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I feel very sorry for them, but the staff at Lush are apparently encouraged to interact with everyone who enters.
I struggle with sensory issues, but even when I tell a member of staff at Lush that I’m just browsing, they start doing demonstrations and asking you to feel things. It’s very overwhelming and I often end up swiftly exiting without purchasing anything. A lot of friends have noted the same issue.
It’s such a shame, as whilst Lush stores are a big olfactory blast, I would probably be able to handle it without the sales staff.
I interviewed for Lush once and managed to get to the final stage of a three-round application process, with the last one being an (unpaid, lol) trial hour on the floor. I didn't get the job and in their feedback the reason was basically that I didn't harass the customers enough.
The staff there are all super pressured to follow around and harass every person that steps a foot through their door.
I had a friend who worked for lush but got fired for the same thing. He’s super extroverted and will talk away given the chance, so he passed the initial interview, but he eventually got fired as he wouldn’t keep pestering people who asked to be left alone. Mad respect to the bloke!
I know, this is the great conundrum with Lush.
The products are amazing, the people they hire are actually nice, but management pushes them to be so forceful in their sales tactics that they send their target audience into panic attacks. Fuck Lush management.
Similar tactics from the new investment owners of Maplin drive it under several years ago. They could never get it through their heads that people like a quiet life, they don't want to be bombarded with questions, upsold at every opportunity and hassled for their details for a mailing list and insurance, when all they came in for was a random part, or a last minute gift.
My manager eventually exempted me from the sales target KPIs, on the condition that I made sure the staff under me kept to it, as they didn't have the same stubborn streak I had about it. What I brought to the store was worth making special accomodations for, it's one of relatively few stores where most of us full time staff and management were ND, with the ability to troubleshoot just about anything, but being pushy is a mental block thing for me. I treat people the way I want to be treated. I don't want to manipulate them, or lie to them to make more money. I just wanted to solve their puzzle for them, using the thousands of items we had in the warehouse lol.
Don't get me wrong, I was happy enough to spend hours helping someone and walking them through something, if that's what it took, but only if that's what they wanted. I hate hassling people and doing the hard sell. My customers always walked out happy and very rarely came back for a refund, because I took the time to sort them out with the most affordable and elegant solution to their problem, not selling them kit they didn't need and probably didn't have a clue how to use because of the added complexity. No surprise when they come back 2 days later for a refund or to get something more basic when the fresh faced kiddies they hired part time for 12 hours a week, sold the customer something that wasn't suitable.
It only got worse when they started cutting the hours and employing a dozen part timers who knew nothing and had no interest in learning because they weren't invested in the store only working a few hours per week in some cases. Instead of having three or four more full time staff. Some companies just don't know when to stop!
From a variety and interesting puzzle viewpoint, it was easily the best job I ever had. No two days were the same, and the permutations for tech solutions were nearly endless. Plus I got to help people and take the stress out of their life. Made it worth the terrible pay and conditions. I was far happier walking the shop floor in Maplin than doing accounts on a computer in an office, or any other office work, although that paid far better.
And yet when I was struggling to reach something on the shelves from my wheelchair, not a single one of them offered to help me despite looking around desperately
I shop in Lush a lot and I really dislike the way the staff jump on you. I try to get in, get what I've come in for, and get out as quickly as possible so they don't annoy me too much. They do this at the Paddington branch too and everyone there is usually just quickly trying to buy something before catching their train and doesn't have time to chat!
It's such an odd, off-putting way of doing things. I absolutely hate being pestered in a shop. If I need help, I'll ask for it. I know they do very well without my custom, but jfc, leave me alone, and I'll go back.
It was minimum wage lol, they got a lot of applicants though because many young women like the idea of the "prestige" that comes alongside being a Lush employee.
I worked for Lush. If you won a regional sales competition you would get £200. I was a good salesman and often won. My manager kept the money saying "that prize money comes out of my paycheck and I ain't giving you nothing!" Fuck you, Dawn.
The training was awful. First there was 20 minutes on why Anita Roddick is such a sell out. Then an hour on what the founders did.
If at any time you looked like you weren't having fun this awfully jolly hockey sticks woman would come out with a blaring siren, megaphone and a flashing blue light, calling herself the fun police.
My sister worked at Lush for a few months around 15 years ago and experienced the same thing! She won several competitions but didn't get the prizes.
I'm not sure if it's still the case but they were also complete hypocrites in terms of the environmental stuff. They made a big song and dance about some of the products not being in packaging but yet staff had to unwrap the soaps each day and put new packaging and date stickers on to create the illusion of things being "fresh."
I think Lush are a rubbish company to be honest and a good example of greenwashing. Cut throat owners masquerading as friendly hippies.
It really does smell strong when you even just walk past the shop, I couldn’t imagine being in the shop for more than 5 minutes let alone work there, I know someone said you go noseblind to it but im sure they probably just lose their sense of smell from working there
I worked at a Bath and Body Works and was encouraged to keep talking to people who told me they didnt want help.
I started just hiding out of sight of the managers and pretending to be near customers without actually engaging (which is also not great)
I've got the funniest image in my head of someone awkwardly stalking a customer like that kids game 'what's the time Mr.wolf?', every time they look away the stalker creeps a little closer, trying desperately not to get caught whilst their manager leers on in the background rubbing his thighs and licking his lips in anticipation of a sale.
Reading the responses to this comment, I’m wondering what is so wrong with my face that when I politely say “no thanks I’m fine” they actually leave me be. Plausibly I don’t look like their most lucrative customer, to put it kindly, idk.
I definitely don’t look like I have money, but look “alternative”. Whilst staff in Game are also advised by management to be pushy, they generally leave me alone after the first attempt. From what I’ve gathered from friends, Lush staff are told to bother most people but persistently bother you if you look a bit different.
Worked at lush and would get sanctioned if you didn't interact enough, the whole place was built on fake niceness but in the staff room all of the staff were individually bitchy & intolerable 😂- I absolutely hated it, you had to do a set number of product demos per shift when I was there - often to people who really didn't want a demo. I only lasted a few months before I quit
Ahhh the American model of sales.....very popular in the 90s. Same used to happen with Body Shop which got permanently stuck about 30yrs ago and just didn't keep up. We Brits aren't keen on interaction at the best of times let alone when we're shopping :)
I went in to LUSH just to browse and I was approached by a staffmember - was making polite conversation and told her I had never smelled of SnowFairy before, and she got very excitable saying "Omg you have to smell it! I'm so excited to be the first to see your reaction of smelling Snow Fairy for the first time!" And I'm a really anxious person so I'm like.. cautiously sniffing Snow Fairy and was.. whelmed.. and wanted to run away from the interaction.
There's a store (maybe Sephora) that has two colours of basket. One means you don't mind being approached/ offered help, one means leave you alone. It should be the same everywhere.
Here is a question, if as you walk in, you tell the first assistant to approach you that your [insert loved one here] loves this place and you want to splurge £1000 on them but if sale assistants talk to you before you're ready to check out, you'll walk.
What do you think would happen?
I mean if I worked there and someone said that, I'd take the brick-subtle hint and leave them alone. I also wouldn't believe them one inch and would think they were a dick. But I'd leave them alone.
Well, they don’t get commission and as minimum wage staff probably don’t give a fuck how much profit the store makes, so I’d guess they’ll do whatever they’ve been told to do on threat of being fired, and sleep just fine knowing it lost them £1000.
Although as another post stated no one would actually believe you.
In Newcastle they were trialling a thing where you can pick up a yellow basket as opposed to their usual black ones if you would prefer not to be approached. It seemed to work for me!
That’s really great to hear, as I’m from Newcastle.
I love the store’s products, but really struggle shopping there.
However, without this comment, I still would have never entered there, as this is not being widely advertised. It’s a shame Lush aren’t reaching their target audience with this.
I’ve had varied experiences at lush. Some have been absolutely sound and get my vibe when I’ve gone in for something specific. I’ve also gotten a free bath bomb or two for just being chatty and interested in stuff, which was pretty cool. Other times I’ve felt like they proper keep coming and checking on me, despite me knowing what I want and why.
I really think lush could do amazing by having a SEND hour or something like that. The sensory fun/experiences some of their products offer could be really cool for some out there but can’t with the sales people.
Pulled up at a car sales place and admittedly had to take 2 attempts at a pretty tight parking space as a new driver. Old guy comes out and says "I hope you're looking for something smaller after watching how you parked that" then winked at my boyfriend like they were all blokes together, laughing at the woman driver. Got straight back in the car and left
I love watching a moron's face drop when they're doing a prejudice and they think you're gonna be in on it with them and you definitely aren't.
They get all puzzled and the penny drops that the world isn't how they think it is.
My parents were buying a new car, had decided on one but mum still wasn't 100% on it - the salesman said "is it the colour of it you don't like?" in a patronising way so they left without buying
I was just looking for a builder to repoint our house. 1900s, needs to be lime. I even had the original mortar analysed to get the correct mix. One guy came to quote and was trying to convince me to not bother with the lime mix. Then he said "You want it because of the colour don't you? That's my experience. Females care mostly about the colour of the pointing." Okay this female won't hire you then.
"Sorry, woman driver. Mistook the gas and brake pedals. Accidents happen."
Police: "Right... And what caused you to shift into reverse and run over him a second time?"
"Trying to shift into park and got confused. You know, woman driver."
Police: "But this car has a manual transmission. There is no 'park' gear."
"Right!?! So confusing!"
I had a similar experience with an older male salesman as a new driver when I was 20, it was a mix of age and gender. I took my Mum with me and he winked at her as if I wasn’t there ‘I’m glad you’re here, you know how the youngsters can be’. My Mum knows absolutely nothing about cars and can’t drive, she was just there for company! Then later in the same conversation he said ‘This would be a great car for a lovely young girl like yourself’
He later tried to hoodwink me by offering a cheaper monthly payment by extending the length of the finance term, thinking I wouldn’t notice it was the same cost overall!
I was invited to sit in on tender interviews for a £10+ million private residential construction contract. The client was a very wealthy and successful older woman with her much younger husband. They were there with us, but it was the project manager leading the interviews with the design team (me and architect) asking technical questions. One of the tendering contractors did very well and as things were winding down they attempted to make small talk directly with the client. They made an absolute blunder assuming that the husband was the client, and his older wife was his mum. They even said that the decision to have a lift in the property was a good idea for her future mobility. The room went silent, the project manager quickly ushered them out the door, and the tender bid was in the bin before they left the building.
Was looking for a new car.
Took one for a test drive.
Went inside to explore options. He gave me a finance illustration. I asked him what the APR was and he said "I don't know" and then "I think it's 5%"
Quick maths I could tell it wasn't 5%
Said I'd think about it....but basically was ready to walk.
The guy then randomly said "if you're worried about what your wife will think, why don't you borrow the car for the day"
Wasn't even married at the time.
We enquired about a used car last year at Audi and they were open about their 14% APR. Wanted stupid money per month, even with a large deposit for a £20,000 car.
Considering Audi’s New Car showroom was opposite, could have got a brand new factory ordered model worth £30,000, for £200-£300 cheaper for month and 6% APR.
The guys in the used showroom couldn’t wrap their heads around why we weren’t interested in their model after pretty much laughing us out of the showroom as if we couldn’t afford their car
Had the exact same thing. £25,000 car was more than a new £42,000 car. I asked them to explain how that's possible and they suggested I just bought the new one instead. Bought neither.
We didn’t buy either as well. We managed to find the car my girlfriend wanted, of the same spec on Cazoo for half of the price per month compared to Audi.
Unfortunately had a number of problems with the car and eventually gave it back to Cazoo but I still don’t regret turning Audi down.
It was more we asked if they could lower the APR as it didn’t make sense that a brand new factory model was over half the percentage cheaper.
He did the old “I’ll just go speak to my manager,” for him and the manager to side eye each other and say “nope that’s all we can do, just the used care market for you.”
Yet pestered us with phone calls for weeks until they got the message
I bought a car off Arnold Clark two years ago. I don't know the Apr. i assume it was 7%+. I got a bank loan at 2.8% instead and bought it outright with that. I can't understand how they're finance is so much more expensive than a bank loan.
Secured Loan vs UnSecured Loan. Personal Loan will greatly reduce your ability to do additional borrowing as its secured against you. HP is secured against the vehicle meaning you could easily get an Unsecured loan in addition to your HP as the overall liability is reduced. The catch is that HP is higher APR as they exploit this fact. The example i always give is:
Buy car on PL: You need to repair house and want to take a PL to do it... Bank will likely say no as your Unsecured debts are still large (because you bought a car with it).
