Are they hording items of LE?

[SparklingWaves]

I have followed four limited editions of MAC at this particular department store. It never fails. There will be something missing off of the brand new LE display. It's starting to really make me think.

Example: Smoke Signals LE collection
They didn't have Silver Fog. I got a comment that is a Pro item.

Example: I think this was supposed to be on the McQueen LE Collection.
Jealous eye liner pencil. They never heard of it.

Example: Antiquese (sp?) LE collection
They don't have Queen's sin lipstick. They never heard of it or they are out when it just come out.

In every case, they have one of commonly in stock items in it's place.

For the Antiquese, they had New York Apple Lipstick instead of Queen's Sin.

Finally, I went back and put the hammer down and told one of the MA's I wanted Queen's Sin. She said, "Oh, we have only one left". I said, "I want to buy it". She laughed and said, "Oh, okay". They had never put Queen Sin out. All they had was New York Apple on the brand new display.

I have pointed out several times that their displays are off on one item that is on the MAC website. They kept saying, "We don't have everything the PRO store has". I keep saying, "I am not referring to the PRO store. This the regular US MAC website". Then they come back with, "We don't get every thing here".

What are they doing? Selling this stuff on the net or just to a select set of people. Something isn't right here.

 

[MAC_Whore]

Could be something illegit, but it wouldn't go unnoticed for long, so I am guessing that isn't the case. Perhaps, it's just as simple as the counter is disorganized and the manager doesn't manage stock/ordering in an efficient manner.

Additionally, a displayer runs out of an LE item, the protocol is to replace it with a reasonably close dupe from the reg line (i.e. Queen's Sin and New York Apple). If they don't handle their stock well, or are bad with testers, that would explain a lot.

Lastly, there are some really great MAC artists out there. Ones who are really knowledgable. Then there are some who don't know or care to know what's at the counter. You may just have encountered one of the later. That and the fact that even great MAs are only as good as their manager in certain cases. By that, I mean that if a manager isn't communicating product info to their staff, the staff can't pass on that info to the consumer. A bad manager can really funk up a counter.

 

[foxyqt]

it happens here too.. we only got 3 eyeshadows from Blue Storm and only 2 lipglosses from Smoke Signals! i was really disappointed that illicit didnt make it here =/ i waited SO long for Smoke Signals only to find out it "hasnt arrived" with the rest of the stuff

 

[VioletB]

I wanted to add something to this..

It could be they have one or two MA's that are really on top of it and maybe "sell" items (not literally) before they hit the counter. I work for another line and sometimes when we get LE items in (say we only get three of one particular lipstick) and I have two good customers waiting for them, I immediately pull whatever it may be and hold it.
I have developed this kind of relationship with a mac MA.. she always calls me beforehand and lets me know what is coming in and holds it the day it goes on counter. (on a side note.. her name is Sandy B.! How cute is that?) Anyway.. on the flipside rather than having irresponsible MA's or managers, or people "hoarding" things, it's probably just good customer service. My suggestion is make friends with someone at the counter and give your phone number, and hopefully you can get in on things early.

Attitude is everything, and nice matters.

As far as never hearing about a certain product, or only pro stores recieving things.. maybe they really didn't know what was going on and just said something to make themselves not look stupid. There are some people who I have encountered that I wonder.. HOW the CRAP can you WORK for MAC and not be obsessed like I AM??!?? LOL

 

[greatscott2000]

yeah, I think it all depends on the counters and MA's. A couple of the McQueen Collections had no lipsticks. They said they didn't receive them yet.

 

[purrtykitty]

it could depend on the MAs, but what kind of MAs are working there who haven't heard of all the items in a new collection. it is never this way at my counter. i would think that they've been studying the look book and have read up on the new stuff that is coming in.

you should complain to MAC and whatever store this counter is in. i don't think MAC would appreciate their MAs being so out of touch with the products and collections, assuming nothing backhanded is going on; and if something backhanded is going on, i'm sure MAC would be even happier to hear about it so they can remedy the problem. MAC can't fix what it doesn't know about, and if it is the manager that's the problem, you can be sure he/she is not going to report him/herself!

 

[KeshieShimmer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by purrtykitty it could depend on the MAs, but what kind of MAs are working there who haven't heard of all the items in a new collection. it is never this way at my counter. i would think that they've been studying the look book and have read up on the new stuff that is coming in. you should complain to MAC and whatever store this counter is in. i don't think MAC would appreciate their MAs being so out of touch with the products and collections, assuming nothing backhanded is going on; and if something backhanded is going on, i'm sure MAC would be even happier to hear about it so they can remedy the problem. MAC can't fix what it doesn't know about, and if it is the manager that's the problem, you can be sure he/she is not going to report him/herself!

I agree it's one thing to never get the products but it's another if they have no clue about the products. That's inexcusable.

 

[SparklingWaves]

One time, I saw them pull out a freaking binder catalog book to show a customer what was coming out in a new line. It had everything in it for the LE, so why the blank stares when I want to know where are the missing new products.

I use this site as guide to know what is in the set.

Now, I don't even go there. It never fails there will always be a piece missing. It's very subtle - a single e/s, a pigment, a pencil, a lipstick. I even get the "someone may have stolen the item off the display, so I can't really comment on your request". WERD!

I have to travel farther to go to stores that actually do have the complete set or order it off the main MAC website.

I have seen one of them with a piece of paper with handwritten names and phone numbers on it. I heard her call someone to let them know their Holiday brush sets were in. That's fine.

