone that can make a difference know and shame the management for poor training of their staff.
I think at one point or another, I’ve experienced bad customer service at pretty much every store I regularly shop at. Victoria Secret is always beyond awful, but (aside from my 6-month ordeal with Cingular back in the day) I’d say one of the worst is my local Nordstrom. Certain departments are great, but the shoe department there is horrible. They never have anything in stock, and if you order while in the store, the order inevitably gets screwed up. And of course no one can actually tell you what’s going on with the order…in-store says it’s online’s problem and online says it’s the store’s problem. I’ve learned to just not order shoes from the physical store!
I despise going to the MAC store, because I’m ignored for forever (probably because I look about 16), and half the time they’re out of what I want and try to push something way more expensive on me. They act like I don’t know anything about makeup and I get the impression that they don’t like that I come in knowing exactly what I want.
They’re generally not nice at my sephora either (once they asked if they could redo my face for me. Came off as totally rude). I try to just shop online.
I’ve had the ‘LET ME DO YOUR MAKEUP!!’ thing at an Urban Decay counter. I was with my brother at the time (he’s 5 years older than me – early twenties) and he looked at me with pure disgust and dragged me away. She was so rude about it I haven’t been back since. Worst thing about the situation is that I didn’t even intend to go to their counter that day, I was just walking past to leave the store and she pounced on me. When I did frequent their counter, at this specific store, I either got completely ignored – there’s either no one there at all or the SA is messing with products then has a look of disgust when I tell her I want to check out like I’m dragging her away from her busy day of swatching. Other times I’ve had them literally stand looking over my shoulder – it’s just these little things but they make a huge difference when you’re the one handing over your money.
Everytime I go to the MAC counter in my area I get treated horribly. The employees are always giving everyone under 30 dirty looks and don’t listen when you have a question. They just keep talking to each other.
I’ve never had anything half as bad as the other comments on here, but I have had rude people serve me especially in Superdrug. I have ME and often have to walk with crutches and, while I understand there’s other people in the queue, they try to get me out of there as quick as possible. They don’t even give me a chance to pick up my stuff never mind put my purse back in my bag before they call the next person and then I’m left there struggling with someone getting pissy waiting for me to move. It’s always in one specific store; I’ve seen them do it to people in wheelchairs as well.
I do have to sing praises for MAC though – I’ve never had any problems at their counters, they have been nothing but polite and helpful and actually leave you alone if you say you don’t need any help.
I wouldnt say worse, but i hate visiting drugstores like boots and superdrugs or tesco’s for makeup. Im a very picky person, and i like to spend time choosing a product because after all if im going to spend money on a product then i will spend much time as i need to decide. i will often spend atleast twenty minutes at the makeup racks, but my behaiour seems to make the staff member believe that im trying to steal it and within five minutes i have a staff member pop out of nowhere asking me am i ok, and do i need any help…in other words, WE HAVE OUR EYES ON YOU. And the makeup in the racks are the worst. Because they are all open used, seals are broken, someone has stolen the tester so you cant swatch the product.
I’ll NEVER understand why people steal testers. I tend to spend a lot of time in Boots too but never had this happen, thankfully!
hmmm…i haven’t had such bad experiences mostly because i only ordered online once(well, mom did for me). i just hate it when i’m at a store and they give me the wrong thing. feels awkward. i’m like ‘no, i wanted that one’, ‘we don’t have any’ ‘well, ok then.’ (leaving with nothing :))
your incident with barney’s sounds very bad, i would’ve wanted to sue them or something. thieves
A recent experience was at my local MAC counter. The people there are usually incredibly nice and helpful, so I was kind of shocked. There was an issue with my Call Me Bubbles palette; the coral shade had a weird oily film that kept forming over it, which made it impossible to pick up the color on a brush. So I went to MAC to exchange it. The girl opened up my palette at the counter, tested it, and proceeded to tell me there was nothing wrong with it, and that’s just how matte eyeshadows feel. She still exchanged it, but she made me feel like a liar and an idiot. I refuse to go back there when she’s working now.
the Illamasqua counter at my department store. the girl who I brought it from was really nice, its just that it was the one time someone was actually behind the counter. I popped in to the store to check out the counter regularly but could never buy anything because there was no one to serve you!
Sephora has GOT to be the worst. Everytime I walk in there, 1000000 employees come up to me and ask me if i need help, which is nice on their part, but it’s like, come on, 5 other people have asked me already!!! Can’t I just browse in peace?????? Also, I’ve had Sephora workers follow right behind me breathing down my neck while I’m looking!!! I don’t get it! I don’t look homeless and I’ve got 500+ Sephora points on my card! They have serious issues… but every time I walk into MAC the girls are so nice. Except this one girl who’s really rude and does NOT know anything about anything. We went in there and asked her to get us the Viva Glam ricky conditioner tube (white box) but she got us the regular MAC clear lipgloss (black box) WTH????????????
This too has happened to me at sephora! I was swatching some foundations and I was putting some on in a mirror and I glance in the corner and see one of the workers bending down looking into another mirror staring at me. It was horrible, not to mention I was stalked the entire time I was in the there and literally 5 associates asked me if I needed help. I was so annoyed! I am a VIB member with other 500 points and I deserve this? not cool.
