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Snooty shop assistants

SapphireLover

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jan 12, 2009
Messages
631
I was in town and walking past a jewellers and saw a beautiful sapphire ring and went in to ask about it and try it on. I am 31, the woman that served me was in her late 50's. I should have guessed she was going to be hard work as she checked out my handbag and shoes before starting to serve me (clearly evaluating if I was worth having proper service).

I asked to try on the "square cushion with the tapered baguettes". She bought out three rings, one had an oval in, the other had pear sides and the final one was the one I asked for. I pointed at it and said," yes, that's the one I wanted". She looked at me and said "well some people don't know what they are asking for, so I bought out a few." Great, you've already rubbed me up the wrong way.

I asked if I could borrow her loupe, and she looked shocked and almost sniggered.

I asked where they sourced their sapphires from. I got a snooty "from the place we have sourced them from for many years." Again, I asked which country. She replied "Thailand, or maybe Sri Lanka".

I asked about any treatments that the stone had had, including heating. "All our stones are presented naturally but we did the best to preserve their beauty" So have they been heat treated? Again, another woolly answer. (I suspect that it had been treated, as it was crystal clear, no inclusions or feathering and at the price they were charging it had to have been heat treated).

I could see her looking snootily at me and wanted to slap her face. I've had great service in Tiffany and Cartier and it took a snooty old woman in some local jewellers to look down on me and make me feel two foot tall, when in fact it was her than knows nothing about her products.

Needless to say, I am on the look out for a new engagement ring, and I certainly won't be going back to her shop!

Have you had snooty sales people? How have you coped with them? Anybody done a Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman and gone back and done the "big mistake, huge mistake" routine?
 

ame

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jul 7, 2004
Messages
10,869
I do frequently have such treatment, especially in the higher end shops. I look younger than I am, and I probably don't dress "the part" of a girl that can afford some nice things. I guess they think I am in there casing the joint. Carrying a big purse might not help me there... I get stalked by security in Neimans pretty much any time I go there, so I just stopped going there. When someone comes at me like your example, I tend to leave with "yknow what, Ill take the commission elsewhere" in response to her tone. Especially one who sounds completely uneducated in her product. I also carry my own loupe. I never have anyone in the middle when that comes out, they're either irritated I am not an easy sale/mark, or very excited that I know things.
 

MsP

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Aug 25, 2004
Messages
704
I won't tolerate this... If I were cranky enough, I would have asked for her card (made sure she wasn't the manager... haha), and then asked to see a manager. I would have relayed that I had gotten quite poor service and that I would be taking my business elsewhere as a direct result of today's interaction. If she was the manager and it was a chain, a quick 10 minute email to corporate will usually make me feel better.

Before I get scolded, I do the same if I have great service. If I have great service at a meal, I will often mention the name to the manager on the way out.
 

monarch64

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Aug 12, 2005
Messages
19,213
"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." --Eleanor Roosevelt

That's one of my favorite quotes. I deal with ignorant sales associates by killing them with kindness. In my experience, anyone who is acting snooty usually has a chip on their shoulder for some reason and THEY are actually the ones who feel two feet tall inside. Don't let that crap bother you. It's all surface and noise. If you really want to shop there, ask to speak with someone else instead. Using that approach will definitely gain you the kind of service you desire! No store owner wants to hear that one of their associates is treating someone poorly, because that equals money walking out the door!
 

PositivelyPeanut

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Aug 31, 2011
Messages
132
I think a lot of times when people act like that (and it sounds like in this case as well), it's defensive...they don't know what they should, so they try to put you off.

My husband and I are serious sticklers for service. Although we both tend to be a quiet people, neither one of us are shy about putting people in their place when it's necessary to do so...up to and including talking to management about a bad employee and explaining why we won't patronize their business anymore. But I never take things like that personally; I always know it's their issue (it has to be by its nature). It's a reflection on the employee and their lack of class, not you.

I also carry my own loupe. For one, I don't trust that the loupe they would provide me with would be of any decent quality. It may also help to convey that you're serious about buying and know more about jewelry than the average person. I do think jewelry store salespeople tend to be more snooty than most other salespeople, especially in the high end stores. It's like they think that they personally own all of the jewelry in the store. :cheeky:

PS: At the same time, I've had some really good experiences with jewelry salespeople. It's a mixed bag. Some are better at their jobs than others. True in any industry, I guess. In any case, sorry you got stuck with a bad one.
 

