Today, in a blog entry on the Beautypedia website, she writes, "Given that the store's motto is 'Play, touch, test, learn and explore,' and given that my print-outs all came from Ulta.com, there was no conceivable reason for me to think that the following was about to unfold."
After being in the store for less than an hour, discretely taking notes, a floor manager approached me.
"Can I help you with anything?" she asked.
"I'm good," I replied and smiled.
She then came at me, quite close, and said, "You are not allowed to write anything down in our store. I have to ask you to leave."
I let out a small laugh; I was surprised, thinking that surely she misunderstood what I was doing. She pointed her finger at me and said, "Don't act surprised. You've been told this before."
Daynah had never been told that before, in fact, but the rest of the conversation slowly spiraled into a pit of stupidity as the manager, sensing that this customer was going to put up a fight, refused to see logic or reason.
Finally, Daynah just asked her point blank if she was being banned from the store.
When I asked if I was banned permanently, she said-and get this-as long as I put my print-outs and pen in my car, I was allowed back inside to make my purchase. So, like a scolded child, she watched me walk my papers to my car, and then come back in to be rung up. Had I not absolutely needed to make the purchases, I would have surely walked away and never returned. As a paying customer, I have never been so belittled, harassed and infuriated. Ever.
Other things that are now official Ulta policy, at least when this manager is on duty at the store in Seattle: you can't write down anything a salesperson tells you about a product, you can't use the testers unless you're a paying customer, and if you want to select a specific shade of makeup you have to ask a salesperson for help. Because at Ulta, beauty is not just hard, but top secret.
"Ultimate Showdown at Ulta, Part One" [Beautypedia] (Thanks to Amy!)
(Photo: foxyvoxy and anja_johnson)
idiocy.
]]>try it. waaaaaaay better :)
]]>@Areyouagoodlittleconsumer: Calmly disagreeing with someone who is not only ignorant and incorrect, but obstinately ignorant and incorrect, does not make someone a troll.
]]>(I'd love to be corrected on this. Mind you, I agree that stores should have that right, but I'm of the opinion that there should be laws against intentful offenses of jackassery or closed-minded stupidity.)
If we were to go off of that, as illogical as it is for the store's business, then the cops would simply have to escort the lady out of the store in respect of the manager - otherwise I think it would become trespassing.
]]>In my experience, I've found this to be pretty true - makeup to simply smooth things out a little seems to be attractive, while makeup that looks like makeup isn't.
On the bright side of all of this, getting most of the "natural" look with makeup is fairly simple and not nearly as time-consuming... Unless you're like me and have random acne at 21.
]]>Oh, and videotape the whole thing.
]]>* Cashier is smacking on her gum, checking her phone, and conversing with another cashier about a girl she calls a "whore" right in front of all her customers as she processes my return.
* Cashier fails to inform me about a buy 2, get 2 free sale on some hair products I am purchasing. I am unaware of this deal and purchase 3 products, and she charges me for all 3 instead of informing me.
* I am purchasing makeup, but unaware which shade matches my skin best. The products I am looking at do not have testers, the associate who is assisting me does not want to open up the package so that I may see the exact color. "We are not supposed to do that."
It's a shame because it's such a wonderful one-stop beauty shop, and the only one in the area - which is the only reason why I still shop there.
]]>First, I work for Paula, and I was there to do my job. Even though Paula would have understood (and already has said as much to me)if I hadn't come back with what I needed, I have a pretty strong work ethic. Nobody ever said that this job was going to be easy, and so I dealt with what I had to in order to get it done.
Secondly, I was in a bit of a state of shock. I wasn't thinking clearly enough to think about the message I was sending. I was very much in "work mode" and wanted to be sure that if I had endured all of that, I would have at least gotten what I came for.
And lastly, I was being strategic. I wanted to be able to photocopy my receipt and staple it to my letter to validate where I was coming from. I knew that whatever this lady said went down between us, a receipt would confirm that I was indeed a paying customer, and that the way I was treated was inexcusable.
Had I been there solely for personal reasons, you can bet your britches, I wouldn't have spent a dime"
]]>How did an idiot with no clue about shopping lists and price comparing ever get made a store manager?
]]>@CFinWV: Thank you. If she wanted to compare prices, she could have, oh I don't know, GONE ONLINE.
She was comparing blush shades (read the entire blog entry) which is something you CAN'T do online, before making a purchase. This is something these stores need to accept if they want to have a successful e-business selling color cosmetics. Women don't buy color sight-unseen.
I'd like to add that I normally love Ulta, mass and prestige in one place. Brilliant. Living in Seattle, however, I'd like to know exactly which location this is.