MAC has always been weird when it comes to their makeup artists. I have been ignored plenty of times. The look that I get very often is like they want me to leave, even when I want to make a purchase… No one wants to help. They seem extremely snooty and rude. They always have this pissed off look about them. Going to the MAC counters is a pain more often than not, it leaves me feeling disrespected.
I JUST had one with beautychoice.com. I was searching for a place to buy Embryolisse moisturizer from, and while Amazon and a few other online retailers had it for purchase, I had heard of beautychoice.com from several beauty blogs and YouTube vloggers and thought I would give them a try. I bought the 1 oz tube and got a confirmation email with an order number to track on the website.
Several days went by and I hadn’t received an email about the order being shipped or any other update, so I checked the site using the order number and order tracking section of the website. Despite already having been almost a week since I had placed my order, it still said “processing”. But my debit card had been charged, so I was confused. Everywhere I checked on the site said things like “super fast shipping” and “most items ship within 2-3 days”. Another couple of days went by, no shipping email and no change to the order status on the website, so I called the number on the website. Every time I tried to call, I could not get through. I got a recorded message. Finally, I left a message, asking about my order and what the hold up might be. I was promised a return call within one business day (via the recording).
Instead of calling, I got an email (on the email account I used when I placed the order). They didn’t outright admit the item was out of stock, but only said they expected it to ship within 10-14 days. It had already been 11 days, so that meant that, including shipping time, it would take a MONTH from the time I ordered to get this item! I balked at the response and outright asked what the issue was, and they responded again by email and admitted it was out of stock, and they still didn’t have it in stock. At that point, they offered to cancel the order and refund the purchase price, if I wanted.
Out of curiosity, I checked the website, and the item was still available for purchase. I was able to put several in my cart, with no notations about being out of stock, backordered, any delay in shipment, nothing. So I replied to their email stating exactly that, and said I thought it was sketchy that they were still selling the item on their website when it was obviously not in stock, and they weren’t expecting to have it IN stock for another 2 weeks. I requested that they cancel my order and refund my purchase. I immediately ordered it from Amazing and had it in three days.
I felt very let down by the site and the manner in which they handled the whole thing. I don’t think an online retailer should have items for purchase that they don’t even have in stock. Additionally, if the item IS found to be out of stock, it should fall to them to contact the consumer to let them know of the delay. They should not wait for the consumer to contact them, inquiring about the order status. Also, they did not clearly state that the item was out of stock in their initial email to me. They danced around it, and only admitted it when I directly asked them. And again, even knowing the item was not available, still have it for sale on their site.
I am incredibly disappointed with the experience. Apparently, beautychoice.com is only interested in dealing with beauty bloggers and YT vloggers so they can send them free products and get paid “reviews” and free publicity. They clearly don’t care about the average consumers.
I have been buying from Camera Ready Cosmetics for years, and they are great. They have a full line of Embryolisse.
I have been in Customer Service for many years, and just knowing what I know, there is almost always a way to do anything a customer asks, within reason of course. You just have to get the right person on the phone with either the willingness or the know how to help.
The worst I guess would be the experiences I have had and the Clinique Counter my local Dillards. This is the only Clinique counter I’ve ever had a problems with, so it’s obviously a staffing issue not a Clinique issue. The last time I went in for Bonus time, there were two girls. One lady started to help me, I tried to talk to her about products they had and she was clueless about her own products. I knew more about her brand than she did. Then when I had decide on something new, because they were out of what I wanted, she went to help someone else which I had absolutely no problem with, but she got upset when another girl started helping me! She was cursing at this poor woman in front of customers!
Another time I went in and I was looking at their Long Last lipglosses. I let myself get talked into buying one of the plumping lipglosses instead, the SA instisted it was longer wearing than the Long Last glosses. I wore it when I got home and it was gone from my lips in less than an hour, with talking or eating or anything. I didn’t realize until later the plumping lipgloss was more expensive and that is why she sold it to me. Or maybe she was just dumb and like the other chick didn’t know anything about their products. Either way both experiences made me less trusting of Clinique’s SAs. I would rather shop for Clinique at Sephora than put up with that.
Well this is not make up related but when I was visiting several vcountries in europe 3 years ago I decided ti would be fun to make a silver charm bracelet with a charm for each place i went to. When i was in Italy i walked in a store and asked to see a silver charm on display and the guy at the store said “No, you can’t afford it anyway” the hell the thing costed 8 euros which at the exchange rate at the time was like 16 dollars. I could afford it and i was going to buy it but instead i left cursing that damn store.
Though its probably to be expected, my worst experience was with ELF. I love their $3 daily brush cleanser so I stock up when they have sales and sometimes throw in a few of their new products to try.They have never gotten an order right and this last time I decided never again. They sent me a box with like 4 items missing yet they charged me for them. They took forever to get back to me and in the end just refunded me my money without the option of getting the forgotten products. Makes me wonder though if I hadnt noticed if they would have said anything, or just kept my $…plus shipping is ridiculous..
Honestly, I would have to say it was MAC over in Fashion Valley Mall. Went in, no one greeted me, nor asked me for help. I already knew what I wanted, walked around to find it. Got it went to the cashier. Was waiting to pay, no one even attempted to assist me. Stood there for awhile, a girl comes in, stood behind me, and they assisted her before me? Put my item back where I got it, and said “Such bs service.” Oh and there was 5 promo girls there at the time, doing nothing but talking. Worse ever. Even sent a complaint to the MAC site about it.