PositivelyPeanut

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Aug 31, 2011
Messages
132
MissPrudential|1319386050|3045916 said:
Before I get scolded, I do the same if I have great service. If I have great service at a meal, I will often mention the name to the manager on the way out.
You'll get no scolding from me. I think letting your opinion be known, as a customer, is the only way to possibly make a difference -- whether that is by positive reinforcement or negative. Sure, money sends a message, but I don't think it sends a complete message. Letting people know why you choose to be or do not choose to be a customer of a business sends a very clear message and allows for corrective action if needed. I'm in total agreement with you. :)
 

Efe

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Aug 8, 2006
Messages
774
SapphireLover|1319384901|3045899 said:
I was in town and walking past a jewellers and saw a beautiful sapphire ring and went in to ask about it and try it on. I am 31, the woman that served me was in her late 50's. I should have guessed she was going to be hard work as she checked out my handbag and shoes before starting to serve me (clearly evaluating if I was worth having proper service).

I asked to try on the "square cushion with the tapered baguettes". She bought out three rings, one had an oval in, the other had pear sides and the final one was the one I asked for. I pointed at it and said," yes, that's the one I wanted". She looked at me and said "well some people don't know what they are asking for, so I bought out a few." Great, you've already rubbed me up the wrong way.

I asked if I could borrow her loupe, and she looked shocked and almost sniggered.

I asked where they sourced their sapphires from. I got a snooty "from the place we have sourced them from for many years." Again, I asked which country. She replied "Thailand, or maybe Sri Lanka".

I asked about any treatments that the stone had had, including heating. "All our stones are presented naturally but we did the best to preserve their beauty" So have they been heat treated? Again, another woolly answer. (I suspect that it had been treated, as it was crystal clear, no inclusions or feathering and at the price they were charging it had to have been heat treated).

I could see her looking snootily at me and wanted to slap her face. I've had great service in Tiffany and Cartier and it took a snooty old woman in some local jewellers to look down on me and make me feel two foot tall, when in fact it was her than knows nothing about her products.

Needless to say, I am on the look out for a new engagement ring, and I certainly won't be going back to her shop!

Have you had snooty sales people? How have you coped with them? Anybody done a Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman and gone back and done the "big mistake, huge mistake" routine?

Agree with you on everything except the bolded.
 

jewelerman

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Sep 30, 2007
Messages
3,107
Since ive been in the jewelry trade for what seems like forever i have learned that there are good and bad people on both sides of the counter. I am well known amoung the jewelry store owners and managers in my area and we talk about the ever widening gap in the ability of sales people to give excellant(or even just passable)customer service or to know their product well enough to present to a client with background in gems. I would have been in heaven if a customer asked me the source of a stone or if it were treated! I was trained to build my clientele based on two points...never judge a book by its cover and product knowledge. im sorry that you found a poor sales person. I would have taken a card and called the manager or district manager for a chat about his staff member.many times this educates the manager to his employees behavior and he can take actions to correct the problems. An additional email to corporate actually has more punch when something is in writing because corperate is obligated to follow up by sending you a return e-mail,especially if you request a return e-mail asking how the situation was handled.Many times managers ignore customer complaints against sales people because they dont want the district manager to fire the offending sales person and have the added work of hiring and training a new person. If you really want a piece from that store then call and make an appointment with the manager or the district manager to conduct business with you.Ive seen this work for the customer because they may recieve discounts on the piece for coming back to buy after being treated poorly.
 

kenny

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 30, 2005
Messages
33,225
IMHO there is never an excuse for treating a customer, or potential one, poorly.
That said there may be situations where certain customers really are just lookie loos who can't afford the goods and are truly wasting the salesperson's time.
It may be appropriate at times for a competent trained good salesperson to try to shake off such a lookie loo if other apparently more-likely-to-buy customers are waiting.

Naturally judgements can be wrong.
I LOVE to prove the salespeople wrong.
When I bought my first piano (about $12,000) I wore a tank top, cutoffs and flipflops and wandered the store (ignored) for an hour.
The guy almost fell over when I pulled out my checkbook.
I did the exact same thing when I bought my two subsequent pianos (both many times more expensive).
Here in So. California, unlike New York, lots of people who can afford it don't dress like they can.
 

ame

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
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Messages
10,869
kenny|1319394052|3045981 said:
Here in So. California, unlike New York, lots of people who can afford it don't dress like they can.
Funny you mention that. In NYC, MOST places didn't look down on us, though my husband was not exactly dressed in the most Upper East Side manner...hell he looked homeless. Thankfully we got him a new coat that made him just look more..uh midwestern tourist ;-) Bergdorfs was a place I was so excited about and we got some stares. Barneys too, though less so.

