Hamleys demo lady left dd 6 in tears.

[Bornfreebutinbiscuits]

Summer hols day out, theatre and hamleys.

Having fun trying all the toys on display and v small budget to buy a toy.

Older dd goes to lady for hand tattoo. I asked younger if she wanted one she was shy and said no. However once older has one she wants one. So she gets in position and very curtly lady says 'no. Its not a freebie for all children it's a demo. I can't do another child' no smiles, no kindness and she looked as hard as nails as dd face crumpled and starts to cry.

Not a big cry! In the past they have always dine both dc, in hamleys and harrods.
And we have actually brought the set into the past but it's the fun and part of the toy shop experience to have something done there!

Not the experience I expected from hamleys of all places. Or was she right!

If you're unhappy in Hamleys do talk to customer service as I complained about a member of staff behaving unacceptably and they gave me a discount and a huge apology.

It sounds like staff have been giving stuff away for free and now they have hired staff that don't. The mix of manners might be very different but remember that previously people were being nice because they wanted your money. This woman was honest. Companies struggle when things are given away for free. I think they would class the difference in their staffs attitude an improvement to giving their stock away. It might be better to console your youngest daughter knowing that this is how companies survive. If you were the only parents they thought were coming they might have been worried they wouldn't earn their wages nevermind get a sale.

At least now you know its not part of the experience and you can find out how much it costs to have their hair coloured, nails done and tattoo's done.

If you are worried about costs you might want to find places with less commerce involvement for your holidays.

YANBU. The lady should know better (and have been trained better) than to do one sibling and not the other. If they are working with children they should have some affinity for children and be pleasant to them.

If you are a store that is supposed to pride itself on creating a great customer experience and quality, you put yourself out to make everyone happy.
For a small sample item like this, even if the family don't buy the product themselves you are demonstrating so that other customers can see. There might well be parents without children shopping for gifts, for example. If events unfolded as the OP describes, then I would be putting in a complaint to the management. They have a reputation to keep up and it really sounds as though this staff member doesn't understand how to create a great customer experience.

Mmmm you wanted a freebie and you didn't get it? Yeah the assisant was curt, not ideal but not the end of the. It's horrid when our kids our upset but it doesn't mean she's entitled.

Demo woman was a stingy mare.. like most of the responses to your OP. Bloody mean and un necessarily upsetting for your little girl. It's a hand tattoo ffs.. poor old Hamleys ... god forbid they might give 2 in a row. I'd have complained to a manager for sure.

Wow. The cheeky fuckers club are out in force at the moment.

I think you need to consider you are over thinking and exaggerating the situation- worker said no, DD cried a bit. She probably forgot about it by now.
At least that is how my everyday routine looks like. I say no, they moan and cry, end of.
I think you need to take this as a learning experience, Some people are not kind to kids (even if they are in a toyshop), and don’t expect a demonstration as a free activity- cause they might turn you down (even if she had the time for DD, she prob was doing her job!).
May I ask where you live? There’s a lot of places for kids nearby. The Science Museum has a free amazing playground and the Natural History Museum always has different expositions- cheaper than Hamleys toys.

Companies struggle when things are given away for free.

I doubt Hamleys is one of them tbh any more than Waitrose is about to go under because they give away free portions of cheese and wine in store.

A lot of assumptions made on this thread.

I’d have asked the lady if she could tattoo dd2 before telling her to get in line as it’s a demo. Because you brought the kit before doesn’t make you entitled. YABU

Whether or not she was in the right to refuse the second freebie, since when did it become ok for an adult to upset a child in such a way?

I would actually complain. If I owned a business and had outside staff being rude to my customers I would want to know. She knew that she had nothing to loose - she wasn’t get a sale out of you so she decided to act like a cow even though she knew it would likely hurt Hamley’s. I wonder how many customers they lost that day.

I was in Asda the other day. My son tried some orange juice (the lady was giving out samples). He ran over to my daughter saying you’ve got to try this. The lady gave my son a second one. My daughter loved it too.

They begged for it.

I ended up buying it.

This is how hamleys usually operates but on a massive scale. Defo complain.

Refusing to demonstrate the same toy on two members of the same family is not going to hurt Hamleys... Honestly!

A lot of assumptions made on this thread

Unusually, for the Internet

icedgem85
YABU - she'll be on commission and you don't need two kids done to see how a product works - if you had intention to buy and liked it on DD1 you'd have bought it, she knew what you were doing. However, she's being unreasonable too - no excuse to be so brusque in front of children even if you were taking the piss a bit.

Lot of responses on here focusing on the demonstrator's employment terms/working conditions. But the fault must lie with Hamleys for cultivating an image to attract customers (fun, games, entertainment) whilst not ensuring that their representatives behave in a way that supports that marketing. Bit difficult for OP to take the piss when we're not talking about expecting an expensive toy or experience for free, but a 'tattoo' with a negligible cost.

HeadintheiClouds Tue 13-Aug-19 10:57:04
Refusing to demonstrate the same toy on two members of the same family is not going to hurt Hamleys... Honestly!

But it not Hamleys that are mainly hurting.

You seem to believe low-paid sales people working on commission should be only too delighted to spend all their time giving multiple demos to those who have no intention of buying.

You seem to believe that can live on fresh air... Honestly!

(it would appear that you chose your username well.)

I’m not sure you’ve understood me, Groucho. Read BogglesGoggles post. I was responding to that.
I’m on your side

Headintheclouds
I’m lol at you being misconstrued as supporting op. You’ve been vociferously against her position.

fascicle
That’s hamleys responsibility for making specific sales bonus related. Having worked in field marketing and on the shop floor, it doesn’t sound like hamleys is a nice place to work tbh.

Sb74
I’m lol at your comment that posters disagreeing with op aren’t au fait with marketing / brand value and haven’t frequented places, where high quality service is an expectation. Yep that’s me on both counts.... not.

Mummyoflittledragon
fascicle
That’s hamleys responsibility for making specific sales bonus related.

It is. But OP seems to be getting more criticism than Hamleys for demonstrator's pay and conditions.

www.glassdoor.co.uk/Reviews/Hamleys-Demonstrator-Reviews-EI_IE25218.0,7_KO8,20.htm

One of the halfwits on there is whinging on about working in Harrods?

Mummyoflittledragon mmm field marketing. Is that you asking market research questions from a clip board? Hardly strategic. Even if the woman is on commission, 1.it’s doubtful she’s paying for the tattoos so no skin off her nose 2. She’s clueless about selling. 3. There were no other kids about so again no skin off her nose. No opportunities lost.

How do you know there were no other kids waiting?