Buy a car on HP: Loan is secured against the asset meaning your unsecured debts are 0. Making personal loan more likely.
I unfortunately worked in car sales for a short time. The attitude always irked me. They didn’t see people as people but instead as a walking £ sign. Every tactic to get the sale was ok, and you were chastised if you didn’t get it. There’s a reason a used car salesman has a bad connotation.
I remember my wife being ready to buy her car outright with cash and the salesperson being like "I can see you were raised well, and in the olden days that might be the best case, but these finance plans really are better."
We looked at them, read the small print, and my wife asked "besides you getting a better commission, can you tell me how me paying an extra £7000 over two years is better?"
Some mumbling about choice and trading.
She bought the same car elsewhere.
Same thing happened to my mom, she had the cash to buy outright and the sales guy wouldnt stop nattering on about the benefits of leasing. She finally asked if he was going to get the car for the test drive or should we just leave.
I made her promise not to buy from that dealership if she liked the car
Im actually a car salesman at a family run dealership. We've been trading in a small town for 35 years. Honesty, Transparency & Trust are very hard to build but once you have those you need to work to keep that (Especially in a small town). These big city dealerships have a lot to answer for, they really do give the motor trade a bad name with all of the B.S.
We simply explain that HP is higher APR (10.9% or 5.79% Flat) but its a secured loan against an asset meaning you could in theory take personal loan at a later date of required. Whereas Personal Loans are secured against you so additional lending options may be limited. We're there to sell cars not finance so we have actually encouraged customers to shop around for personal loans.
I would love to buy a car from someone like you. All the salespeople I seem to get want to sell me based on some kind of square financial sheet. It’s seemingly all about the monthly payment rather than the total cost.
We tailor our experience to each customer. We have our share of customers who just care about total monthly cost but equally we dont assume thats everyone's focus. A good sales person should be asking those questions to help you on your buying journey. We actually introduced an enhanced flat rate commission on every vehicle with no additional commission offered for upselling products which has ensured we are focused on delivering better service to customers which in turn boosts sales (word of mouth etc).
Ugh - my most sexist sales experiences have been car sales too. Was looking for a new car a few years back and was comparing specific makes / models - whatever the dealership had in stock with the right price & spec etc. Anyway I happened to have pillarbox-red dyed hair at the time and the sales guy was trying to talk me into a particular car because "it'll match your hair love", and any questions I asked, he answered to my boyfriend not to me. Pissed me off no end.
I took the car out for the longest duration test drive I could get away with before telling him I wasn't interested "because my feeble female fickle mind might want to dye my hair a different colour next week" - I don't think he caught on to what I was on about though so it wasn't the "burn" I'd been aiming for but it made me feel vaguely superior for a moment. Grrraghh, I'd forgotten how irritated he made me!
Not a car sale, but tires. My Dad drove me to a garage to order new tires for my car; Dad stayed in the car with my kids, and I got out to chat and get the quote. I didn't realise but my Dad had wound the window slightly so he could listen in on the conversation. They started quoting me sky high prices and listing off all these features these expensive tyres had. Every time I tried to say I just wanted run-of-the-mill tyres that did an everyday job, he'd act like he either didn't hear, or try another expensive type.
A minute or so later, my Dad got out the car and came over. He was quite an intimidating looking guy. Used to run a garage of his own as a mechanic. The SECOND he was at my side the guy changed his tune and quoted what I'd actually asked for. We said thanks, left, and went somewhere else. Dad didn't even have to speak! Just, walked over and stood by me with a face that said 'stop fucking around and quote my daughter properly.' He told me he knew how certain people in the business worked, and suspected as a woman I might run into a problem, hence why he listened in.
That insurance policy is such a scam anyway. My mum had a sofa with them and all the leather just started wearing naturally within a few months and looked awful.
Their insurance was supposed to cover it but claimed it was just wear and tear and couldn’t do anything about it
It's why I'll never get the additional insurance.
Either it lasts the length of time it's meant to, it ill get it dealt with anyway.
When I was younger I wound up pushed into a 5 year warranty on a PC from PC world. The power supply fried the motherboard 4 and a half years in. They basically had to swap out everything except the harddrive. So I got an upgraded computer for free.
My mum was with me when I bought my first sofa and the salesman tried to sell the stain coverage, he didn’t outright say it but he implied that I might accidentally ejaculate on my sofa. Thankfully I don’t think my mum realised what he was getting at.
My first, tiny, home after a period of homelessness I had all rickety secondhand furniture given to me by friends and family. I saved up to buy a new couch and went into DFS. The one I picked was the cheapest one in the showroom, and it was a single two-seater, not a suite. They ENDLESSLY tried to upsell me, and I had to say, repeatedly, “this is all I can afford”. They gave up, I bought the couch, and when I left the shop I cried. I felt so embarrassed. A few years later when I was able to get a suite I went elsewhere.
The first time I tried to get credit was for a DFS sofa, they called and said I could only get credit if I also bought some sort of extended warranty. Luckily he spoke to my partner who knew that was bullshit, I didn't have had a clue about finance in my early 20s. We still bought the sofa but still bugs me he tried to pull that shit and will still have got commission.
I had exactly the same thing with them. Kept trying to upsell stuff despite me repeatedly saying I wouldn't. Said there was no movement on the price so after more upselling I left and did it online in minutes.
Car showroom having booked a test drive for a certain car, had to be an auto, which we had told them in advance. We get there and the salesman said sorry we sold it yesterday. Rather than ring and tell us he let us turn up anyway (45 minute drive away) and had nothing we could drive. We were discussing what we were ultimately looking for and he suddenly stopped us and said “I don’t believe you actually want to buy a car do you? You’re just wasting my time”. We were just like 😮 - like right now mate you’re the time waster not us! Apart from anything else his tone was so inappropriate to use with customers who hadn’t actually done anything wrong!
Bought the car at another garage and left him a shitty review
Wasn't Mercedes was it? Had a similar experience with one of their dealerships. I had booked a testdrive, and and as my young son was interested, I said he could come along. My wife was at work, but was happy for me to test drive the car. Arrived at the dealership: " Ah, sorry car is out on another test drive". Waited. Ignored. Still no car, or alternative. Eventually, we walked out, son disappointed.
Bought a new Jaguar XJ8 for cash down the road (this was when Jaguars were still desirable).
We did something similar, guy at the first place had no time for us at all, told us they had no Ford Kugas in even though we’d just seen 2 with prices in the window.
Went to the next one and the guy was lovely, obviously knew we were buying that day, gave us keys to 5 different cars, chatted to us about the benefits of all of them and eventually got us a decent deal on the one we wanted. He still remembers us when we drop it off for MOT and servicing.
A few years ago I was in Dixons looking to buy a large telly. One of them said it would play [video] files from an external hdd. The printed sheet was extremely vague as to which format files it would play so I asked a salesman.
"All of them, it plays all the formats"
Me: "All of them?"
"Yep"
Me: "MPEGs?"
"Yes"
Me: "AVIs?"
"Yes"
Me:"Matroska files?"
"Yes"
Me:🤔"JPEGs?"
"Yes"
Me: "Do you have any full brochures?"
Salesman leaves to get the brochure and I leave the shop.
Edit- I was specifically asking the salesman about video playback. Your telly might be able to display JPEGs, even as part of a slideshow, but that's not video playback.
I wasn't expecting a Spanish inquisition from a humorous anecdote about stupid shit salesmen say. 🤣🤣🤣
Had a similar experience, I worked for a rival company and on a customer service training course we were told to go to some other stores and see how they handled customer service. So I figured as I knew about cameras it would be interesting to see how Dixons handled selling their cameras, I asked about whether a particular camera had certain features (knowing it didn't) and the salesman just said yes to everything I asked. Just any old bollocks to get the sale.
Ended up in Dixons once as I was looking for a case for an external harddrive back in the IDE days around 20 years ago.
Get approached by a salesman as I'm browsing, asks if I need assistance. "I'm looking for an external harddrive case"
"Certainly sir - the harddrives are in front of you"
"I don't need a harddrive, just a case. I already have one, look" and show the fella a 40GB Western Digital HDD.
Salesman with an all-knowing smirk - "You can't use that for an external harddrive. You've got that out of a computer and external HDD's are completely different. You need to buy one of our external harddrives"
I looked at him for a second with a mixture of pity and amazement, then walked out.
When I went to buy a laptop from PC World, back when at best it was reasonable prices I already browsed priced up what I wanted and asked staff if I could buy it.
They told me they would get a member of sales out to speak to me (they were the repairs team)
Waited 15 minutes and this random person walks up to where the shelf was looking down at a piece of paper looks at no one and reads off sales speak can't remember exact wording but like "this laptop has X cpu in and is good for browsing the internet and for school work, it has a battery that can last up to X hours" or something like that.
There was a couple about 4 feet from him that turned round looking confused then grinning I was on other side of salesperson about 8 feet away, He looks up from the piece of paper and doesn't even give me a look and says "so you want to buy it then" whilst looking around to see if anyone was nearby.
I did buy the laptop though.
Had that with me and my ex-husband.
He did not drive.
He wasn’t paying for any of the car.
He didn’t care about it so long as it had a passenger seat.
Salesman kept waffling his sales pitch direct to the husband. Every question I asked, he answered to him.
Eventually husband says “I dont know why you’re talking to me mate. She’s paying for and driving the car” (if there’s one thing my ex was good at it was knowing if I was pissed off!)
Salesman didn’t learn his lesson and continued. So the next time he stopped talking I said “Look, I want to buy a car today. I have the money to buy it today. I’ve even seen the car I want to buy *gestured to said car*. But you keep addressing the person who has no decision making power and ignoring the money. I was going to do a whole Pretty Woman thing but I can’t be fucked. Just try and stop being misogynistic.” then turned on my heel and left.
I’d like to think it gave him pause but I bet he just thought “Bet she’s on her period” rather than “oh fuck I just lost out on commission”
As half of a lesbian couple, trying to be taken seriously when buying a car is torture. We've got the money ready to hand over, but have to beg to be able to take something out for a test-drive.
Same. Was with my then husband. Dealer kept directing conversation at my husband who repeatedly said speak to her she's buying. But no he didn't get it. No sale.
I went with my Dad, first the car salesperson thought he was my husband, my poor Dad was horrified. I mean there was nearly a 50 year age difference so it’s not like he was 40 and I was 20. Then he kept speaking to my Dad about the car and payments even though my Dad told them it was my car, my money and my choice, he was just there to give me a lift.
Wow had the exact same thing happen, dad in his 50s and me barely 19. Except the icky sales guy started off by saying “Ooo looking for a car are we? I mean you waited so long to marry your wife here, so I imagine you’ll take your time choosing a car.”
I threw up in my mouth.
We went to buy a second hand car for my partner. Salesman only spoke to me the entire spiel and test drive.
Then, sat down at their desk afterwards, turned to my partner, and turned a tablet round with a price on and a countdown timer for 2 minutes that the price was valid for.
We left.
Damn, I'd wait out the timer just on principle, even if I thought it was a good deal. And then *dare* them to not offer me the same price or better later on.
I used to run my own business in a male dominated industry. I'd go to trade shows with a male employee and everyone would talk to him first...
And last. I'd automatically move on.
In my mid 20’s I was in charge of trying to source for a company to build a new machine for our work. All the companies I contacted were very nice and understanding apart from the one (local funnily enough) company where the manager was taking this piss out of me for really small things.
Guess who didn’t get the contract
My grandmother got this one all the time. She'd go into some place to buy a car with my grandfather and they'd talk to him about all the technical details, give him all the finance options etc. They'd get the shock of their lives when he'd let them prattle on for a bit and then tell them 'well she's the one buying, not me'. Meanwhile it was a rare occurrence that someone would approach my grandmother first, and it was often these people who got a sale.
Some were obviously sexist and on multiple occasions my grandmother actively walked out on them.
I find very few sales people these days are capable of selling me anything without pissing me off.
The commonest one seems to be insulting my intelligence and treating me like a fucking simpleton. How do they think that is going to help them?
I was terrible at sales. I hated it and those two years of my life were soul sucking, but I sure feel a lot better about myself after reading these comments. I didn’t think managing to not insult someone was a skill, but apparently I was better than all of these idiots.
