Bad Customers!

[girloflowers]

Ok so I'm 18 right. (though peopel say i look about 21)
I work at a clinique counter, and i saw a customer looking at our skincare stand the other day, so i went over.
me: *in full clinique uniform without a hair out of place*"Hi! Welcome to Clinique, is there anything i can help you with today?"
Lady: *looks me up and down* "Look, I don't have time to waste, do you actually know anything about skin care or are you just some ditzy high school student?"
Me: *WTF!* i then listed the numerous training days I've had with Clinique.

stupid bitch, I may be 18 but i know more about makeup and skincare than you could poke several sticks at. Don't judge a book by its cover! URGH.

 

[SmokeSignal16]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ductapemyheartt Yesterday, I was helping some women pick out some lipsticks when another woman came up to the counter. Here is how the conversation went. I work for MAC, btw. Customer: My daughter has this lipstick called "pout" or something, do you know it? She got it at Sephora. Me: Well, we do not have a lipstick called that...if she got it Sephora, you would probably have to go back there to get it. We only sell MAC here. :] Customer: No, no, it is MAC. They sell MAC at Sephora at [said mall] Me: MAC has a freestanding store and a counter in Macy's at that mall, but it is not sold at Sephora. [I was being super sweet when I was talking to her, it is hard to convey that on here, haha] Customer: Yes, it is. Then, a coworker of mine jumped in and, once again, told this woman that MAC is not sold at Sephora. Later on, I get a call at the counter thirty minutes before we close. I answer and it is the same woman! Customer: Hi, I think it was you that I talked to earlier, but I just wanted to let you know that I called SEPHORIA [yes, she called it that] and they do in fact sell MAC. Me: MAC is sold in MAC stores or at MAC counters... Customer: Listen, honey, I was just calling to let you know that they DO sell MAC at Sephora and I will be letting YOUR manager know too. And then she hung up on me. Whaaaaat?

Holy cow! She obviously does not know what shes talking about. I wouldn't let that complaint get to you because your manager will know that the lady is a confused hot mess. The only thing I would think of that she would get that confused with is Make Up Forever but even then that's totally not close! It's going to be pretty funny when she gets inside Sephora (or Sephoria as some call it) and the girls(or guys) telling her that MAC is a freestanding store or a counter in a department store, not in there!

Quote:

Originally Posted by girloflowers Ok so I'm 18 right. (though peopel say i look about 21) I work at a clinique counter, and i saw a customer looking at our skincare stand the other day, so i went over. me: *in full clinique uniform without a hair out of place*"Hi! Welcome to Clinique, is there anything i can help you with today?" Lady: *looks me up and down* "Look, I don't have time to waste, do you actually know anything about skin care or are you just some ditzy high school student?" Me: *WTF!* i then listed the numerous training days I've had with Clinique. stupid bitch, I may be 18 but i know more about makeup and skincare than you could poke several sticks at. Don't judge a book by its cover! URGH.

Don't you just hate that! Or what's even a kicker is when we are in full uniform and someone comes up to you and asks "Do you work for Clinique?", no lady I'm just wearing a white lab coat with big Clinique pins on it for the hell of it.. Ah the joys of retail..

 

[cazgh]

This thread is such a good read

 

[Kragey]

I don't work in retail anymore, so my current job experiences are definitely a little different. But I gotta tell ya: there is nothing worse than dealing with people with PhDs who have no clue what they're doing and think they know more than they do, and/or refuse to accept the fact that they don't understand how a certain piece of technology works because OMG THEY HAVE A PHD.

Most of the time I love my job, but there are moments where I'm like, "Ugh, nobody deserves this!"

 

[Fraisy]

The lady about Mac being sold at Sephora maybe travels a lot because we have, in Paris, a Mac counter at the Sephora on the Champs elysees, true! lol but it is the ONLY one...

 

[kiss]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fraisy The lady about Mac being sold at Sephora maybe travels a lot because we have, in Paris, a Mac counter at the Sephora on the Champs elysees, true! lol but it is the ONLY one...

Or maybe she's just an idiot who must always be right.

