Lush staff, pushy and hardsell and new higher prices..

[earsup]

Went into lush today , browsed the soaps..now sold by the slice and not weight so seemed dearer but the staff hovered relentlessly and suggested every soap on display and enthused about each one... I found them very pushy and false... never used to be like that in there... and all items have gone up in price...are they on comission now ??..I find similar soaps on line now and cheaper and just as nice !!

I haven't been in since lockdown but last time I went I remember thinking that the prices had become a but crazy - £5 for a single bath bomb is just not really justifiable imo. How are the pre-teens affording it?!

I used to love lush, I stopped going due to their anti police campaign, it's a shame though because I've never found any products as nice. I could usually get away without too much interference from the staff, the brand don't seem to realise customers will spend twice as much if they are left to browse.

I've fallen out with lush but really miss their "let them good times roll" face cleanser - any ideas on a substitution?

I refused to buy any Lush products after their police campaign, as I'm an ex copper and got especially mad about that one, let alone their parading of nude staff nonsense.

I popped in just few months ago to see if they had improved anything - nope, prices are going up, staff are pushier than ever, and the products didn't appear to hence changed in years. Sod them.

I had a bag of the flipping bath bombs that someone gave me as a present about 2 years ago and I can’t bring myself to use them.

They actually make brilliant moth repellants!

I emailed to complain about pushy staff, I have anxiety and it’s just too damn stressful to go in There. I asked if they used the sunflower lanyard scheme, ie would they leave me alone if I wore one - no apparently, so that’s nice 🤨

Is there anyone who DOES like Lush's sales technique?

Yes, me, I'm happy to chat with them and they are knowledgeable about ingredients etc.

I'd far rather have them approach me than have to scour the shop for someone to ask and then find there's no one apart from the person busy at the till. I've never found they persist if I say I'm fine thanks or whatever if I don't need help.

I only buy from them online because I find it so stressful to go in store too. I HATE people touching me and last time I went in there a sales assistant grabbed my hand and put the moisturiser that I was looking at on it and I was too shocked to say anything

The Norwich city centre branch is a nightmare too....I'd love to pop in and have a browse but you are pounced on as soon as you set foot through the door...As i get older i cant be arsed with fending off over zealous sales assistants so i just dont bother going in anymore.

I've never found they persist if I say I'm fine thanks or whatever if I don't need help.

Never? What's your secret? My experience is "always". Over the years that has applied in Newcastle, Metrocentre, Bath, Leeds, Covent Garden and Cambridge.

I worked for them years ago. The staff aren’t on commission but they get paid more if they hit various sales targets at the end of the day. Staff have to greet people as they walk through the door and approach them within a certain timeframe. They are told to ask open ended questions to force customers to engage with them and to aim to demonstrate at least one product on each customer. Now, if you happen to get an upbeat, extrovert customer who loves Lush or is really interested in the products and likes to chat that technique works brilliantly and they buy loads and come to the shop regularly. On anyone else it’s excruciating. We always felt like pesky mosquitos irritating everyone and my face used to hurt at the end of every shift from fake smiling at customers all day.

Their products were brilliant about 15 years ago and they were an affordable treat. Now a lot of the good stuff has been discontinued and their prices are ridiculous.

I'm usually happy to chat, they are usually very helpful and knowledgeable but I've always found that if I say "I've just come in for some X" and move away they will leave me alone to browse, perhaps because they know I'm definitely going to buy something. I only go in when I need something but can see it might be annoying for those that do just want to browse.

I used to like their products. I quit shopping there when I read this blog, several years ago. Pretty uncomfortable stuff. They've done several things since that have only made me think they are probably still rather unpleasant employers & willing to jump on any bandwagon that will get young feet in the doors.

Can't stand their pushy sales technique. It seems to be in every store I've been to, including non British ones. I went to the one in Madrid and was jumped all over by their assistants trying to make me try every product going.
My local store here in the UK is the same. Within a nano second the assistants are all over me. It puts me off going in.

A friend of mine worked at one as a Christmas temp a few years ago. She was told she had to approach every customer in her sector multiple times. She was also told she wasn't allowed to discuss anything with other sales assistants on the shop floor and if she wanted to discuss something then they'd have to both go out the back. Seems ridiculous. She hated the pressure they put on her to sell and left a few weeks after.

I find the prices are creeping up too.

I hope the management at Lush read this.
If they haven't they should !!!

Lush staff are so pushy that whenever I go in I just pretend I don't speak English (don't try to speak a commonly known language like French because you could be caught out)! Sounds extreme but in one branch, one staff member came up to me THREE TIMES after I told her I was just looking.

After that, when I walk into Lush branches, I just reply in one of the languages I know and they totally leave you alone! Works a treat!

I like their perfumes but some of their prices are now completely mental and financially out of step with the demographic that come to their branches.

I know a little more than an average person about skincare, and I can tell you to never listen to them if they say their soaps are gentle. They are not. Any soaps that strips the oils away until it's 'squeeky clean' is going to be bad for you and probably result in premature ageing if it's on the face. Just because something's natural, just because there's essential oils in something, doesn't mean it's good. You can have harsh, irritating products that have essential oils in them.

They seem to be usually wildly overstaffed too so if you say 'just browsing, thanks' or have a quick chat and move on from one assistant, another one collars you asking more questions! They're usually friendly and upbeat but I've found a bit of the product or ingredient knowledge to be a bit made up on the spot a few times, a bit like earthsight says.

I really like the strong and unusual fragrances for the bath stuff and some of the skin care is very good quality but I have to say the anti police campaign put me off.

Hearing just now about them asking staff to work in the nude makes me uncomfortable. Especially as it usually looks like most (not all) shop staff seem to be young women with a lot of loyalty and buy-in to the brand. It seems a bit cultish. I mean, I'm sure it wasn't approached in a way that would put management on the wrong side of sexual harassment laws (such as staff being coerced or rewarded for it). Maybe it was on an opt in basis but it isn't something people would do of their own accord. Still, I would personally feel quite uncomfortable if my colleagues were naked even if I stayed dressed. And to promote a new type of packaging doesn't seem a good enough reason to me.

Not to labour the point but as someone who has experienced sexual assaults, coming into work and the suggestion being that I work naked in front of the whole high street would really upset me.