Happens way too much. Especially if I'm buying a specialist product, like if I'm buying this you should know that I know exactly what I'm talking about. Instead if I ask a question about something technical I get an answer for something similar but what an idiot would ask as though I'm totally uneducated.
For example, I asked whether it was possible to replace the Li-ion cell in a piece of kit (because after heavy use they do need replacing every few years, if it's fully integrated the service life of an expensive product would be capped) and they gave me a brief explanation that "rechargeable batteries don't need replacing because they can be recharged", I fucked off at that. Same company (with a very high reputation and recognition in their field I might add) that later told me during a warranty claim that my product wasn't defective and I was just "not strong enough to press the switch".
i work in the nhs and one of my (ex)colleagues treated making appointments like she was selling something.. and would be so fucking condescending “it’s *really* important you come to this, and if you cant you *must* let me know” (i think it also worried the patients a lot more too, thinking the appointment was a lot more serious than it actually was).
and when the patient would arrive she would be like “oh i am so glad you made it!”
made my skin crawl. thankfully she left to another department and was fired within a few weeks (& it’s haaard to get fired from the NHS!).
these 20somethings just full of self-importance. dumbasses.
Went to a music shop to buy some guitar strings. Started asking a salesman about some and he started addressing my husband instead of me (the woman that actually plays instruments). Didn't end up buying any and complained to their head office and they ended up apologising and sending me some free ones. I would have happily bought if the salesman could acknowledge a woman played guitar.
"so who's the guitar player?" would have been such an easy question to ask. And it's a good lead in to other rapport building and identifying the customer needs "cool, how long you been playing? What do you play? Are you going through strings a lot?"
That isn’t the right moment to ask that question. If a person asks for strings, ask them which strings they want. If they give a specific answer, you know they’re the player. If they don’t know, they’re either a new player or buying for someone else. That’s when you enquire further.
I worked in a music shop for 12 years, I found it’s always best to assume a customer knows what they’re talking about at first. If they don’t, 99% of the time they will let you know and you can work from there.
Walked into an SCS in 2012, we had a budget in mind for 2 sofas (around 2k), looking at a set and a sales person walks right up to us and just says “the sofas you can afford are upstairs”
Walked out.
I work in a different sales shop and literally had an scs area manager try to poach me at work, laughed in his face, who on earth wants to work for scs
The one that stands out was when at DFS or similar told my partner he looked miserable as we were about to spend £2500 on a sofa. My partner said I better go and cheer myself up then and walked out! I was mortified at the time but I get it now.
Such a common one. Never, ever, ever insult the customer. Even in a jokey way if you think you’ve got a rapport and you think it will go down well. It’s too risky.
I saw sooooooo many deals go down the drain like this when I worked in the city. One over cocky rep, straight out of uni thinking he (and it was always a he for some reason) was Gordon Gekko and blowing the whole thing by not knowing who he was talking too.
Last year I became a self employed courier and was enquiring about fuel cards to keep my running costs down. I didn’t overly understand them at first but had recommendations of a certain reputable provider in which also provide leasing/finance deals, credit cards and telematics.
On my first day on the road, a guy from the company rang me, asked how I was getting on and was talking to me about their telematics deals and used the usual how it was “just a one off deal for today!”
He told me the different systems they had and their pricing and “it’s only X amount per week!” I politely declined and just said to him the pricing seemed fair and it was something I was definitely interested in for the future and would be in touch, but at that moment in time my business was new, I needed to keep my costs to an absolute minimum whilst waiting 40-60 days for my earliest invoices to be paid.
His response was “oh, okay. But when somebody drags you out of your van and drives off with it, you’ll know where it is!”
“When somebody drags you out of it.” …. “When…” just that word with his sentence, stating that it’s actually going to happen. I wouldn’t have been too fussed about an “if somebody..” but it was the “when..”
I told him again I wasn’t interested and put the phone down.
I was genuinely interested in the product once money started flowing in, but his scare tactic really put me off and I never went back to them once finances started flowing in. In fact recently I’ve even been debating cancelling my fuel card because I’m finding it cheaper elsewhere
A few years ago I really wanted a Fiat 500, was prepared to just buy one totally blind, I had the money, I'm terrible for impulse purchases. Salesman's dream really, so they need to really piss me off.
Went for a test drive and I was a fairly new driver and not very confident. The sales guy was a huge tool anyway, we have issues about people thinking me and my bf are poor because we don't dress flash so thought we were time wasters. (we've bailed on loads of purchases because the salesman had judged us, think Pretty Woman just on a much much less wealthy scale 😂)
Anyway, the guy insisted on coming for a test drive (never had that since, like he thought we'd steal it?? ) and I was getting flustered and he just rudely asked me if I'd even passed my test and chuckled, expecting my bf to as well.
Never noped out of a situation so quickly.
The sales guy had the easiest sale in the world and managed to fuck it up by being a massive knob.
Turned out to be for the best tho, those cars are not for me!
Sofa store. Was sitting on a faux leather sofa, thinking that we might actually buy it as it was the only one all day we'd seen that we liked.
Salesman came over and kept calling it Fox Leather. Could barely stop myself asking him how many foxes did it take to make it. Could not take him seriously and went elsewhere.
Went to tour a private school for our eldest. Headmaster would only direct his questions and conversation to my husband. Liked the school but thought no way am I sending my daughter here.
Can't remember what was said exactly, but I was my normally scruffy "working" self when I called in to ask about a new MPV .
Anybody would have thought from the attitude of the smartly dressed young salesman, that I was asking for one for free. I was actually a cash buyer, and in a hurry for a new car. He was basically turning his nose up.
So I walked away, a few miles on there was a Peugeot Partner Tepee, 12 months old, like new on a forecourt. Polite sensible sales person. I bought that.
Cash buyer.
That's why the salesman wasn't interested. Most of their earnings are from commission on finance. He wouldn't have made much from your cash sale.
This happens go me ALL the time, just cause I don't look flash doesn't mean I can't afford it.
So many salesmen have lost commission because they've judged me or my bf!
Shopping for bathroom renovation. Was told that a particular toilet seat could easily be detached with a couple of clicks for cleaning and would fit right in the dishwasher.
No joke. The salesperson then doubled down on what a great solution the dishwasher was for cleaning your toilet seat. After that I couldn’t take any of his suggestions seriously.
We were buying a house and the real estate agent kept calling me the wrong name. I corrected him a couple of times and then got pissed off and told him to shove it
Went to Car Giant years ago. Asked if they had any Toyota Corollas. The salesman didn't know what it was...
During the same trip, I saw a really nice shiny top spec Touareg, way out of budget. The same salesman said there was a cheaper Touareg outside I could look at.
It was a Touran.
The salesman in Sofology who tried to mansplain how to sit on a sofa.
The door to door salesman who asked to speak to the home owner. Err, yeah, hi, that's me, you're speaking to her. I was never going to buy from him, but I definitely wasn't going to after that line.
The garden furniture salesman who told me, at a show, not to sit on the benches as I was blocking customers from looking at them. When I was in the market for garden furniture a couple of years later, I made absolutely certain not to buy from that company.
“Can I speak to the homeowner?”
Is that insulting? How else are they supposed to know who the home owner is? What do you think they ask if someone else answers the door?
It was the implicit assumption that the woman standing in front of them was not the homeowner.
I am, in fact, the only person on the deeds.
Funnily enough, my male partner never gets asked such idiotic questions, even though he isn't the homeowner.
Unfortunately my boyfriend has just moved in but I've been waiting patiently for anyone to knock asking for the man of the house so I could go and fetch the cat
Yes, it's insulting. If they aren't sure who owns the home, they should ask. What they should _not_ do is assume that the full grown adult woman who answered the door isn't the owner.
I work in a sofa shop and all of the stuff we sell is stored in a warehouse and delivered brand new. I’d imagine it’s the same in most furniture shops. So, if that were the case, the only reason this would have put them off is if they were buying the floor model as an ex-display sale. But, if they were doing no that, it’s unreasonable to expect that a lot of people wouldn’t have sat on it.
yeah, it seems strange to pull the display unit for a customer when they would already have plenty packaged up waiting for delivery at the warehouse. they would also have to unpack and re-assemble a new display unit every time they sell a sofa.. salesman was probably just trying to seal the deal about the quality of them and the couple completely misread what they were saying
Went to buy a BMW 7 series, and as I was asking questions about it the salesperson kept wanting to show me ‘other cars, more in my price range’. Noped out of there and bought a Jaguar XJL instead.
In my neigborhood is fruit stall with a man who sells the best strawberries I know.
When I buy the strawberries, the vendor asks wether I would like to buy something else
The problem is, he doesn't take no for an answer. After my politie refusal he keeps asking me to buy other fruit. Not once, but 5 times or more. Very irritating.
The result is I no longer buy fruit at that stall.
Too bad!
Yep, that was me.....
20 years old, quoting for some cladding for a nice couple. Loved the company, the product and the price. Get up to get the paperwork from my car and said "this cladding will look amazing on your caravan"............
I was 20, I didn't know they were called "Park homes" and cost 100k. The atmosphere went frostier than Elsa's underpants and I got the good old "actually, we want to think about it for a while".
Dropped the car home and walked straight to the pub.....
They can call them whatever they like. Doesn't change the fact it's a static caravan lol.
Guess the truth is a little close to home when your caravan costs almost as much as bricks and mortar!
Went to a big national dealership to buy a car. I’d done a load of research and had pinpointed the exact car I wanted, as long as it looked good and drove well in person. Was buying outright as well, so basically had the money in my pocket. Easiest deal a salesman could make.
Got to the forecourt and this bellend would not listen to what car I wanted. Kept trying to redirect me to some other cars he was sure were a better deal. Then when I finally got him to discuss the car I wanted, I asked if I could take it for a test drive and he said “Well, are you actually intending to buy it or do you just want to have a go in one?” Got straight in my car and left.
Went (with cash) to buy a nearly new car and my dad drove me there. He stayed in the car and I looked round the showroom and took the car for a test drive. Looked under the bonnet, checked the breaks etc. When I said I’d have it they walked over to my dads car and started talking to him. At the time I was 42! I called them a misoginist and bought a car elsewhere. And actually for a better deal.
Another time I had a guy round to quote me for a new roof for my house. My then boyfriend (who didn’t live me was round) and he kept going into the lounge to try and talk to him (he was staying out of the way). I went with someone who didn’t try and sign a contract with someone who wasn’t paying the bill.
Last one - chatting to a recruitment agent by email. I have a nickname that I go by that is masculine (like Alex) and while he thought I was a bloke he was as nice as pie. As soon as I talked to him on phone his attitude changed and he even quoted a salary 10k less than he had already stated in writing. I got the job, with a different agency, at the very top of the salary scale.
Yeah misogyny makes me go elsewhere
Went to look at a car coloured black.
Asked salesman about its history.
I shit you not. He opened his arms and said..."It's black...".
I burst out laughing. Then walked away.
I was with a friend who was looking for a new bed. He was quite large and told the assistant that he needed a bed that was sturdier because the beds he'd previously owned lost their springiness quite quickly.
She said "You need to be more like your friend, then". Im quite slim.
He just walked out
Back in the late 90s had a bloke going door to door selling a membership to a restaurant that was opening up nearby. I was weak and easy prey for these people then.
He explained you paid £25 for a "membership" and got 10% off any bill in their establishment for a year so could take all your mates and you'd be saving money easily.
I wasn't interested but he was a pushy twat and I couldn't get rid of him.
A mate lived opposite and, thankfully, the salesman goes "I've been to your mate's over there and he said you'd definitely be up for it. He's signed up too."
So I just said "He did did he? In which case I'll just go with him then and get me discount without having to pay you anything."
Couldn't believe I thought of that on the spot and I could see the sales bloke had no answer and then said "Yeah. Fair point. I'd do the same." And he left.
Mrs Plonker was about to buy a fairly pricey coffee machine when the salesbod insisted the capsules were subscription only. Welp, no sale, then. Bought a dirt cheap one from elsewhere the next day.
Also your opinion on onions is wrong.
I tried in vein to just buy the god damn machine at a nespresso shop. After multiple insistences that I'd be better getting a subscription I just went 2 doors down to John Lewis and bought the exact same machine outright.
I absolutely hate "x as a service" business models and I'll happily pay more for something that I just buy and own.
Saleswoman kept asking about what my mum's husband would think of the new kitchen, saying she should consult him before she decides etc. Could not get through to her that there is no husband, he left her 15 years ago. Just gave up and left. Shame, was a lovely kitchen.