 

[ladynomoregaga]

Speaking of testers, in the last ten minutes of my first shift at MAC last sunday, some folks came in and swiped about 20 of the lipglass and dazzleglass testers. Everyone I work with was reaaaally pissed off about it, but then we were like, EW. EW EW EW. TESTERS??? So we justified that their horrible actions would most likely result in cooties, karma train's comin!

 

[shmooby]

I'm not a makeup artist, but I do work in retail. In a candle shop. I've been in said candle shop for 4 years now and I really hate it when people try to make me feel stupid. Classic example earlier actually, here's how the conversation went:

Me: Hello, can I help you?
Customer: Oh yes, I was here last year and you had some small candles about the width of a pencil and about half the length of a pencil.
Me: It sounds like you're looking for nova candles *leads customer to nova candles'
Customer: This is definately the size I'm looking for, but I need them in red.
Me: Unfortunately the red ones have been out of stock in the warehouse for quite some time. Because we're an outlet shop other retailers get their pick of the stock before we do.
Customer: *raised voice* well that's rather silly isn't it?! Not stocking red candles at Christmas!
Me: There's nothing we can do about it I'm afraid. We haven't had them for the past couple of years.
Customer: Yes you have. You definately had them last year...
Me: Ok...


For the record we definately DIDN'T have them last year.

 

[blazeno.8]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kragey I don't work in retail anymore, so my current job experiences are definitely a little different. But I gotta tell ya: there is nothing worse than dealing with people with PhDs who have no clue what they're doing and think they know more than they do, and/or refuse to accept the fact that they don't understand how a certain piece of technology works because OMG THEY HAVE A PHD. Most of the time I love my job, but there are moments where I'm like, "Ugh, nobody deserves this!"

Back when I was in retail, PhDs weren't my problem... it was the lawyers. Sometimes they would threaten to sue because they wanted a discount applied a certain way despite the fact that the discount is pre-programed into the POS program and the signage doesn't imply it should be otherweise. I mean, sure, I know how to do overrides, but I will pretend that I can't and ask if they want to terminate the sale if they think pulling that is going to get them somewhere. They usually ended up caving and buying the product.

 

[colt0410]

I had the worst makeover ever. I was seriously shaking doing her makeup because I was so irritated. First of all, she had a wedding to go to, so she had all her eyeshadowns written down that she needed to use to match the wedding party. After I finish her eyes, line and everything, she decides to tell me she doesn't like the colors. So we switch from Orb and neutrals, to silver ring because thats what she wants. After I put silver ring on her lid, I ask if she likes it and she tells me she can't tell until I do her whole eye, eyeline too. Okay do that, she doesn't like it, so we continue to do this two more times till she decides on gleam, texture, and a little embark. The rest of the makeover was fricken irritating because everything she wrote down on the paper that she HAD to use, she turned around and said she didn't like the way it looked. Why the hell did you insist that you HAD to wear these colors if you were only going to tell me you don't like them. Next time let me do my job. She then throws a fit when we get done with the makeover an hour and a half later. Shes like, I was suppose to be out of her in half an hour. I'm like, are you serious. You had me change your makeup how many different times. That's why people do a trial run before weddings. I was shaking cause I was so irritated.

 

[SmokeSignal16]

Oh my gosh! I would have gone and had a drink after that! I hate it when customers do that! Their soo set on a certain type of color and once you do it all they decide they don't want that look anymore and it's sooo frustrating! It's not easy removing and reapplying color sometimes. But she should have done a trial run if she was needing to be in and out, or if not just stuck with what she wanted in the first place.

 

[L1LMAMAJ]

.,....

 

[SmokeSignal16]

^Omg you poor dear! That is bad customers from hell!

