Insulting accusations at Clicks cosmetics

<p>Last week I had a very unpleasant experience in Clicks Blue Route Mall - something I feel so strongly about, that I'm going to go to the press unless this is resolved in a manner that satisfies me.</p> <p> </p> <p>I have been a regular Clicks customer for over 20 years and spent many thousands of rands at this company, as have my very large family. As an ex model, I have bought a lot of make up products over the years for shows and photo shoots, and I continue to do so for both personal use and my creative business. I am a multi-talented individual with a past in women's retail management as well as journalism. What do I do today? I'm a freelance journalist with an online following, an oil painter, an English teacher and a popular make-up artist. My son's 19-year-old girlfriend is also a popular You Tuber who does reviews on makeup and best suppliers for South African girls.</p> <p> </p> <p>At Blue Route Mall, as with most malls, one has the option of Clicks or DisChem for certain products, and women tend to go to the store they're used to going to. I shop at Clicks.</p> <p>For some time now, I've been unhappy with what I've been seeing at this Clicks store in terms of staff behaviour in front of customers. The women on the floor around the makeup and the cosmetics isles are frequently gossiping loudly - usually about co-workers. I remember having to try and block out an annoying conversation (while searching for something I couldn't find) between two staff members, in which they were clearly discussing a co-worker's salary and what she ought to be doing with it, in their opinion. It was in very poor taste. Another woman was joking around loudly and laughing hysterically in the cosmetics isle, with a customer, for a long time. It was really annoying and unprofessional, but I ignored it. I've gone to DisChem a few times since then, because the staff there are much friendlier and don't behave like they're 'kuiering' with their mates.</p> <p> </p> <p>This brings me to the reason I am never going to set foot in a Clicks store again.</p> <p>Last week I was testing new makeup and I was treated in a manner I found insulting, disrespectful and downright rude. As a long-time customer - a 43 year old woman with 3 adult kids and a grandchild - I expect to be allowed the freedom to test whatever makeup I want to in a Clicks store. Testers are testers. I have earned that right and Clicks has never complained about the money I've spent there. I expect Clicks staff half my age to treat me like the mature woman I am - as they would their mothers! On this particular day I was unhappy with a foundation colour I had bought from you about two weeks before. (The lighting in the store doesn't match outside light.) I had purchased an expensive Boudoir foundation, after testing it on a previous visit, but the colour was wrong. So, I tried two different lighter shades of the same brand in-store, on opposite sides of my face, with the intention of checking the colours outside before making a choice. I know how to do this even over my own full makeup - it has been part of my profession long enough. I also tried a black eyeliner (which I liked and was going to purchase) and a few different lipsticks. See, I am constantly on the hunt for more effective makeup to use as my s****s improve. This is why I'm popular with creative body- and face-art. I combine my theatrical makeup with fine makeup. Anyway, at the moment my mission is more personal: I am going to be a brides**** at two different big weddings this year and I will be doing not just my own makeup, but that of other brides****s too. Way too often, the products don't perform at home as they appear to in-store - that's just the way it is. So, I try and try. Once I find something that really works, it becomes part of my regular repertoire. It's time-consuming and I'm a busy woman, but I try to go makeup-testing every two weeks or so. Right now, my goal is to find the perfect lipstick for the first wedding: a coral nude. I am really battling to find the colour I need. It has to work with the foundation, too. I'm also very particular - that's my artist training - and I might easily test 6 different shades in one visit. The first wedding is on the 7th August and we are having our makeup meeting early next week, which is why I was at Clicks the other day. All three foundations I've bought from you this year (Boudoir, Revlon and Maybelline) are not going to work and are sitting on my shelf. What does a woman do? She goes to Clicks to try again and hopefully not waste money. So what happened?</p> <p>While in my own world of testing, the MANAGER came to me with a very serious air and told me the makeup is not for applying and that I may not do whatever I was 'doing'. I looked at her in surprise and asked what she meant. She basically accused me of not testing the makeup, but 'applying' it. I was mortified, especially since there were other people within earshot. I told her I have every right to try the testers as much as want to, since that is what they are there for. The really worrying thing, though, is that she refused to back down after I explained I was simply testing makeup with testers; that I'm a long-time customer who spends a lot of money on Clicks makeup, and that I'm 43 years old and don't appreciate being questioned like that. She just kept at me, repeating that I may not apply the testers unless I intend to purchase. How dare she. How could she possibly know what I was or wasn't going to purchase?? I was, in fact, in need of a full range of products for the wedding. Also, the fact that most of the makeup on my face was my OWN seemed to escape her. She was joined by a staff member then and I felt like they had ganged up on me, and this scene being observed by another customer just made me feel like I was being treated as a ********. It was disgusting. Had I ****** something? No. Had I even used non-testers to test? NO. I am quite certain she will use the excuse that she remained calm; let me tell you now that 'calm' can be a form of passive-aggression. This woman did not once smile at me, cal me 'Ma'm' or back down when I told her I was simply testing makeup. I found her stubborn perseverance with making me feel bad to be insolent and rude. She would not even apologise once she realised I was upset. I wrote down her name and left the store. I have since bought the foundation I needed from DisChem, where I received smiles and help and was treated like a lady. I haven't found the right lipstick yet. I will NEVER buy from Clicks again. What's more, I will take a lot of customers with me - I do have that much respect from young women.</p> <p> </p> <p>Let me advise Clicks on a few smart things: it is easy to lose to a bigger and better-supp**** store like DisChem. It's all in the way you treat your customers. Here's the thing with the makeup section: unless you put up clear signs indicating exactly what quantities of makeup may be tested, you may not stop women from testing at their leisure. This is not just common sense, it is law. I am very fami**** with consumer rights - I've managed a boutique and women's store. Also, your staff members need to have the decency and intelligence to know the difference between a mature woman testing makeup, and, say, teenage girls wasting your testers for the fun of it. (Even then, you are treading on thin ice by being exclusive. In the UK similar stores, there are no such rules).</p> <p> </p> <p>This story isn't going to stop here, because women deserve better. I will make sure of it.</p> <p> </p> <p>The floor manager who permanently lost a Clicks customer is Terri Anne Herringer.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p>