At some MAC stores and counters I’ve received great service and other times the MAC associates have been so snotty and nasty. I’ve stopped going to certain MAC counters because they have been so rude. But one time I ordered from MAC online and when my package arrived, it was actually empty! I called customer service and at first the lady on the phone told me my item was now sold out so they couldn’t send me a replacement and I had to wait for an investigation before I could get a refund. I was so annoyed but I sent an email to the MAC customer service manager, he then called me and apologized for the whole incident and sent me the replacement lipstick I originally ordered. He was awesome!
MAC. As much as I love the products I have noticed the worst service comes from the MUAs at Mac. To be fair I have had really wonderful girls help me….but mmy worst experiences till date is at Mac. ANd I dont think im the only one. They give really dirty looks, look you up and down, will not give you the right advice, Aren’t they trained at all? I think Mac has to really educate their artists bcos I think a lot of people have the same complaint.
Murales here in Montreal– I spent a good 20 minutes in the store checking out swatches of Benefit’s Moonbeam VS Sunbeam, deciding which one to get, and was ignored by every store clerk– in a completely empty store. Really, I was the only one there– why not just ask me if I need any help? Anyway I decided not to buy either product there because of the poor service and decided to hit up the a Sephora in Toronto instead. 😛
As some of you have mentioned, completely ignored by M.A.C. employees, specifically at the store. Why is that? I doubt many people go to MAC stores/counters to just browse.
And another one with M.A.C. online. After approving my purchase (address was correct and payment went through,) they sent me an email saying they were canceling my order because they did not ship to my country – which by the by is a part of the US. Then why have that option in the first place? It says right there they do ship here, what gives?
I had a horrible experience at Sak’s. I wanted two pair of pants. The first wasn’t in stock so the sales associate offered to order one for me. I needed alterations on the second pair. When the lady came up to measure my pants, I asked if it was complimentary alterations. She said yes of course. When I checked out, I was charged $14 for alterations. I checked that with my sales associate and he flat out said that’s not true. As for the first pair that wasnt in stock, he charged me $15 for shipping fees without even mentioning it when he offered! I asked him about that and he said, “We do not provide free shipping on anything. It should be obvious that shipping isn’t free. I’m sure I mentioned it.”
I will never go back. All those “surprise” charges isn’t fair. I can go to Nordstrom myself for the same pairs of pants with free alterations and free shipping if they don’t have something in stock. Plus, I didn’t appreciate his pretencious attitude with his comment regarding shipping and alterations. I quickly turned down the pants and walked away.
It wasn’t with a cosmetic brand but with a electronic company JVC has poor customer service
Probably the MAC counter at my Nordstrom and Sephora. Rude SA’s in general there.
SkinCareLab in Soho (a very posh spot). I had gone there earlier in the day to shop for a sunscreen. The person who helped me was great and gave me some samples. After deciding which one I wanted, I returned to the spa to purchase my selection. I don’t know if it was because I came near closing time or what, but the woman at the desk huffed and puffed and grabbed the nearest tube to her without getting out of her seat. Basically reached up behind her and took it off the back wall and put it in a bag.
When I got home and opened it I could see some crusting around the opening inside the top. I figured that she had sold me a display/sample tube. When I called the store the next day, the same woman picked up the phone and denied it. I told her about the crust and that I would be bringing it in later to exchange for an unopened tube. She huffed and puffed, I told I’d be there in the afternoon.
At the store I presented her with the tube, showing her the crust. There was no way that amount of buildup came from having it less than 12 hours. She still denied she’d sold me a display tube. I told her I wasn’t leaving without a new tube (very few places carried it so I didn’t want refund) and asked that she get a manager if necessary. She started slamming things and muttering under her breath. Finally, she scooted back to a drawer behind her to get a new, unopened tube. On the way back to the desk she huffed and puffed so hard she fell out of her chair with a big crash. Yes, I laughed.
The manager finally did come out and, after I explained the situation (with this woman protesting like child as she got back into her chair), asked if I’d be needing anything else. I guess because I was giggling no one bothered to apologize.
My worst experience was actually non makeup related. I had found a place that had the Anubis and Bast statues I wanted, and at a reasonable price, as well as the candle holders I wanted as well. After a month I still hadn’t received any notification of shipping and I had tried to contact the seller with no response. I had used paypal and had put in a dispute but because it was over a month they were being really cranky about refunding my money. I had spent almost 300$. I finally contacted paypal connect as opposed to paypal itself and told them what had happened and forwarded everything to them. They refunded my money and a week after that I finally got an email from the seller saying that they had gotten the Bast statue in but didn’t have an ETA on the Anubis statue and candle holders.
I was quite shocked, why would you sell something when you don’t even have it on your shelves?
I had the same issue with Sacred Mists Shoppe. They constantly post items for sale that they don’t have on hand and weeks later they’ll finally send you an email that they don’t have it in stock, can’t get it in stock, and will only issue you store credit instead of a refund.
Michael Kors!!!! My friend and I went to their store a few days ago and the girls were so unfriendly and kept ignoring us, even after the few people that were left. At some point if was just the 2 of us and they never bothered to come help us out. So i decided to make eye contact with one of them to get her attention and she looked at me and turned around and started to put on lip gloss instead of helping me out!! AAghh… We were so annoyed that we left and we are never coming back to that place. I believe we should be treated a little better when we are willing to spend quite a bit of money on their products.