]]>Not uncommon at all. Silly, but not uncommon.
]]>I would have told her that she had just lost a customer for life, that I was going to blog the entire affair, as well as forwarding a copy to the company's site.
Then do it.
]]>@guspaz: So in your opinion, she only deserves sympathy if she gets reprimanded or fired for not doing her job?
]]>Daynah is the database coordinator and researcher for Beautypedia, a consumer advocacy website for makeup products.
@guspaz: Did you miss that part?
]]>Also, it's not like she was able to write down the information she needed. Maybe she couldn't order online without it.
]]>@Areyouagoodlittleconsumer: Worst use of "troll" ever. Especially since they are right. They have every right to ban cellphones and disruptive customers.
]]>I'm sorry, you sound ridiculous saying that you "absolutely needed" to buy overpriced boutique makeup. Sympathy just dropped to zero.
]]>@parad0x360: Yet Wal-mart sends their department managers to their competitors stores to record their prices so they can compete with them. Guess it's a matter of do as I say not as I do.
]]>The Ulta here has been pretty good to me too. In fact, I took a few notes last time I was there for Christmas list ideas(my mother-in-law makes me write one), and nobody bothered me about it. This incident sounds like a seriously power-tripping manager.
]]>@gStein_has joined the star bandwagon: Hearted for that! Always hated makeup, nice to know someone else feels the same.
]]>@TechnoDestructo: Burma.
]]>@Katsuya Kaiba: They aren't for toddlers. They are for the parents of toddlers. It's amazing how quickly those $2-4 shirts add up
]]>@HogwartsAlum: Like Eat A Peach said, she needed to buy them to review the products.
]]>At Target you can just bring every product up tot he price check thing, and print out a price. I'm sure they'll love everyone doing that instead.
]]>@WonderKatGoBoom: The Ulta's aren't too bad. They do have a few high end brands along with the ones you can buy at any drugstore. They usually have coupons for $3.50 off a $10 purchase (excluding the high end brands).
]]>Health departments LOVE pictures!
]]>I was happy with supporting the local bookstore until that moment, even if it was a little more money. From then on I went completely online, and saved a lot more money. Thankfully soon after a rule was passed in the CSU system to help students with textbooks, which forced professors to order their books from the campus store and publish what books they were requiring online (as well as encouraging cheaper books). I think the last book I bought from that bookstore I did so only because the online copy wasn't going to get in on time, I returned it a few days later.
]]>Everyone's going to say, "Why did they do that? I don't understand why I was attacked so brutally for being a complete heartless, ignorant bitch..." Yet there she lies on the gurney, trying to make sense of it all.
I don't know how sorry I'll feel for them then.
]]>PS In this economy it is absolutely fair to comparison shop. Do it all the time. Saved tons o' money.
]]>The police will issue the CT as a routine matter because it's the store's private property and right to ask for one. If you break the CT, you get to go to jail.
]]>it's different but similar. My wife had similar type problems when buying her wedding dress. They wouldn't let her take pictures, they wouldn't give her the name of the dress, they wouldn't let her write down the model #. She nearly got into a screaming match with an associated. They want you to spend thousands of dollars and give you no information about the dress in question.
]]>Illegal in many states if the subject being recorded has a reasonable belief that this conversation is private.
]]>...and much hilarity ensued.
]]>Several years ago, my wife, when she was between jobs, was a comparison price shopper for a research firm. Basically she went to major retail outlets and noted the model and price of major appliances and sent that data back to the research firm. We found the easiest way to do it was to use a micro-casette recorder and a hidden lavalier microphone. She could then pretend to look at the appliances while reading the model numbers and prices out loud, and if someone came near us, we would incorporate the information into a conversation "Look at this Maytag Washer Model MDB53764WW normally $549, on sale for $498."
At Lowes and Home Depot it was fairly easy, Circuit City was extremely difficult, especially when the staff started to recognize us, and Sears...forget about it, way too many models to handle.
]]>Still, the Ulta in Fort Wayne has never, NEVER, acted like the aforementioned Ulta in Seattle to me. And I've been in there many times. I've never seen anyone get harassed over the testers, fragrance or otherwise (men's fragrances are the main reason I visit Ulta), and the service is pleasant overall.
Still, this blogger should write the ol' EECB to Ulta corporate about her store experience. Oh, and wake me up when Sephora decides to open a store in Fort Wayne.
]]>I received an email talking about Chinese students, here reading the barcodes because The Chinese send us low grade stuff and the kids could look at the barcode and tell if it was sub-standard!
]]>"Sir, we don't allow pictures to be taken in the store," she said. It truly gloomed my day.
