Behaviour at the Beauty Counter

NanaTuesday

Sarnia

So you were asking to go behind the counter and rootle through her stock drawers whilst she was dealing with a customer. Why couldn't you just wait your turn? I think you were the rude one here.

I do not think ,that the OP was saying she would do that at all !

^ so I moved a little closer and asked the assistant if I could just quickly check whether they had an item in stock ^

That's what it looked like to me too. Apologies if I've misunderstood.

Sarnia

So you were asking to go behind the counter and rootle through her stock drawers whilst she was dealing with a customer. Why couldn't you just wait your turn? I think you were the rude one here.

I do not think ,that the OP was saying she would do that at all !

keepingquiet

I don't think you were necessarily out of order but clearly weren't expecting such an extreme reaction to your question.

I would have been tempted to seek out the management (yes, I frequently do this!) and complain about the staffing levels.

The customer was not wrong either, as she was interrupted.

I don't think there's any real right or wrong here but the store should have enough staff, as simple as.

You don’t know why there was only one assistant at that time. One on her break or off sick? I certainly wouldn’t complain to the management. I’m not one of life’s complainers - it’s too short. I do, however, pick my battles.

Yes you were unreasonable to ask if you could go through the stock drawers - it's a bit like going through the till at the bank to see if they had the right change for you.

I think I would have apologised to the other customer first before interrupting the assistant but the other customer was extremely rude and I don't blame you for walking out.

I would have asked at another counter to see if they could help and browsed around a bit before interrupting. Then just asked the assistant if there would be anyone available to help me soon. If not, I'd have gone elsewhere.

I don't think you were necessarily out of order but clearly weren't expecting such an extreme reaction to your question.

I would have been tempted to seek out the management (yes, I frequently do this!) and complain about the staffing levels.

The customer was not wrong either, as she was interrupted.

I don't think there's any real right or wrong here but the store should have enough staff, as simple as.

Perhaps the OP should have said “Excuse me interrupting, could I just ask if you have any ….in stock? If so, am happy to wait until you’re free”.

Hopefully, the assistant would have known and said, yes or no. If she didn’t know without looking, would have to say she would look when finished.

The customer was rude, however as there was only one assistant maybe she had been interrupted a few times, it doesn’t excuse her though.

The shop was at fault offering time consuming beauty treatments and selling with only one staff member there. Difficult for everyone concerned.

Slightly different scenario, but when I'm having my hair done, often a customer will walk in wanting to book an appointment, or buy a hair product, if there isn't anyone on the desk which is often the case, my stylist or another will say "just excuse me whilst I see to this customer" what else can they do? they can't leave that person just standing there. Similar situation to yours OP, good grief that woman sounded a right entitled Duchess. I don't think you were being unreasonable, under the circumstances the assistant should have excused herself whilst she served you.

Having said that, I do object to someone barging up with an interruption whilst the customer is at the till in the throes of paying, that happened to me once and the shop assistant gave me the wrong change.

No you’re not being unreasonable, that customer was being very rude.

I’ve reflected on it a fair bit since the incident and also thought that it the same situation again I’d go to another of the counters to ask someone else like you’ve suggested. It was one of those things that just happened at the time . I guess I didn’t think too much of an asking quick question . But the other persons response really shook me up at the time, as I’m a relatively calm quiet person who’d hate to appear rude.

I'm not sure whether you were asking to look through her stock drawers behind the counter? In which case that would not be permitted and would be rather like getting behind the bar at a pub and serving yourself a pint.

On the other hand, the assistant should most certainly have acknowledged your presence and given you some indication of her intentions. The free make up sessions offered by John Lewis can take at least an hour and it would be extremely unreasonable to expect another customer to wait that long.

The fault lies with the store which clearly hasn't offered adequate training for such a scenario and is clearly under staffed.

To be fair, they are primarily a retail store and not a beauty parlour.

I would have gone to another beauty stall and asked someone there to go and check the drawer. I know they all help each other.. I think the other customer sounds very rude and entitled..

Given that you simply wanted to ask a question to which, presumably, the answer would've been a yes or a no, and that you had absolutely no idea how long you would have to wait to ask it - I think it's perfectly reasonable to politely excuse your intrusion for an exchange that would probably have lasted for a few seconds.

Then you would've known whether it was wroth hanging around for 10 / 20 / 30 minutes.

Of course, the store could employ more than one assistant on that counter, but that would raise their costs, so you pay the price for the cost-cutting.

But so do they - how many customers will they lose? If I'd seen a woman in the process of being made-up, I'd simply have walked out. If I'd been the assistant I would have politely excused myself from my current customer and told the prospective one roughly how long I'd be before becoming available.

You behaved perfectly reasonably. The customer was unnecessarily rude.

I think my immediate response to the woman accusing me of being rude would have been "If you want rude lady, look in the mirror !"

Just to clarify at no point was I expecting to rummage around behind the counter. I simply wanted to know if the item was still stocked and so may be worth either hanging around for or coming back for another time.

Sarnia

So you were asking to go behind the counter and rootle through her stock drawers whilst she was dealing with a customer. Why couldn't you just wait your turn? I think you were the rude one here.

I’m not sure we are hearing the full story-
First of all, behind the counter is always “off limits” for customers for reasons of security- shoplifting is apparently increasing at an alarming rate- and also just not convinced about the (exaggerated?) reaction of the other customer .
There are two sides to every story- sometimes a third!

Marmight

Not rude at all. I’d be fizzing. Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman comes to mind! ‘Big Mistake’! When I’m having treatments in my local salon, (for which I pay a hefty amount) the assistant sometimes excuses herself to attend to a ‘walk-in’. I don’t mind. If everyone was kind & sensible and less selfish it’d be a better world.

Exactly! 👏👏👏

Not rude at all. I’d be fizzing. Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman comes to mind! ‘Big Mistake’! When I’m having treatments in my local salon, (for which I pay a hefty amount) the assistant sometimes excuses herself to attend to a ‘walk-in’. I don’t mind. If everyone was kind & sensible and less selfish it’d be a better world.

In real life, I'm coming round to the view that those who accuse others of rudeness are generally the one being rude, in extreme cases even breaking the law.

So you were asking to go behind the counter and rootle through her stock drawers whilst she was dealing with a customer. Why couldn't you just wait your turn? I think you were the rude one here.

I am undecided on this.

I have made appointments (with Estée Lauder) for makeup trials/sessions when I had big events or family weddings coming up and I wanted to refresh/change my look.

Having booked an appointment and taken time out of a busy working day I would not have taken kindly to having that session interrupted by another customer/s however, I would not have reacted rudely. (I am by nature not a rude person)

In my opinion the assistant should have noticed you hovering and said sorry, I will be with you in ^x minutes^

I don't think you were rude at all. You were only asking if something was in stock.

I think you were rude to expect attention when the assistant was otherwise engaged.