 

[MissCrystal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by L1LMAMAJ Customer: Hi, I'd like to exchange something... Me: Sure! C: So I bought this lip glass but I lost it somewhere...I was wondering if I could exchange it for a new one?? *hands me empty lip glass box* M: The lip glass isn't in here... C: Yea I know. It's because I lost it. Can you exchange that *points at empty box* for a new one with the lip glass in it? M: Wait, so you want to exchange an empty box for a new lip glass? C: Yes. M: Yea we can't exchange an empty box for a brand new lip glass. That wouldn't be an exchange. You can buy a new lip glass though. C: *acts really annoyed and looks at me like I'm crazy* No...you don't get it. I really like this gloss and I want to exchange this *picks up empty box* for a new one. Do you get it? I don't want to buy a new one, I just want an exchange. M: Yea I can't do that. There is nothing to exchange. It's just the box. I can't exchange a box for a new product... C: Can I speak with your manager? M: Yea they're not here right now. C: *storms off* ___________________ Customer: Hi I wanted a look for tonight, I'm going to a high school reunion. Me: Oh cool! What kind of look are you going for? C: I want something glamorous. A pretty night time look. M: Oh okay *grabs some colors* C: Yea those colors are perfect. So I do the makeup for her using Satin Taupe, some browns, some Carbon, etc. M: Aw alright I'm all done, how do you like it? C: *pause* Ohhh....um...wow it's really dramatic...um.... M: I thought you wanted a night time look, right? C: No I wanted something more natural with light colors, you know? Something I can wear in the daytime... M: Um but you told me you wanted a glamorous night time look right? I think this would be really pretty for the reunion. C: Yea...no I wanted a daytime look, something that looks like I'm not really wearing any makeup. WTF? ________________________ Customer: So can you help me do my eyeliner? I'm going on a date tonight. Me: Sure, no problem. *applies black track on eyes* Okay, there you go. C: Are you crazy? The line isn't straight at all!!! It's all crooked. Can you not see??? Mind you...the line was actually straight and it looked good. I don't know what she was smokin'. M: Actually the line is really straight to me. How do you want me to fix it? C: It's all crooked. It's so ugly. How come you don't know how to do liner? You work at MAC. Aren't you supposed to know how to do this?? M: Ma'am, I do know how to do it and I can see that the liner looks fine. Why do you think it's crooked? C: Man, it's all crooked and sh*t. It's so ugly. You can't do anything. Why are you working here?? It's horrible. I could do better! *takes brush out of my hand and does the liner herself* See, that is better. I can do it better than you, shoot. I swear, you should know how to do this. I can't believe you work here and don't know sh*t. What's wrong with you??? I was seriously about to cry. Good thing my manager had me step away. He saw that she was yelling at me and giving me a hard time so he came in to save me. I avoided her after that. ________________________ Then there's the days where we get crazy people that come in and touch all the testers. It's cool to try out the colors but these people have open sores and cuts and just looks plain crazy. Then today, the crazy lady/man (I don't even know if it's a he or she) throws dirty tissue at me. It has all this foundation crap and other unidentified gunk on it. So gross. We called security but they never come or care.

WTF @ the empty box weirdo ... seriously im speechless lol

 

[circusflavouredgum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hikaru-chan Every fucking ten second she was looking at that one nail sayin it's to thin, anyways I finish the set and she all happy that it looks fine now (told you so) and changes her mind on what color she's gonna have.

I haven't commented on this thread in years, but it's a fascinating read! I've almost finished the whole thing.

P.S. I'm still freelancing and on and off work in retail cosmetics. If you don't know me, I've worked for MAC, Dior, NARS..etc. and I can so relate and feel everyone's pain in this thread!


I quoted the above because this is a big pet peeve of mine. I get so aggravated when someone comes to me for a makeup application but then wants to micro-manage me. You have to have some trust that someone hired for a certain profession is going to have knowledge about what they're doing. If you don't trust them, or their own makeup looks sloppy to you then ask someone else?

Normally I make it a habit to place the mirror further away until the application is done or close to being done. I cannot work with someone looking in the mirror every ten seconds and asking "Are you going to put liner on?" "You're going to do foundation, right?" etc... please let me do my job.

If you have a certain quirk that you want catered to, then please let me know BEFORE the process starts or at the beginning. Remember, good communication is the key to successful relationships in life INCLUDING client + makeup artist. I have no problem if a girl sits in my chair and says "I'm a freak about curling my lashes/eyeliner/lipliner/mascara do you mind if I do it myself?" or "I like really heavy blush/bronzer, can you pack it on?" Those things are fine and I love your honesty, just don't say "Do whatever you want", not give any direction/restrictions and keep nervously looking at yourself and asking if I'm going to do little things. Don't judge the finshed product by how it looks 30% of the way through.

