Chemist refused to sell my Mother make up. How odd?

[fortifiedwithtea]

DM a bit deaf but all her facilities and aged 85 .

She wanted to buy her granddaughter (my DD2) a lipstick for her birthday. DM went to a local independent chemist. The sort that stinks of perfume the moment you walk in. She explained to the sales assistant ( who mum presumed was the owner or manager ) that she was looking for a colour to suit someone with blonde hair, fair skin tone.

Assistant replied sorry I know this sounds awkward but we only serve people who have bought a product before as its caused problems in the past.

So mum went to Boots with the exist same request and was helped , no problem. Except now she is over thinking it and worrying the lipstick could cause God knows what skin allergy.

Does this sound really odd? I wondered if first shop thought she was buying for a child. Dd2 is 20 years old btw. Or do you think its because make up choice so personal its highly likely its not to daughter’s taste. But why should that be of any concern to the shop, everyone should know make up can not be returned.

To me its a weird business model only to sale products your customers have had before. How is business growth achieved if nobody tries anything new.?

Surprised hoe many people seem to think this would be a likely response to not wanting returns. Pretty sure saying a small sign saying no returns on make up would be simpler and better business sense than refusing to sell things to people unless they have bought them from there before, which is insanity.

Dear God that's outrageous!

I'd understand if you were asking for a double whiskey but coffee?!!

But yet if you'd asked to see the manager you'd have been a "KaReN"....

Even if you were asking for a double whisky it’s not the call of the server to choose whether to give it to you

There a huge sign in my local pharmacy asking you to “check your bag before you leave” 🤔
They're always busy so the time I get served I don’t get around to asking them what that’s all about.

I've seen this comment a few times so this isn't directed at you specifically @Suedomin but I think the point was more that they will sell you make up as a gift if it is something the person has used already, but not as a "first time" try of the product.

So, if someone bought Lipstick A, loved it and then their granny went in to the shop to buy them Lipstick A as a gift then the staff would happily sell it to them as they know it won't be returned as it is a product the recipient has used and knows they want.

However if granny went into the shop and said "I want to buy my granddaughter Lipstick A," and she had never used Lipstick A before then there is going to be a high chance that the lipstick may be returned as it isn't suitable/wrong colour/unwanted/causes a reaction etc because there are so many variables with make up as it is so personal to the wearer.

As a small independent they probably have a policy of no returns for anything except faulty goods and so they don't want to run the risk of an awkward encounter if the granddaughter was to try and return an unwanted gift and either cause a fuss or be left with a useless product because they wouldn't return it. Big companies can take the hit of bad reviews because they uphold their policies but often little independents can't take the risk and would rather say no on the first place.

There's only one plausible explanation @fortifiedwithtea. The "pharmacy" is actually cover for running a drugs cartel, and by asking for "lipstick to suit fair skin," your DM has accidentally asked for half a kilo of their finest Colombian marching powder . The lipsticks on display are just dummies. The assistants had to make up an excuse when they realised that for the first time in months they had a customer who really did want to buy a lipstick.

Sounds like the independent chemist next to me, awkward for awkward sake. A woman outside got knocked down and was bleeding from the head. I ran in to ask for some tissues or even some gauze. They had an open box of tissues on the counter, and wouldn’t give me any.

How could you not mention the fact that she has WiFi and a free crèche. You shamed us all.

It might sound bizarre to you but they might have been stung in the past. Someone had a bad reaction to makeup and they put a claim in. They're an independent business and can't afford to take that risk.

This is odd, did the sales person speak good English, maybe they misunderstood ? I would be calling for some clarity.

@FurFan There a huge sign in my local pharmacy asking you to “check your bag before you leave” 🤔 They're always busy so the time I get served I don’t get around to asking them what that’s all about.

My take on it would be that they mean the sealed paper bag your presciption is put into, rather than your handbag or shopping bag! They've probably had loads of customers expecting something that turned out not to be inclued, etc, and it's much easier to sort out if it is noticed before the customer leaves the shop.

D'oh spelling

• prescription
• included

@LauderSyme 🤭 that makes sense! Why don’t they say “prescription bag” 😆

It’s one of those pharmacies that sells all sorts at all shelving levels. In my peri/stressed state my brain wanders while waiting.
I wondered if they’d had a case where a parent had denied all knowledge of the mermaid hairbrush that their toddler had dropped in their bag. So they put a sign up saying “check your bags before you leave” - your explanation seems more straightforward 🤣

@FurFan or they know full well they have a kleptomaniac member of staff!

My money’s on the combination of a hard of hearing customer who waffles when asking what she wants (a lot of very elderly people ramble in these situations) and an assistant with English as a second language and a strong, unfamiliar accent, who isn’t able or willing to understand/navigate the waffle. If anyone remembers ‘Chinese Whispers’? (I’m sure it’s not allowed to be called that any more) it’s a bit like that.

@TheodoreMortlock 😂😂😂😂 it wouldn’t surprise me at some of those places!

This

with bells on

would no doubt have been quite funny to witness!

It's basically saying "Check everything is correct before you leave as we can't fix errors once you leave the store".

I work in a supermarket and our pharmacy is the same because we have had people collect a prescription then come back a bit later saying "XYZ medication is missing" when we know for a fact it was definitely put into the bag (as it is shown on the camera) then it causes a massive issue as you could have a case where they genuinely have misplaced the item but it could also be that they're just trying to get more of a prescription medication, but you can't accuse everyone of trying to scam the store. Either way once it has left the store we don't know which it is and so now if you don't check it before you leave then the onus is on you to get the replacement if we can show we processed it and put it in the bag.

If someone comes to customer service and says "I was missing my milk when I got home" then we can just let them take another bottle, you can't really do that with prescription medications.

Heather Shimmer, Coffee Shinmer & Birthday Suit we’re mine & they actually started selling them again a few years ago. I don’t know if they are still available as I bought them for nostalgia really & barely wore them so haven’t been to see if they are still selling them. It was pretty recent, pre covid as I’m currently using as a timeline guide 😂

This is priceless 😂 love it x

Ooh no hope he was ok? Interesting poo 😂

Did we ever get an answer??

It's amazing retailers still do this. It's been illegal since 2008 as it misleads consumers about their rights. Obviously if something isn't fit for purpose you can return it for an exchange or refund and that would eg apply to a lipstick if you bought in one colour but the colour was wrong.

This is the most likely answer 😁

OOH, this thread has inspired me to go and put on some lipstick, which has slightly alarmed DH and Dcats, since we’re only sitting in the living room watching a film! I used to adore frosted lipstick back in the day