That's Expensive!

I guess you are right. The sales lady shouldn't make any comment on the product, whether expensive or not. Her job just make the product sales, and that is all she needs to know. But misinformed the customer is also wrongdoing. So, a better training, and be informative is the best sales technique I guess.

hi there. oh dear! yeah some salesladies are sometimes so discouraging, instead of being nice and encouraging to costumers, they do the opposite. and what i also dont like is when they tell you what to buy. i dont think they should be like that. and they would sometimes like criticize first how the costumers look before they entertain.

Hi simplyd, Hmm if you are working in a high end store , you are more likely to be more polite because of the kind of clients you get there. The staff both sales and clericle staff is given training how to behave with the rich and wealthy clients. Unfortunately this sales girls looks like didnt take proper training. She shouldnt have told her than it is expensive, it is like insulting the client for whom half a million pesos may be change only. And remember where you sell half a million pesos bag, poor person wont be comeing to shop or ask for price would he????

I agree, salespersons should undergo massive training for customer service relations, they must instill in their minds that if you are a sales person no matter how rude your clients are or how nice they are or how they look that Customer is always right.

Yes of course, customers have the right to be properly entertain. This makes me recall a story from my friend who just recently bought two Rolex watches out of his pride. It's because when my friend went in to a Rolex, after he played basketball games in Forbes Park and he hasn't taken his shower and drove directly to a posh shopping mall just to go to a certain restaurant and it so happen that he passed by a Rolex store and he was amazed with their new stock. When he asked the sales lady how much it cost. The sales lady said in reply "That's expensive!" and my friend immediately replied "Yeah I know, actually I want to purchase two watches."

That is the problem with sales ladies nowadays. I think they are too lazy. Why lazy? They don't want the hassle of getting the bag and entertaining clients. Usually, the trend is that people look at the bag then, the price. If they can't afford it of course they won't buy. The sales lady would have to return the bag and entertain clients until they the clients reached a price that suits them.

Since they are probably paid commission...you tell the customer what they want to hear. In this case...if it was a high end boutique...anyone that goes in there will know that as they walk through the door, so I don't see any reason to remind the customer of that!

hi simplyd, That's just wrong. Haha! Imagine your asking for a price and she answered as if you don't have the ability to buy that bag. Even if not, it is not ethical to act that way. In other words, she already judge the customer of something she think she knows wherein, her duty is to assist consumers or prospective buyers and not to judge people. The main reason why some people (like me) don't window shop at Gucci or other high-end brands because there are snooty sales person and look on what you have on such as how you look,dress or what not.

I think that the sales lady was only being honest and expressed what her view of that hermes bag. even I would say that half a million for just a bag is expensive, who wouldn't? i really can't comprehend why women would love to have that expensive bag without feeling any guilt of all the poverty around us. Maybe it's a reward, or they have too much money, and it's their money by the way, but still half a million bucks for something that you can get for a thousand pesos tsk tsk. At least the sales lady was just given a warning and not terminated because in my own opinion, the store may have forgotten to provide her with the right response whenever such inquiries are raised.

The customer just did the right move, there are many saleslady/ salesman who treat their customer not fair. Sometimes they are having chit chat and horseplay at the front of their customer. It is the right thing to do to discipline them and assist their customer in their very best.

Hi simplyD, that is just wrong. Reminds me of Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. Sure, the saleslady might just be expressing her opinion, but it could be done in a courteous manner. I think working in retail is a challenge and I'm not sure I can do it. As such, I admire people who can. If they are speaking to a customer or would-be customer that way, they are not suitable to be working in retail shop, high-end or low end. When it comes to high-end, customers and would-be customers expect certain behaviour from the shop and anything they encounter in the shop could result in loss of business. I have seen posters in some retail shops with something like 'A customer is the most important person. We are not doing him a favour by serving him He is doing us a favour by letting us serve him' I do understand that some customers can be really infuriating, but that is part of the business, dealing with different sorts of people. It's not fair, but that's the way it is.

Awwh that is bad, no one should judge anyone as some people do not get so fancy looking when they are shopping. I can see from you comments above the woman spent money elsewhere so I take it, that it was a loss for the store. I have seen and heard people fired for doing that as it tells the owners that the employees are causing losses. Sad!

Well, she is a SALESlady, so it's her job to sell the product. First of all, she was asked a question with a specific answer. She should have answered with the correct answer. She gave the wrong answer. It is expensive but she didn't have to say it. She might just be stating a fact but the would-be client took it the wrong way. The client might have thought that the saleslady thought she couldn't afford it. So, to prevent any miscommunication like that, better not say anything that might lead to that. If she was to say something, it should have been words that would "sell" the product, like how much it was. Hasn't she seen Pretty Woman? Hahaha!

100% true, oftentimes we encounter salesperson who looks like s/he's guarding your every move. And looks at you as if you dont have the money to buy those things! Gosh, I just hate that. I think that even if they are just sales people, they should be trained properly and they should not in anyway make the customer feel intimidated.

I agree, I feel every customer should be treated with respect no matter how they look. Someone could enter a store one day and be dressed in rags because they were painting but really there millionaires. It really doesn't matter if your rich or poor everyone deserves respect.

Hello Simplyd, I think that the would be client truly over reached. She used her friendship with owner to be a jerk. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and the statement wasn't really a big deal. You didn't say, but as long as the sales lady continue to give her the same services as everyone else there shouldn't have been a problem. Great post...