Just put the entire LE sets out, please. Queen's Sin Lipstick was NEVER out on display. New York Apple is close, but I want the real thing. I was getting angry when she said we sold out of it at first. I said, "You never had it out on display". She acted like she didn't want to sell the darn thing. She even asked me if she could call her boyfriend, before ringing me up. I said, "No, just ring me up and then call your boyfriend. Their are no customers here."

I had it with that place.

 

[VioletB]

Quote:

Just put the entire LE sets out, please. Queen's Sin Lipstick was NEVER out on display. New York Apple is close, but I want the real thing. I was getting angry when she said we sold out of it at first. I said, "You never had it out on display".

Sorry again, I have to come to a defense. Before you are quick to judge, think of all the things that COULD have happened. If by chance, they held all of them for customers, and did sell them all.. it would only be policy to take it off of the display unit. At my counter, if something is out on a unit, I am going to assume we have product to sell. You have no idea how embarassing it is to sell someone on a particular color (have them try it on, check it out from every angle, etc) and then come to find out you don't have it in stock. It is extremely unprofessional, and ususally you don't even get a sell because then they will want to go to another store to get it. So if we are out of a color, like I said, we immediately pull it. If you want to swatch and compare it to another color, just ask to see the tester. There should be no problem there. Another mistake which I have encountered.. a lipstick or eyeshadow or whatever will be sold out, and then someone will return it, unused. It usually just gets thrown back into stock and being as busy as a counter can get, someone forgot to put the tester back out on the unit. Usually nobody will know about the returned item, and then we will be doing an RTV (return to vender.. usually after we have had a collection for awhile and it's time on earth is expired) and we see it on the list and say SHIT!! Immediately I think of all the people I could have sold it too. It happens. One more thing. Testers DO get stolen, and it's not always that easy to just throw another one out as a tester, especially if we only have one of that particular color left. If we made it a tester, we couldn't sell it anyway!! There are some companies that don't even allow testers to be made, and ma's can get in trouble for making them!! (i know it's dumb.. Lancome is one of these companies.) So just make sure you look at both sides of the story. Sorry.. I am coming from the retail point of view..

Quote:

She acted like she didn't want to sell the darn thing. She even asked me if she could call her boyfriend, before ringing me up. I said, "No, just ring me up and then call your boyfriend. Their are no customers here." I had it with that place.

Maybe you should go a little further for better service. My favorite MA (as I explained in my previous post) is futher away for me, but I choose not to go to my closer mac counter for better service.

If you are really fed up, don't give them business anymore.

 

[SMMY]

Why should she have to drive further to get better service? I think she should make MAC aware of the situation instead. Also, this certainly isn't a single incident from her posts, but a pattern of behavior. I would imagine MAC would want to know if there are problems with a certain counter and the last thing they would say is, " oh just go to another counter". Ridiculous advice.

 

[Glassdoll]

Or maybe you could pop by the counter or store before a collection is out with a list of wat u want so that the MA's can help you to hold that particular item and drop u a call when it's available.

 

[purrtykitty]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SMMY Why should she have to drive further to get better service? I think she should make MAC aware of the situation instead. Also, this certainly isn't a single incident from her posts, but a pattern of behavior. I would imagine MAC would want to know if there are problems with a certain counter and the last thing they would say is, " oh just go to another counter". Ridiculous advice.

I totally agree...she shouldn't have to drive all over b/c the MAs at her closest MAC are tools. If an item is sold out, then why don't the MAs say, "I'm sorry, but we're sold out of the item." Then they should offer to check another store (assuming there is one in the area). And I also understand that occasionally testers get stolen, but it sounds to me like these are shady MAs.

 

[righteothen]

I think she should bring it up to MAC, but for different reasons. The reason I think she should bring it up is so that MAC might send that counter more stock. It seems to me they might not see the full demand. Seeing that an item sold out quickly is not the same thing as seeing how many more people would have purchased that item at that counter had it actually been in stock.

On another note, telling people that an item is PRO only, or that it doesn't exist, is just wrong. If you are sold out, tell the person, don't lie to them. Now, assuming that it is ignorance of the products that made them say that, then it is either the manager not telling them, or no interest in the line. With the number of times that it seems to have occurred, it looks more like a manager problem to me, and that should be reported.

 

[VioletB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SMMY Why should she have to drive further to get better service? I think she should make MAC aware of the situation instead. Also, this certainly isn't a single incident from her posts, but a pattern of behavior. I would imagine MAC would want to know if there are problems with a certain counter and the last thing they would say is, " oh just go to another counter". Ridiculous advice.

I never said mac would tell her to go to another counter, however, they may not do anything about it. Trust me. There is one person who I worked with in another line who has gotten constant complaints. She has worked in cosmetics now for going on three years, and there is problably a complaint once every month or so.. still nothing has been done. It seems sad, but true, but on all other grounds she is a fabulous employee. She makes numbers happen, she is up to date on credit, and a lot of people do like her. Sadly enough, this is a huge factor in retail experience. Someone is less likely to be fired because of one mad person. My advice may seem ridiculous, however, it is reality of the retail world. If it bugs her that much..? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

 

[SMMY]

So she shouldn't bother to complain to MAC, just "suck it up" instead. No wonder people aren't as into MAC as they used to be.

 

[VioletB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SMMY So she shouldn't bother to complain to MAC, just "suck it up" instead. No wonder people aren't as into MAC as they used to be.

No.. she can complain to MAC if she wants. However, it would be a joyous day in the retail world if something was actually done about this. Who knows, maybe her complaint would be the last straw for this person/manager/counter and then something would be done?

 

[Shimmer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KeshieShimmer I agree it's one thing to never get the products but it's another if they have no clue about the products. That's inexcusable.

The sheer volume of product knowledge an MA has to have to keep up with the number of collections released yearly must be staggering.