Most cliche'd day at MAC ever?

[Chelseaa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by frocher I see your point of view but it is their forum; it's not really here to make us, I am a consumer as well, feel good about ourselves. It is the industry forum, a place for them to let off steam.

I understand. Everyone needs to let off steam. But this is also a public forum, read by the public. I'm just saying how it makes me feel. But I'm not stopping them from carrying on. By all means.

 

[frocher]

.........

 

[Chelseaa]

Yeah I get it. Yeesh.

 

[lara]

http://specktra.net/f276/short-guide...s-forum-85877/

Quote:

Originally Posted by lara This is a subforum specifically for cosmetic employees to discuss industry and company information, relieve stress, have a therapeutic rant and otherwise let off steam with other people who share the same employment portfolio. If you don't like hearing about about what the people on the other side of the make-up brush think about life in in the beauty industry, don't read the Industry forum. If you make it your business to complain about cosmetics workers legitimately venting about life in retail, you will be warned or issued infractions depending on severity and/or previous recorded infraction history. This is the first and last warning about this topic.

And now back to clichés.

 

[Hikaru-chan]

I get that sort of beaviour all the time. I don't work in make-up I'm a nail tech
within a department store and the amount of times I get asked stupid question or get abuse off custumers is ridiculus.

Hi do you do nails here? Are you kidding me seriously come on you can't be that thick.
Can you do a full set now? At 7:45 when the store shuts at 8 don't thinks so.
I'm looking for a bright pink polish for the summer (shows customer bright pink polish) no thats too pink and too bright.
Do you sell hair straighteners? Yes sure let me use them on your fingers WTF
Why does it cost so much? Because lucky you you live in the UK everything is expensive.
I can get it done cheaper elsewere. WOW REALLY! Then go do that.
I wan't my nails really short. Well if short to you is 2 inches past fingertips then great.
Are you qualified? My god this one winds me up good so does How long have you been doing nails? I find it very rude.
How old are you? Odd question, 23 why? Well can I have a more senior member of staff doing my nail? Err no cause you booked in with me lady?
Do you sell these products? No they are for decoration

Speaking of MAC I was in there once and this one girl asked one of the MA's why I was getting discount (PRO customer I also do make-up freealance)
no matter what the MA said or did the lady wanted the same discount as me.
In the end she was like "well if you wont give me discount I won't buy anything" and all the MA's were like bye bye then.
You should have seen her face, priceless.

 

[MissMarley]

At my counter, we have people ask if we can do their hair and nails too. Seriously, we sell makeup. I might pluck your eyebrows if you ask me to, but does this look like a damn salon?

 

[athena123]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LindseySullivan Ugh! I had a MA at the counter in Columbia MD do that to me! I'm military so I generally wear neutralish colors (pinks, browns) and wanted to step out of my comfort zone and try a blue smokey eye. She proceeded to do one eye. I can't really tell how I like something without backing up from the mirror and seeing my whole face. I asked her to do the other eye and she wouldn't. So I step back, and one eye is blue, the other nothing and I look retarted. WTF?!?! I usually drop an average of around $300 a trip - I ended up leaving - completely pissed off and went to the counter in Annapolis and spent $500! Hope that girl didn't work for commission!!!

unbelievable

While I can appreciate that working in retail can really be a beeyotch and that this thread is for retailers to blow off steam about their customers, not doing the other eye was inexcusable. What's a girl supposed to do when she had other errands to do, walk around like a one eyed Cyclops?

 

[lara]

Quote:

Originally Posted by athena123 unbelievable While I can appreciate that working in retail can really be a beeyotch and that this thread is for retailers to blow off steam about their customers, not doing the other eye was inexcusable. What's a girl supposed to do when she had other errands to do, walk around like a one eyed Cyclops?

Read up a few posts.

Quote:

Originally Posted by giz2000 It's actually called a focused demo, and usually done when the counter is busy or at peak times on the weekend. I always tell customers that if they want to "play" the best times are during the week, when the counters are usually slow and I can spend (and would love to spend) my entire shift on them! The problem is that a lot of the "I want to try (fill in the blank) customers come on the weekends, when we're swamped with appointments.

Or, depending on the person:

Quote:

Originally Posted by giz2000 ...and this is one of the reasons why I continue to do just one side of the face on customers who give you that "vibe" that they're going to pull a stunt like the one your friend did. Don't get me wrong, if it's slow and I am tired of counting the ceiling tiles, I don't have a problem doing a makeover without a purchase. It's practice for me, fun for the customer and everyone's happy. But I am at work to sell, not just to play with makeup.

