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.?

Yes agree about medication for animals got told by my vet to get childs benolin chest cough mixture for my dog with kennel cough but don't tell the chemist as they won't sell it to you but best remedy for dogs

Because an independant pharmacy is 'independantly' owned by a person and has probably, at some point or 3, sold make up to someone who has gone back in there demanding a refund for one reason or another. Refusing someone a refund looks bad on them as a business and they have more than likely made a huge loss on these items. Boots, Lloyds etc can afford to lose a few customers here and there plus also afford to refund people who are very demanding and causing a massive fuss in front of other customers. And believe me, it is usually old ladies and gentlemen who dont understand modern retail etiquette that cause the most fuss, as I work in pharmacy. Therefore as much as you think this is terrible it really isnt and the owner will have put a blanket ban on staff selling certain products to the elderly or such like that way no member of staff can get blamed for anything and the owner doesnt end up in debt

I’d be going in and asking them why they won’t sell to someone just because they haven’t bought it before? How do they expect to get more sales?

then I’d leave and never go back again.

I was refused the morning after pill because it was against the pharmacist beliefs…. I think he was in the wrong job and has absolutely no right to make that decision for me

I'm a pharmacist myself and to be fair, the assistant was actually in the right and it sounds like the pharmacist was bullied by the store manager to sell it when it's not their place to instruct a pharmacist to do so, as they're not clinically trained and have no idea about medicines and laws and regulations.

Medicines from supermarkets/pharmacies aren't licensed for use in animals, and if anything happens to the animal after you have sold it to them, it's your professional registration on the line. Vets know this and it's a pet (haha the pun) peeve of mine because they're not supposed to tell pet owners to buy medicines, it should always be prescribed.

On another note - very strange about the makeup!

Most vets do offer prescriptions but owners refuse because of the cost. Especially if they know it’s an otc product.

So would I, wtaf?!

Is it that actually they don’t want people buying gifts if make up because if they are in person then they know it suits their skin tone but if it’s a gift and doesn’t suit and someone tries to return it, that would cause arguments at the till? It’s why I don’t like make up bought for me…. Because no one ever knows what suits me and I generally need to go to a specialist make up artist to have something that suits my skin tone colour (although it’s got a lot better in last 10 years)

it’s awkward and if it is what I think then they should have explained it better. Don take it personally. I actually thing products from Boots are probably better quality. I’m sure you gift will be happily received xx

Perhaps what they meant was that they wouldn't like to recommend a lipstick (or makeup in general) as they have done that in the past and had people coming back to complain it didn't suit them. Seems the most plausible to me.

Isn't there something in the returns laws that if you ask for advice and specify a particular requirement, then you can get a refund if it's not fit fir THAT purpose.

If they give no advice or recommendations, then no refund.

It could just be that?

Donnacha
Colm
Oran
Diarmuid
Lorcan

@Dontsayfuckorbugger Therefore as much as you think this is terrible it really isnt and the owner will have put a blanket ban on staff selling certain products to the elderly or such like that way no member of staff can get blamed for anything and the owner doesnt end up in debt
That would be the civil offence of refusing to serve someone on the basis of a protected characteristic i.e. age. There is definitely the potential to end up in debt for that.
And yes actually, it it is pretty awful. That's why it is against the law.

Very odd!

We only serve people who have bought a product before

If true, I think you need to tell a manager at that store as that assistant is going to cause them to go bust very quickly! Or maybe they were just policing and patronising an old woman.

Donnacha
Colm
Oran
Diarmuid
Lorcan

All successfully bought make-up at the shop.

They are, legally, allowed to do this. I think it’s a really weird job to go into if this is against your beliefs though. It worries me how wrong this could go for some people who can’t access it elsewhere for whatever reason.

As others have pointed out, the owner will have put a blanket ban on staff selling certain products to the elderly, this would be illegal because it is age discrimination. I don't know what your point about modern retail etiquette is either because it's only quite recently that you could take things back and get a refund (not on make-up but on lots of things) because you felt like it, rather than only when an item was faulty or not fit for the purpose it was sold for. So I am sure that this woman's old-fashioned retail etiquette (your assumption not mine) will do just fine!

If a shop is so bothered they can train staff to tell all customers that there are no refunds on make-up, have a sign up saying no refunds on make-up, and print on the receipt no refunds on make-up. Then there won't be a problem will there? And if they so wish, train their staff to say "sorry, I'm not allowed to advise" as well.

The way over 65s are talked about and treated in this country is often disgraceful.

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.

That's not what fit for purpose means. A lipstick isn't fit for purpose if it says on the packet it lasts 8 hours and only stays on in normal use for 2, not because the customer buys one shade of pink but doesn't like it on and might prefer a plum after all. And if someone tried to get a refund on the basis of the latter and then goes to Trading Standards about it (or small claims court ha ha) then they'll get short shrift. There are ways of seeming helpful without giving a definitive advice about which colour to buy, along the lines of "some of our blonde customers prefer to go with XYZ, but it really does depend on the person. It's your choice as the customer and we are unable to offer a refund if you change your mind or the recipient of the gift doesn't like it, as we can't resell make-up". Not hard.

My money’s on the combination of a hard of hearing customer who waffles... and an assistant... who isn’t able or willing to understand/navigate the waffle.

And this would almost definitely be disability discrimination, then. This just gets better doesn't it?!! I think the person who said they'd piddle on the floor in protest probably has it right.

I think that you have hit the nail on the head!

I wonder what delights you would get if you asked for face powder to suit olive tones, or perhaps eyeshadow for green eyes!

It actually really makes you wonder how many of these so-called chemists are actually fronts for people cooking meth!

Lloyds has a pharmacy now? When I lived in the UK they were only a bank but I suppose diversifying makes sense in the current UK economy and during the whole Covid thing!

Not sure if you are being funny or not.
just in case your serious they have been around since the 70's.
think they just !I've confusing us as the prescription delivery has been renamed echo 😂

No, not being funny at all. I never saw a Lloyds chemist but then I didn’t really need a chemist for much as the kids were generally healthy, as was I and when we weren’t, the little independent was enough. There was a Boots though in town.

You wouldn’t happen to know what type of food Nidderdale is, would you? Saw it on another thread!

Haven't a clue @JoanOfAllTrades could be a food local to the area?

I’m not sure tbh.I haven’t received any reply but when I searched UK supermarkets, the price of groceries over there! The currency conversion right now is about double, so for £1 you get $2 local currency. So using that conversion, I looked at the prices in waitrose (my eyes started watering), in tesco (not too bad) and in sainsbury (oof). Nescafé coffee is so expensive over there! We get a big 500g tin of Nescafé for the same price that UK has a 200g jar. Meat is another one! I don’t even know how people are managing to live in the UK right now. It’s really shocking to me. Where I live, people often think it’s expensive as a lot of goods and produce used to be imported but now that food is generally local (raised/produced) in our country, things are cheaper. And we complain because unleaded petrol used to the equivalent of 35p and over the last five years it’s nudged up to 75p. Per litre. I think it’s called E10. And then I looked on the RAC UK website and nearly fell off my chair! I’m just assuming everyone is walking in the UK and being super fit. Last time I was on a UK bus, in 2014 (outside of London), it was a flat fare of £1 to go from the bus depot to where the bus terminated. Where I live now, bus fares are .35p equivalency. I feel like I need to get you alls addresses and send food parcels! Those prices that you are paying are gobsmacking!

Wtf with all the tangents and random Irish names? 😂