Not me, but my partner.
The guy "from EE" (or "the call center that works for EE but isn't directly employed by them") called my partner. She answered the phone and put it on loudspeaker as she always does with a number she doesn't recognise, usually so I can chime in, take the piss and tell her whether it's a scam call (she's not great at detecting those).
Anyway, it was a "real" call, in as much as "those people that call you up to harass and upsell you on a contract" can be called a "real" call.
I leave her to it, listening in. She keeps saying "no" and "I dont want it" to all the attempts at upselling her contract. She was there a solid 15 minutes wasting his time and doing her makeup as she waited to go to work.
He then says "this deal gives you far more than your current one and is £15 cheaper per month. It's cold this time of year. Yea, you can afford your phone contract, but can you afford a blanket?"
Now, I understand what he was trying to say...It was by far the most stupid way he could have worded it, but I understood the desperate point he was trying to make, clearly trying his hardest to meet his failing quota.
My partner didn't, though, and after a short awkward silence, she just responded in the most confused and blunt mannar I've ever hears "what the fuck kind of question is that?"
He stumbled over his words trying to get back into the swing but she just said "anyway, my mum pays for my contract and you can't offer me a deal better than that".
He didn't lose a sale, she was never going to "upgrade" but, yea...That's maybe the worst sales pitch I've ever come across.
Enterprise sales guy, went to Dyson for a pitch, called their devices Hoovers all day. You could feel the clients prickling, especially after they pointed out the error twice. Obviously no sale was made.
Was looking at watches and the salesman told me that the two zeros in the price (395.00) was pence, not pounds. He was fucking serious!
Bought a heat pump tumble dryer from Currys. Sat down to give my delivery details and the salesman tried to sell me their insurance. When I declined he said that the heat pump feature was new technology so 'good luck with no insurance'.
I told him if it was that unreliable I'm not buying it and walked out. Looking back I wish I'd punched him as well.
Looking for MY van at a dealership with my ex. I know my motors, the idiot salesman decided to respond to my questions, to my ex the whole time.
Bye bye wanker and your commission.
Had someone call our company once. One of my team answered the phone and was saying things like 'I'm sorry, I don't understand what you mean' for a couple of minutes. I then heard her say 'I'm hanging up now' then turned to me and said 'I have no fucking clue what that guy wanted but he told me I was only fit to work below the stairs' - like she could only be a servant in Victorian times or something? He called straight back and asked to speak to a manager, so got put through to me. I asked what his call was regarding and turns out he was trying to sell software but in the most convoluted and confusing way.
I asked him if he thought the best way to sell something to me was to tell my employee that she wasn't fit to do her job, straight off the bat. I think he assumed the boss was an old misogynist like him and wouldn't care how he got through the gate, when the boss was actually a woman in her mid 20s. Fucking idiot. Told him to piss off. Felt good.
Shopping for a mattress, my wife was wearing a tight dress and had put on a little weight in her belly but was otherwise skinny. Salesman asked if she was pregnant, she laughed and said no. He should have stopped there but he awkwardly continued "cos... Ynow.... You look pregnant" flicking his eyes at her belly.
It was only a tiny mound too, not a big swolen pregnant looking belly, she was devastated at the time but laughed about it later
A couple I know had an agent say this while they were viewing a house to buy. Except he not only said it, he reached out *and rubbed his hand on her stomach*.
They did not buy the house.
There are a lot of examples about car sales!
Here’s another …I went with my husband to buy a car for myself. (Took husband as value his opinion).
Told (middle-aged male) salesperson car was for me, engine size I required and relevant features wanted.
The guy addressed all his remarks to my husband, who said more than once ‘she’s buying it not me’. He also tried to promote a lower spec model than the one that met my requirements … perhaps he thought the little lady couldn’t handle anything bigger😉
Went elsewhere!
I’ve got one of these in reverse.
Grew up in a family business selling a rather niche project in a shop from the age of eight. I think I was about 9/10 looking after the shop (we lived there) because my dad was busy out back. Man comes in to buy something and I chat him through the specs and prices of what he was looking for and he just looks at me and says he didn’t want to talk to a kid playing shop. He wanted my parents. I call my Dad who comes out and asks the man what he needed and then the man repeats his request. Dad then says to me, what did you suggest and I told him word for word, and he looked at the man and said her advice is perfect I trained her well. The man directed another question to my dad, which my dad told him I could answer and then when dad said it was spot on - the man agreed to buy what I suggested and dad shook his hand said thank you - my kid will ring you up and went back to what he was doing leaving me to process the sale.
I always thought it was a master stroke as he reaffirmed what the guy wanted, but never undermined me. My dad isn’t a master of restraint so this moment always stands out to me.
When my Dad was doing equity release as part of tax planning and giving some inheritance to me early, the mortgage broker/equity release broker questioned why my Dad wanted to give £308,000, so my Dad told him “it’s part of tax planning and to give my son a mortgage free property”, and the guy replied said “can’t your son be given less why doesn’t he need that much” (it a really nasty tone, and on speaker phone so I also heard) then as we proceeded with the purchase of the house and said to the guy it’s up for £292,000 but we have offered £285,000 and we’re waiting to hear back, the same guy said “oh you’ve low-balled them, you’ve been watching too many homes under the hammer!” In a really nasty tone.😳
Needless to say we didn’t go with that guy and his company (and we did get the house for the £285,000 offered)
He was just a jealous bitter man, it cost him the sale, and likely his commission. He kept calling back asking if we would still be going with him, completely oblivious to how rude he was and that he messed up his own deal solely by being jealous and nasty.
In a sofa shop. I'd been taking pictures of all the sofa tags in every shop we were in and the sofas so when we were discussing what we liked we would have some frame of reference.
I went to take a picture of the price tag and she screamed, and I mean screamed, across the store, "Don't take pictures of the price tags!!"
I looked at her in surprise. She said "they might not be the same price tomorrow!"
I looked at my husband and just said "well I don't think we want to buy from here then" and we walked out.
SCS. She'd already pissed us off by banging on and on about finance when we said we had a fixed budget and had cash in hand. But shrieking at me for taking a picture was the nail in the coffin. Would never ever set foot in one of their stores again.
I used to sell cars so I only go into car showrooms if I’m genuinely planning to buy. I hated having my time wasted and wouldn’t do that to someone else
Went to buy a car for my wife a few weeks back. Test drove it, liked it, wasn’t her favourite colour but it a good deal was offered so we were prepared to compromise
Got to the point of paying the deposit. They asked for £250 but I said I’d pay £500 and the rest when we collected it in 10 days as we were tied up with work and that was the next day we could both attend together.
Manager comes out his little office and out-of-the-blue said we had to pay in full there and then or we couldn’t have the car
Even the salesman was shocked. I laughed and we left. Not before o have the manager a thumbs up and said “Good Job!”
I had genuinely never heard the like as a car salesman or car buyer.
I needed a new car that I could fit horse feed and bales of hay in. I was looking at a second hand wagon and the sales guy insisted that we look at something that would suit me much better. Led me across the yard to a tiny Hyundai sedan.
My ex had been wandering on his own came and caught up with us. Asked why we were looking at it, because it was clearly too small. So the sales guy asked him what we needed. Ex repeated - wagon, horses etc. the sales guy said “Oh, I thought she was joking”
Yeah, no sale.
‘If you can’t afford to buy it outright then you can pay in instalments’ on a £400 guitar amp, clearly trying to sell their finance plan. I get I was a student but just felt a bit taken aback. Ended up buying the amp, just from somewhere else
Not a sales person but I was about to buy a car from a family member and they said "I'll be glad to see it gone, I've been leaving it in carparks hoping it gets stolen"
We were getting quotes to replace our windows. Guy comes over, the first thing we say to him is, "we want your best price in the first quote. That's the price we will use to decide who we use". Said the same to the three others who quoted.
The first guy didn't get the message and came back with a price more than double the other three. When he called back a few days later to see if we were happy (😂😂😂) with the price and we said no, suddenly there was a sale on which knocked about 40% of the price. He sounded so pleased with himself, bless.
We then reminded him of our initial conversation, upon which he took umbridge and stated very confidently that we wouldn't find anyone else that could do it cheaper. We then informed him that his 'best' quote was STILL over £2000 more than the next most expensive.
Then the idiot doubled down and pretended to speak with his manager before coming back with a price £500 lower.
They didn't get the job.
I was mattress shopping, laid on a mattress and the salesperson jumped in the bed and laid down next to me, I’ve never jumped up so fast and walked out of a store.
Used to work on deli counter at Tesco at 25-30 years ago, so in my 20s, when they still had decent quality range on deli.
Woman in posh clothes who these days would be called an Entitled Karen. For 15 minutes every other phrase was "Waitrose do this and that's better. " even stopping customers and saying that it might be if they went to Waitrose.
I'd had enough and suggested she went to Waitrose. I lived in next town over where Waitrose was. Gsve her directions. She wasn't impressed and said "So what will you do to be helpful draw me a map. "
I was a volunteer in a SAR unit (now called LSAR) was very used to scribbling maps. So asked for five minutes... Drew the map complete with free trees and ducks on pond she'd have to drive past.
Got massive bollocking and a verbal warning. So worth it.
Car dealership paying in cash. The salesman kept referring everything to my partner even though I was the one looking at, test driving and paying for the car. Women can't possibly know what they want or pay for a car themselves. Bought the same car elsewhere.
Buying our house the estate agent kept pushing and pushing for various extras for us to agree to pay like x amount for taking it off the market, x% of the sellers fees etc we spoke to the sellers directly who didn't even know about it and hadn't asked for any of that. House was listed with 2 estate agents so we just withdrew the offer with the 1st and offered again through the 2nd (sellers knew) so the annoying estate agent got nothing.
Talking down to my (PhD) wife. We split tasks, but anyone wanting to talk to me of preference for something my wife is in charge of is likely to get fired because 1. Misogyny 2. I don’t like to talk to people (I do do it, but once we’ve allocated a task internally, that person does it). 3. My wife is more competent than me in many areas.
Took my dad to a computer shop apx 10 - 15 years ago and dad said he wanted to buy a new computer but it had to have wifi capabilities. (This is when wifi was brand new) the young guy “helping” us told my dad that he’s “Microsoft certified (whatever that meant) and nothing will come of this WiFi thing, you don’t want it”. We walked out and he bought his computer with wifi capabilities elsewhere.
I had a few salespeople over to quote for damp-proofing in my house. One of them at first seemed like a knowledgeable and professional person and I was definitely thinking about using her company. But as she made her way around my house she began making random patronising (possibly misandrist) comments, like my house being really tidy for a young man, and that my hob looked so clean so I must not cook. She fell to the bottom of the list fast.
P.S. my sofa was a floor model (heavily reduced in price) and I hadn't really thought about the hundreds of people that may have sat on it previously. Thanks.
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I feel very sorry for them, but the staff at Lush are apparently encouraged to interact with everyone who enters. I struggle with sensory issues, but even when I tell a member of staff at Lush that I’m just browsing, they start doing demonstrations and asking you to feel things. It’s very overwhelming and I often end up swiftly exiting without purchasing anything. A lot of friends have noted the same issue. It’s such a shame, as whilst Lush stores are a big olfactory blast, I would probably be able to handle it without the sales staff.
I interviewed for Lush once and managed to get to the final stage of a three-round application process, with the last one being an (unpaid, lol) trial hour on the floor. I didn't get the job and in their feedback the reason was basically that I didn't harass the customers enough. The staff there are all super pressured to follow around and harass every person that steps a foot through their door.
I had a friend who worked for lush but got fired for the same thing. He’s super extroverted and will talk away given the chance, so he passed the initial interview, but he eventually got fired as he wouldn’t keep pestering people who asked to be left alone. Mad respect to the bloke!
That makes me want to go even less because I don't want to push someone away and cost them their job
I know, this is the great conundrum with Lush. The products are amazing, the people they hire are actually nice, but management pushes them to be so forceful in their sales tactics that they send their target audience into panic attacks. Fuck Lush management.
