Beauty Without Fuss

Thursday 8 April 2010

Great Customer Service?

Let's face it, sometimes beauty counters aren't places where we can particularly expect good customer service, are they?  From the pushy-pushy OFLs (Orange-Faced Ladies), to the OFLs who treat you like a criminal for daring to even look at their products, to the OFLs who just want to "warm you up a little",  and then there are the ones who just ignore you and chat amongst themselves, the ones who make you look like drag queens, the ones who want you to join them on the Orange side, the ones who recommend colours your granny wouldn't be seen dead in, and the ones who insist your colouring is warm when it's actually cool (and vice versa) they're all irritating.

But very little is more irritating than being sold a dud product (we've all done it, bought something to get away) and then not being able to return it once it's left the store.  Until I wised myself up, and learned to stand my ground, I bought more orange foundations and too-pink lipsticks  than I could count, and I was always, but always just stuck with the useless things.

Which is why this is a nice post to write because on Tuesday night I popped into Givenchy at Debenhams and bought a couple of their limited edition Parad'eyes  No5 Poetic Lavender (singularly misnamed, as it's black with gorgeous blue spangles in it) and No 9 Nude Impression (which is a nude shade, with white and gold spangles in it).  However, when I got home, I discovered I'd actually been given No 6 Pearl (I didn't know the names of the shades until, of course, AFTER I'd checked).  Now, this might not have been such a bad thing, but No 6 was pink.

Baby pink liquid liner.

Seriously, a lovely way to make yourself look like you have an eye infection, don't you think?  Unusable, if you ask me, plus I look like DEATH in pastels of any description anyway.  I was dreading taking it back.  Cosmetics companies are notoriously crap at accepting returns - even on unused, still in the shrink-wrap products - and I was expecting to be turned down flat.  I was very pleasantly surprised, the SA took the blame completely (remembering my purchase of the previous evening, to boot) and swapped the products over without a murmur, or accusation of being too pale, even once. I was, it has to be said, gobsmacked.

So thank you nameless - and shame on me, there - Givenchy counter assistant at Debenhams Oxford Street, your good service is much appreciated!

Swatches and a FotD will follow, the Parad'eyes liners are really gorgeous, even if the package is a bit ... well, stupid.
Share:

8 comments

  1. It's nice to hear that they accepted a return! Almost unheard of! :) x

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a nice post to read. For once, someone has listened to our prayers ;)

    I have only once received an absolutely immaculate customer service, at the Armani counter in Selfridges Oxford Street. Everything was just perfect, from the SA who had the most beautiful makeup on, not a hint of orange in sight, to MY makeup which was done by her completely free of charge (just because I couldn't decide whether to buy the foundation or not, so she put it on me together with a concealer, blusher and gave me a stunning smokey eye). She accepted my decision to wear my face of makeup for a day instead of buying everything on the spot without even blinking once, and the next day when I came back to get the concealer and Luminous Silk she not only remembered me, but also had the details of my chosen colours noted down - as she explained, "just in case I came back, to save me time looking at the swatches again".

    I was SPEECHLESS. Not a common occurrence!

    ReplyDelete
  3. How wonderful! That's the sort of thing that would make me buy more from that brand :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love brilliant customer services, the girls who work in the MAC at HOF in Reading are absolutely amazing, but the girls in MAC at Westfield are a bit iffy, but then they're so busy you can't really blame them. The guy however is fantastic.

    ReplyDelete
  5. how nice is that!Many makeup counters i dont go to simply from the look of the assistants lol!
    But benefit and illamasqua counters at Debenhams Cardiff have both been wonderful. Ive taken some products back to illamasqua and they were happy to exchange or refund without quibble. Benefit i know has had a bad name, but the girls at the cardiff branches in Debenhams and boots are lovely and dont push anything on you

    ReplyDelete
  6. I can completely relate to bad experiences! I'm so glad you were able to switch it and received great service. Nice to hear.

    Michelle

    ReplyDelete

Thanks, I love hearing from you!

© Get Lippie | All rights reserved.
Blogger Template by pipdig