Focused demos are policy for a lot of cosmetics retailers when faced with a customer who wants to try something but is uncommitted to buying. Take for example 'I want to get out of my comfort zone and try something totally different' - 'try' is a very big languaging difference compared to 'I want to get/buy/splurge on something totally different', and MAs will listen very closely to how you phrase a demo request.
And, as the always on-point Giz2000 said, the time that you come in is a big factor. If it's Monday morning and quiet and I need the store to look busy, then yeah, I'll probably do a longer demo on you and take a gamble on you walking out. If you rock up during lunch rush, an hour before close, Friday afternoon or most of Saturday/Sunday, then expect to go a focused demo.

One eye/side of the face is done to your specifications, you go yay or nay, then you're offered the choice to have the make-up removed or completed on the other eye/side of the face if you say yay.

You can thank everyone who walks out on demos and treats the stores like free make-up buffets for that one, by the way.

 

[MissMarley]

lara, i think you're swell.

I think almost all Estee Lauder owned companies are taught to do the focused demo- I know it's HUGE for Clinique. It's also for the customer's benefit- so that they can watch in the mirror and learn how the look is done. If we have time at counter, we'll walk the customer through doing the other eye themselves (with lots of help if needed) so that they feel confident that they're buying products they can use at home to get the same look we did in the store.

MAs really aren't being vicious when we do the focused demonstration. Real life is not "The Other Sister".

 

[lara]

Human encyclopaedia at the ready!

For what it's worth, I really like the focused demo policy (with my company group it's called targeted demoing, but same diff). It cuts down on time-wasters and people who want to use the stores like a walk-up free glamour service, plus it gives customers an opportunity to step back, evaluate and compare the difference between the 'done' side and the naked/existing make-up side. There's the occasional person who cries that they're being denied a full service and storms out saying that'll spend their money elsewhere, but eh.

 

[Edie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissMarley MAs really aren't being vicious when we do the focused demonstration. Real life is not "The Other Sister".

A hahahaha

I was just thinking before I read your post...this is soo like Juliette Lewis in The Other Sister...hahaha.......

Question: Do you let the customer know that they are only having one side done?

I know I walked in (no appointment) to my local store one day ( i know most of the girls there) and wanted to try RED lipstick on, so I had a play myself, having a look and what not and one of the MA came and said she would try it on me. So she did and my reaction. "EWWWWW...I look like ronald mcdonald just made out with me" I apologized for wasting her time (which she offered to me..I didnt ask for) and she pointed me in the direction of the makeup remover and I ended up getting Plum Dandy instead.

What im saying I guess is that: you shouldn't expect a free makeover. But if you do get half a face done, there should be the offer from the MA (in case people are unaware as I originally was) that you can remove it with their products.

Because seriously, would you walk into a hair salon and ask for a 'test blowdry'? (I know, hair / makeup is different but how do I know what a curly or straight blowdry will look on me?) Yes im poking fun now.

 

[Edie]

In addition: If you are actually interested in BUYING something after your 'test' your best to just ring and make an appointment yeah? You end up getting the equivalent on products right?

If you just happened to pop in, and have other shopping/errands to do then.....I dont have an answer sorry

Maybe just take it off

 

[vivalamac]

First, a toothless man who looked very similar to Buffalo Bill from "Silence of the Lambs" with a "Jesus Saves" t-shirt on and white denim cut offs coming in and asking me if we do "total transformations!" I said uhhh, we can give you a smokey eye?! and of course the random a**holes who use the q-tips meant for swatching eyeshadows to clean their ears out, or women trying on lipsticks and then giving themselves "kissy" faces in the mirrors, or how about those out there who believe it is necessary to use our mirrors to pop pimples?! And then there are the women who bring back 3 empty containers for a free lipstick and say "what? it used to be 3!?, it must have gone up!" No bizatches, it's always been 6! and what about those who want the lipstick A45!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH!

 

[vivalamac]

or what about when a customer comes in with their own bag of makeup products and then proceeds to take them all out and show you everything that they own that is M.A.C! ugh!! or "I am looking for that perfect lipstick!"

