Bad Customers!

[Beauty Mark]

Quote:

My co-worker was very sweet (and she likes children, unlike me) and ran over and said "Oh honey, I'll do it!"- and the mother promptly left and went shopping in the store, leaving her child alone and unattended.

And you know that mother would've been screaming to high heaven had something accidentally happened to the child when she was under your co-worker's care. Besides the sheer danger for the child (what were you people expected to do when her daughter was finished?), it's really legally unsafe for you and the store. Even if she has no grounds, it's still not worth the mess.

 

[SparklingWaves]

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[SparklingWaves]

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[ms.marymac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SparklingWaves A comment on my on post, I just thought the customers might drive the MA and SA crazy trying to use a machine. Ughhh. I wish that I could think of something to help. Threats, throwing things, fits, vulgarity, stealing, false returns, and/or lying should = no service and not be tolerated. I wish that were a policy.

I had suggested a makeup brush with a taser on the end of it.

A long time ago I had two customers almost get into a fist fight over who was first. I've also had a customer pull me away from another customer by my arm when she asked me a question why I was helping her. She said, "Oh, hell no! You need to wait your turn!". Uhm, let go of my freaking arm.

 

[lara]

Yeah, customers are getting really physical lately. In the last few months it's gone from people walking right up behind me when I'm engaged with someone else and shouting at me for product/directions/whatever, to people grabbing my arm or shirt and trying to spin me around.

That and customers are getting really verbally abusive. I've lost count of how many times I've been called a bitch/cunt/whore/whatever because I don't have a brand you're after, I'm not sure where shops A, B and C are in the shopping complex, something is out of stock, I don't speak Indian/Chinese/Korean/Arabic, etc etc etc.

We're not your punching bags, please.

 

[GreekChick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lara Yeah, customers are getting really physical lately. In the last few months it's gone from people walking right up behind me when I'm engaged with someone else and shouting at me for product/directions/whatever, to people grabbing my arm or shirt and trying to spin me around. That and customers are getting really verbally abusive. I've lost count of how many times I've been called a bitch/cunt/whore/whatever because I don't have a brand you're after, I'm not sure where shops A, B and C are in the shopping complex, something is out of stock, I don't speak Indian/Chinese/Korean/Arabic, etc etc etc. We're not your punching bags, please.

They are getting physical. What gets me are customers who don't ask to "borrow" your arm when wanting to swatch a lipstick. They don't think to use their own hand/arm, instead they just grab yours without asking and start swiping lipsticks allover it. Then, they hold it and guide it towards their friends who have to give opinions.
Respect my bubble, please.

 

[shadowaddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreekChick They are getting physical. What gets me are customers who don't ask to "borrow" your arm when wanting to swatch a lipstick. They don't think to use their own hand/arm, instead they just grab yours without asking and start swiping lipsticks allover it. Then, they hold it and guide it towards their friends who have to give opinions. Respect my bubble, please.

I am shocked by all of this. Maybe it's because I live in the south, in Tennessee but I never see that stuff here. That's not only rude but just plain abusive. People ought to understand that if you are polite and friendly no matter where you are at you will get better service and if you treat others with respect you will usually get the same back. I always ask if I may have a couple of Q-tips to try some e/s on my hand but to actually touch or grab someone is unthinkable. The MAs always ask me if I would like for them to put some on me but I just thank them and ask if I can just play around a bit. They are always so nice. I'm in there a lot and so they know me and that I'm not going to take off with something so they let me do my thing. They will come by and just say something like "are you still doing okay? or just let me know if you want some help or have any questions." After I'm done playing I usually ask for opinions or suggestions and for the items I know I need and we chat a little while if it's not busy. I always walk away feeling better about myself because they make me feel like I matter to them, not just another sale. I feel I get honest advice about what colors will compliment my skintone and the look I want to achieve. I love MAC but if the MAs were treating me a tenth of how customers treat you guys I would just buy online and not near as much. If it wasn't for them I probably wouldn't have most of the colors I have. I love that they suggest things I would never have thought would look good on me. I feel bad that you guys are treated this way because I know you work very hard and long hours and trained very hard for what you do. I couldn't tell someone what color of blush to use if my life depended on it. So, here's hoping for better behaving customers and remember there are a lot us out here who depend on your talents. So cheers to you.

 

[BloodMittens]

I absolutely HATE it when you're shopping somewhere in the mall and there is some 13 and 14 year old girls who don't know manners. I'm 5'9" and I purposely mean to these kids, because when I was their age, if I didn't say "Sorry, or excuse me," my mom would beat the living crap out of me, I have ungodly manners (Maybe that's why I'm a good customer service girl... patience.)