Julep. I tried the Maven program. I like it but the next month was not good for me financially so I wanted to suspend then pick back up. Well, I contacted them constantly for about a week. The phone number I obtained was disconnected. No responses to e-mail, nothing. Finally the day before my shipment was to be charged, I sent a strongly worded e-mail stating that I would have to dispute any charges if it was not cancelled and that someone needed to call me right away. I recieved a generic e-mail saying that my subscription had been cancelled. Love the concept and products, but sorry, clearly this company does not care about customer service.
MAC! I bought the SPF primer, at a MAC store near my house (I live in Brazil), but the product didn’t work for my oily skin at all, making my face look cakey no matter how lightly I would apply the primer itself, foundation, etc.
When I went back to the store, I was told that ” the product works perfectly and it’s amazing – the only real problem you have is your skin “. Simple as that.
I once bought a MAC concealer that irritated my face (redness, itching, the whole nine yards), and when I went to return it, I was told that I should keep it and buy some primer from them to use under it. MAC refuses to admit that their products are not perfect for everyone.
SEPHORA IN STORE! One time I was in the store and the employee was totally giving the girl she was helping wrong information… so after she stepped away I walked up to the girl and after giving my disclaimer with no professional background I gave my opinion. (Employee told her to match foundation to the back of her hand – I say your neck) The worker was so mad she confronted me about it! On another occasion, I went to purchase UDs 15 anniversary palette (on the day of it’s release, 5 minutes after the store opened) She tried to give me some explanation about how they were sold out when I was the first customer of the day? Didn’t make sense. So I pulled the drawer out underneath the display (y’all know what I’m talking about, right?) And there were 6 palettes all neatly stacked, with a Post-It note that said “Tamy” on it. I was pissed, naturally, and I asked the girl at the register who Tamy was and why she got 6 palettes when customers were limited 2. She told me that was the manager and she had pre purhased! I raised some H E double hockey sticks and got my palette!
Thank you!! I had someone at MAC pulling this hocus pocus! I love the new brights and I had an MUA who was totally snitty tell me that Quick Sizzle lipstick was sold out. I’/l never know if she wouldn’t sell it to me cause I had on a headscarf or if she wanted it for herself but the sa that finally saved me found an available tube of it right away. good for you!!!
Definitely, ANY DILLARD’S cosmetic department I have ever gone to!! The SA’s are either not at their regular counter and have no idea about the products they’re trying to sell or very pushy following me from one end of the counter to the other, condescending, sizing me up and down deciding if I’m worth their time and very, very bothered by any return, as if the money was going to come out of their paycheck. Really, this has been my experience with DILLARD’S in general. I stopped shopping with them over 5 years ago.
Bloomingdales! Purchased a handbag late last year, and it arrived slightly damaged. I emailed them and they sent a replacement, but when they received the damaged bag, they refunded my money. I had to go through 2 CSRs to convince them that it was a mistake. They recharged me, but weeks later, when I decided that I didn’t like the bag after all and shipped it back to them, they didn’t refund my money. Several emails, several CSRs, and several months later, and several promises that they credited me my money, they still haven’t! Luckily, my CC company gave me my money back after disputing the charge, but I will never shop at Bloomingdales again. I can’t believe that I was completely honest with them (and didn’t keep the money and the bag) but they couldn’t resolve this situation.
MAC!!!! They were completely RUDE and ignored my questions. I too am non confrontational…I wish was a was agressive!! 🙂 My poor experience was at MAC inside Macys Northridge, Ca…(not a pretentious mall) so tired of the Prima Donna attitude….
I’m glad I haven’t had any horrible customer service experiences, but I do get annoyed when a makeup artists/sales person tries to get me to wear a darker color foundation than is right for my skin. Just yesterday when I went to pick up a new MAC concealer and told the sale’s woman I needed it in NC 15, she said, “oh, you want to go lighter?” I told her no, NC 15 was a perfect match for me actually, and she tried to argue with me. I understand that sometimes people need help with a color match, but I know my coloring thank you.
This is little compared to other things but I went up to a woman in JCSephora asking if she could help match me to another tinted moisturizer since the one I was using at the time was starting to get too light. All she did was give me some sponge tip applicators and told me to go swatch them myself. If I could match myself with no issues in non-natural lighting, I wouldn’t be asking you for help, would I?
I also asked this other woman there (first time I ever saw her) for a sample of the Bare Minerals Well Rested because I wasn’t sure I’d like it and I didn’t want to purchase it, hate it, and then returned it. She pretty much rolled her eyes at me and slowly~ got everything ready.
Oh, I gotta share a funny bad experience! Back in high school, many years ago, I needed to get a certain type of index/note cards to make flashcards for my language class. I went to Shopko since it was close, and finally found 2 packages of the kind I needed. Took them up front to purchase, but the cashier wasn’t able to get them to ring up. She stated that they just redid some things, so maybe it wasn’t in the system, yet. It basically went from a nothing situation to her acting like a total psycho. She started to ask me where I found them, so I told her what section. Then she asked in a rude tone what they were. Who doesn’t know what index/note cards are?! I looked at her kind of funny and said, “UH. Note cards…” She repeated the same question! “YEAH, WHAT ARE THEY?!” What a stupid person. Then she said she didn’t think they were from the store and basically accused me of trying to bring note cards in from another store to purchase.