 

[SnowWhiteQueen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chocolategoddes I feel bad cuz I was part of making a Sephora employee do my makeup for free (though i don't know what their policy is on it) So my friend walks up to a MA and says " are you good at makeup?" MA saya, "HELL YAH betch!" jk! she says, " well, i did take a cosmetology course so... yeah!" my friend says, " can you do my friends makeup!" (this is back when i didn't wear makeup) The woman says okay so she grabs a whole buch of stuff from "Lorac" (its carol backwards. trippy huh?) and she does a wonderful job. Then she says, " would you be interested in buying any of these?" And my friend is like, " we're gonna look around!" and then 2 minutes later she snatches me out the door and says, " free MAKEOVER!!!" I felt kinda bad like we cheated the MA. :'(

If anyone askes me if I am "good at makeup" I pretty much assume that they are there to waste my time, and won't do it. Being on commission is hard work, and I just don't have time for people who want to mess around with me. You should teach your friend a lesson on customer etiquette!

 

[ms.marymac]

The Other Sister! I wish I had a dollar for every customer that asked me if we do makeup like that movie (I have not seen it).

 

[athena123]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lara Read up a few posts.

Yes, I have read a few of these posts - I can certainly commiserate that working in retail can be a true pain in the arse. I've also dealt with pain in the arse retail workers as well; it's a two way street no matter what side of the counter you're standing on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lara Or, depending on the person: Focused demos are policy for a lot of cosmetics retailers when faced with a customer who wants to try something but is uncommitted to buying. Take for example 'I want to get out of my comfort zone and try something totally different' - 'try' is a very big languaging difference compared to 'I want to get/buy/splurge on something totally different', and MAs will listen very closely to how you phrase a demo request. And, as the always on-point Giz2000 said, the time that you come in is a big factor. If it's Monday morning and quiet and I need the store to look busy, then yeah, I'll probably do a longer demo on you and take a gamble on you walking out. If you rock up during lunch rush, an hour before close, Friday afternoon or most of Saturday/Sunday, then expect to go a focused demo. One eye/side of the face is done to your specifications, you go yay or nay, then you're offered the choice to have the make-up removed or completed on the other eye/side of the face if you say yay. You can thank everyone who walks out on demos and treats the stores like free make-up buffets for that one, by the way.

The shock I expressed wasn't primarily because the MA refused to do Lindsey's other eye; by the sound of her post, it didn't sound like she had been made aware of the fact that only one eye was going to be done.

She WAS ready to plunk down a large amount of money, so the MA lost a large sale because she wasn't professional enough to convey the concept of a focused eye demo.

Keep in mind that a customer will probably assume both eyes would be included; I know I would have made that assumption and I wouldn't even know enough [until now, that is] to ASK whether or not both eyes are going to be done. If a focused eye demo is all you have time for because you're busy, that's cool. Just be sure to let me know you only have time for one eye so I can opt out and not have to walk out of the store looking like a one-eyed mad woman!

And sometimes I have been known to walk into a store prepared to spend a bunch of $$ but left without purchasing anything simply because I can't find what I'm looking for; there's no guarantees that a sale is going to made no matter where you work.

 

[lara]

Quote:

Originally Posted by athena123 Just be sure to let me know you only have time for one eye so I can opt out and not have to walk out of the store looking like a one-eyed mad woman!

And again...

Quote:

Originally Posted by lara One eye/side of the face is done to your specifications, you go yay or nay, then you're offered the choice to have the make-up removed or completed on the other eye/side of the face if you say yay.

If you don't like, here's a wipe and a mirror and maybe you'll have more luck another day. If you do like it and confirmed your purchase, your products will be pulled and you then have an option of either a.) having the other eye completed to even you out or b.) you can chose to have the make-up removed.

I'm not sure what's making it hard for people to comprehend that either way you're not going to be made to walk out of the store with one smoky eye only unless you choose to walk out that way.

 

[MACJunkie57]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreekChick Haha, the batch number! That one never gets old! I once explained to a customer that instead of the batch number, from now on, all she had to do was read the name above it. I even pointed to the name. She looked at me all confused, not knowing what I was talking about and asked for the same batch number yet again. I don't even think she was listening. She then asked me why there were words above the number...

 

[TrueRiot]

I don't work at a MAC counter, but at my store, it's store policy that we ONLY do one side, the client has to do the other side themselves. When we have secret shoppers, one of the questions that they have to answer pertains to whether or not they did the other half of their face themselves, and if it turns out we did both sides, there is a HUGE deduction.

I have clients who have accused me of being lazy because of this. I would think that some people would LOVE to learn how to do their makeup. If you are serious about buying something, I'd think you'd like to learn how to apply it. I wish someone would have taught ME how to apply makeup!

I always explain to the client beforehand that I only do one side. It's for their benefit.

I don't judge my clients by how much they spend. I don't treat big spenders differently than my loyal poor college student clients who buy a few items to slowly add to their collections. So someone thinking they are "teaching me a lesson" by taking their big purchases to someone else doesn't truly phase me.