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Rude And Inattentive Sales People..

Discussion in 'Friends & Neighbours' started by Needtobestrong, Nov 18, 2018.

  1. anika987

    anika987 IL Hall of Fame

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    It is not about western outfits..

    Some clothes makes us feel More confident and hep.Lot of beautiful Indian wear too ..

    My friend is Chennai is on the heavier side and wears only Indian outfits but she has this rich look coz she wears high quality clothes and makes sure she is wearing right makeup and hair is nice etc..She feels confident and that shows!!Thats all is needed.


    Honestly..I hate that mentality where looks and clothes are judged but we all do that no matter what we say.Our minds does calculations,perumutations and combinations about a person once we look at them based on their dress or look:)It’s a fact unfortunately.

    So dont worry and it’s no way you but their mentality but just to feel more good,all posters have given good tips.try to use that.

    Let us know after a month how it went..

    Good luck dear
     
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  2. Twofeathers

    Twofeathers Bronze IL'ite

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    When I visit India - Chennai, I love going to Health n Glo to check out the happening cosmetics/fancy stores and even the western clothes store. The thing that I have encountered is that the sales people literally follow me, right behind me or along side me and intrude my thoughts with their opinions and suggestions. I love to be left alone with my observation and thoughts. If I need help I will ask. Once when this happened for the umpteenth time and to make it worse the person following me had the worst possible body odor - I had to stop and confront. So I asked her in the nicest possible way why she was so close to me and following me around and how it was interrupting my shopping experience. She explained to me while looking over her shoulder that the supervisor insists that they do that - that was their idea of customer assistance and if she did not assist me and was standing around she will get into trouble. I told to stand a bit far away and wait for me to signal if I had a question and tell her supervisor that I had personally asked for that favor. However, after that I could not shop peacefully knowing that this interaction had happened and a pair of eyes were following me around. So yes, I left after I bought a cursory cosmetic from the sales girl. Its hard for me to browse at Health n Glo again. I think its the owners or the management that gives these instructions in the name of customer service. As to prejudice in treating one bad than the other - I think it is personal. Prejudice due to skin color comes to mind in the south. Prejudice due to perceived wealth. They could be reading people as big buyers as opposed to browsers based on their personal experience (which could be right or wrong). But please don't take these personally. Get rightfully angry and speak out if you felt you were not treated well, but also give a little space for others life journeys. Good luck my friend with your shopping experiences. I understand how important this is, because it is a huge part of visiting India for me.
     
  3. Needtobestrong

    Needtobestrong Platinum IL'ite

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    Actually I too faced the same thing in Health and glow outlet! A sales lady approached me and was suggesting products for my oily skin and pimples..actually it's a touchy subject and I don't like people commenting on it..since my teenage years I don't remember a time when my skin was completely clear ...but I always use medicated ointments or home remedies..I got pissed off when she was pestering me to buy some high end branded skin serum or something.,I told her I don't want..when she asked for second time I said I'm not interested, and Im just looking and will let her know if I need anything..anyway my mood was spoilt..one of my relative visited same outlet of health and glow post delivery when she had put on a little weight..and the sales girl asked her to buy some expensive anti cellulite cream !!! But she took it in a sportive way luckily and dint get offended..:)
     
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  4. Anusha2917

    Anusha2917 IL Hall of Fame

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    Yep happens all the time with me. Yesterday I was in parlour,decided to do clean up . And the lady said how cleanup is useless and I should go for facial. I said in an assertive manner no I want clean up. And while doing clean up she said - there is no massage in clean up. I said I have been visiting this parlour for 3 years and have got both clean up and facial.and all the time for clean up they have done have done face massage. She said not at all. For clean up there's no massage. Then I said can you call the store manager. And I asked her ,is this girl new here she says there's no massage for clean up. The store manager said yes she's new and doesn't know. Then something in their language she said to that girl and went off and this girl did excellent massage. I said why did u say no massage for clean up then she said no ma'am these people have only told me not to do massage for clean up . When u insisted they said okay do massage for her. So bottom line is they try all tactics to make their product (facial) sell.

    After this I go to health and glow to buy kajal. I have a fixed brand in mind. I go to that brand counter and ask kajal, she shows the most expensive one in that brand. And I say no I want normal one. She insists on how I should go with her suggestion . But I was stubborn and said I want normal one pls . Finally she gave normal one. Which was almost half the price of what she was showing and I honestly didn't find difference in the one she showed and the one I brought.

    While I agree these people have certain targets to reach, from our end we should not fall for their selling tactics. Should stick to what we want and be clear on that.
     
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  5. peartree

    peartree Platinum IL'ite

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    I feel like all of us speaking of rude sales people are speaking from a place of privelege and think a little too much about ourselves.

    Retail workers in India are among the most under-paid, over-worked, abused lot and I think a little empathy would help put things in perspective. Most of these retail workers are paid commissions based on the sales they make, so it absolutely makes sense that they spot a potential sale and try their best to get them to spend the money.

    Again, in beauty parlours, have you all ever thought that it might not be the intention to be mean, but rather some kind of complex that is making them speak like that? I have often wondered, when I go to get my eyebrows threaded or whatever else, the amound I would be charged for that one thing I am getting done, the people working there couldn't probably afford the services they provide to others themselves. And the women working there would usually be the same age as me, and how it must feel for them to see this difference in our spending capability. So if they pass a few unsavory remarks about my poor skin quality or my dry hair quality, I just feel sorry for them and move on!! Or they are probably just trying to sell a service, again potential to earn some commission. It's not like they are going to chase me down the street if I say no or that my skin really is as bad as they say it is or even if it is, what is the big deal? I think it says a lot about our confidence level also, if we are taking their words to heart.

