We all know the pitfalls and benefits of the commission system which causes some SAs to kiss our behinds the second we gaze their direction or at the merchandise. We may have even worked in retail and understand how difficult it is to secure the client, and then disappointing it is to get a return.
I recently went to Nordstroms and the shoe salesman proposed to me - not marriage, well...maybe. After walking in the door he remembered me from a previous visit and immediately greeted me, "June 14!" (the day of my birthday, which he oddly remembered though we had spoken briefly). He then proceeded to do what I sometimes unkindly call the "shoe dance" where a shoe salesman begins to falsely praise your sense of style, present possible shoes regardless of how they look or whether they are wise choices, tell you how fabulous you are though they have never met you before etc etc otherwise known as the "give me your credit card now dance". (The best shoe-salesmen will not do the dance, they will be honest with you about what looks good, and be honest about which shoes are good choices.) The conversation ended with the most hilarious proclamation of his affection for me... "Please, please let me be your shoe man." At that exact moment my boyfriend had walked in the store and was standing a few feet away from us. I felt as though I was cheating on him as I was mentally chuckling, answering the salesman in my thoughts, "Yes, you can be my Shoe Man, and I will be your Shoe Woman... and we can have Shoe Children." Haha.
Anyway, this man is just one example of what the commission system has reduced salespeople to at times. Another "Shoe Man" (now he sounds like a super-hero) I encountered that day told me about his many children, and his hard life, and praised me for making his day with my purchases and told me I was a true lady and that he could not wait for me to come back. I felt overwhelmed and nervous... I was buying sale shoes... what if I wanted to return something? What if I saw something from Pre-Fall next week at a different shop and took these sale shoes back... would his children starve because I snatched away, cruelly, his commission? That is how he made me feel. Or perhaps I'm too sensitive? Is it wrong to care too much?
I suppose the point of my tangent is does anyone else buy a lot and then think about it at home, eventually making returns? Does this make you feel guilty? Uneasy? Or should we not care? Or is it more wrong for the salesperson to put you in a position to feel guilty, or to treat you differently if you make returns?
What about salespeople that don't want to sell you something if you are not sure and give you attitude if you say, "I'll take it home and think about it"? Today a Chanel SA told me that if I was not sure that my mother wanted the bag I was about to get for her, that would not be a good thing, and I should just leave it. My mother asked me to buy it so she could look at it, not so that she could marry it!
Rude !
