Judged by looks

[Catwoman2965]

Attitudes like this are a huge pet peeve of mine. I work in a fairly pricey, but not outrageous women s' store. Think along the lines of Ann Taylor or J.Crew or Banana Republic, price-wise. For years, our customer base was rather narrow, as in mostly older, decently well off and so on. Over the years, we've attracted a broader base, and I treat ALL my customers the same. Yes there are some that push my buttons and are annoying, but some of them are our biggest spenders.

And when I shop, I've been ignored simply because I don't "fit" the general demographic of customer. Pisses me off and I've walked out, never to return.

[Cecily]

The shoe stories reminded me of this : when my daughter was shopping for her wedding shoes, she refused to go in a particular store. Curious little me had to ask why. She had been there about two weeks before and the clerk had been very rude and dismissing of a younger woman (maybe older teen) and telling her that she couldn't afford what he sold. My daughter was really mad about what she saw and swore to never, ever shop there and told a lot of people about it.

So, ticking off the customer can make you lose more than one sale, if the witnesses see you for what you really are.

[Slave to the Phone]

I have 2 passions in my life, riding my Harley and cat rescue. This means that I have 3 different wardrobes: work, riding and rescue. It amuses me to no end how the very same person in the very same shop will treat me differently depending on what I'm wearing.

[ComputerNecromancer]

Oh yeah. Back in 1980 I bought my first computer (a TRS-80 Model III). I'd spent a lot of time at the Radio Shack Computer Center before buying it, checking out the options. and I came back a lot to get upgrades and check out other product.

Got to know the manager real well as well as the lady who did tech support.

Later they moved to downtown location, and I'd bought several more computers. By the late 80s I was doing computer support at my job.

One saturday I wandered in in jeans and T-shirt. And got roundly ignored. Then the manager spotted me and came over and greeted me. The sales critters got the "oh sit" look.

Alas, they didn't learn. When we were looking for new computers at work, I'd suggested them as a possible source.

Later, the heasd of purchasing told me that they (ie whoever he'd tried to contact there) couldn't be bothered to return a request for a quote,

So they lost out on a sale of a dozen or more systems. And if they'd gotten it, it'd have been several *hundred* over the next five years.

[MoonCat]

Now that I think about it, I've had calls at work that should have gone to our retail advertising dept., but the customer had left messages that were never returned. Those ads cost more than classified ads do. Recently had a guy who runs a comics & collectibles show. He'd left messages for someone in retail who never called him back. So I took care of him myself.

If the sales people in retail can't be bothered to return a call, fine with me, I'll take the ad and do it up really nice. I can use another repeat customer

[kmariem]

Reminds me of an incident that made headlines, wow, a year and a half ago. Where a certain billionaire black woman was told "you won't be able to afford this {£24,460} bag"...

[purple]

Nothing worse than being judged by looks although for me it has worked out in savings.

I used to exclusively wear one expensive brand of make up. Since the lady who worked that counter has been replaced and the new one looks at me like I am not worth her time I have found cheaper alternatives for most products.

[Dizazter]

My boss has told us before, if a customer is happy with our service, they will tell two people. If they are unhappy, they will tell five people.

[bainsidhe]

Back when I bought my current car, I was replacing a 15 yr old Mazda that was dying, but which I sorely loved. So my natural inclination was to check out Mazdas, Toyotas & Hondas. I found a Mazda dealership with a used Toyota I liked, however the salesman clearly didn't think much of me. He walked me out to the car and handed me the keys for a test drive, acting reluctant and bored the entire time. After the test drive, he seemed annoyed when I appeared at the counter, which interrupted his conversation with a coworker. When I then asked about possible negotiation on the price, he said they don't negotiate and immediately turned away. I felt put off and I left annoyed.

Soon after, I purchased a car that was a previous Hertz rental. Good price, it had all the options I wanted, and then some, plus a reasonable interest rate. They also agreed to replace the well-worn tires at no charge. For my next car, I'll consider another rental if I decide to buy used.

