Funny how some employees in Lebanon can turn international super-retailers like Zara into local establishments simply through the way they carry themselves and choose to conduct business. I was at Zara Home in Beirut Souks on Tuesday night. I walked up to the check-out counter and asked a sales lady (who turned out to be the store manager) a question about a candlestick holder. I was amidst asking my question when the store phone started to ring. Without a warning or excusing herself, she picked it up and began assisting a customer with an inquiry. So I stood dumbfounded at her behavior and waited patiently until she finished her conversation. When she hung up she walked away from me and began barking orders at another sales assistant about another item. I walked right up to her and said:
“Excuse me, I was asking you a question before you picked up the phone and cut me off, are you not interested in helping me?”
“Yes yes I am but I have to check on something else first.”
“But I was asking you to inquire for ME about something first”
“ Ya, ya I just want to see if what you want is in stock.”
“But you don’t even know what it is exactly I want!”
So she barks another order at the sales assistant and tells her to show me the catalogue so I can show her exactly what I want. At that point, she walks away once again and tends to another shopper asking her sweetly if she requires any assistance.
You might be thinking, alright maybe Ivy was rude. I wasn’t, in fact, I was very polite and even spoke softly when I inquired at first. So what exactly prompted her blunt dismissal to a VERY good and regular customer? ( Mind you, she never followed up with me to see if I had gotten what I came for.)
Whatever the reasons, this person doesn’t work at 3amo Samir’s local furniture store; she works at one of the largest international retailer groups in the world, and is required to practice the basic minimum international standard of customer service and appropriate client interaction. I get that I’m not at Chanel; I don’t expect the red carpet treatment, but a customer should be able to ask for assistance without having a bad experience. I would think perhaps Zara doesn’t care but they’ve been stapling “Feedback” cards to all shopping bags lately, but that could just be a decision from HQ and the local managers couldn’t care less. Has anyone else been experiencing similar incidents?
