AIBU to think it’s strange you only get a sample if you buy a £300 perfume?

[Annmay]

I had an experience recently that I can’t quite stop thinking about, and I’m curious if this is normal now or if something has changed.

I was in a well-known luxury department store, exploring niche fragrances — just taking my time, asking questions, trying to understand what I might actually like on my skin.

I came across Maison Crivelli and was genuinely interested. The fragrances are not cheap (around £300), so naturally I wanted to test properly before making any decision.

At one point I asked if it would be possible to have a small sample — just to see how it develops over a day or two.

I was told I would only receive a sample if I purchased the full bottle.

What surprised me wasn’t just the answer, but how quickly the tone of the interaction changed after I asked.

It went from friendly and engaging to… noticeably colder.

I was there with my daughter, and she even asked me:
“Why are they looking at us like that? Can we go?”

And honestly, that stayed with me more than anything else.
Because I’ve had experiences in other places where you can take your time, ask questions and feel comfortable — and this felt completely different.

Here, it felt like I had to prove something.

I completely understand that samples can’t be given endlessly — that’s not what I’m expecting.

But for a £300 fragrance, is it really unreasonable to want to test it properly first?

It just made me question whether luxury today is about experience… or just transaction.

Curious what others think — is this normal now?

Thank you ! I appreciate that also can’t edit the original post, but I realise I missed something important.When I asked about a sample, I was told “everyone wants samples” and that I could just come in every day and spray it. That made me uncomfortable.
Maybe some people wouldn’t mind that, but it’s just not something I’m used to so I decided to leave.

I recently bought some paco rabanne perfumes from the paco rabanne website and they gave me the option to choose my free sample perfumes which was quite nice. I think the days of receiving freebies in the shops has long gone! If you are in the shop you can try the tester before you buy. If ordering online they usually send you a sample so you can can try and if you don’t like it, return the perfume.

Sorry I just don’t believe you. Humans don’t consistently overwrite like AI.

You’re missing my point ! My post it’s about my experience and what stayed with me the most wasn’t even the sample.

It was being told that “everyone wants samples” and that I could just come back every day to spray it.

Maybe it’s just me, but that didn’t feel great in that moment.

I just expected something a bit different.

There are so many (overly long, repetitive) responses from the OP in the same style that it’s impossible the OP is not using AI, apart from the last few which are markedly different!

Yes it’s nice and some companies does that it’s exactly what I meant,
its very different when you can actually try something properly at home on clean skin and take your time to decide. That’s why I felt off when I heard everyone wants samples and that I could just come back every day to spray it.
I actually went there just to try that brand and
after that I went to MFK got a small sample tried it outside and within 10 minutes I knew it was right for me so I bought it

so it really does make a difference!

Paco Rabanne, is not top of the range though.

You could have gone back and re-tried the perfume.

I tried perfumes recently, everything from Chanel and Hermes to cheaper brands. I did it over several weeks, trying the ones I fancied several times. The 'life' of a good perfume is around 8 hours so that gives you bags of time to spray and leave it on to the end of the day.

I think you were cheeky or just silly expecting a free sample of a £300 perfume.

What? Are you quite ok? You said up thread yoh couldn’t afford it and would have to save up. So clearly no one is going to beleive you bought it.

you keep contradicting yourself, it would be best to read your own posts to see what you said before, so it doesn’t look quite so silly.

Is the OP talking about the same perfume though or a different one?

It's not clear if it was THAT perfume or something different.

(I don't know who or what MFK is.)

What is odd though is she wanted time for the £300 perfume to 'develop' yet with the 'new ' perfume she knew instantly.

beacuse I knew it before the scent of the Maison Francis Kurkdijan (it’s one of the best perfumer in the world ! I think you don’t know much about the niche perfume . The way how representative approached me was professional and he seen in me a passion about perfumery ! So please don’t make drama !

What?

The whole thread is really odd.

Read again please !

Do you need more explanation? I’m happy to help

Out of interest, do you know that many fiction books are being written using AI and that publishers are having to be aware if it's AI or a human who's submitting the book? Some have even said they would accept a book written by AI if it was a good book.
It's not so easy to know if something is AI or an accomplished writer.

IF the post was written by AI and it's 'so obvious' as some posters think, that was down to the OP for a) not asking the right thing of it and b) not editing it in any way.

It’s the language phrasing op, sometimes it reads like ai. Other times it makes no grammatical sense, like the post I questioned.

The way how representative approached me was professional and he seen in me a passion about perfumery

Kindly, is English not your first language?

It's not clear what you mean.

Not knowing that brand of perfume is not the point.

The point is that one spray of it in that shop meant you loved it instantly and bought it , yet in Harrods a)you needed a sample to take home and try and b) you didn't have the money yet anyway to buy it.

Thank you for your point of view .My story is real and even more deeper but it’s not time to talk about it . I see that people are more interested how it was written than answering in my question.

Op if you are knowledgeable about niche perfumes then you surely know that many niche brands can’t afford to give away free samples and the way to show your interest, support and appreciation is to buy a sample set or a mini decanted bottle.
Shops are able to function because of paying customers. If you are looking for free experiences you can spend time in nature or visit a library.

Discussing AI is not really what your thread is about. In a way that has derailed the point of your thread.

It's not how it's written by AI but the events themselves.

I'm sorry you're being doubted but there are some very odd contradictions in your posts, AI or not.

Of course a human could write a post like that, however it's much much more likely it was AI rather than a person who happens to have the exact (idiosyncratic) style of the most popular free to use LLMs.

Do you genuinely think that the same human who wrote the OP also wrote the responses (including those which don't relate in any way to the text they are purportely responding to)? Read the OP again and compare it with eg:

"The way how representative approached me was professional and he seen in me a passion about perfumery ! So please don’t make drama !"

This is definitely true. You can get very good stuff written by AI (especially the non-free to use programmes). Claude is really good and I know lots of people who use it professionally. Learning how to prompt, choose a style, and edit, are key in getting a realistic sounding outcome.

The novel thing is interesting. I think people are very much expected to disclose they used AI. Just look at the mess Hachette is currently in with the Mia Ballard release.

Agree with you as to the reason OPs post is so obviously AI generated. GIGO - as they say in computing!

Yes I do have a knowledge and thank you to sharing with me what do you do to get a free experience I might do as well

If you don’t understand something I’m happy to explain it

not repetitive, I was probably over explaining earlier but it was just something that stayed with me.