LMAO. WHAT THE?! That b**** cray! (Yes, I censored myself.)
The worst C.S. experience that I had was at Bath and Body Works during the holiday season. I was in line with a stroller, and the associate kept on giving me dirty looks. I pretended not to see it (mind you the stroller wasn’t bleaching anything;it was a very slim stroller). She walked to get another lotion, said “move” and proceeded to push the stroller out of the way!
I have NEVER been so heated in my life. I started to yell at her, and say it she touched anything of mine, especially with my child in it I would break her f-ing hands. Luckily my husband took our child out of the store prior to me saying all of this.
The manager was extremely apologetic and gave me coupons and a gift card. She proceeded to tell me she was a seasonal worker and they were definitely NOT keeping her after the holidays..
Having worked as a Sales Lead for peak season at BBW… I can deeeeeeeeefinitely tell you that some of those seasonal employees are utter crap. They were probably jumping for joy when they got to get that one go. I’m so sorry you had that experience, though 🙁
At Nordstrom cosmetic counters, it’s 50/50 for me; some salespeople are awesome, and others are awful. Saks is really bad in-store. But MAC is absolutely HORRIBLE, seriously. I think everyone has a bad MAC story. And I know some Sephora stores that make you feel horrible for making a return. I believe a lot of it has to do with age (I’m a college senior). I know what stores, counters, and salespeople are good to me, and go to them.
I think the worst was the Saks employee I dealt with. He was doing a customer’s makeup, but asked me if I needed anything when I walked up to the Chanel counter. I asked him if the new fall collection was in yet; he said no, and asked if I was interested in the nail polishes. Obviously, he thought that was all I wanted and could afford, considering my age. Little did the a**hole know, but I was ready to spend $200 on that collection, and eventually did – at another store. That’s a summary, but the way he treated me in front of that customer, and tried to make himself look so high and above me, was absolutely disgusting.
I went to the mall the other day wearing a hijab(headscarf). No one helped me. Finally a floater saleswoman in beauty came up and rescued me. They had told me MAC Quick Sizzle and Midnight Snack were sold out, but she totally found the last tube for me! I got her card and told her she was the only person who’d helped me all day. it’s stupid, too, cause a lot of Muslim women are major makeup junkies.
My worst customer service experience when I went into London Drugs in Canada its like a department store. I went to the cosmetic area. I walked in circles to see the what on clearance and on sale. The cosmetic lady like are you finding everything ok, I’m like yes. thank you. But I kept on going back and fourth to see what I wanted because I’m really picky what I want. She watched me for a good 20 mins. I picked up the discontinued which was the Maybelline Dream Mousse Blushes and Wet “n” Wild lipliners and the one I got on sale was L’oreal True Match Foundation. She like are you sure you doing ok, I’m like yes. I walked away from the cosmetic area to the checkout to picked up a pack of gum and paid there. I told the cashier I don’t want a bag she said ok because i carry my handbag with me. My husband and I paid and walked out the store. The area manger, store manger and cosmetic lady followed me outside and asked me if I can open my handbag and my answer was why. The cosmetic lady like your wife stole something from the cosmetic area. He like are you sure she stole from the cosmetic area, she like yes. I’m like here is my receipt which the stuffs I paid with. Here is my work card, work name tag and my freelance makeup business cards. Here is my Mac lipstick, Mac lipgloss and Mac blot compact. But I looked online for their main number I got hold of the General Manger I told her what happened if she can’t do anything I’ll sued the company for false claim and told her this I’m like I worked in retail before your staffs accused a customers stole something make sure they have proof!! The General Manger called me back she told me the area manger,store manger and the cosmetic lady all watched the video to see if I actually stolen the items. It shown me holding the items and going to the checkout picked up a pack of gum and paid for it. She told me all three of them got fired because they have no proof I stole the items and had no right for them to asked me to open my handbag when I had the receipt in my hand. I heard from my friend they had to move different mangers to different stores to make customer service better
My first bad experience was in middle school and again in high school at Foley’s (now Macy’s … Their coupons irk me because they always have a ton of fine print). I had money to spend and I was just browsing, when I noticed I was being followed around, yet nobody offered to help me. When I would pick something up, the SA’s would STARE at me but not assist me. I finally gave up going in because I felt like a criminal 🙁 I prefer Dillard’s anyway, since I know so many SA’s and get superior service.
Don’t get me started on Ulta. When Ulta first came here, they had 1 store. I got to know the Manager and rarely had issue with the store or the people. Once the manager left, it seemed all they hired were snotty young girls, with major attitude and bad manners. I have complained and received gift cards and such. I will ONLY go in if I need something badly or a nail polish, other than that I only shop on-line with them. I just don’t want to even have to look at or deal with some snot-nosed, attitude having woman. And yes, I know not all Ulta SA’s are like that. I have come across some who I try to visit when I go in.
Lane Braynt is one of my fav places to shop. I had a bill due and came in to make a payment. While browsing I thought I would buy a few things and use a coupon that was about to expire. When I went to use my LB CC, the SA did a COMPLETE 360 on me. She had an AWFUL attitude and told me I could NOT use my LB CC to make a purchase, since I had just made a payment (mind you I was a few days early paying it and paid it in full). She told me I could not pay it off and turn around to charge it. It was late and CS was closed. When I called CS they told me the SA was right. I called corporate and explained what happened. The lady at corporate was so nice and caring and told me that everything would be taken care of. A few weeks later I received a personal note and a gift card with a very nice amount of money on it. I have not been back to that store again because I felt totally humiliated and embarassed.