But the other day I was in Sephora, and this store is not HUGE, so there is not enough room for two girls to walk down an isle. Anyways, I was looking at the Clinique skincare, and I was with two friends who were in the store, and this girl who worked there was walking towards me with some products to put back on the shelves it looked like, and it was a LOT, more than her arms could carry. And then these girls were following her and they were probably 16 or 17 and they pushed past her and knocked into her, making her drop some bottles, and then they tried to push past me, to walk past me.

Naturally, I was like "Oh HELL no you don't." and I stood infront of them. They were like "Ummm... excuse me!"
"No, excuse YOU, are you going to help that girl pick those up or not?"
"No, now EXCUSE me!"
"No... excuse you, you disappointment." and I walked past her, purposefully knocking into her shoulder with my arm and helped the poor girl.

The poor girl looked like she was about to cry, she was my age about and she told me this was her first day and it was a saturday, so she was running around everywhere.

I absolutely HATE customers like that. If you knock something down or you knock into someone, you STOP and you HELP them because it's YOUR fault. My friends laughed and told me those girls were calling me an ogre and bolted out of the store.

 

[Love Always Ivy]

my favorites:

- the "short term memory, whatever someone will fix it" customer.... pick something up. look at it for 2 seconds. put the cap back on (if that) and then set it in the completely wrong place. and repeat several times with several items, until a whole side of the store is tore up.

- the "i produced devil spawn, but im more interested in buying showergel than raise my children" customer - come in with 356789 small children and watch none of them while they stick their fingers in the lip gloss pots and streak it across everything in the store. variations also include concealor pencils drawn all over the windows and cabinets, nail polish hearts on the floor like its sidewalk chalk, slapping fights between children with lotion in their hands, stomping up and down on a bronzer compact, sticking a makeup brush in a tub of body scrub.....

- the "i make my own testers out of anything but then i make sure i only buy the one two back and 3 to the left because no ones touched those" customer .... customers who insist on opening and sticking their fingers and noses in everything BUT the marked testers - they all have nice bright green stickers all over them saying tester and no we are not playing a silly game on you because all those ones that are shrink wrapped and health sealed really arent the testers. the best is when they go to smell the product that isnt the tester and proceed to SNEEZE in the not-the-tester product, then put it back like i didnt just see that. then they proceed to buy a product, but will make sure they buy the one thats in the back bc no one like them has touched THOSE ones.

- the "i like making loud obnoxious phone calls while shopping bc then i can be a bitch snot to everyone" customer... the ones on the cell phone that talk super obnoxiously and cant be bothered with anything outside their realm. and then when they suddenly want your help they yell and snap their fingers in your direction.

- the last minute decider ... customers that look around for 45 minutes and buy a single lip balm for 6 bucks. then once you ring them up they decide OOOH to buy another random little item for 4 dollars. then sometimes when im super lucky they do that and then decide to buy another 3 dollar thing off clearance. GOD! please stop ruining my ATV and UPT!!!!! just do ONE 13 dollar purchase please!!!!

and of course everyone in retail's favorite - the chronic shoplifter, who you see like clockwork every week with their sticky fingers all over your store. we have one woman who is so easy to spot - she comes in every monday night at around 830pm with a friend who starts to ask stupid questions about nothing while her (in her big fake ugly bought-them-on-the-street-corner shades and her NURSE SCRUBS) walks around the store and goes for the same exact things every time.

 

[BloodMittens]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Love Always Ivy my favorites: - the "short term memory, whatever someone will fix it" customer.... pick something up. look at it for 2 seconds. put the cap back on (if that) and then set it in the completely wrong place. and repeat several times with several items, until a whole side of the store is tore up. - the "i produced devil spawn, but im more interested in buying showergel than raise my children" customer - come in with 356789 small children and watch none of them while they stick their fingers in the lip gloss pots and streak it across everything in the store. variations also include concealor pencils drawn all over the windows and cabinets, nail polish hearts on the floor like its sidewalk chalk, slapping fights between children with lotion in their hands, stomping up and down on a bronzer compact, sticking a makeup brush in a tub of body scrub..... and of course everyone in retail's favorite - the chronic shoplifter, who you see like clockwork every week with their sticky fingers all over your store. we have one woman who is so easy to spot - she comes in every monday night at around 830pm with a friend who starts to ask stupid questions about nothing while her (in her big fake ugly bought-them-on-the-street-corner shades and her NURSE SCRUBS) walks around the store and goes for the same exact things every time.

I have these customers ALL the time. I hate them so much.

