Have you ever seen those documentaries on Wild Kingdom about those voracious locusts that lay waste to anything in their path? Or the piranhas that ravenously devour their prey, picking the bones clean? No? Well, my friends, just enter Neiman Marcus at the cosmetic/perfume entrance and prepare to become the milkbone in a dog-eat-dog world. NM, is it the economy that has turned your sales associates (SA's) into such sales predators? Yes, there is such a thing as TOO MUCH customer service...and it's a bad thing...a very, very bad thing.
In my pursuit of the perfect dress to wear to a friend's wedding, I decided to check out the huge sale taking place at NM. Many of their usually exorbitantly-priced dresses had been reduced by 40 to 50 percent plus you could take an additional 25% off the lowest ticketed price. As I approached NM's 2nd level entrance from within the Galleria, my spidey senses started tingling. Danger, danger! Maybe I should liken this to a video game. In order to reach the dresses on the 3rd level, I would first have to make it past the gauntlet of perfume spritzers and make-up/cosmetic artists. I quickened my steps, made no direct eye contact, aimed numerous "No thanks" to neutralize the SA's and employed various agile maneuvers to deftly make my way around the sneaky ones that tried to body-block me. I reached the escalators, made my way through the haute couture section, snapped up a dress that should have been on the next floor and escaped with nary a scratch. Once I reached the next floor, it was survival of the fittest. No sooner had my feet left the escalator, I was swarmed by SA's. The fact that I had a dress in hand made the situation more dire. In the span of 15 minutes, I must have been approached by about 7 or 8 SA's. Jeesh! Let me shop, will ya? Every time I picked up an article of clothing, an SA would appear out of thin air, asking me if I'd been helped already or if they could start a fitting room for me. If my gaze lingered too long on a blouse, again *poof* a sales associates materialized right before my eyes. People, that's way too much pressure, even for a seasoned shopper. I know their salary is based on commission, but the hovering is just too much. I have to give props to the ladies in the Shoshanna dresses section, though, as I was approached once while on that side of the store. Maybe they just had less SA's on that side but it was nice to be able to look through the racks without being interrupted every 2 minutes.
Can we talk about purchasing? NM, how about expanding your payment options? You know, embrace Visa, MC and Discover. Not everyone wants to open a NM account nor does everyone have an American Express. I was ready to purchase the afore-mentioned dress only to remember that I (A) had neither a NM card or AE, (B) I left my checkbook at home and (C) the closest ATM was at the skating rink level, far away from where I was. I asked the SA to hold the dress for me and told her that I would be back the next day to complete the purchase. She assured me that the dress would be waiting for me the next day. Yep, you know where this is going, don't you?
I returned the next day only to discover that the dress was NOT in their holding section. Say what? The SA went back a few times to look for it but came back empty-handed. I decided to look through the racks and was able to find the dress, but why had the dress been returned to the floor? Not good, NM, not good, but at least I had my dress.
The tale is not done, though. I found another cute dress but wanted another size, which they had...in Dallas. "Bag it", I said...."I'll take both sizes", then asked if shipping was complimentary. Nope, it was going to run me $12.95. I balked at the shipping and said I wasn't interested...I shop on-line and $12.95 is rather pricey for regular shipping. Plus, if the dress ended up being too big (good possibility), then I'd have to return it, thus eating the cost of shipping. But wait. MAYBE it's overnight or 2-day express shipping. I can go for that. NOPE, it's for 5-day shipping....FROM DALLAS....TO HOUSTON. And with the 4th of July weekend happening in a few days, I wouldn't receive the dress for about 9 days. Pass.
NM, you should take notes from Nordstroms or Saks. Nordstroms shipping is only $5. In addition, Nordstroms doesn't charge shipping if the item comes from another store. Saks does the same thing. The NM SA said she couldn't waive the shipping because it was a sale item. Um...you offer free shipping on your website for both regular and sale-priced items. I didn't know this until after I was back home. Had I known this beforehand, perhaps the sales associate would have waived the shipping. I'll be sure to mention it next time.
Yes, you read right. I'll be back, though I'll enter from the top floor instead. Hey, the quality is undeniable and when the sales are hot, they're hot. read more