I’d like to say that my local Sephora is awesome. The nicest people and superior service. I tend to get lazy and do online shopping with them. I did have a slight issue with an Illamasqua powder e/s in Angst. I had to order it 3 times because the first 2xs it came broken. The 1st time, they said throw it away. The next time I had to send it back. 3rd times a charm because it wasn’t broken and they sent me a bunch of samples.
I love Costco customer service. Costco is not here and I had to order online. 2 meat products I ordered were rancid. One was a package of chicken, that they quickly gave me my money back and the other were 3 packages of lamb. And once again they gave me my money back quickly.
I LOVE Nordstrom and we don’t have one here, so I order online. Anytime I have had a problem, they are Johnny-On-The-Spot getting it fixed. I always order way more than what I need and typically send back 1/2 or more. I would get free shipment back on only one box and typically sent back 3 – 4 boxes, that I had to pay out of my own pocket. I am SUPER EXCITED they offer free returns now!!!!
Sorry for the long rant and rave 🙂
These stories are ridic! I almost exclusively shop at nordstrom because of their friendly/smooth customer service (All about rewarding it). Anytime theres ever been an issue its taken care of NO questions. I like being greeted promplty and cheerfully helped. Even The Rack has amazing employees. I’m so spoiled by it that its weird going into JCpenny, Macy, etc.. because noone seems to give two craps (and they look at you funny when you ask if theres a shipping charge when ordering something thats out of stock…of course there is…well then nevermind lol)
Between J. Crew and UPS my shorts got lost twice! They were replaced no questions asked.
Pottery Barn once let me keep a white ceramic jewelry dish that I felt looked yellow and they shipped out a new one for grandma.
Nothing gets me more loyal than great service!!!
Urban Outfitters. I tried to order from their website and they wouldn’t let me. They inexplicably canceled orders saying the items weren’t available. I finally talked to them and they told me they wouldn’t sell me anything due to the “history on my account” which was nonexistent because they never let me order anything. The woman was so rude too, and kept asking me if she could help me with anything else, even though she had pretty much refused to talk to me about the problem I was calling about. So horrible.
Barneys online was my WORST customer service experience. I placed a $300 order during Barneys love yourself beauty event Feb.2012. I received my order in an extremely beat up and taped box. The items I paid for were in the box but not 1 sample or even the free bag were included. I phoned Barneys cs and was told she would find out what happened and phone AND e-mail me back. No communication from Barneys. They have since stopped responding to my calls and e-mails. Too bad,I have been ordering during their love yourself event for years and this year was VERY disappointing.
Hi,
I’m having the worst experience with The Brush Guard customer service. I ordered the cleaning kit on January 10th, they told me there was a problem with the international carrier and my parcel seemed to be lost. They informed me they will ship again my parcel on January 30th. Since that date, they don’t answer my emails anymore, don’t return my phone call. They are leaving me in the dark with no information at all regarding my parcel. Really disappointed and of course, I already paid in the first place.
Sleek . made order for 70 $ . 2 weeks without shipping the order , i cancealed it , they didnt return the money , ignored me and finally banned from future shopping . still mad , dont want to even write about it !
I’ve heard nothing but bad stories about Sleek. I stick to ebay if I want anything from them.
A rep at saks wrongly matched me with 2 foundations, when I returned to get a different color she snatched the products from me saying that a shade for me didn’t exist. At this point I’m looking at a possible match from that counter and same products so I asked to try it out and she reluctantly proceeded to get the samples…. So I told her to forget it and get my refund. She asked for my credit card for the refund, I paid with cash and I told her that but she said it could only be returned to a card??? I have worked in retail before and that did not make any sense at all but I just wanted to get out of there so I gave her a card and went on my business. 2 weeks later, no refund… Usually it takes 3 to 5 business days. I called and everyone acted clueless.
It took me a month and half to get my refund because, being that the rep processed it as a card return when it was supposed to be cash, it got turned around and the saks bank and they mailed a check…
Here’s the funny part, the representative that handled the return sent the check to my old address because she did not verify the address she had in the system to my ID that I gave to her along with my card.
When they reissued a second check, I have them my address over the phone but they got the new and old zip. Odes mixed up.
I always rely on Nordstrom for excellent customer satisfaction.
I really cannot single out a particular brand or store. Nevertheless, whenever I go to ANY makeup store, I am hounded by employees who are trying to tell me about the latest product or inquire as to what I need. This bothers me…I feel like saying, “Leave me alone! I just want to look!!!” I also don’t like their frequently unsolicited advice as to which lipstick, blush, etc. would look good on me. That’s when I feel like saying, “Well, I know a lot about makeup, too, and can figure out what looks best on me, thank you very much!” Nevertheless, I always smile and say, “I’m just looking, thanks.” Sephora is pretty bad about doing this…although that won’t stop me from going 😉
I’m with you. If I want advice, I’ll ask, otherwise let me look and swatch as I please!