Kids don't really bother with our testers anymore though because normally I just have to glare at them with my towering physique and they stop doing what they're doing.

This girl tried to steal my sharpener last week, I just stared her down and she put it down. The parents don't even notice.

 

[MisStarrlight]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BloodMittens I absolutely HATE it when you're shopping somewhere in the mall and there is some 13 and 14 year old girls who don't know manners. I'm 5'9" and I purposely mean to these kids, because when I was their age, if I didn't say "Sorry, or excuse me," my mom would beat the living crap out of me, I have ungodly manners (Maybe that's why I'm a good customer service girl... patience.)

Don't you just loooooove being tall? I <3 it when stupid people are scared of me!

 

[BloodMittens]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MisStarrlight Don't you just loooooove being tall? I <3 it when stupid people are scared of me!

Oh I love it so much

Plus I'm not exactly a twig, but I'm average, so I look ever scarier to little 5'2" twiggy girls that do something wrong.

I can't wear heals though, that kinda sucks >_<

 

[thebreat]

Ok, so I'm not an MA (thank god I don't have to do other people's makeup!), but I work at one of the CCOs. OMG, we have some crazy rules you guys probably know about. We do not accept returns without a receipt, but we go further than this. We do not to refunds period. No cash, no putting it back on your card. If you have your receipt, we can do an exchange or store credit, that's it. This has made SO many people completely lose it! I have had customers screaming at me because they need the money for a house payment or whatever excuse they try to make.

After that, the worst part about working at one of the CCOs? We limit people on how much they can purchase, and we do not have a full stock of products like at the counters. We have crazy people trying to trick us into selling more than 3 of a product, or trying to fool us into selling them more than $300.

I think the thing that gets on my nerves the most is when people cannot understand for the life of them that we have no training like MAs and we do not have everything in a certain line in stock. These are the classic lines:

"Do you guys have this lipstick I'm wearing?"

"What's it called?"

"Can't you tell by looking at my lips?"

"No."

"I'm also looking for that brown eyeshadow in MAC."

"Which one?"

"I don't know. It's brown."

Or this. . .

"I can't buy more than three??"

"No. There is a limit of three per person per day."

"Can I walk out the door and come back to buy more?"

"Three per person per day."

"Well, this is just ridiculous!!! Your rules are just stupid!"

"Oh yes, because I made those rules myself. . ."

*sigh* I need out of retail. . .

 

[MissMarley]

Customers like today make me want to quit.

(stomps up to me and stares me down like I'm a steaming pile of shit)"I want my foundation, if you even HAVE it"
Me: "Let me look for you- Superbalanced in Sand? I'm sorry, Clinique is very back-ordered on that foundation and we have made multiple requests to our distributor, but we can't get that one. Can I help you find a similar foundation?"
"NO, I do NOT want another foundation. I want THAT one. I came in here TWO weeks ago and you told me the same thing. (stamps foot, rolls eyes) I will just go somewhere else that DOES have what I want".

Knock yourself the fuck out. Since that foundation is incredibly backordered everywhere and NO STORE IN OUR FUCKING STATE HAS IT, good luck to you. Go be an internet customer, because I'm never going to help you again.

I had some really nice customers today, but that one bitch that treated me like I was some imbecile who deserved her rudeness ruined it for me.

 

[sitasati]

I've become a very educated makeup buyer. I research what I'm interested in here on Specktra and MUA ...and then I'll just go ask for it. I think I'm just afraid the makeup artists are gonna look at me be like "uhhh...you have weird looking skin we cannot help you" or something of that sort lol.

I do not wear foundation anymore, no blush, no powders nothing. So all the MA's I come across want to slather foundation on me. I refuse but they just don't listen. I want to keep my skin looking natural they just don't understand! So I try to keep away from some of them. The one MA I loved ..who introduced me to MAC has left the company ::

::.

Today I went to do a B2M transaction and picked up a Luminary lustreglass...the MA that did it for me gave me a weird look. This was my first time doing it so I felt weird already. I usually don't depot shadows or use up any makeup ...but oh well. It was just weird ..he had this "ugh I don't wanna be bothered" look. But dammit I wanted my free gloss. I think this is why I'm a little apprehensive to asking questions ..some of the MA's look too mean.