I was a teenager then, but if it happened today I would walked across the street to the ice cream store and shot the picture I wanted through the window of the parlor.
]]>OTOH, if she does research for her books and blogs using the samples from the store that could really be annoying. Really that's what the argument boiled down to, was she a paying customer or just there to get as much information out of the free samples.
]]>My brother used to run a retail outlet here in Australia. As a part of his job, he needed to make sure his prices were competative. On a weekly basis, he used to go across the road to his nearest competitor and take notes on prices. The staff knew him by name, he used to chat and joke with the manager when he was there. No problem what so ever.
If anyone was to ask me what I am doing with a phone or my notepad, I would tell them that I am minding my own business and I would suggest they do the same.
]]>Retailers of all kinds need to wake up. It's not just the competitors' mystery shopper snapping picts with a digital camera to send barcodes and pricing information back to HQ. Probably 90% of today picture grabbers are doing it for personal, noncompetitive reasons.
]]>@Pixelantes Anonymous: A funny idea, but that just punishes a random clerk, not the store or the manager.
]]>Then walk back to the car, and never come back.
]]>@shadowkahn: She needed to buy those particular pieces of make-up because she was reviewing them for her JOB. RTFA
]]>Did she explain what she was doing? Did the manager see what she was writing down?
If she was in the store for an hour, taking notes on the products, the manager probabaly thought she was a competitor taking an inventory/price list which just about every single store has a policy against.
]]>Now, certain rules might be bad for their business, but that's their problem, not yours. They can make up whatever rules they want with only very minimal exceptions.
]]>She should really go to work for the government of Myanmar.
]]>I really relish taking people like this down, it's so easy and fun, and further, it's a service to humanity when you do so, and the more publicly and loudly the better.
Just a little p.s.a... have a nice bully-free day.
]]>@sonneillon: do it!!!! Someone needs to make a Facebook page now! : )
]]>Also, kind of divided as to the effect of the purchase on subsequently complaining to higher ups. If she doesn't purchase and tells higher up that local manager prevented purchase, local manager could claim she was just a spy and not a real customer, so no harm done, and bigwig might buy it. But if she does purchase, that invalidates that claim, and local manager has harassed a purchasing customer, so no leg to stand on when called on the carpet... guess it could go either way.
]]>Back in the pre-interweb days I threw out more than one competitor for industrial espionage.
My thinking?
If you want all of my prices, then pay the $3.50 for a farking catalog or buy a $25 item and get the catalog for free. Otherwise go fark yourself. And while you are at it, take the company spiral notebook with your company's logo pasted on the front and shove it up your arse.
These days, the interweb is so nice to check the competition's prices.
So what was the manager's problem?
]]>@TechnoDestructo: From the info on a new app for iPhones:
Careful what you say - that iPhone over there could be a live microphone.
Which is to say there's a new, free iPhone app called Soundbiter designed to monitor the world's audio and upload it to Twitter and Facebook with the push of a button.
When running, the Soundbiter app is constantly recording, keeping an audio buffer of a minute or so. Then when you hear a good joke, a fine guitar riff or a politician's slip-of-the-tongue, you hit the apps's only button, which saves the last 60 seconds of sound. From there, it's a cinch to edit, upload, title and publish the sonic snippet to Twitter or Facebook.
Imagine what would happen if everyone (not just iPhone owners, but all cell phone owners) had this? That tasty "conversation" between the op and the manager could have been recorded for posterity along with a button push away from being Twittered and FaceBooked for eternity!
]]>Well, back in high school when I comparison shopped for Best Buy I just had a lavaliere mic clipped under my shirt going to a microcassette recorder (long time ago. Ancient technology ;) ). Writing the prices down was a waste of time. I'd just mutter them at my shirt. No one ever suspected a thing.
]]>Stores can enforce any rules they want, provided they aren't illegal. It's not illegal to tell people not to bring certain items into the store, or to tell people that you want them to take those items out of the store. Of course, it's also not required to continue to give such a store your business. I was somewhat surprised at the OP's comment that she "absolutely needed to make the purchases." We are after all talking about makeup here, not chemotherapy medication. While I am admittedly a man and therefore regard all makeup as varying colors of face paint, I find it difficult to believe that the OP could not find some other makeup store to sell her something she liked.
]]>Simplest solution is always (nearly) the best--leave the store, call corporate, explain the situation, let them know they have asshat for manager, and said manager has just cost them a sale (also other potential customers) and leave it at that. Very few companies want personnel on board who are likely to cost them business. Wait a couple of days, return to store and observe whether there is either a.) a new manager, or b.) same manager, but with new and more subdued manner. If neither turns out to be the case, chalk the business up as being one of those that doesn't really give a fork about their customers, and cast vote with your wallet. Chances are, a chain like that is due to self-destruct soon enough anyway, so you don't really want to waste your time getting hooked on their products.