OMG it has to be that Sephoras!! they haunt you the minute you enter the store! with so manys “Can I Help Yous”? Come on after awhile it gets a bit much! LOL So many of us of the same issues with the same stores too! 😛
Sephora@jcpenney(Waldorf,MD mall) one particular sales associate is so arrogant and annoying.. She seems to act like she knows it all, even though I didn’t ask for her opinion. She’s keeps interrupting and correcting me when I was just swatching makeup on my arm. Then when I’m about to pay, I gave her my beauty insider card first, then she arrogantly told me ” just so you know, that’s not a gift card.” and I was like, ” well of course I know that… I’ve been shopping at sephora for the longest time..(duh)” Omg, she interrupted me just when I’m about to hand her my credit card! I was so annoyed.. She’s the only one working at that time, so I couldn’t complain to a supervisor. Thats the probably the worst experience i had.
Brookstone. I purchased a $100 Verilux ClearWave Photosystem for Acne in the store. I was told by the SA who helped me that Brookstone wouldn’t allow a return on the item if I didn’t like it (that is their policy on personal care items), but that the company Verilux offered a satisfaction return policy so I would have no problem returning it to them if I didn’t like it. I felt comfortable purchasing since I was told I could return to the manufacturer. Well, the product turned out to be incredibly cheaply designed (“crap”) and basically unusable for a variety of reasons. It turned out that the SA was incorrect about Verilux having a return policy, so I complained to Brookstone since my predicament was due to an error made by one of their employees. It took 3 HOURS of frustrating phone calls to the store and corporate customer service to sort out the mess. I was treated like I was some trashy person making up a story about being lied to by the SA. The most frustrating and absurd customer service experience I’ve ever had – and they made such a big deal all for $100. Unbelievable that things happen like that with such a large big-box company! I will never shop at a Brookstone again after being treated so poorly.
Nordstroms is the BEST!! I bought a JPK Paris bag from them in December, and already threw away the packing slip because I didn’t expect to return it. Come January, the bag’s hardware started chipping even though I barely carried it – since the bag was discontinued, I contacted JPK Paris to see if they can replace the part since I really liked the bag. JPK Paris’s cs was rude, condescending, and plain unknowledgeable – saying they have no warranties for any of their products. At that point, I didn’t want to even carry their bag anymore, why help them “sell” their product?? I printed out my emailed receipt and brought it back to Nordstrom’s. To my surprise, the SA took the bag bag, gave me full credit back on my credit card, no questions asked. I believe the only question she asked was where is the tag, but the product never had a tag because it was shipped to me. Nordstroms will ALWAYS have my business!!!! I’ll never buy JPK Paris again, lousy brand, lousy quality!!
The worst experience I’ve had is at a very popular higher-end salon in my city. I made an appointment with a new stylist (the one I had been going to left the salon and no one would tell me where she was working)and arrived early for my appointment; in the meantime I was offered some tepid tea. The stylist explained that she would wash my hair first, then cut it dry. The blowdry was painful. She would yank the comb through my hair, and when she encountered a knot, she would just pull harder–without even holding the hair above the knot so it didn’t hurt my scalp! She kept commenting on what awful condition my hair was in, and suggested that maybe I should use more of their products to improve it. Yeah, my hair tangles easily when wet, but otherwise the condition is pretty normal! The stylist then complained (yes, legitimately complained) about how long my hair was taking to dry, never mind that other stylists have remarked that it dries relatively quickly. She then made me stand up so she could cut my hair. Stand? Really? My hair was not especially long, and no other stylist had ever required me to stand. Meanwhile, I was still holding the tea, as there was no place for me to set it. She finally took it from me, as it was full of hair clippings. She subtlety ridiculed me for still having the tea–I wasn’t even drinking it before it was filled with hair, and I certainly wasn’t going drinking it after it was filled with hair. I left extraordinarily frustrated–and with a haircut that bore little resemblance to what I explained (and illustrated) I wanted.
I didn’t mention anything to the front desk about her behavior, as I didn’t want to get her in trouble. I now have a great stylist at a different salon, and I warn everyone of my bad experience!
One more: My older sister and I were browsing the handbag department at our local Von Maur. A sales associate trailed behind us as we looked at new stuff from Marc Jacobs and Kate Spade. She finally came up to us and offered, not-so-helpfully, “If you’re looking for the sale stuff, it’s over there.” We smiled and said something like, “OK, thanks!” but we promptly left. Ugh! I think one of us brings that experience up every time we go in there now!
It probably wasn’t the worst, in that I’m sure many people have worse experiences than me, but I think this is my personal worst. I was simply making an exchange at Sephora, but came across a very unfriendly cashier. It started when I walked up – no “Hello,” “How are you doing,” nothing. He seemed annoyed, irritated, and like he had better things to be doing than helping him. The only time he spoke to me was to tell me that I had enough points to redeem a gift, other than that his eyes never met mine and never seemed to really acknowledge me. He pretty much threw the blush that I was getting it around, tossing it aggressively on the counter after scanning it and such. I kindly wrote into that store location with my experience because I’ve had nothing but excellent customer service otherwise. They proved that they still do, as I got a free makeup consultation because of it! They were very nice and apologetic and it was a much appreciated gesture.
MAC. The people there are both snotty and unknowledgeable.
I think Nordstrom is the Gold Standard when it comes to Customer Service. They did the same with me – replaced a $400 phone order (a lot of those items were Christmas gifts that did not arrive on time) – before I could even work up the energy to become frustrated, they took care of everything. I had some bad customer service at Macy’s a few years ago – being ignored by salespeople when you just want to purchase something is always fun – but for the most part I’ve been very lucky.