Perhaps one day I might have the guts to ask questions like "what eyeshadow colors do you think would go with my skin tone?" ...hehehe

 

[MisStarrlight]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sitasati I've become a very educated makeup buyer. I research what I'm interested in here on Specktra and MUA ...and then I'll just go ask for it. I think I'm just afraid the makeup artists are gonna look at me be like "uhhh...you have weird looking skin we cannot help you" or something of that sort lol. I do not wear foundation anymore, no blush, no powders nothing. So all the MA's I come across want to slather foundation on me. I refuse but they just don't listen. I want to keep my skin looking natural they just don't understand! So I try to keep away from some of them. The one MA I loved ..who introduced me to MAC has left the company :: ::. Today I went to do a B2M transaction and picked up a Luminary lustreglass...the MA that did it for me gave me a weird look. This was my first time doing it so I felt weird already. I usually don't depot shadows or use up any makeup ...but oh well. It was just weird ..he had this "ugh I don't wanna be bothered" look. But dammit I wanted my free gloss. I think this is why I'm a little apprehensive to asking questions ..some of the MA's look too mean. Perhaps one day I might have the guts to ask questions like "what eyeshadow colors do you think would go with my skin tone?" ...hehehe

It is our job to help people that come into our stores. If you have a bad experience, I am sorry, but go to someone else next time. I'm sure there is at least one MA in your local store that is nice AND competent in their jobs, but if you give them a chance, I'm sure there are several! I know we look all put together & that can be intimidating sometimes, but stop being so damn afraid of us & respond when we say "Hello. How are you today?"

 

[banjobama]

I remember working in the pharmacy. We had diabetic insulin syringes behind the counter for sale. It's legal in Washington (last I heard) for anyone to buy syringes, no questions asked. Some people that regularly come in for syringes are obvious IV drug users. But they make up outrageous lies to the pharmacy employees.

One guy came in and told us a completely bogus story about just being diagnosed as a diabetic, and he showed us his new bracelet, and he wanted us to tell him about all the monitors. After all that, he suddenly remembered, "my girlfriend has strips and a machine already, so all I really need are the needles." How dumb do people think we are? Just buy what you want and leave, don't waste our time any further.

Or a string of 13 year olds each wanting to buy two boxes of Coricidin HBP so they can hallucinate without killing their livers. The second kid that came up in a row, we just lied and said we were out of it.

Or the lady who gets six prescriptions per month from her doctor, but only ever fills the methadone and Vicodin, saying she has enough from all the others left still, even though she hasn't filled it in four months. And when we ask her doctor about it, and he says she has to get them all, she pretends she doesn't know what's going on.

I can go on and on. The best thing I ever did was quit that job!!

 

[righteothen]

I'm just a customer myself, but here are some of the things I've seen.

At Safeway:
1) This kid jumping up and down to get a can of soup from the top shelf, while his father just walked away. The kid then started to look for a way to climb up the shelves to get the soup. I walk up, "need help?," and he asks for what he needs. He even said thank you! I was just appalled to see the father walk away like that, when he could see his son needed help.

2) I saw this woman a couple times in the aisles while I was shopping. It happened to be a restocking day, and I live in a touristy area in the summer, so it was busy. The woman ends up being the one in front of me in line, and proceeds to gripe about the restocking, and how busy it is, and how "at my store it's never this busy," and "you should do something about this, because it look a while in line." (I was right behind her, the line was actually quite fast) As soon as she was gone, I comforted the clerk, and told him I saw her a lot, and that she just wanted attention (which is true).

Sephora:
This random woman kept opening and closing drawers looking for this one eyeshadow, and when someone came up to help her, she was totally rude, saying that she knew what she was looking for. A second later, she starts throwing a fit because she can't find what she was looking for, and the employee was somehow "not helpful."

BloodMittens, isn't it nice being tall when surly people are involved ^_^? I have the same problem with heels, though. I really like how they look, but I just can't wear them. I do the intimidating presence thing to people, too, except I'm 6', so I can even get a lot of guys with it. I actually find my mom to have a better "look" than I do, and she's only 5'8".

 

[BeautyPsycho]

I don't work with make-up, but I do have bad customers...
There is a sign above the rounder with tops that says "$19.99 and up" (or something like that) and when their top is $20.99 they are like "IT says 19.99" me "It's 19.99 and up" "But i thought its 19.99" "well, it's just $1 more" customer rolls her eyes, looks mad,complains... god damn it, let me give you that $1 just stop being so mean! LOL

 

[noahlowryfan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeautyPsycho I don't work with make-up, but I do have bad customers... There is a sign above the rounder with tops that says "$19.99 and up" (or something like that) and when their top is $20.99 they are like "IT says 19.99" me "It's 19.99 and up" "But i thought its 19.99" "well, it's just $1 more" customer rolls her eyes, looks mad,complains... god damn it, let me give you that $1 just stop being so mean! LOL

all i gotta say is that customer needs to learn how to read.