This brings up a fairly painful anecdote for me though...
I dressed fairly well (for myself, I should add, considering...) and was at my lowest weight in a while while we were in California a few years ago. We got SERIOUSLY mistreated in many stores. I am not a tiny person, I am well aware that my clothing size brushes the limit of standard misses sizes and that most lines don't exceed a 10 or 12, where I am usually around a 14. I was maybe a 12 then, which is pretty average, I would say. But apparently there I am a damn cow. One specific example that ruined our stop in LA: I was with my husband at Fred Segal in Santa Monica, with an arm full of crap that I couldn't get at the one over near Beverly Hills (Sunset area? I have no idea), about to purchase nearly $2,000 in some clothing, a handbag, and a few other odds and ends, $2,000 I had saved up for months specifically to buy such items outside of the other items I planned to buy in LA. I picked up a pair of jeans to check out the stitching, knowing I would not likely be able to buy any of them and I look over and two salesgirls well into their late 20s early 30s were literally laughing so hard AT ME that they were practically hyperventilating. There was no mistake that they were laughing at me, and I didn't even hear all their gossip when I was walking around til then, but my husband sure did. He whispered to me after I noticed the laughing and pointing, some of their comments and I literally dropped all of the items onto the floor said something like "clearly making your rent payment from commission this month was not your first priority so you can put all this stuff back for me", and walked out. He had asked for the manager of someone else, and when she came over, he explained what had happened as I walked out trying to not cry. The manager did not care one iota when we mentioned it on the way out, nor did anyone I sent a letter to after we returned home. It was essentially a "so?" I was able to obtain the majority of those items in other places in LA with no more maltreatment than I'd get here from snooty shopgirls. But if the only really decent service I get is in the damn GAP store and all the beauty supply shops I went to...that is BAD.
 

Jennifer W

Brilliant_Rock
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kenny|1319394052|3045981 said:
IMHO there is never an excuse for treating a customer, or potential one, poorly.
That said there may be situations where certain customers really are just lookie loos who can't afford the goods and are truly wasting the salesperson's time.
It may be appropriate at times for a competent trained good salesperson to try to shake off such a lookie loo if other apparently more-likely-to-buy customers are waiting.

Naturally judgements can be wrong.
I LOVE to prove the salespeople wrong.
When I bought my first piano (about $12,000) I wore a tank top, cutoffs and flipflops and wandered the store (ignored) for an hour.
The guy almost fell over when I pulled out my checkbook.
I did the exact same thing when I bought my two subsequent pianos (both many times more expensive).
Here in So. California, unlike New York, lots of people who can afford it don't dress like they can.

It's much the same where I live. I have a friend who sells high end cars for a living - his boss told him when he started that he should ignore the clothes and listen to the accent. Another snooty little judgement right there, but he says it rarely lets him down.
 

MissStepcut

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My family is well-off relative to the rural area where my parents have lived, and are also huge foodies. That means growing up we ended up treating the nicest, most expensive restaurants in town like our home kitchen. We often found ourselves in jeans and hoodies surrounded by people dressed to the 9s, because for them, it's a special occasion. So, I tended to assume that people who look overdressed and uncomfortable were probably not big spenders, but people who are dressed casually and look very at home in whichever high-end store/car dealership/restaurant were probably the people with the real money.

Now that I've lived in several different cities and states, I've found my calculus is generally on point for everywhere but NYC & DC.
 

Lottie

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Messages
701
monarch64|1319386756|3045923 said:
"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." --Eleanor Roosevelt
That's one of my favorite quotes. I deal with ignorant sales associates by killing them with kindness. In my experience, anyone who is acting snooty usually has a chip on their shoulder for some reason and THEY are actually the ones who feel two feet tall inside. Don't let that crap bother you. It's all surface and noise. If you really want to shop there, ask to speak with someone else instead. Using that approach will definitely gain you the kind of service you desire! No store owner wants to hear that one of their associates is treating someone poorly, because that equals money walking out the door!