Sleek makeup！I placed an order months ago，and two palettes were damaged when I received them. I contacted their customer service, they told me to wait and will ship a replacement very soon. I really loved their products so I placed another order while I was waiting for the replacements last months.
Until now, they still did not ship out my replacement and my new order. It’s been months. and their customer service is the worst ever, they don’t reply email, when they do, they just told me to wait.
my horror story was at Barney’s as well. I went in to the local Boston store and ordered an alexander wang dress and rocco bag; total, over $1k. the color/size combos i wanted weren’t in stock so they ordered them and i filled out a shipping form. we all tripled checked everything. a week and a half later, still no merchandise and upon checking UPS website i saw that it was marked “delivered’ since a few days and was signed for by ‘B.ASHTARI” well my first name doesn’t begin with a ‘B’ and neither did the name on the shipping label (hello UPS!!! wow!). i panicked and had a bad feeling. called barneys, nothing they could do. so i had to call UPS and tell them that although marked ‘delivered’ i didn’t receive it and my name wasn’t B.ASHTARI but Y.ASHTARI, someone had obviously taken my package. come to find out the address ON THE LABEL was the wrong apartment number (barney’s mistake) and was thus delivered to the next building over in my residence. when i notified the UPS manager that the name was fraudulently signed they agreed i should call the police. so i had to call the police and knock on my neighbors door with a pounding chest to hand over the stuff (not to mention a copy of the credit card receipt!!) they told me there was no such delivery even though i mentioned UPS had informed me it was delivered precisely to that apartment and signed for by a ‘B’. i let them know the cops were on their way. within 15 minutes they came out and gave me the goods ; in a plastic shopping bag! my items reeked of marijuana to boot. where does barneys fit in? not only because of their error did my stuff arrive to a nasty neighbor, but i had completely lost the thrill of opening my package (which i was told was boxed and wrapped), but i had to pay for dry cleaning and have no tags, receipt , etc for a designer bag and had to cancel my credit card because the neighbors never handed over the receipt. Barney’s response for putting the wrong apartment number on the label? “they were sorry that’s awful. “
I am 15 and I am so interested in makeup and hair and nails. That’s not my fault I’m so young and interested in makeup! I wear it right and I pay for it with my own money. The worst service I ever got was in a Sephora. It is the closest one to me.. that is 45 minutes away! I was with my other friend. I was searching for a product to use my gift card on. They practically stalked us. I would never steal and I made it clear when I very nicely declined their help. I was still not left alone. When I went to the checkout I was treated rudely there too. I mean I payed for it so there was no reason for such rude treatment.
I was looking for a new primer at my local Macy’s. I was going to each of the counters and swatching the primers and testing them against each other, when the girl at the Shiseido counter started helping me. She immediately tried to steer me away from primer and towards skin care which I can understand because that is Shiseido’s focus, but the way she handeled it was horrible. She told me I shouldn’t be wearing makeup until I can get my skin under control, little did she realize that was actually one of the best skin days I have ever had thanks to a specifically doctor proscribed treatment. I was feeling very confident and beautiful until I spoke with her, and after that I just wanted to hide. That was just the day of bad service, the Benefit counter wasn’t helpful either. I was trying out their pore-minimizer underneath a little foundation to see the result and didn’t like it when the SA told me that no one ever looks that closely at other people anyway. I thought that was a pretty poor line to try on someone looking at PRIMERS. Sheesh
The moment I read the question… was about to share my experience with MAC but looking at the comments I think the snooty attitude is common. The first time I walked into MAC counter, the staff which was relatively free seem to care less about a “customer”. The snooty attitude was a total put-off. But have heard too much about MAC to leave the chance of finding something for self…
Not cosmetic related, but Netflix! After four continuous years of subscription, I called about a dvd that we had been waiting for and the customer service rep continued to say it was available, but didn’t know when it would be shipped. I cancelled my membership, and no one even asked why.
I know this sounds stupid, but LUSH. The girl helping me there was nice, but not helpful at all. I had a list of my products with me and I was telling her the names. Eg ma bar, Sakura, like, not saying bath bombs or bubble bars at the end. She was clueless of what they were and I had to point them out myself. When I asked for my sample she picked off a PEA size amount from angels on bare skin cleanser and told me to wrap it up in my list. Also, she asked whether I wanted a sample of it or a demo. She made me feel stupid and embarrassed. She looked down upon me because of my low age of 12 and also when she was demo-ing the cleanser on my hand she was like this. As she’s massaging…this is great for dry…wait do you have dry skin? Me- no I have oily skin. Her- oh….this is great for oily skin. She took a heck of a long time at the register and kept me waiting for ages. I felt like she was just trying to sell me whatever and not analyzing my skin type and picking out products for my skin type. Now on I will just stick to Anna, who is usually on duty with the clueless girl.
WEN HAIRCARE.. i tried to cancel my order, and had the snippiest attitude and I dealt with not 1 but 3 salespeople over the phone. I was going to start buying the product in the stores instead, after that phone conversation, rude, the lady asked me, “did you even try our product?” cutting me off, just so awful.. I’m tempted to take this further considering my daughter had the same experience, and my husband threatened a lawsuit for “false advertisement” and other stuff.. dh is a lawyer and with his unhappy dd, i will just stop there.. wen, don’t treat my daughter with disrespect again.