I have never been made to feel so uncomfortable in a store as I was yesterday at this shop. My best friend and I were shopping around for something small to put in her hair for her wedding. We stepped into this shop to look around, all while chatting excitedly about wedding plans. We said hello to one of the employees who was working by the window on the way in and were looking over their shelves.
It's an adorable shop and we were commenting on how beautiful some of the frames they had on display were. I noticed a jewelry display at the counter near where another employee was helping a customer and pointed it out to the bride to be, since she was looking for a small pair of earrings too. She said "It doesn't look like they have it" and proceeded to turn towards the door, while we continued chatting about the timing for her photographer. As we headed out, the woman from behind the counter asked if she could help us with anything. The bride responded, "I don't think you have it, we were looking for hair clips." One of the employees walked us over to a string that had hair barrettes before the bride realized she didn't fully describe what she meant and she clarified, "Sorry, I mean bridal hair clips or combs?"
Everything about the interaction was fine so far until an employee said "You COULD have JUST ASKED, we keep them behind the counter, they're not on display..." Immediately after, the other employee chimed in with "All you had to do was ask, I was JUST fixing something in the window." We were flabbergasted at the defensiveness... it's not as though we had walked out complaining we didn't receive any help. We legitimately thought they didn't have any bridal jewelry and nothing about the products on display suggested this might be a store that has it hidden somewhere. The first employee emphasized again "We keep them behind the counter, next time ASK!" I couldn't believe we were being scolded by two store employees for not asking for their help to locate a product they don't have on display. It was horribly uncomfortable.
We thought the first employee was getting the clips out but she continued helping the first customer (which was perfectly fine, we didn't expect her to drop everything to help us, but she could have said "Just give me a moment and I'll get them for you"). After a minute of uncomfortable silence, the bride turned to me and told me she just wanted to go. Everything about the experience was very uncomfortable and I don't know how anyone could expect customers to buy after chastising them for not asking if they carry something before leaving. Honestly, everything would have been fine and we would have been happy to shop there if after understanding what we were looking for, the woman had said, "Sure, we keep them behind the counter. If you give me just a minute, I'll be happy to grab them so you can take a look." The way those two employees acted is not how you should be speaking to your customers. read more