Absolutely 100% this.
 

jewelerman

Ideal_Rock
Joined
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Messages
3,107
ame|1319385370|3045904 said:
I do frequently have such treatment, especially in the higher end shops. I look younger than I am, and I probably don't dress "the part" of a girl that can afford some nice things. I guess they think I am in there casing the joint. Carrying a big purse might not help me there... I get stalked by security in Neimans pretty much any time I go there, so I just stopped going there. When someone comes at me like your example, I tend to leave with "yknow what, Ill take the commission elsewhere" in response to her tone. Especially one who sounds completely uneducated in her product. I also carry my own loupe. I never have anyone in the middle when that comes out, they're either irritated I am not an easy sale/mark, or very excited that I know things.
So sorry that your were subjected to this type of abuse!
 

jewelerman

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Sep 30, 2007
Messages
3,107
kenny|1319394052|3045981 said:
IMHO there is never an excuse for treating a customer, or potential one, poorly.
That said there may be situations where certain customers really are just lookie loos who can't afford the goods and are truly wasting the salesperson's time.
It may be appropriate at times for a competent trained good salesperson to try to shake off such a lookie loo if other apparently more-likely-to-buy customers are waiting.

Naturally judgements can be wrong.
I LOVE to prove the salespeople wrong.
When I bought my first piano (about $12,000) I wore a tank top, cutoffs and flipflops and wandered the store (ignored) for an hour.
The guy almost fell over when I pulled out my checkbook.
I did the exact same thing when I bought my two subsequent pianos (both many times more expensive).
Here in So. California, unlike New York, lots of people who can afford it don't dress like they can.
Kenny,
you are a better person then me! If i were ignored in a store for an hour while shopping i would spend my money at another store.
A few days ago i was in a furniture store browsing and was there for 30 minutes before someone said hello as they walked by. i counted 5 sales people without customers as i walked around the store and no one asked me if i need help.when i finally needed help there was no one around and no one was there at the customer service area to help the 2 customers already there waiting for assistance. i was there basically to price out a few things, but would never have spent my money there after being ignored by several sales people.
 

Miss Sparkly

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Joined
Jan 2, 2010
Messages
1,664
I had something similar happen just the other day in a jewelry store. I had bought from the guy once before and he knows me to be a very picky customer who refuses to buy a piece that looks "just okay" to me - especially this piece being my replacement wedding band/ering combo. When I moved over to their white gold section he stopped to talk to another associate, and never came back to show me anything! :angryfire: Luckily I found Amcor and they have been a dream to work with ::) . Now the wait begins... ;(
 

TimMD

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Messages
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Last year I passed by an Audi A5 and despite knowing nothing about it, I had to have it so I went to the one and only Audi dealer in San Antonio with every intention of buying one that day (already contacted by bank). Despite being in my mid 30s, most think I am in mid 20s (thank you mama for my genes) and when I very politely asked if someone would help me and show me a new A5, the older salesman yawned and told me they didn't have any but was happy to show me a used one. I told him the car I was trading in was less than 2 years old (it was an Acura TL) and I didn't want a used but preferred a new car, at which time he looked at me with a disgusted look and said "have you ever even owned an Audi?". Needless to say, I was so mad I I couldn't speak but so bad wanted the car, that I went and asked for the manager (not to complain but to get the car) but was told he was busy and the previous salesmen walked up babbling from behind and I kindly put up my hand and said I was done talking to him and left. Funny thing is despite not being in a suit, I was dressed pretty nice and had 600 dollar Bruno Magli's and a 4000 dollar watch on. So if people were judged solely on how they dressed, you would think he would have taken me more seriously but the reality is a lot of these sales people don't have the class or taste to even recognize such things and I believe judge solely on how old you look. Because of things like this, EVERY TIME I get outstanding service (happened most recently with me buying my wife a Chanel purse on my way home from work in which I changed my scrubs for dirty sweats), I get the sales person's card and write them an email when I get home thanking them for and complimenting them on their excellent customer service and make sure I let the management know how pleased I was. My philosophy is to take all that negative energy that I receive from my countless negative customer service encounters and transform it into positive reinforcement for each and every rare occasion someone treats me like a paying customer. Maybe at the end of the day, that leads to that sales person treating someone even better than they treated me....that is my goal!! :tongue:
 

slg47

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Tim, how nice of you to thank the sales associates who are helpful :)

btw do you have pics of said chanel purse??
 