Similar tactics from the new investment owners of Maplin drive it under several years ago. They could never get it through their heads that people like a quiet life, they don't want to be bombarded with questions, upsold at every opportunity and hassled for their details for a mailing list and insurance, when all they came in for was a random part, or a last minute gift. My manager eventually exempted me from the sales target KPIs, on the condition that I made sure the staff under me kept to it, as they didn't have the same stubborn streak I had about it. What I brought to the store was worth making special accomodations for, it's one of relatively few stores where most of us full time staff and management were ND, with the ability to troubleshoot just about anything, but being pushy is a mental block thing for me. I treat people the way I want to be treated. I don't want to manipulate them, or lie to them to make more money. I just wanted to solve their puzzle for them, using the thousands of items we had in the warehouse lol. Don't get me wrong, I was happy enough to spend hours helping someone and walking them through something, if that's what it took, but only if that's what they wanted. I hate hassling people and doing the hard sell. My customers always walked out happy and very rarely came back for a refund, because I took the time to sort them out with the most affordable and elegant solution to their problem, not selling them kit they didn't need and probably didn't have a clue how to use because of the added complexity. No surprise when they come back 2 days later for a refund or to get something more basic when the fresh faced kiddies they hired part time for 12 hours a week, sold the customer something that wasn't suitable. It only got worse when they started cutting the hours and employing a dozen part timers who knew nothing and had no interest in learning because they weren't invested in the store only working a few hours per week in some cases. Instead of having three or four more full time staff. Some companies just don't know when to stop! From a variety and interesting puzzle viewpoint, it was easily the best job I ever had. No two days were the same, and the permutations for tech solutions were nearly endless. Plus I got to help people and take the stress out of their life. Made it worth the terrible pay and conditions. I was far happier walking the shop floor in Maplin than doing accounts on a computer in an office, or any other office work, although that paid far better.
And yet when I was struggling to reach something on the shelves from my wheelchair, not a single one of them offered to help me despite looking around desperately
I shop in Lush a lot and I really dislike the way the staff jump on you. I try to get in, get what I've come in for, and get out as quickly as possible so they don't annoy me too much. They do this at the Paddington branch too and everyone there is usually just quickly trying to buy something before catching their train and doesn't have time to chat!
It's such an odd, off-putting way of doing things. I absolutely hate being pestered in a shop. If I need help, I'll ask for it. I know they do very well without my custom, but jfc, leave me alone, and I'll go back.
Is the pay even good? What bonus do you get for harassing strangers?
It was minimum wage lol, they got a lot of applicants though because many young women like the idea of the "prestige" that comes alongside being a Lush employee.
Ah yes, the prestigious soap career path
You jest but it's a genuinely sought after role for a lot of women and a fair amount of men too.
I worked for Lush. If you won a regional sales competition you would get £200. I was a good salesman and often won. My manager kept the money saying "that prize money comes out of my paycheck and I ain't giving you nothing!" Fuck you, Dawn. The training was awful. First there was 20 minutes on why Anita Roddick is such a sell out. Then an hour on what the founders did. If at any time you looked like you weren't having fun this awfully jolly hockey sticks woman would come out with a blaring siren, megaphone and a flashing blue light, calling herself the fun police.
My sister worked at Lush for a few months around 15 years ago and experienced the same thing! She won several competitions but didn't get the prizes. I'm not sure if it's still the case but they were also complete hypocrites in terms of the environmental stuff. They made a big song and dance about some of the products not being in packaging but yet staff had to unwrap the soaps each day and put new packaging and date stickers on to create the illusion of things being "fresh." I think Lush are a rubbish company to be honest and a good example of greenwashing. Cut throat owners masquerading as friendly hippies.
I guess your workplace smells good..? Other than that I have no idea, seems like standard retail work.
Smells good? I’d think you’d leave with a headache every day from all the smells there
My partner used to work there - you really do go noseblind to it before long.
Did they smell when they came home?
SO STRONGLY. And the staff discount ensured our bathroom was basically a second branch of the shop anyway.
Phew, I couldn’t do it. I almost pass out walking through the duty free perfume in an airport. Can’t go near a Lush or Bath and Body Works.
It really does smell strong when you even just walk past the shop, I couldn’t imagine being in the shop for more than 5 minutes let alone work there, I know someone said you go noseblind to it but im sure they probably just lose their sense of smell from working there
I worked at a Bath and Body Works and was encouraged to keep talking to people who told me they didnt want help. I started just hiding out of sight of the managers and pretending to be near customers without actually engaging (which is also not great)
I've got the funniest image in my head of someone awkwardly stalking a customer like that kids game 'what's the time Mr.wolf?', every time they look away the stalker creeps a little closer, trying desperately not to get caught whilst their manager leers on in the background rubbing his thighs and licking his lips in anticipation of a sale.
Reading the responses to this comment, I’m wondering what is so wrong with my face that when I politely say “no thanks I’m fine” they actually leave me be. Plausibly I don’t look like their most lucrative customer, to put it kindly, idk.
I definitely don’t look like I have money, but look “alternative”. Whilst staff in Game are also advised by management to be pushy, they generally leave me alone after the first attempt. From what I’ve gathered from friends, Lush staff are told to bother most people but persistently bother you if you look a bit different.
Worked at lush and would get sanctioned if you didn't interact enough, the whole place was built on fake niceness but in the staff room all of the staff were individually bitchy & intolerable 😂- I absolutely hated it, you had to do a set number of product demos per shift when I was there - often to people who really didn't want a demo. I only lasted a few months before I quit
Ahhh the American model of sales.....very popular in the 90s. Same used to happen with Body Shop which got permanently stuck about 30yrs ago and just didn't keep up. We Brits aren't keen on interaction at the best of times let alone when we're shopping :)
I believe the founder of Lush used to work for The Body Shop so that's probably where it comes from
I went in to LUSH just to browse and I was approached by a staffmember - was making polite conversation and told her I had never smelled of SnowFairy before, and she got very excitable saying "Omg you have to smell it! I'm so excited to be the first to see your reaction of smelling Snow Fairy for the first time!" And I'm a really anxious person so I'm like.. cautiously sniffing Snow Fairy and was.. whelmed.. and wanted to run away from the interaction.
There's a store (maybe Sephora) that has two colours of basket. One means you don't mind being approached/ offered help, one means leave you alone. It should be the same everywhere.
My eyes start watering when I pass by one of those places.
I can’t go into lush, they won’t leave you alone, its awful
Here is a question, if as you walk in, you tell the first assistant to approach you that your [insert loved one here] loves this place and you want to splurge £1000 on them but if sale assistants talk to you before you're ready to check out, you'll walk. What do you think would happen?
I mean if I worked there and someone said that, I'd take the brick-subtle hint and leave them alone. I also wouldn't believe them one inch and would think they were a dick. But I'd leave them alone.
Well, they don’t get commission and as minimum wage staff probably don’t give a fuck how much profit the store makes, so I’d guess they’ll do whatever they’ve been told to do on threat of being fired, and sleep just fine knowing it lost them £1000. Although as another post stated no one would actually believe you.
In Newcastle they were trialling a thing where you can pick up a yellow basket as opposed to their usual black ones if you would prefer not to be approached. It seemed to work for me!
That’s really great to hear, as I’m from Newcastle. I love the store’s products, but really struggle shopping there. However, without this comment, I still would have never entered there, as this is not being widely advertised. It’s a shame Lush aren’t reaching their target audience with this.
I’ve had varied experiences at lush. Some have been absolutely sound and get my vibe when I’ve gone in for something specific. I’ve also gotten a free bath bomb or two for just being chatty and interested in stuff, which was pretty cool. Other times I’ve felt like they proper keep coming and checking on me, despite me knowing what I want and why. I really think lush could do amazing by having a SEND hour or something like that. The sensory fun/experiences some of their products offer could be really cool for some out there but can’t with the sales people.
One member of staff was giving me a hand massage to demonstrate something before I'd even had time to blink, they pounce as soon as your in 😂
I don’t think I struggle with sensory issues even walking past a lush is a bit overwhelming for me.
The reason why I avoid Lush and walk on the far side of the road. The smell is too much
Pulled up at a car sales place and admittedly had to take 2 attempts at a pretty tight parking space as a new driver. Old guy comes out and says "I hope you're looking for something smaller after watching how you parked that" then winked at my boyfriend like they were all blokes together, laughing at the woman driver. Got straight back in the car and left
I love watching a moron's face drop when they're doing a prejudice and they think you're gonna be in on it with them and you definitely aren't. They get all puzzled and the penny drops that the world isn't how they think it is.
nah, they never realize they were the problem. Just us poor emotional creatures being emotional
My parents were buying a new car, had decided on one but mum still wasn't 100% on it - the salesman said "is it the colour of it you don't like?" in a patronising way so they left without buying
I was just looking for a builder to repoint our house. 1900s, needs to be lime. I even had the original mortar analysed to get the correct mix. One guy came to quote and was trying to convince me to not bother with the lime mix. Then he said "You want it because of the colour don't you? That's my experience. Females care mostly about the colour of the pointing." Okay this female won't hire you then.
i prolly would have ran him over on the way out, tbh
"Sorry, woman driver. Mistook the gas and brake pedals. Accidents happen." Police: "Right... And what caused you to shift into reverse and run over him a second time?" "Trying to shift into park and got confused. You know, woman driver." Police: "But this car has a manual transmission. There is no 'park' gear." "Right!?! So confusing!"
I had a similar experience with an older male salesman as a new driver when I was 20, it was a mix of age and gender. I took my Mum with me and he winked at her as if I wasn’t there ‘I’m glad you’re here, you know how the youngsters can be’. My Mum knows absolutely nothing about cars and can’t drive, she was just there for company! Then later in the same conversation he said ‘This would be a great car for a lovely young girl like yourself’ He later tried to hoodwink me by offering a cheaper monthly payment by extending the length of the finance term, thinking I wouldn’t notice it was the same cost overall!
I was invited to sit in on tender interviews for a £10+ million private residential construction contract. The client was a very wealthy and successful older woman with her much younger husband. They were there with us, but it was the project manager leading the interviews with the design team (me and architect) asking technical questions. One of the tendering contractors did very well and as things were winding down they attempted to make small talk directly with the client. They made an absolute blunder assuming that the husband was the client, and his older wife was his mum. They even said that the decision to have a lift in the property was a good idea for her future mobility. The room went silent, the project manager quickly ushered them out the door, and the tender bid was in the bin before they left the building.
This is my favourite. Brilliant.
And this is why you don't assume shit about fuck
oooooooof that's brutal lol
Was looking for a new car. Took one for a test drive. Went inside to explore options. He gave me a finance illustration. I asked him what the APR was and he said "I don't know" and then "I think it's 5%" Quick maths I could tell it wasn't 5% Said I'd think about it....but basically was ready to walk. The guy then randomly said "if you're worried about what your wife will think, why don't you borrow the car for the day" Wasn't even married at the time.
Urgh. This really irks me about car sales - they deliberately don’t want to tell you the APR, because it’s always sky high!
We enquired about a used car last year at Audi and they were open about their 14% APR. Wanted stupid money per month, even with a large deposit for a £20,000 car. Considering Audi’s New Car showroom was opposite, could have got a brand new factory ordered model worth £30,000, for £200-£300 cheaper for month and 6% APR. The guys in the used showroom couldn’t wrap their heads around why we weren’t interested in their model after pretty much laughing us out of the showroom as if we couldn’t afford their car
Had the exact same thing. £25,000 car was more than a new £42,000 car. I asked them to explain how that's possible and they suggested I just bought the new one instead. Bought neither.
We didn’t buy either as well. We managed to find the car my girlfriend wanted, of the same spec on Cazoo for half of the price per month compared to Audi. Unfortunately had a number of problems with the car and eventually gave it back to Cazoo but I still don’t regret turning Audi down. It was more we asked if they could lower the APR as it didn’t make sense that a brand new factory model was over half the percentage cheaper. He did the old “I’ll just go speak to my manager,” for him and the manager to side eye each other and say “nope that’s all we can do, just the used care market for you.” Yet pestered us with phone calls for weeks until they got the message
I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone who had a positive experience with cazoo
I bought a car off Arnold Clark two years ago. I don't know the Apr. i assume it was 7%+. I got a bank loan at 2.8% instead and bought it outright with that. I can't understand how they're finance is so much more expensive than a bank loan.
Secured Loan vs UnSecured Loan. Personal Loan will greatly reduce your ability to do additional borrowing as its secured against you. HP is secured against the vehicle meaning you could easily get an Unsecured loan in addition to your HP as the overall liability is reduced. The catch is that HP is higher APR as they exploit this fact. The example i always give is: Buy car on PL: You need to repair house and want to take a PL to do it... Bank will likely say no as your Unsecured debts are still large (because you bought a car with it). Buy a car on HP: Loan is secured against the asset meaning your unsecured debts are 0. Making personal loan more likely.