]]>@Corporate_guy: I agree, to an extent, but the prices she paid would be on the receipt, which she now has, and now they have a possibly negative review from someone who's job it is to tell people about her experiences. Secondly, I imagine that like many other stores they have a website with prices on it, so it's a moot point anyways.
]]>A) Means it was her job to purchase the products regardless of service.
B) Makes it a very bad idea to treat her like crap, since it's ALSO her job to tell everyone how shitty your service is.
]]>So what did they stop her from doing exactly? Doesn't she still have the price of the stuff she purchased + a shitty shopping experience?
I wouldn't want to piss off a person who is reviewing my products and/or my business. She's going to review the products and then probably tell EVERYONE what a cuntress the manager was. Cutting off your nose to spite your face in THIS economy is just stupid.
]]>Bet that policy gets you real far in life.
]]>Yeah, what if I'm carrying a shopping list, and marking things off with a pen?
]]>Well, gee, if they've got different bar codes, it isn't a pointless exercise then, is it?
Not that your post wasn't helpful (it is), you just kind of contradict yourself.
]]>@Chris Walters: The problem they have always faced is competitive price comparision. Stores don't want to compete on every single price, yet modern technology makes it easier to grab competitive information. Just taking a pic shouldn't be an issue, but I'd be suspicious of anyone who walks around for an hour writing down prices.
]]>pen and paper? really? That's absurd.
I can understand stores not wanting photographs in them but I rarely have that enforced as well. Bad pet shop, Best Buy's mac section having crashed computers... yeah, that can reflect really poorly. But i haven't even got hassled over taking photos of Hair Mayonnaise or "DirectX 10 READY!" labeled nvidia Geforce 5200s.
]]>Further tell him he is interfering with the sale he should be there to encourage and support and you intend on letting his management chain know he is threatening customers and losing sales.
Always bully the bully right back.
So many people just don't realize and use their power...
]]>@NightSteel: There is a point when you are trespassing.
]]>@sashazur: Buying this makeup is her JOB. I assume the assignment had to do with comparison shopping on their website and in store, and part of that assignment was to buy the makeup.
]]>Comparison shopping will become trivial.
Police brutality and most forms of police corruption will cease to exist.
I don't mean "oh hey, my phone can record video." I mean like "Ghost in the Shell" style brain implants, except taking an obvious step that they never bothered to explore. What if everyone had access to every price everyone ever paid anywhere for anything? All of a sudden market forces start working again. (Or for the first time?)
Oh, and crazy bitches like in this article wouldn't be able to do a damn thing about it.
]]>You can optionally add that they can die in a fire.
]]>Why on earth did she go back in? There is nothing that store sells that she can't buy elsewhere. Even the house brand can be had at another branch, or ordered online. Maybe it shows my pettiness, but it'd be a cold day in hell before I'd give the manager the satisfaction of seeing me come back into her store sans paper and pen or following whatever other asinine rule she makes up. There's nothing I need that badly or that urgently.
I dunno, Ulta on the East Coast isn't any better. It's just not a ... welcoming kind of place, KWIM? They'd like to be like Sephora, but they're not even close. Every time I've tried to use the coupon they send out with their periodic fliers, I've been shot down. Seems just about all their brands - at least the ones I'd buy - are exclusions. Eventually I gave up, haven't stopped in there in a couple of years.
Hate to say it, but she is the exact type of person these policies are created for.
After being harassed there is only one reason why she would still purchase. She was actually a reviewer and thus it appears the policy did what it wants. Keep people from spreading out details of your prices and offerings.
It's a stupid policy, but it's their store. They can do what they want.
]]>If you go looking for a basic drill, and you find a Black and Decker for $40 at Target, and another one for $25 at Wal-Mart, there's really nothing to indicate that the latter is cheap crap. Okay, yeah, if you're barcode scanning then you're going to know the cheap one has a different barcode, but how many consumers do that? I don't. (Though now that I have a smartphone, I might look for a WinMo app for that..)
]]>@NightSteel: It's Seattle...she would have lost that battle regardless....
]]>@Spin359: Why only 100...it's Seattle...I'm sure they can come up with 500 or 1000 women willing to put this manager in her place...
]]>The manager walked away still confused because I guess he thinks making wish lists is stupid, and phones with cameras could never scan a barcode!
]]>Ulta just wants to be Sephora anyway, so I guess I'll stick to the place that lets me play without someone breathing down my neck.
]]>