TimMD

Shiny_Rock
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Messages
267
Definitely don't want to thread jack (sorry) but here is a pic as requested that I stole off my wife's facebook wall. :naughty:

junelischanel.jpg
 

ame

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Messages
10,869
:naughty: Well done, sir.
 

jewelerman

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TimMD|1319421011|3046259 said:
Last year I passed by an Audi A5 and despite knowing nothing about it, I had to have it so I went to the one and only Audi dealer in San Antonio with every intention of buying one that day (already contacted by bank). Despite being in my mid 30s, most think I am in mid 20s (thank you mama for my genes) and when I very politely asked if someone would help me and show me a new A5, the older salesman yawned and told me they didn't have any but was happy to show me a used one. I told him the car I was trading in was less than 2 years old (it was an Acura TL) and I didn't want a used but preferred a new car, at which time he looked at me with a disgusted look and said "have you ever even owned an Audi?". Needless to say, I was so mad I I couldn't speak but so bad wanted the car, that I went and asked for the manager (not to complain but to get the car) but was told he was busy and the previous salesmen walked up babbling from behind and I kindly put up my hand and said I was done talking to him and left. Funny thing is despite not being in a suit, I was dressed pretty nice and had 600 dollar Bruno Magli's and a 4000 dollar watch on. So if people were judged solely on how they dressed, you would think he would have taken me more seriously but the reality is a lot of these sales people don't have the class or taste to even recognize such things and I believe judge solely on how old you look. Because of things like this, EVERY TIME I get outstanding service (happened most recently with me buying my wife a Chanel purse on my way home from work in which I changed my scrubs for dirty sweats), I get the sales person's card and write them an email when I get home thanking them for and complimenting them on their excellent customer service and make sure I let the management know how pleased I was. My philosophy is to take all that negative energy that I receive from my countless negative customer service encounters and transform it into positive reinforcement for each and every rare occasion someone treats me like a paying customer. Maybe at the end of the day, that leads to that sales person treating someone even better than they treated me....that is my goal!! :tongue:
Tim,
Did you finally get the car?And nice choice on the bag!
 

Imdanny

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Jan 21, 2008
Messages
6,186
She only made herself look small. SO is in sales and has been his entire career.

Today he manages a store in an upscale open air mall. They have a Tiffany and Co., etc. It's the resort with the highest price-achieved room rates in Hawaii. He was a rep for Disney for almost five years. He started at the French Market and worked in galleries on Royal Street in New Orleans (the location of Rau antiques, BTW).

He says never think you know how much money someone has. You don't. Never be rude to people. It's bad business and any salesperson who is rude and arrogant isn't a good salesperson.

My grandfather was treated rudely at a Ford dealer once because the salesperson didn't think he was dressed well. This salesperson didn't know that my grandfather had cash and never bought a single car in his whole life without simply getting a bank check for the amount paid in ful.

There is a great scene in the BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous where the lead character Edwina goes into an art gallery and tells a salesperson, "You can drop the attitude. You only work in a shop."

Snotty salespeople are like passive aggresive waiters and waitresses. They're only cutting their noses off to spite their facces.
 

4ever

Ideal_Rock
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Dec 9, 2008
Messages
2,260
Snooty sales people piss me off.
I work at a B&M and a lot of my job is sales, and people tell me all the time how rude sales people in other stores have been to them. That sucks. I try and make the experience as enjoyable for people as possible. They may not find something they like or may not have the money right now, but maybe they will remember they had lots of fun having a chat, learning something new and trying on beautiful things and they might come back and buy something next time. Also I don't get paid commission.
 

Rae~

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May 23, 2005
Messages
291
If I am going to buy something from a local B&M, I will rarely buy it the first time I see it.

While I am *extremely* limited in local options, I do sometimes browse B&Ms and if I saw something I liked, I would take note of the item's details and go away for a few days to think. I don't consider myself a lookie-loo just because I might not be intending to purchase said item *that day*. And am I a lookie-loo if I am actively looking for (ie to buy) something and want to inspect items that are in the store close-up, but then don't buy them (either that day, because I want more time to think, or even later because I decide it's just not what I want)?