I will show you at the end and then ask "Would you like anything else added or toned down? Is the lipstick to your tastes..etc" It's a 2-way street, let's make it a pleasant ride.

 

[eponine]

today was SO AWESOME! i had a bad non-customer, and then a crazy non-customer.

first, i had a lady give my coworker and me a talking-to about us not having any "sisters" at our counter, because we're not demonstrating that we have makeup for women of color. she ranted at us for several minutes like it was our fault we aren't more ethnically diverse. my asian/hawaiian coworker was then like, "well, we used to have a black girl here, but she was lighter than me."
seriously, just because i'm nw15 on a good day doesn't mean i can't do your makeup well. argh. i'd like to see how fast i could get my ass kicked if i walked into a business and demanded more white people work there. seriously, isn't it 2010?


after that fun time, i had one of my regulars in my chair and was doing a full face for her. some random dude wanders up and asks us for the time, and she tells him. dude proceeds to stand next to me and ask me questions, all while i'm trying to talk to my client. he was asking the most random things, like if i had ever heard of anime, and then told me that he knew three vampires. i told him to bring them in, so he informed me that two of the three vampires lived out of state. also, he kept asking my name, so the third time he asked, i made something up. my client was trying so hard not to laugh, and when the guy finally walked away(after somehow getting lipstick all over his gloves) we both burst out laughing, and my coworker looked at us and said, "i don't understand what just happened!"

 

[KimmyAnn_678]

So I've been saving up a bunch of really horrid return stories for awhile...

#1... Clinique's 100% guarantee even means after you use 100% of the product at Macy's

This one didn't happen to me but a co-worker and is also a bad GM story (in my mind).

A young 20-something girl walks up to the Clinique and pulls out a big plastc bag full of a few hundred $$ worth of Clinique stuff and says that she is unhappy with all of it (no boxes or return labels, just tubes and pots) and wants to return it. The BA starts to pull out the products and realizes that they are ALL completely empty so states that she can't take any of it back. The "customer" (I call this type of "customer" a theif) states that Cliniques has a 100% happiness guarantee on their products so she has to. The BA tells her "We do guarantee our PRODUCTS but unfortunately there is no PRODUCT here. If you didn't like any of this you should have returned it all before you used it for 6-8 months."

So the girl walks straight back to the GM's office (um, if you know by heart where the GM's office and her name, you probably go there toooo much!) and complains. So the GM comes out and makes the BA return ALL of it and give the girl her $$ back.


#2.... My dog ate it!

The week after Xmas, a lady walks up to the Clinique counter and pulls out a mangled up box. The story is that her husband bought her a foundation stick as a gift, wrapped it and put it under the tree, where their dog managed to chew it, and chew it so much that he even cracked open the foundation stick and ruin it. You can't see any Macy Return label on the mangeld box, nor does she have a reciept or proof of purchase to top it off. She wants to exchange it for an eye shadow. Sorry mam, but you don't have any proof that this was even purchased here, nor is your dog chewing it any type of product defect that Macy's or Clinique might guarantee (sorry, we don't guarantee against your stupidity!!). But the lady says the OTHER Macy's said we would reutrn it. Yeah, maybe you should have tried to return it there then. So the lady starts getting upset that we won't take care of her dog training issues for her, so the BA calls the 2 managers on duty. When they arrive the lady changes her story and simply wants to exchange it for the same product which the managers agree to let her do. But lcukily enough, we didn't have her shade in stock so the lady went home with her managled foundation stick and we haven't seen her since

I have another that I'll post when I feel like typing again LOL

 

[ms.marymac]

^
So the GM wants to return it to keep the customer happy....I wish they would think about it logically. Basically, a person wants to steal several hundreds dollars from your store. Does that sound like someone you want to retain as a customer?