    We dress up for a job interview because we know that being dressed in clean, appropriate clothing is important because that is going to influence the interviewer's decision a little bit. A similar judgement is being made by the sales person about somoene being better dressed than us, why do we find it so difficult to accept it? May be it is some kind of superiority complex we have "Oh, look at me, I can afford to shop at the place you work, but I am so simple. But it is your job to acknowledge that". And then we have some others complaining that they are followed around by pesky sales people like a puppy. So for the salespeople, it's like damned if you do and damned if you don't!!

    I went to a big clothes retailer in Trichy to buy a silk pavadai-chattai cloth for my daughter's first birthday. I was wearing my baby in a baby carrier and my older daughter was speaking with a very obvious accent. It was quite clear that we were not from there. There was another family, who had also come to buy silk pavadai cloth for their 1 yr old and they were well dressed also, but speaking in Tamizh and looked like they were locals from Trichy itself. I could definitely see a marked difference in the way the sales person was treating them versus us. We had both kept aside colors that we liked that we wanted to choose from later, and there was one particular dark shaded cloth that the other family had kept aside. I did not know that and asked the person to show me that one. The guy just took it out of their pile to show it to me when the other family said they had kept it aside. The sales guy remarked to the other family that they should make a decision soon on whether they wanted that particular piece or not, because we were also looking for something similar. The other family got really offended and said we could have it, and I apologized to them and said I did not know they had kept it aside for themselves. I then reprimanded the sales person and all he said was he did not want that piece ultimately to not be chosen by the other family when he knew we definitely liked that color and that was why he was anxious for the other family to make a decision soon. So for them, it was all in the numbers and sell as many as possible, because that's what their livelihood was dependent upon.
     
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  6. Needtobestrong

    Needtobestrong Platinum IL'ite

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    Yeah I also sympathise a lot for sales people who are underpaid, overworked and struggle with day to day stuff as they don't have proper job prospects..that's why I'm never rude to them or try to take any action...even those who go behind me to make me buy something, I ignore or else I listen to them and say no thanks....but no excuse for rudeness...if someone is openly being rude when I check out some product, that's what I dislike the most..even when I dressed in trendy Indian clothes and went out, I faced bad treatment..
    Anyways, I was in a bad mood that day and I had some irritation in my mind due to other reasons also that's why I felt like posting and venting..
    And to get inputs from others whether they faced similar issue..
    Did feel a little reassured when I found that it's a common thing..
    Makes it much more easier for me to understand and ignore..
     
  7. Twofeathers

    Twofeathers Bronze IL'ite

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    Oh...talking about sales pressure - I can so relate, I have darker skin with what most refer to as a pretty face but when I go to a parlor and ask for a facial - they would immediately suggest I do a bleach because I have darker skin...what??? I have to push back real hard for them to move on. They would insist how the facial will not be apparent without bleach. No disrespect to those who love to bleach, but personally I do not believe in it. My parents have darker skin, and I am as Dravidian as they come. How can bleach suppress ancestral DNA!! I want the skin I have to be nice and the best it can be which is why I love facial. But I have to put up with this judgement every time i go there. Ugghh!!! Just like how we understand how they come from poverty, I wish they would understand that calling us out on THEIR "perceived flaws" impacts the experience we go there for. I know I am taking on a cultural issue here...not looking to solve problems - just sharing!!
     
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  8. SGBV

    SGBV IL Hall of Fame

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    I think there is a lot to do with our complex, primarily inferiority complex about our own self, about the way we look and more importantly it adds on when we are used to hear negative comments about ourselves more often.

    5 years back when I had my second one, I looked so different. I could not manage my weight for about 9 months post delivery, and I looked shapeless.
    While trying my best to cope with my new body, and all those staying at home stresses during my maternity break, my folks added fuel to the fire. Their rude comments about how I look different now, and how I will look after 5 years or so, and how my cousins and friends were able to manage their weight so soon post delivery, and those advises like how I should work hard, eat less blah blah blah....
    And you know, after delivery, you dont focus much on hair, and breast feeding can cause severe hair loss... So, that's the worst time in every mother's life - Postpartum.
    I felt so low. With low self esteem, and inferiority complex coupled with my hormonal imbalance and negative comments from others.
    Those times, every single handling ranging from the super market, to beauty parlor to tailor made me feel worse.
    It seemed as if everyone was targeting me, sidelining me, as if I don't exist or my existence has no value.

    Not because the store people or the sales girls were mean. It is because I was at my wrong timing, with complex.

    I slowly started to give time for myself, went back to work, started yoga classes, gym, and in no time I came back to shape, and almost all my other problems got fixed too.

    5 years later, I am a very confident woman now. The store people and the sales girls and their comments remain the same. Just that I am different.
    Now a days, I don't even take their comments to my head, rather fully concentrate what I want. I dont even remember whether they cared for me or ignored me. I just dont care....I mean, these kind of thoughts never cross my mind these days.
     
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  9. Needtobestrong

    Needtobestrong Platinum IL'ite

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    @SGBV your reply makes a lot of sense...
    I'm also facing lot of self esteem issues..the weight gain, the disheveled and tired look..the greying hair I don't have time or motivation to colour, etc.,
    On top of that, my husband also is not understanding or appreciating me these days , I really feel ignored by my husband and my once upon a time close friends as well..
    With confidence levels being low obviously if someone is rude to us it irritates us even more...
     

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