I believe stores should not expect every customer who walks in their doors to buy something then and there in order to receive good service. In addition, as kenny's examples show, salespeople really should not be judging people's purchasing budgets by their apprearance.
 

chemgirl

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TimMD|1319421011|3046259 said:
Last year I passed by an Audi A5 and despite knowing nothing about it, I had to have it so I went to the one and only Audi dealer in San Antonio with every intention of buying one that day (already contacted by bank). Despite being in my mid 30s, most think I am in mid 20s (thank you mama for my genes) and when I very politely asked if someone would help me and show me a new A5, the older salesman yawned and told me they didn't have any but was happy to show me a used one. I told him the car I was trading in was less than 2 years old (it was an Acura TL) and I didn't want a used but preferred a new car, at which time he looked at me with a disgusted look and said "have you ever even owned an Audi?". Needless to say, I was so mad I I couldn't speak but so bad wanted the car, that I went and asked for the manager (not to complain but to get the car) but was told he was busy and the previous salesmen walked up babbling from behind and I kindly put up my hand and said I was done talking to him and left. Funny thing is despite not being in a suit, I was dressed pretty nice and had 600 dollar Bruno Magli's and a 4000 dollar watch on. So if people were judged solely on how they dressed, you would think he would have taken me more seriously but the reality is a lot of these sales people don't have the class or taste to even recognize such things and I believe judge solely on how old you look. Because of things like this, EVERY TIME I get outstanding service (happened most recently with me buying my wife a Chanel purse on my way home from work in which I changed my scrubs for dirty sweats), I get the sales person's card and write them an email when I get home thanking them for and complimenting them on their excellent customer service and make sure I let the management know how pleased I was. My philosophy is to take all that negative energy that I receive from my countless negative customer service encounters and transform it into positive reinforcement for each and every rare occasion someone treats me like a paying customer. Maybe at the end of the day, that leads to that sales person treating someone even better than they treated me....that is my goal!! :tongue:

Wow funny. I had almost the same experience at a VW/Audi dealership when I was trying to buy a VW Golf. I was in my mid twenties. The dealer looked at me funny and asked how much I was willing to spend. I said I wanted to keep it under 30k and he gave me another weird look and said they had nothing for me. I listed off 3 or 4 different options packages that fit my pricerange according to the website (all but the highest model) and he said sorry, they had nothing unless I wanted to go used. They were out of Golfs and the 20+ cars on the lot were all reserved so I couldn't even look at the interior :roll: He then gave me a speech about how I'm just starting my life and financial responsibility is important. Had he payed attention he would have seen my engineering ring and realized I wasn't making minimum wage. I was telling a friend about the incident a few days later. He took me to his dealer at a different dealership and told her how I were treated. She was lovely and I walked away with the exact car that I wanted.
 

rosetta

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TimMD|1319421905|3046271 said:
Definitely don't want to thread jack (sorry) but here is a pic as requested that I stole off my wife's facebook wall. :naughty:

I love it.

There should be more handbag pics on PS IMHO :cheeky: Then I could post pics of my new Lanvin and Fendi (both being delivered on Wednesday oh happy day! :appl: )

How do I get my husband to pick up a Chanel bag on his way home? :naughty:
 

rosetta

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Messages
3,417
Back to the thread...

This happens a lot to me indeed. Usually I dress scruffy and my handbag for shopping is a faded leather Prada I once dripped bleach on (oops). I just tell them not to judge a book by it's cover, they just lost a very important sale, that I will be writing to their superior and walk away. No skin off my nose. They tend to just stand there gawping like a fish.
 

Madam Bijoux

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5,379
Someone I used to work with had a good way of dealing with snooty SA'S: He would look them in the eye and say "If this is too much trouble for you, let's get your manager out here and we can all discuss it." The SA'S attitude changed right away.
 

KittyGolightly

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SapphireLover, what an annoying experience!

Ame, I am absolutely horrified for you. :angryfire:
 

partgypsy

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Nov 7, 2004
Messages
6,622
It's funny I've liked nice jewelry even before I had the money to enjoy them :devil: . And I do have to admit that when I was younger (twenties and thirties) I was intimidated by high end or snooty shops. So, I either didn't go in them, or if I did (typically for a particular purpose) I would be practically be apologizing to look at items.

Now that I'm older (hey in my 40's) I honestly don't care what people think of me. If I'm in the shop they should assume I am a potential customer and treat me as such.
I'm not sure if it's because I'm older and not as "nervous" or that the economy is worse, I can't think of any bad attitude I've received. On the contrary they will ask if my ring is custom made, if I want to look at other items, chat me up.

As a rule however I would say that small independent shops can have the best or worst customer service. It can be the person who is living their dream having that kind of shop and wants to share it with the world, or it could be an owner who is burned out, or is hurting from the economy and in a bad mood but doesn't want to pay for a face person even if they feel that way, or had a bad experience with a robbery, who knows.
 
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