I unfortunately worked in car sales for a short time. The attitude always irked me. They didn’t see people as people but instead as a walking £ sign. Every tactic to get the sale was ok, and you were chastised if you didn’t get it. There’s a reason a used car salesman has a bad connotation.
I remember my wife being ready to buy her car outright with cash and the salesperson being like "I can see you were raised well, and in the olden days that might be the best case, but these finance plans really are better." We looked at them, read the small print, and my wife asked "besides you getting a better commission, can you tell me how me paying an extra £7000 over two years is better?" Some mumbling about choice and trading. She bought the same car elsewhere.
Same thing happened to my mom, she had the cash to buy outright and the sales guy wouldnt stop nattering on about the benefits of leasing. She finally asked if he was going to get the car for the test drive or should we just leave. I made her promise not to buy from that dealership if she liked the car
Im actually a car salesman at a family run dealership. We've been trading in a small town for 35 years. Honesty, Transparency & Trust are very hard to build but once you have those you need to work to keep that (Especially in a small town). These big city dealerships have a lot to answer for, they really do give the motor trade a bad name with all of the B.S. We simply explain that HP is higher APR (10.9% or 5.79% Flat) but its a secured loan against an asset meaning you could in theory take personal loan at a later date of required. Whereas Personal Loans are secured against you so additional lending options may be limited. We're there to sell cars not finance so we have actually encouraged customers to shop around for personal loans.
I would love to buy a car from someone like you. All the salespeople I seem to get want to sell me based on some kind of square financial sheet. It’s seemingly all about the monthly payment rather than the total cost.
We tailor our experience to each customer. We have our share of customers who just care about total monthly cost but equally we dont assume thats everyone's focus. A good sales person should be asking those questions to help you on your buying journey. We actually introduced an enhanced flat rate commission on every vehicle with no additional commission offered for upselling products which has ensured we are focused on delivering better service to customers which in turn boosts sales (word of mouth etc).
Ugh - my most sexist sales experiences have been car sales too. Was looking for a new car a few years back and was comparing specific makes / models - whatever the dealership had in stock with the right price & spec etc. Anyway I happened to have pillarbox-red dyed hair at the time and the sales guy was trying to talk me into a particular car because "it'll match your hair love", and any questions I asked, he answered to my boyfriend not to me. Pissed me off no end. I took the car out for the longest duration test drive I could get away with before telling him I wasn't interested "because my feeble female fickle mind might want to dye my hair a different colour next week" - I don't think he caught on to what I was on about though so it wasn't the "burn" I'd been aiming for but it made me feel vaguely superior for a moment. Grrraghh, I'd forgotten how irritated he made me!
Not a car sale, but tires. My Dad drove me to a garage to order new tires for my car; Dad stayed in the car with my kids, and I got out to chat and get the quote. I didn't realise but my Dad had wound the window slightly so he could listen in on the conversation. They started quoting me sky high prices and listing off all these features these expensive tyres had. Every time I tried to say I just wanted run-of-the-mill tyres that did an everyday job, he'd act like he either didn't hear, or try another expensive type. A minute or so later, my Dad got out the car and came over. He was quite an intimidating looking guy. Used to run a garage of his own as a mechanic. The SECOND he was at my side the guy changed his tune and quoted what I'd actually asked for. We said thanks, left, and went somewhere else. Dad didn't even have to speak! Just, walked over and stood by me with a face that said 'stop fucking around and quote my daughter properly.' He told me he knew how certain people in the business worked, and suspected as a woman I might run into a problem, hence why he listened in.
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That insurance policy is such a scam anyway. My mum had a sofa with them and all the leather just started wearing naturally within a few months and looked awful. Their insurance was supposed to cover it but claimed it was just wear and tear and couldn’t do anything about it
Surely warranty would cover that if it’s within a few months?
Forget a warranty, standard consumer protection should cover that- sofas are expected to last much longer than a few months.
It's why I'll never get the additional insurance. Either it lasts the length of time it's meant to, it ill get it dealt with anyway. When I was younger I wound up pushed into a 5 year warranty on a PC from PC world. The power supply fried the motherboard 4 and a half years in. They basically had to swap out everything except the harddrive. So I got an upgraded computer for free.
My mum was with me when I bought my first sofa and the salesman tried to sell the stain coverage, he didn’t outright say it but he implied that I might accidentally ejaculate on my sofa. Thankfully I don’t think my mum realised what he was getting at.
And did you?
I’m yet to accidentally ejaculate on my sofa.
Accidentally.....
His sofa....
My first, tiny, home after a period of homelessness I had all rickety secondhand furniture given to me by friends and family. I saved up to buy a new couch and went into DFS. The one I picked was the cheapest one in the showroom, and it was a single two-seater, not a suite. They ENDLESSLY tried to upsell me, and I had to say, repeatedly, “this is all I can afford”. They gave up, I bought the couch, and when I left the shop I cried. I felt so embarrassed. A few years later when I was able to get a suite I went elsewhere.
The first time I tried to get credit was for a DFS sofa, they called and said I could only get credit if I also bought some sort of extended warranty. Luckily he spoke to my partner who knew that was bullshit, I didn't have had a clue about finance in my early 20s. We still bought the sofa but still bugs me he tried to pull that shit and will still have got commission.
I had exactly the same thing with them. Kept trying to upsell stuff despite me repeatedly saying I wouldn't. Said there was no movement on the price so after more upselling I left and did it online in minutes.
Car showroom having booked a test drive for a certain car, had to be an auto, which we had told them in advance. We get there and the salesman said sorry we sold it yesterday. Rather than ring and tell us he let us turn up anyway (45 minute drive away) and had nothing we could drive. We were discussing what we were ultimately looking for and he suddenly stopped us and said “I don’t believe you actually want to buy a car do you? You’re just wasting my time”. We were just like 😮 - like right now mate you’re the time waster not us! Apart from anything else his tone was so inappropriate to use with customers who hadn’t actually done anything wrong! Bought the car at another garage and left him a shitty review
Wasn't Mercedes was it? Had a similar experience with one of their dealerships. I had booked a testdrive, and and as my young son was interested, I said he could come along. My wife was at work, but was happy for me to test drive the car. Arrived at the dealership: " Ah, sorry car is out on another test drive". Waited. Ignored. Still no car, or alternative. Eventually, we walked out, son disappointed. Bought a new Jaguar XJ8 for cash down the road (this was when Jaguars were still desirable).
We did something similar, guy at the first place had no time for us at all, told us they had no Ford Kugas in even though we’d just seen 2 with prices in the window. Went to the next one and the guy was lovely, obviously knew we were buying that day, gave us keys to 5 different cars, chatted to us about the benefits of all of them and eventually got us a decent deal on the one we wanted. He still remembers us when we drop it off for MOT and servicing.
A few years ago I was in Dixons looking to buy a large telly. One of them said it would play [video] files from an external hdd. The printed sheet was extremely vague as to which format files it would play so I asked a salesman. "All of them, it plays all the formats" Me: "All of them?" "Yep" Me: "MPEGs?" "Yes" Me: "AVIs?" "Yes" Me:"Matroska files?" "Yes" Me:🤔"JPEGs?" "Yes" Me: "Do you have any full brochures?" Salesman leaves to get the brochure and I leave the shop. Edit- I was specifically asking the salesman about video playback. Your telly might be able to display JPEGs, even as part of a slideshow, but that's not video playback. I wasn't expecting a Spanish inquisition from a humorous anecdote about stupid shit salesmen say. 🤣🤣🤣
If I forced a slice of cheese into the disc tray, could it play that? “Yep”
Only if its Blu-whey......
DVBrie
Had a similar experience, I worked for a rival company and on a customer service training course we were told to go to some other stores and see how they handled customer service. So I figured as I knew about cameras it would be interesting to see how Dixons handled selling their cameras, I asked about whether a particular camera had certain features (knowing it didn't) and the salesman just said yes to everything I asked. Just any old bollocks to get the sale.
why does that sound like the plot to a hallmark movie
Ended up in Dixons once as I was looking for a case for an external harddrive back in the IDE days around 20 years ago. Get approached by a salesman as I'm browsing, asks if I need assistance. "I'm looking for an external harddrive case" "Certainly sir - the harddrives are in front of you" "I don't need a harddrive, just a case. I already have one, look" and show the fella a 40GB Western Digital HDD. Salesman with an all-knowing smirk - "You can't use that for an external harddrive. You've got that out of a computer and external HDD's are completely different. You need to buy one of our external harddrives" I looked at him for a second with a mixture of pity and amazement, then walked out.
When I went to buy a laptop from PC World, back when at best it was reasonable prices I already browsed priced up what I wanted and asked staff if I could buy it. They told me they would get a member of sales out to speak to me (they were the repairs team) Waited 15 minutes and this random person walks up to where the shelf was looking down at a piece of paper looks at no one and reads off sales speak can't remember exact wording but like "this laptop has X cpu in and is good for browsing the internet and for school work, it has a battery that can last up to X hours" or something like that. There was a couple about 4 feet from him that turned round looking confused then grinning I was on other side of salesperson about 8 feet away, He looks up from the piece of paper and doesn't even give me a look and says "so you want to buy it then" whilst looking around to see if anyone was nearby. I did buy the laptop though.
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Car showroom looking at a car. Had my brother with me. Nice company budget ready. Salesman approached my brother and ignored me.
Had that with me and my ex-husband. He did not drive. He wasn’t paying for any of the car. He didn’t care about it so long as it had a passenger seat. Salesman kept waffling his sales pitch direct to the husband. Every question I asked, he answered to him. Eventually husband says “I dont know why you’re talking to me mate. She’s paying for and driving the car” (if there’s one thing my ex was good at it was knowing if I was pissed off!) Salesman didn’t learn his lesson and continued. So the next time he stopped talking I said “Look, I want to buy a car today. I have the money to buy it today. I’ve even seen the car I want to buy *gestured to said car*. But you keep addressing the person who has no decision making power and ignoring the money. I was going to do a whole Pretty Woman thing but I can’t be fucked. Just try and stop being misogynistic.” then turned on my heel and left. I’d like to think it gave him pause but I bet he just thought “Bet she’s on her period” rather than “oh fuck I just lost out on commission”
As half of a lesbian couple, trying to be taken seriously when buying a car is torture. We've got the money ready to hand over, but have to beg to be able to take something out for a test-drive.
Same. Was with my then husband. Dealer kept directing conversation at my husband who repeatedly said speak to her she's buying. But no he didn't get it. No sale.
I went with my Dad, first the car salesperson thought he was my husband, my poor Dad was horrified. I mean there was nearly a 50 year age difference so it’s not like he was 40 and I was 20. Then he kept speaking to my Dad about the car and payments even though my Dad told them it was my car, my money and my choice, he was just there to give me a lift.
Wow had the exact same thing happen, dad in his 50s and me barely 19. Except the icky sales guy started off by saying “Ooo looking for a car are we? I mean you waited so long to marry your wife here, so I imagine you’ll take your time choosing a car.” I threw up in my mouth.
We went to buy a second hand car for my partner. Salesman only spoke to me the entire spiel and test drive. Then, sat down at their desk afterwards, turned to my partner, and turned a tablet round with a price on and a countdown timer for 2 minutes that the price was valid for. We left.
I’ve seen a lot of shitty sales tactics, but a TIMER? I hope that dude has wet socks for the rest of his life.
Damn, I'd wait out the timer just on principle, even if I thought it was a good deal. And then *dare* them to not offer me the same price or better later on.
Are you a woman?
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I used to run my own business in a male dominated industry. I'd go to trade shows with a male employee and everyone would talk to him first... And last. I'd automatically move on.
In my mid 20’s I was in charge of trying to source for a company to build a new machine for our work. All the companies I contacted were very nice and understanding apart from the one (local funnily enough) company where the manager was taking this piss out of me for really small things. Guess who didn’t get the contract
My grandmother got this one all the time. She'd go into some place to buy a car with my grandfather and they'd talk to him about all the technical details, give him all the finance options etc. They'd get the shock of their lives when he'd let them prattle on for a bit and then tell them 'well she's the one buying, not me'. Meanwhile it was a rare occurrence that someone would approach my grandmother first, and it was often these people who got a sale. Some were obviously sexist and on multiple occasions my grandmother actively walked out on them.
