Who was unreasonable me or the people on the makeup counter

[Lounde]

So we are away for a break and I forgot to pick up my make up bag. Thought you know what I’ll just buy the basics again as it’s probably good to have a second lot for the car anyway. I don’t have tonnes and tonnes of make up but I invest in the formulas I prefer. I thought I’d just pick up an eyeliner, mascara, lipstick, foundation, blush, concealer and a gloss. I knew my account was going to take a hit but I rarely treat myself so thought why not.

I explained the situation to the girls on the counter (think Chanel, Dior, Charlotte Tilbury etc) and they said they could help me pick some things out.

We were on our way to a nice lunch. I said in a very courteous and polite manner “please do you mind just slapping on some of the make up for me as I’m in a bit of a rush and stopping has delayed us”. Got told I would have to book an appointment. In this completely dead stand with 4 people literally just stood around. No appointment was available for two hours apparently.

I bought the products but it just left a bad taste in my mouth. I wasn’t looking for a full beat. Just some foundation and eyeshadow. Literally 2 min job.

I ended up spending around £300

They probably need people to cover the appointments as well as the til / assisting customers, so it might have been that they didn't have enough people for that. Sounds like a stupid policy but there are often reasons for these things that aren't immediately obvious.

How do you know these four people are MUA’s and not shop assistants? Big shops need insurance and training to do things like make up. Not anyone can just do it.

I guess they couldn’t be arsed and you made it clear you were going to buy the products anyway, so what’s in it for them?

In a restaurant every table will be empty until a booked customer arrives so they can't just give you someone's table. This is the same principle. If people have booked in for makeup then they can't just give you someone's slot even if they are late/ don't turn up. They will need staff to cover the till and to still serve customers while others are designated for makeup which is why there's a booking system. Just because you're spending money doesn't mean you're any more entitled than if you were just in browsing.

Unsurprised. Have had awful service at several makeup counters, notably Bobbi Brown. But instead of spending £300 I took my business elsewhere.

No way would have spent a pound with them!

That's an awful lot of slap. If you knew what you liked, did it matter about trying it out? What's the issue?

The OP wanted a free makeover.

But as a PP pointed out, she was buying lots of makeup anyway so what's in it for them?

The issue was that she was buying ‘an awful lot of slap’ and they didn’t seem to want to help her beyond that.

They might not be MUAs, they might be store assistants. Why couldn’t you put your own make up on if it takes two minutes? Find a mirror.

They gave you what you needed when you needed it - appointments are a minimum of 30 minutes with a qualified professional who takes time to do their craft. You seem to think that because you are spending a bit of money that you get to dictate how they do their business? And want a qualified MUA to make you up for free?

‘Stopping has delayed us’ - well that’s entirely of your own making, don’t make your poor planning their crisis.

YABU.

Not all people behind the counter are trained in applying makeup, OP.

You sound very entitled.

Good point. Can you imagine the OP if they did "slap" some makeup on her - "I was horrified by the lax standard at the <insert expensive brand name here> stand!!"

I worked for Clinique for 15 years and Chanel for 5 (both on counter and in management). I would have done it for you, it’s good customer service. But - I suspect because they already got your sale in the bag, as it were, they couldn’t be bothered. The whole point of inviting people to sit down for a make up application is to sell the products and upsell, ideally more than two items per customer to get your overall IPT score up (items per transaction). Lots of consultants just focus on that and nothing else. The bigger picture is if you’ve provided amazing service people will return.

I think that is shit customer service actually. If there was nobody booked to sit in the chair for the next ten minutes it would have been nice to treat a customer spending a decent amount.

You could have just gone for lunch without makeup on.

As someone who has worked on a counter before they will have definitely been booked and their brushes & stations cleaned and ready to go. So it wouldn’t have been just 2 minutes for the cleaning and drying of brushes after application.

Also, as a professional I couldn’t do a 2 minute look, I wouldn’t want my name on a rush job.

that said, i do get why you would be annoyed though, after spending that much

OP, you could actually just apply your own make up in the toilets. You do sound a bit entitled if I'm honest as you are ignoring the fact there is a booking system. The shop assistants are just following store policy.

If it takes 2 minutes then why couldn’t you do it yourself?

Was it John Lewis?

I’ve been in a similar situation and the MUA was great. She offered to do my makeup when I requested to use a mirror as we were on the way to dinner.

I guess the difference is time and luck. The people that you met didn’t have time, in my case she did. Neither of us had an appointment, they couldn’t fit you in and I got lucky.

Couldn’t you have used a mirror?

Of course I could apply in toilets but I was hoping for a bit of customer service. It’s really put me off the brand. I ended up applying it in the car as we really were a bit late.

Im not an entitled prick. I’m considered very kind by most people. A little bit of assistance would have been greatly appreciated . I would have been open to more upselling also

Did you really ask them to slap some make-up on you? I would have laughed at you and thought you were joking!

If it was just a 2min job, surely you could have done it yourself at the counter, in the toilets or the car?

Foundation and eyeshadow takes far longer than two minutes. Then they would need to clean brushes and area afterwards. They also risk you complaining online about the slapdash makeup they did - some people would use that as an excuse(it not meeting the usual standard) to try and get a gift voucher or refund. Not everybody is honest unfortunately.

In Boots they are only allowed to do half a face because of all the CF's basically getting free make up done all the time

But that would have made you even more late. You were late without them applying the make up and without the upselling. Did you not care about the people waiting for you?