 

[ThePostcardOrg]

So about two weeks ago a really weird woman came into the store and asked if we had anything to use as air fresheners for the bathroom. I work at Lush, so I said sorry but our products are products that are supposed to be used on the body, so we don't have anything that works spesifically as an air freshener.
The woman just stares at me with the look in her eye that she was not believing anything I was saying.. So she held up a bathbomb and said "so THIS is NOT an air freshener?!"
I told her no, that it was a bathbomb which you place into the bathtub and it fizzes and releases oils into the water.

Customer: but it smells so strong? Why can't I use this as an air freshener?
Me: Well if you want you can place the bathbomb in your bathroom and the smells will fill the room.
Customer: So IT IS an air freshener?!
Me: NO, its a bathbomb. But if you want to let it give a scent to the room before you use it in the bath you can. But you have to make sure to keep it dry. Cause once it touches water it immediatly starts fizzing away.
Customer: Ok, so if I put it on a plate in my bathroom it will give away a scent?
Me: Yes, but make sure to put it somewhere dry.
Customer: Okay, then I'll take one of those round green air fresheners.
Me: Its not an air freshener, its a bathbomb.
Customer. Ok. I'll take one.

So we go over to the register and when I give her the bag I tell her once again to KEEP IT DRY if you just want the scent in the bathroom.

Then last week she came back.

Customer: Hello, I was here last week and I bought an air freshener here. When I came home I put it under water and was SHOCKED when it started to fizz away!
Me: Well, that is because we don't sell air fresheners here.
Customer: YES you do! Those round ones over there!
Me: No those are bathbombs.
Customer: Weeeeeell, nobody told me that last week.
Me: Well, they probably did. Maybe you forgot?
Customer: NO!

I was seriously dying! I knew that I'd probably told her a 1000 times that she was buying a bathbomb!

So she left the store, and I turned around only to see my store manager laughing so hard. She had stood there overhearing the entire thing, and she also noticed said customer the first time when she bought the bathbomb.
She came over to me and we both had to laugh!
She has got to be the wierdest customer I've had by far!

 

[SmokeSignal16]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KimmyAnn_678 So I've been saving up a bunch of really horrid return stories for awhile... #1... Clinique's 100% guarantee even means after you use 100% of the product at Macy's This one didn't happen to me but a co-worker and is also a bad GM story (in my mind). A young 20-something girl walks up to the Clinique and pulls out a big plastc bag full of a few hundred $$ worth of Clinique stuff and says that she is unhappy with all of it (no boxes or return labels, just tubes and pots) and wants to return it. The BA starts to pull out the products and realizes that they are ALL completely empty so states that she can't take any of it back. The "customer" (I call this type of "customer" a theif) states that Cliniques has a 100% happiness guarantee on their products so she has to. The BA tells her "We do guarantee our PRODUCTS but unfortunately there is no PRODUCT here. If you didn't like any of this you should have returned it all before you used it for 6-8 months." So the girl walks straight back to the GM's office (um, if you know by heart where the GM's office and her name, you probably go there toooo much!) and complains. So the GM comes out and makes the BA return ALL of it and give the girl her $$ back. #2.... My dog ate it! The week after Xmas, a lady walks up to the Clinique counter and pulls out a mangled up box. The story is that her husband bought her a foundation stick as a gift, wrapped it and put it under the tree, where their dog managed to chew it, and chew it so much that he even cracked open the foundation stick and ruin it. You can't see any Macy Return label on the mangeld box, nor does she have a reciept or proof of purchase to top it off. She wants to exchange it for an eye shadow. Sorry mam, but you don't have any proof that this was even purchased here, nor is your dog chewing it any type of product defect that Macy's or Clinique might guarantee (sorry, we don't guarantee against your stupidity!!). But the lady says the OTHER Macy's said we would reutrn it. Yeah, maybe you should have tried to return it there then. So the lady starts getting upset that we won't take care of her dog training issues for her, so the BA calls the 2 managers on duty. When they arrive the lady changes her story and simply wants to exchange it for the same product which the managers agree to let her do. But lcukily enough, we didn't have her shade in stock so the lady went home with her managled foundation stick and we haven't seen her since I have another that I'll post when I feel like typing again LOL

Oh I feel for you, that is the worst thing about working for Clinique at a Macy's is that people sooooo take advantage of the return policy!