[An Haddock]

Reminds me of an incident that made headlines, wow, a year and a half ago. Where a certain billionaire black woman was told "you won't be able to afford this {£24,460} bag"...

There's a story on Snopes which I believe was confirmed to be true - an old fellow dressed a bit shabby went to a bank and the teller was purposely ignoring him. The guy was trying to be polite but finally got exasperated with the teller being rude and went to see a manager.

He ended up withdrawing his million dollar plus savings from the bank and opening an account elsewhere. I believe the teller was fired.


Found it:

http://www.snopes.com/business/bank/barrier.asp

[wolfie]

I believe I saw this in MAD magazine back when I was in school (theme of the section was "rich vs. poor"). The difference between the town weirdo and the local eccentric is their bank balance.

During his later years, someone running into Howard Hughes could easily have mistaken him for a homeless person.

When my mother was still teaching, one of her extra duties was cleaning out and sorting stuff students had left behind in their lockers at the end of the year. She'd collect BAGS (as in full-size garbage bags) of clothing, which (if unclaimed by the start of the new school year) she'd wash and donate to a charitable organization. One time, when she showed up at a shelter to donate the clothing, the staff were rather snooty (as in "You have to wait your turn like everyone else"), assuming she was another person looking for a handout. Once she got the message across that she was trying to make a donation, the attitude changed. "You, you, and you (pointing to some of the residents) help her bring the stuff in from her car".

[Air_Stewardess]

I had that when I went into a posh shop to get some Lancome lipgloss. I like Lancome; it might be pricy, but it stays on all night and I don't have to keep reapplying it. I also like posh cosmetics; it's worth saving to get the best. Anyway, I went in the store wearing a Slipknot hoodie, a denim skirt, black platform boots and a Marilyn Manson t-shirt. I was ignored for a while, which wasn't helpful as the store layout had been re-arranged and I couldn't find the makeup. Then this woman came up to me and said bluntly, "You don't look like you can afford to shop here."

I was really angry so I asked to see the manager, who apologised profusely and gave me a discount on the makeup I was buying.

Some make-up ladies can be really snooty, I got into posh cosmetics as a teenager and I remember being ignored by one lady and then she poured lavish attention on another customer and then turned her back to me afterward. Actually I can think of several occasion like that.

Now I only buy posh make-up from Duty Free!

[protege]

Apparently if you didn't buy radio controlled stuff, he didn't have the time of day for you. Never mind that gamers or model builders or whatever can plunk down just as much (if not more) cash than the radio control folks. Well he's out of business now (it took long enough though).

Some train stuff is expensive. I've seen plastic (not brass, mind you!) HO scale steam engines...sell for well over a grand. The last time I was in my usual hobby shop (he closed last October ), there was one big Chesapeake & Ohio 2-6-6-6 in a case, with a $1200 price tag on it. Steam engines are always more expensive compared to electrics and diesels, but still. He didn't close his shop over attitude. But, I do know that he *hated* the RC stuff. Mostly because it was expensive, and slow as balls to shift.

One thing I loved about that place, is that no matter what I was buying, I was treated exactly the same. After I became a "regular," I soon grew a reputation for picking up all the goofy kits that nobody wanted--1980s Nissan Skylines, prewar BMWs, an Opel Blitz truck, etc. He'd actually set things aside for me when they came in...knowing that there was a 99.9% chance they'd come home with me

[Lace Neil Singer]

Some make-up ladies can be really snooty, I got into posh cosmetics as a teenager and I remember being ignored by one lady and then she poured lavish attention on another customer and then turned her back to me afterward. Actually I can think of several occasion like that.

Now I only buy posh make-up from Duty Free!

I still buy posh makeup, but I now prefer to buy it from Boots where they won't treat me like crap. XD I also got a great deal on some DNKY perfume from there.

[Cia]

Reminds me of an incident that made headlines, wow, a year and a half ago. Where a certain billionaire black woman was told "you won't be able to afford this {£24,460} bag"...

Personally I wouldn't trust what she said is really what happened, she just rubs me the wrong way.