What was supposed to be a pleasurable half hour browsing the Harvey Nichols beauty department ended up turning into 50 second sprint – to get away from the sales assistants! Fabulous Irish blog, beaut.ie, have recently posted about poor service from beauty counters (Mac: look out!) but the onslaught of sales pitching I received today has to be the most voracious of any I’ve yet experienced. The Harvey Nicks girls make the Selfridges staff look like docile kittens. Almost without exception, at every single counter I passed, somebody tried to stop me to look at their new skin care range, make up or special offers (although there is a gorgeous GWP Marc Jacobs black mini bag with a Marc Jacobs fragrance purchase). Even after I told one SA that I am a beauty writer, so have seen it all from the press office, she still tried to explain everything anyway: I glazed completely and she didn’t take the hint. Eventually I ended up saying I was late for a meeting, had to dash etc etc…she was still talking when I broke into a run. It was all so bad, I took refuge in handbags, where much to my relief, I was completely ignored. Ironically, this annoyed me too – but only because I obviously wasn’t giving ‘rich, big spender’ vibes. I’m not a rich, big spender, but I’d like to think I can fake it. Obviously, I can’t!
Run For The Hills: Harvey Nichols
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3 responses to “Run For The Hills: Harvey Nichols”
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LOL – The one thing I detest about makeup shopping is the way you cant swatch something without being asked if you want to try it on etc… sometimes you just need a look to decide! Also when I go shopping for makeup I don’t look for a specific colour, sometimes I want to just pick something out that appeals to me – I think I’m in tht minority because I actually like the way you get left to browse for a bit in MAC without being harrassed!!! xxx
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Thank god you know what i mean! The only place worse than selfridges is Harvey Nicks and its all due to those orange foundation covered over eager shop assistants. YSL ones are the worst!!
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Girl, before I lost my steam a couple of weeks ago I was going to do this exact post! I wandered into Harvey Nics while on my the walking itineraries for that travel guide I edit and, BAM! The minute I walked in I was mobbed. The worst thing was, they all talk such s***. Not one of them has a clue what they’re going on about and they seem to have no idea that women a. know they work on commission b. HATE the pushy sales tactics and c. like to browse and shop without stumbling away, blearly eyed, 300 quid poorer having no idea what products are actually in their bags. I mean, c’mon, they’re women too, they must know. Unless they’re not. Maybe they’re harpies from another realm… and time! And Harvey Nics is by far and away the worst. I actually ended up laughing at some of the girls. I didn’t mean to but they were such catty cows drooling for a sale. Times are tough, clearly, but they’re not making any easier on themselves. I literally wanted to start elbow checking them but I (somehow, some way… only god knows how) reined myself in and kept the swearing under my breath. That is why I NEVER go into beauty halls unless I must. They are hellish dens of desperation. No thanks. Beauty brands of the world, properly train the minimum wage brats you have manning your counters. They’re scaring business away.
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