Vent: Bad experience at Sephora a couple of days ago

[MAC_Pixie04]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiffanykei Example:: In our training manual, when you see a customer put something in their bag, we can't football tackle them like we want to. We walk up to them and say something like.. "Hey! Did you know that the pants that you put in your bag is our best seller? Let me hold it at the counter until you're ready to pay for them!" with the friendliest attitude possible.

Yep! We call that "hand-selling," if we randomly show them the item we saw them eyeball and possibly conceal, it indicates "Hey, I saw that." 9 times out of 10, we find the item ditched somewhere else.

A girl put a UDPP in her purse and I saw the purple box in the pocket of her purse. I walked up to her with it and said "Hey, I saw you checking this out earlier. I just wanted to tell you how awesome it is, you should definitely buy it, it's amazing for anybody who wears any eyeshadow!" Emphasis on "you should BUY it." Don't say "This is awesome, you should get it!" cuz then the bitch will smile to herself and go "I already did..." It's an extremely effective way for us to deter theft without incident, because we're not stupid, we see you. We're just using legal tactics to stop you.

 

[tiffanykei]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MAC_Pixie04 Yep! We call that "hand-selling," if we randomly show them the item we saw them eyeball and possibly conceal, it indicates "Hey, I saw that." 9 times out of 10, we find the item ditched somewhere else. A girl put a UDPP in her purse and I saw the purple box in the pocket of her purse. I walked up to her with it and said "Hey, I saw you checking this out earlier. I just wanted to tell you how awesome it is, you should definitely buy it, it's amazing for anybody who wears any eyeshadow!" Emphasis on "you should BUY it." Don't say "This is awesome, you should get it!" cuz then the bitch will smile to herself and go "I already did..." It's an extremely effective way for us to deter theft without incident, because we're not stupid, we see you. We're just using legal tactics to stop you.

Completely agree with what you just wrote here. At my store, we have this thing called 15 seconds of fame. As soon as a customer walks in, we acknowledge them by greeting them whether it be shouting it from across the store or what not. It's a bit tacky but because our store is a Target Store meaning one of the most shoplifted store of the whole company, we became more strict. We no longer allow more then 2 people per dressing room even if that other person may be her parent.. there is an exception for a Mother with a stroller carrying a child.. ;p People do get angry with us but they have to understand that it's policy. And we also greet every customer within "our zone" whether he or she has been greeted previously. It's our way of acknowledging that we know they're there and that we are keeping an eye out for EVERYONE!

Like how you got angry, it was simply their policy. Trust me, if you came into my store and got angry, there's nothing I could do about it because hey, I was just doing my job. I do however treat all my customers fair Plus, there's been a LOT of people who walked out of my store angry because they thought I was targeting them and yes, they would go to the point of trying to contact Corporate. Corporate office however were on my side 100% because hey, I was following policy.

I also read somewhere in the previous replies how she explained that not ALL trashy people are shop lifters. It's true! I get preppy looking teens to even elder folks walking out of my dressing room with concealed merchandise. How do we know this? We check each dressing room after it has been used by every customer for defeated sensors. It sucks but we're just doing our job people~!

Don't get upset.. you should know how it is coming from Retail too.

 

[babiid0llox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shimmer It happens from the customer's perspective just as often. Too many times I've been told "I don't want a white girl helping me. Send some one like me over here." or "You wouldn't understand what I'm looking for because you can't shop for stuff that will look good on people like me because you're a little whitey." How many times have sales associates on this very forum discussed that as caucasian women they've been ignored, snapped at, and racially profiled by non-caucasians? As far as being tactful goes, they were a damn sight more tactful than they could have been. They could have followed you cheerfully around the store chirping about the merits of various lines while not allowing you a moment to breath.

Well from my experiences in retail and as a sales assistant I've been treated like that too by caucasian customers however. Caucasian sales assistant aren't the only race that has been racially profiled by a customer. (Not attacking you or anything, just stating.)

 

[Sexya(TM)?Princess]

this is why i shop mainly online these days lol i cannot stand how uncomfy i feel in mall stores. ur going to be watched no matter who u are i guess. it just messes with ur mind and u think theres something wrong with U or why would they be watching u? u know.

 

[Jello89]

If you say that you go there often, they would recognize you no? And if they do, they would know that you always come in an do the same shit everyday. So if it annoyed them, they could have simply told you to stop ''freshening up'' at there store. Maybe the way you say it doesnt make people see what the did wrong. But if it made you uncomfortable, it was obviously wrong. You were there and you know what happened. I personally would have felt the same way. Approaching someone and asking ''Are you waiting for some one.'' is a direct question and could be surprising. You arent expecting such a a question from a SA, unless you start a conversation that leads to that. Anyways i find it weird that she would say that to you. SA are annoying anyways when they ask you a million time if you need help even when youve said no a million times. Im a SA and I try to no badger the same client Unless they have been there for an extremely long time, ill ask them if everything is ok. That is how I do things but Im not saying its the good way.

 

[aeroSOUL]

almost every time I go into sephora i have a bad time... the only store i like is one my best friend works at down the street from my mac store... the REPS are rude, they assume people who are 'just looking' are up to no good... and to top it all off, most of their make up looks like crap... so now i buy things from sephora online.

 

[CantAffordMAC]

I don't know if I mentioned this..But anytime I go into Sephora I am always completely ignored. Unless by some chance I walk into an employee...I never get asked anything at all. I get a greeting at the door though. And I usually get a goodbye.

I have only bought a gift card there once a long time ago, and I just made a purchase there for someone else like last week. Those are the only two times I've ever shopped at Sephora. But I have been in there like at least 10 times to "just look" out of boredom or for whatever reason...trying on lipglass or swatching shadows.(edit: see how I wrote lipglass but Sephora doesn't sell Lipglass? Haha thats a mac addict for you...shows you why i don't ever buy anything at sephora for myself) And I have never been followed or even spoken to.

Weird.

 

[makeuphair]

I use to work at MAC and it's true these things happens quite often. The training is actually very good for these companies it's just some individuals who give the company a bad name with their judgmental attitude and demeanor. I find some artists get a chip on their shoulder after attaining a position as an artist at a counter. The makeup, hair, and clothing really gets to their heads over time. Unfortunate that this happened to you.

 

[kimmy]

I'm not gonna lie & say I read this whole thread bc I didn't. But can I just say how annoying it is when you're on the phone & get approached by every SA in Sephora? I didn't get off the phone for the first one who shouted "if you need anything my name is so & so, you should definitely check out x y & z" I'm probably nt going to for the fifth one either..! Makes me want to never ever go in that store.