Love bombing in shops

[PlateSpinningQueen]

When did this become a thing.
just been in an Me+Em, Jigsaw and Hobbs- just browsing.
Every other customer gets a:
”I love your jacket”
”Your jumper is beautiful, where did you get it?”
”Your shoes are amazing”.

so insincere, had to leave it’s so nauseating!

feeling old and grumpy!!!!

😂

I don’t know, I find the love bombing so nauseating and false that I think I’d rather be ignored.

Charlotte tilbury!! Omg, I just wanted to look at some basic stuff (I was looking for a bronzer I think) the assistant was so pushy, but also fake friendly- I bought several things, when I tried at home in daylight they were awful, she had totally misdescribed them - one was absolutely tiny and she’d sold it as full size. Horrible sticky stuff. I was so cross with myself. I took it all back for a refund, complained and will never go there again.

I'm another who would far rather they chatted like this than ignored everyone. You can just smile, say thanks and move on. An awful lot of MNers seem terrified of being spoken to by strangers which is sad.

I sent my DH into Rituals to buy me something the other day and I waied outside because I'm so fed up of being pounced on my the assistant as soon as I walk in. They offer their herbal tea in a paper shot glass and then just will not leave you alone. I'd probably spend a whole lot more money in there if they'd just let me browse rather than keep trying to drag me to the sink to rub stuff into my hands for me. It's a shop, leave me alone and let me, you know, shop!

This is what happened to me!!

She followed me round the store with her basket of treats and samples and blathered on about the free gift if you spend blah blah

Mind you, I used part of it last night, very nice!!

Omg, you've just reminded me of something. Last time I went for a contact lens consultation to optician in SS told me how much he liked my bag. It's a nice enough bag but I was a bit freaked out that a man was noticing and complementing my bag 😂

I'm wondering now if it was SS policy rather than he was just weird.

I like good customer service, but I haven't been aware of over-the-top compliments. Does anyone know if it is official policy?

Yes I’m always sceptical when it comes to compliments from complete strangers but the fact it happened both times I was in recently makes me dubious.

I guess there is a remote possibility that they were in fact enthralled by our fashion choices…. you never know! 😂

I would rather be ignored, then have people talking to me, just because they have to, a command from top management, who don't have to do the legwork. I cannot stand the fakery of it all. A smile, if anything will suffice, thanks.

What a discontented place S&B seems to be at the moment. I was complimented on my outfit the other day, not by sales staff but by a young man who I imagine had been on course on 'How to talk to Women'. ('Start with someone unthreatening' they probably told him, 'Like a 70 year-old out with her husband and just say something nice'.)

I smiled and said 'Thank you' but I now realise that was a totally inappropriate response and that I should have felt sickened.

Maybe, it is a really nice bag 😂

I have literally never experienced this. I must look either threatening or awful 😂

I hate anything insincere too but the majority of people aren’t as you think they are. Most would drink that up

Now you mention this, it happened to me in Aesop, I thought oh wow, I must look spendy for her to give me this much attention as usually I'm ignored 😅.

Did the whole washing and trying different scents.
To be fair I left feeling great, but then I usually shop online, other than Tesco or M&S, where I haven't noticed it as much.

There's a balance, being completely ignored when you've made eye contact is just rude.
Some can't even manage a faint welcome smile.

Yep went to a big Boots yesterday to try some perfumes - I usually buy three bottles for my dds for Christmas - but couldn’t actually get near the testers because of a Pretorian guard of assistants wanting to talk to me. I hadn’t even touched a bottle and they wouldn’t leave me alone. 😩 I just left and didn’t bother.

How are you supposed to know what perfumes are like if you don’t smell them? But the assistants won’t let you just browse.

Had the same in Penhaligons, the sales woman treated me with the same annoyance as if I’d just walked into her bedroom and all the perfumes belonged to her. Again I just walked away.

I cannot deal with small talk I think it's my brain that doesn't know how to respond so I always go really awkward. I tend to have my ear pods (quite often off 😂) and it helps people leave me alone so I never get the random shop walk compliment.

I love talking to people but I hate fake flattery.

@TheBlueKoala my most flattersome shopping experience was in Paris. Nipped into The Kooples because DD then 14 liked the look of a preposterous lace micromini. I was then supremely flattered by a handsome young shop assistant who praised not just my youthful looks as parent of a teen but also my taste in clothes and level of grammatical accuracy in spoken French. Came out with a 400 Euro silk blouse. I love that blouse, mostly because I’m still riding the wave of his flattery 😆

That’s completely different if he wasn’t trying to get you to spend your money!

Definitely being ignored when you’re looking about clearly needing assistance

It’s still fake flattery.

Funniest one I had was when I was accosted by a lady with some hair product that would "transform your look!" who said that she loved the colour of my hair, so interesting and she had seen it only in movies!
It is a light brown box dye, nothing at all different about it. Brown.
I may have quizzically raised an eyebrow and let her hang on that one. Sometimes they give themselves a bit of a tough course to row back from!

It's just a sales tactic, but I get it so rarely I have to admit it works on me! Can barely get the grumpy sods in the clothes shops near me to stop talking to their coworker for long enough to ring up my purchase.

I work in a charity shop and interact with the customers including commenting on this they are considering buying, for many it the reason they are in the shop, to interact with another human, they live alone, they have come out to escape their loneliness. And my friendliness works, I have dozens of regulars who come in nearly every time I’m on my normal shift, people aren’t all miserable like on Mumsnet!