There was a disrespectful situation in my department today, and so I am writing it in full detail so that I won't forget anything when I take this to HR.
Around 7:00, my coworker and I noticed Pat from Clarins leading a woman to StriVectin, which is an Impulse line, the same as Philosophy or Bare Minerals. She asked me about a free gift with the purchase of StriVectin AR, which I gave to her, because I assumed this woman was her client who was also purchasing products at Clarins. After a few moments, I noticed Pat getting more and more products, around 5 in total, and bringing them back to her counter with the customer. In all, this was probably a $400-$500 purchase. I asked Carol, the Clarins counter manager, to speak with me. I told her what was happening, and asked if she knew if the customer was Pat's client and if she was also purchasing Clarins. Carol told me she was sure Pat would never do this unless that was the situation, and so she went to find out. While she was away, I approached Marty and asked her what the protocol was in this situation. I explained that, at OUR counter, it doesn't matter if it is our client or not, if the customer is buying items from another counter, and ONLY that counter, we pass the sale to the appropriate associates, or we ring the purchase for one of them. While talking to Marty, Carol came back and told me that she did not talk to Pat, but she talked to Wonsook (Shiseido) who said that this customer couldn't find any help in Impulse, and so she randomly asked Pat to help her. My coworker and I were both on the sales floor. We never saw this customer, and we certainly did not see Pat come to look for one of us. We are very good at our jobs and very good with customer service, so when I say that we did not see this customer, I mean that she must not have looked very hard. Working in a shop, as opposed to a counter, we have much more ground to cover and watch at all times, so I'm sure it was much easier for this customer to approach a counter of women who were not busy. I felt that the way that Carol presented her comment, both in tone and in front of Marty, was extremely condescending and disrespectful. The only other person we told about this was a coworker of ours in Clinique, because immediately after the StriVectin situation, Pat did the same thing to her in Clinique. Around 7:30, I clocked out, and as I was getting my belongings, I overheard Pat, Carol and Wonsook bad-mouthing myself and the Clinique associate, with Wonsook loudly exclaiming "That's so wrong!" I stood up and made eye contact, simply to let them know that I heard them, and I left.
I, personally, feel disrespected and taken advantage of quite often, mostly by these women. I am one of the youngest associates in the department, and Impulse isn't considered to have highly respectable lines, at least not with the same dedication as the older lines.