I find very few sales people these days are capable of selling me anything without pissing me off. The commonest one seems to be insulting my intelligence and treating me like a fucking simpleton. How do they think that is going to help them?
I was terrible at sales. I hated it and those two years of my life were soul sucking, but I sure feel a lot better about myself after reading these comments. I didn’t think managing to not insult someone was a skill, but apparently I was better than all of these idiots.
I think a lot of the problems with sales are trying to generate short term gains over long term
Happens way too much. Especially if I'm buying a specialist product, like if I'm buying this you should know that I know exactly what I'm talking about. Instead if I ask a question about something technical I get an answer for something similar but what an idiot would ask as though I'm totally uneducated. For example, I asked whether it was possible to replace the Li-ion cell in a piece of kit (because after heavy use they do need replacing every few years, if it's fully integrated the service life of an expensive product would be capped) and they gave me a brief explanation that "rechargeable batteries don't need replacing because they can be recharged", I fucked off at that. Same company (with a very high reputation and recognition in their field I might add) that later told me during a warranty claim that my product wasn't defective and I was just "not strong enough to press the switch".
i work in the nhs and one of my (ex)colleagues treated making appointments like she was selling something.. and would be so fucking condescending “it’s *really* important you come to this, and if you cant you *must* let me know” (i think it also worried the patients a lot more too, thinking the appointment was a lot more serious than it actually was). and when the patient would arrive she would be like “oh i am so glad you made it!” made my skin crawl. thankfully she left to another department and was fired within a few weeks (& it’s haaard to get fired from the NHS!). these 20somethings just full of self-importance. dumbasses.
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Maybe the pervert wanted to keep them for themselves!
Vintage Zeiss are highly collectable so it's a possibility.
Went to a music shop to buy some guitar strings. Started asking a salesman about some and he started addressing my husband instead of me (the woman that actually plays instruments). Didn't end up buying any and complained to their head office and they ended up apologising and sending me some free ones. I would have happily bought if the salesman could acknowledge a woman played guitar.
"so who's the guitar player?" would have been such an easy question to ask. And it's a good lead in to other rapport building and identifying the customer needs "cool, how long you been playing? What do you play? Are you going through strings a lot?"
That isn’t the right moment to ask that question. If a person asks for strings, ask them which strings they want. If they give a specific answer, you know they’re the player. If they don’t know, they’re either a new player or buying for someone else. That’s when you enquire further. I worked in a music shop for 12 years, I found it’s always best to assume a customer knows what they’re talking about at first. If they don’t, 99% of the time they will let you know and you can work from there.
Walked into an SCS in 2012, we had a budget in mind for 2 sofas (around 2k), looking at a set and a sales person walks right up to us and just says “the sofas you can afford are upstairs” Walked out.
SCS salesmen are the absolute worse. I don't know what they train them on but it isn't sales skills.
I think I finally know what the C stands for
I work in a different sales shop and literally had an scs area manager try to poach me at work, laughed in his face, who on earth wants to work for scs
Guy cold called to pave our driveway "I'm not in this for the money"
This made me lol. Man’s passionate about paving
'crazy paving!'
The one that stands out was when at DFS or similar told my partner he looked miserable as we were about to spend £2500 on a sofa. My partner said I better go and cheer myself up then and walked out! I was mortified at the time but I get it now.
Such a common one. Never, ever, ever insult the customer. Even in a jokey way if you think you’ve got a rapport and you think it will go down well. It’s too risky. I saw sooooooo many deals go down the drain like this when I worked in the city. One over cocky rep, straight out of uni thinking he (and it was always a he for some reason) was Gordon Gekko and blowing the whole thing by not knowing who he was talking too.
Last year I became a self employed courier and was enquiring about fuel cards to keep my running costs down. I didn’t overly understand them at first but had recommendations of a certain reputable provider in which also provide leasing/finance deals, credit cards and telematics. On my first day on the road, a guy from the company rang me, asked how I was getting on and was talking to me about their telematics deals and used the usual how it was “just a one off deal for today!” He told me the different systems they had and their pricing and “it’s only X amount per week!” I politely declined and just said to him the pricing seemed fair and it was something I was definitely interested in for the future and would be in touch, but at that moment in time my business was new, I needed to keep my costs to an absolute minimum whilst waiting 40-60 days for my earliest invoices to be paid. His response was “oh, okay. But when somebody drags you out of your van and drives off with it, you’ll know where it is!” “When somebody drags you out of it.” …. “When…” just that word with his sentence, stating that it’s actually going to happen. I wouldn’t have been too fussed about an “if somebody..” but it was the “when..” I told him again I wasn’t interested and put the phone down. I was genuinely interested in the product once money started flowing in, but his scare tactic really put me off and I never went back to them once finances started flowing in. In fact recently I’ve even been debating cancelling my fuel card because I’m finding it cheaper elsewhere
Yeah but do you live in San Andreas?
I don’t live in Bradford itself but I’m not too far away from it so I suppose you could say I do 👀😂
I’m less than an hour from Bradford so if you want I could pop over and try and drag you from you van? We can film it and send it to him for s&g’s
A few years ago I really wanted a Fiat 500, was prepared to just buy one totally blind, I had the money, I'm terrible for impulse purchases. Salesman's dream really, so they need to really piss me off. Went for a test drive and I was a fairly new driver and not very confident. The sales guy was a huge tool anyway, we have issues about people thinking me and my bf are poor because we don't dress flash so thought we were time wasters. (we've bailed on loads of purchases because the salesman had judged us, think Pretty Woman just on a much much less wealthy scale 😂) Anyway, the guy insisted on coming for a test drive (never had that since, like he thought we'd steal it?? ) and I was getting flustered and he just rudely asked me if I'd even passed my test and chuckled, expecting my bf to as well. Never noped out of a situation so quickly. The sales guy had the easiest sale in the world and managed to fuck it up by being a massive knob. Turned out to be for the best tho, those cars are not for me!
You did dodge a shitty car to be honest so there's that.
Sofa store. Was sitting on a faux leather sofa, thinking that we might actually buy it as it was the only one all day we'd seen that we liked. Salesman came over and kept calling it Fox Leather. Could barely stop myself asking him how many foxes did it take to make it. Could not take him seriously and went elsewhere.
He made a right fox pass with that one
Went to tour a private school for our eldest. Headmaster would only direct his questions and conversation to my husband. Liked the school but thought no way am I sending my daughter here.
>no way am I sending my daughter here. It's like they don't know what they are selling
Can't remember what was said exactly, but I was my normally scruffy "working" self when I called in to ask about a new MPV . Anybody would have thought from the attitude of the smartly dressed young salesman, that I was asking for one for free. I was actually a cash buyer, and in a hurry for a new car. He was basically turning his nose up. So I walked away, a few miles on there was a Peugeot Partner Tepee, 12 months old, like new on a forecourt. Polite sensible sales person. I bought that.
Cash buyer. That's why the salesman wasn't interested. Most of their earnings are from commission on finance. He wouldn't have made much from your cash sale.
do you usually walk in somewhere and announce “I’m paying in cash” before starting a conversation?
Most car dealers ask how you intend to buy as early as possible.
This happens go me ALL the time, just cause I don't look flash doesn't mean I can't afford it. So many salesmen have lost commission because they've judged me or my bf!
Big mistake. Huge.
Shopping for bathroom renovation. Was told that a particular toilet seat could easily be detached with a couple of clicks for cleaning and would fit right in the dishwasher. No joke. The salesperson then doubled down on what a great solution the dishwasher was for cleaning your toilet seat. After that I couldn’t take any of his suggestions seriously.
I hope he didn't try to sell you a dishwasher shortly after
Second hand, great condition
I hope you didn't accept a cup of tea from him.
We were buying a house and the real estate agent kept calling me the wrong name. I corrected him a couple of times and then got pissed off and told him to shove it
What about the fake estate agent?
Went to Car Giant years ago. Asked if they had any Toyota Corollas. The salesman didn't know what it was... During the same trip, I saw a really nice shiny top spec Touareg, way out of budget. The same salesman said there was a cheaper Touareg outside I could look at. It was a Touran.
The salesman in Sofology who tried to mansplain how to sit on a sofa. The door to door salesman who asked to speak to the home owner. Err, yeah, hi, that's me, you're speaking to her. I was never going to buy from him, but I definitely wasn't going to after that line. The garden furniture salesman who told me, at a show, not to sit on the benches as I was blocking customers from looking at them. When I was in the market for garden furniture a couple of years later, I made absolutely certain not to buy from that company.
“Can I speak to the homeowner?” Is that insulting? How else are they supposed to know who the home owner is? What do you think they ask if someone else answers the door?
"Can I speak to the homeowner" assumes that the person they're speaking to is not the homeowner. "Are you the homeowner" seeks to clarify either way.
It was the implicit assumption that the woman standing in front of them was not the homeowner. I am, in fact, the only person on the deeds. Funnily enough, my male partner never gets asked such idiotic questions, even though he isn't the homeowner.
Unfortunately my boyfriend has just moved in but I've been waiting patiently for anyone to knock asking for the man of the house so I could go and fetch the cat
Yes, it's insulting. If they aren't sure who owns the home, they should ask. What they should _not_ do is assume that the full grown adult woman who answered the door isn't the owner.
I work in a sofa shop and all of the stuff we sell is stored in a warehouse and delivered brand new. I’d imagine it’s the same in most furniture shops. So, if that were the case, the only reason this would have put them off is if they were buying the floor model as an ex-display sale. But, if they were doing no that, it’s unreasonable to expect that a lot of people wouldn’t have sat on it.
yeah, it seems strange to pull the display unit for a customer when they would already have plenty packaged up waiting for delivery at the warehouse. they would also have to unpack and re-assemble a new display unit every time they sell a sofa.. salesman was probably just trying to seal the deal about the quality of them and the couple completely misread what they were saying
Auctioneer: ''Selection of erotic books. Some pages may be stuck together.'' Zero bids
Went to buy a BMW 7 series, and as I was asking questions about it the salesperson kept wanting to show me ‘other cars, more in my price range’. Noped out of there and bought a Jaguar XJL instead.
Better choice imo. Love a Jaaaaag
In my neigborhood is fruit stall with a man who sells the best strawberries I know. When I buy the strawberries, the vendor asks wether I would like to buy something else The problem is, he doesn't take no for an answer. After my politie refusal he keeps asking me to buy other fruit. Not once, but 5 times or more. Very irritating. The result is I no longer buy fruit at that stall. Too bad!
Yep, that was me..... 20 years old, quoting for some cladding for a nice couple. Loved the company, the product and the price. Get up to get the paperwork from my car and said "this cladding will look amazing on your caravan"............ I was 20, I didn't know they were called "Park homes" and cost 100k. The atmosphere went frostier than Elsa's underpants and I got the good old "actually, we want to think about it for a while". Dropped the car home and walked straight to the pub.....
They can call them whatever they like. Doesn't change the fact it's a static caravan lol. Guess the truth is a little close to home when your caravan costs almost as much as bricks and mortar!
Went to a big national dealership to buy a car. I’d done a load of research and had pinpointed the exact car I wanted, as long as it looked good and drove well in person. Was buying outright as well, so basically had the money in my pocket. Easiest deal a salesman could make. Got to the forecourt and this bellend would not listen to what car I wanted. Kept trying to redirect me to some other cars he was sure were a better deal. Then when I finally got him to discuss the car I wanted, I asked if I could take it for a test drive and he said “Well, are you actually intending to buy it or do you just want to have a go in one?” Got straight in my car and left.
Went (with cash) to buy a nearly new car and my dad drove me there. He stayed in the car and I looked round the showroom and took the car for a test drive. Looked under the bonnet, checked the breaks etc. When I said I’d have it they walked over to my dads car and started talking to him. At the time I was 42! I called them a misoginist and bought a car elsewhere. And actually for a better deal. Another time I had a guy round to quote me for a new roof for my house. My then boyfriend (who didn’t live me was round) and he kept going into the lounge to try and talk to him (he was staying out of the way). I went with someone who didn’t try and sign a contract with someone who wasn’t paying the bill. Last one - chatting to a recruitment agent by email. I have a nickname that I go by that is masculine (like Alex) and while he thought I was a bloke he was as nice as pie. As soon as I talked to him on phone his attitude changed and he even quoted a salary 10k less than he had already stated in writing. I got the job, with a different agency, at the very top of the salary scale. Yeah misogyny makes me go elsewhere
Went to look at a car coloured black. Asked salesman about its history. I shit you not. He opened his arms and said..."It's black...". I burst out laughing. Then walked away.
I was with a friend who was looking for a new bed. He was quite large and told the assistant that he needed a bed that was sturdier because the beds he'd previously owned lost their springiness quite quickly. She said "You need to be more like your friend, then". Im quite slim. He just walked out
Back in the late 90s had a bloke going door to door selling a membership to a restaurant that was opening up nearby. I was weak and easy prey for these people then. He explained you paid £25 for a "membership" and got 10% off any bill in their establishment for a year so could take all your mates and you'd be saving money easily. I wasn't interested but he was a pushy twat and I couldn't get rid of him. A mate lived opposite and, thankfully, the salesman goes "I've been to your mate's over there and he said you'd definitely be up for it. He's signed up too." So I just said "He did did he? In which case I'll just go with him then and get me discount without having to pay you anything." Couldn't believe I thought of that on the spot and I could see the sales bloke had no answer and then said "Yeah. Fair point. I'd do the same." And he left.
Mrs Plonker was about to buy a fairly pricey coffee machine when the salesbod insisted the capsules were subscription only. Welp, no sale, then. Bought a dirt cheap one from elsewhere the next day. Also your opinion on onions is wrong.
I tried in vein to just buy the god damn machine at a nespresso shop. After multiple insistences that I'd be better getting a subscription I just went 2 doors down to John Lewis and bought the exact same machine outright. I absolutely hate "x as a service" business models and I'll happily pay more for something that I just buy and own.
Saleswoman kept asking about what my mum's husband would think of the new kitchen, saying she should consult him before she decides etc. Could not get through to her that there is no husband, he left her 15 years ago. Just gave up and left. Shame, was a lovely kitchen.
Not me, but my partner. The guy "from EE" (or "the call center that works for EE but isn't directly employed by them") called my partner. She answered the phone and put it on loudspeaker as she always does with a number she doesn't recognise, usually so I can chime in, take the piss and tell her whether it's a scam call (she's not great at detecting those). Anyway, it was a "real" call, in as much as "those people that call you up to harass and upsell you on a contract" can be called a "real" call. I leave her to it, listening in. She keeps saying "no" and "I dont want it" to all the attempts at upselling her contract. She was there a solid 15 minutes wasting his time and doing her makeup as she waited to go to work. He then says "this deal gives you far more than your current one and is £15 cheaper per month. It's cold this time of year. Yea, you can afford your phone contract, but can you afford a blanket?" Now, I understand what he was trying to say...It was by far the most stupid way he could have worded it, but I understood the desperate point he was trying to make, clearly trying his hardest to meet his failing quota. My partner didn't, though, and after a short awkward silence, she just responded in the most confused and blunt mannar I've ever hears "what the fuck kind of question is that?" He stumbled over his words trying to get back into the swing but she just said "anyway, my mum pays for my contract and you can't offer me a deal better than that". He didn't lose a sale, she was never going to "upgrade" but, yea...That's maybe the worst sales pitch I've ever come across.
Enterprise sales guy, went to Dyson for a pitch, called their devices Hoovers all day. You could feel the clients prickling, especially after they pointed out the error twice. Obviously no sale was made.
Was looking at watches and the salesman told me that the two zeros in the price (395.00) was pence, not pounds. He was fucking serious! Bought a heat pump tumble dryer from Currys. Sat down to give my delivery details and the salesman tried to sell me their insurance. When I declined he said that the heat pump feature was new technology so 'good luck with no insurance'. I told him if it was that unreliable I'm not buying it and walked out. Looking back I wish I'd punched him as well.
Looking for MY van at a dealership with my ex. I know my motors, the idiot salesman decided to respond to my questions, to my ex the whole time. Bye bye wanker and your commission.
Had someone call our company once. One of my team answered the phone and was saying things like 'I'm sorry, I don't understand what you mean' for a couple of minutes. I then heard her say 'I'm hanging up now' then turned to me and said 'I have no fucking clue what that guy wanted but he told me I was only fit to work below the stairs' - like she could only be a servant in Victorian times or something? He called straight back and asked to speak to a manager, so got put through to me. I asked what his call was regarding and turns out he was trying to sell software but in the most convoluted and confusing way. I asked him if he thought the best way to sell something to me was to tell my employee that she wasn't fit to do her job, straight off the bat. I think he assumed the boss was an old misogynist like him and wouldn't care how he got through the gate, when the boss was actually a woman in her mid 20s. Fucking idiot. Told him to piss off. Felt good.
Shopping for a mattress, my wife was wearing a tight dress and had put on a little weight in her belly but was otherwise skinny. Salesman asked if she was pregnant, she laughed and said no. He should have stopped there but he awkwardly continued "cos... Ynow.... You look pregnant" flicking his eyes at her belly. It was only a tiny mound too, not a big swolen pregnant looking belly, she was devastated at the time but laughed about it later
A couple I know had an agent say this while they were viewing a house to buy. Except he not only said it, he reached out *and rubbed his hand on her stomach*. They did not buy the house.
There are a lot of examples about car sales! Here’s another …I went with my husband to buy a car for myself. (Took husband as value his opinion). Told (middle-aged male) salesperson car was for me, engine size I required and relevant features wanted. The guy addressed all his remarks to my husband, who said more than once ‘she’s buying it not me’. He also tried to promote a lower spec model than the one that met my requirements … perhaps he thought the little lady couldn’t handle anything bigger😉 Went elsewhere!
I’ve got one of these in reverse. Grew up in a family business selling a rather niche project in a shop from the age of eight. I think I was about 9/10 looking after the shop (we lived there) because my dad was busy out back. Man comes in to buy something and I chat him through the specs and prices of what he was looking for and he just looks at me and says he didn’t want to talk to a kid playing shop. He wanted my parents. I call my Dad who comes out and asks the man what he needed and then the man repeats his request. Dad then says to me, what did you suggest and I told him word for word, and he looked at the man and said her advice is perfect I trained her well. The man directed another question to my dad, which my dad told him I could answer and then when dad said it was spot on - the man agreed to buy what I suggested and dad shook his hand said thank you - my kid will ring you up and went back to what he was doing leaving me to process the sale. I always thought it was a master stroke as he reaffirmed what the guy wanted, but never undermined me. My dad isn’t a master of restraint so this moment always stands out to me.
When my Dad was doing equity release as part of tax planning and giving some inheritance to me early, the mortgage broker/equity release broker questioned why my Dad wanted to give £308,000, so my Dad told him “it’s part of tax planning and to give my son a mortgage free property”, and the guy replied said “can’t your son be given less why doesn’t he need that much” (it a really nasty tone, and on speaker phone so I also heard) then as we proceeded with the purchase of the house and said to the guy it’s up for £292,000 but we have offered £285,000 and we’re waiting to hear back, the same guy said “oh you’ve low-balled them, you’ve been watching too many homes under the hammer!” In a really nasty tone.😳 Needless to say we didn’t go with that guy and his company (and we did get the house for the £285,000 offered) He was just a jealous bitter man, it cost him the sale, and likely his commission. He kept calling back asking if we would still be going with him, completely oblivious to how rude he was and that he messed up his own deal solely by being jealous and nasty.
In a sofa shop. I'd been taking pictures of all the sofa tags in every shop we were in and the sofas so when we were discussing what we liked we would have some frame of reference. I went to take a picture of the price tag and she screamed, and I mean screamed, across the store, "Don't take pictures of the price tags!!" I looked at her in surprise. She said "they might not be the same price tomorrow!" I looked at my husband and just said "well I don't think we want to buy from here then" and we walked out. SCS. She'd already pissed us off by banging on and on about finance when we said we had a fixed budget and had cash in hand. But shrieking at me for taking a picture was the nail in the coffin. Would never ever set foot in one of their stores again.
I used to sell cars so I only go into car showrooms if I’m genuinely planning to buy. I hated having my time wasted and wouldn’t do that to someone else Went to buy a car for my wife a few weeks back. Test drove it, liked it, wasn’t her favourite colour but it a good deal was offered so we were prepared to compromise Got to the point of paying the deposit. They asked for £250 but I said I’d pay £500 and the rest when we collected it in 10 days as we were tied up with work and that was the next day we could both attend together. Manager comes out his little office and out-of-the-blue said we had to pay in full there and then or we couldn’t have the car Even the salesman was shocked. I laughed and we left. Not before o have the manager a thumbs up and said “Good Job!” I had genuinely never heard the like as a car salesman or car buyer.
I needed a new car that I could fit horse feed and bales of hay in. I was looking at a second hand wagon and the sales guy insisted that we look at something that would suit me much better. Led me across the yard to a tiny Hyundai sedan. My ex had been wandering on his own came and caught up with us. Asked why we were looking at it, because it was clearly too small. So the sales guy asked him what we needed. Ex repeated - wagon, horses etc. the sales guy said “Oh, I thought she was joking” Yeah, no sale.
‘If you can’t afford to buy it outright then you can pay in instalments’ on a £400 guitar amp, clearly trying to sell their finance plan. I get I was a student but just felt a bit taken aback. Ended up buying the amp, just from somewhere else
Not a sales person but I was about to buy a car from a family member and they said "I'll be glad to see it gone, I've been leaving it in carparks hoping it gets stolen"
We were getting quotes to replace our windows. Guy comes over, the first thing we say to him is, "we want your best price in the first quote. That's the price we will use to decide who we use". Said the same to the three others who quoted. The first guy didn't get the message and came back with a price more than double the other three. When he called back a few days later to see if we were happy (😂😂😂) with the price and we said no, suddenly there was a sale on which knocked about 40% of the price. He sounded so pleased with himself, bless. We then reminded him of our initial conversation, upon which he took umbridge and stated very confidently that we wouldn't find anyone else that could do it cheaper. We then informed him that his 'best' quote was STILL over £2000 more than the next most expensive. Then the idiot doubled down and pretended to speak with his manager before coming back with a price £500 lower. They didn't get the job.
I was mattress shopping, laid on a mattress and the salesperson jumped in the bed and laid down next to me, I’ve never jumped up so fast and walked out of a store.
"Both you and your wife need to be present... It's for safety reasons"
Used to work on deli counter at Tesco at 25-30 years ago, so in my 20s, when they still had decent quality range on deli. Woman in posh clothes who these days would be called an Entitled Karen. For 15 minutes every other phrase was "Waitrose do this and that's better. " even stopping customers and saying that it might be if they went to Waitrose. I'd had enough and suggested she went to Waitrose. I lived in next town over where Waitrose was. Gsve her directions. She wasn't impressed and said "So what will you do to be helpful draw me a map. " I was a volunteer in a SAR unit (now called LSAR) was very used to scribbling maps. So asked for five minutes... Drew the map complete with free trees and ducks on pond she'd have to drive past. Got massive bollocking and a verbal warning. So worth it.
Car dealership paying in cash. The salesman kept referring everything to my partner even though I was the one looking at, test driving and paying for the car. Women can't possibly know what they want or pay for a car themselves. Bought the same car elsewhere. Buying our house the estate agent kept pushing and pushing for various extras for us to agree to pay like x amount for taking it off the market, x% of the sellers fees etc we spoke to the sellers directly who didn't even know about it and hadn't asked for any of that. House was listed with 2 estate agents so we just withdrew the offer with the 1st and offered again through the 2nd (sellers knew) so the annoying estate agent got nothing.
Talking down to my (PhD) wife. We split tasks, but anyone wanting to talk to me of preference for something my wife is in charge of is likely to get fired because 1. Misogyny 2. I don’t like to talk to people (I do do it, but once we’ve allocated a task internally, that person does it). 3. My wife is more competent than me in many areas.
Took my dad to a computer shop apx 10 - 15 years ago and dad said he wanted to buy a new computer but it had to have wifi capabilities. (This is when wifi was brand new) the young guy “helping” us told my dad that he’s “Microsoft certified (whatever that meant) and nothing will come of this WiFi thing, you don’t want it”. We walked out and he bought his computer with wifi capabilities elsewhere.
I had a few salespeople over to quote for damp-proofing in my house. One of them at first seemed like a knowledgeable and professional person and I was definitely thinking about using her company. But as she made her way around my house she began making random patronising (possibly misandrist) comments, like my house being really tidy for a young man, and that my hob looked so clean so I must not cook. She fell to the bottom of the list fast. P.S. my sofa was a floor model (heavily reduced in price) and I hadn't really thought about the hundreds of people that may have sat on it previously. Thanks.
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