Okay. So I went and ordered new make up from the Body Shop the other week on line. I was surprised how easy it was and how quickly my order arrived (9 am the next morning). I thought "hey, I am done with going to the mall now that I can get all my Body Shop goodies on line!" Little did I know, I was entering the Body Shop of Horrors.
So I was excited to try out the new stuff so I showered, and put on my new make-up. Not bad, but not outstanding considering the price I paid for it. Within an hour both my eyes and lips had swollen up. I was obviously having an allergic reaction to one or more of the new products. I quickly took some allergy drugs and washed my face, neck, hands and body. Six hours later I was more comfortable and just looked like I had been crying for the past month and had a major case of acne. I was disappointed but not discouraged as I have bought from the Body Shop for many many years and love their perfume and body butter. Their service has always been outstanding and friendly. I told one sales person that I had bought a bottle of vanilla perfume oil a year ago and the perfume was not the light clear liquid it once was. She apologized for that, asked me to bring it in the next time I was in and they would exchange it for a new bottle. Who does that? Who exchanges product a year later? See, great customer service.
My eyes have been opened as to the real customer service that they now provide. I gathered up the new make-up that I tried out and went to the mall after work to return the products as the on-line return/exchange policy is you can take it to ANY store and get a full refund. NOT true. I was told by the sales person that they do not accept exchanges or returns from the on-line store. I explained about the allergic reaction and how unhappy I was and that I was guaranteed that I could return this to any store. She said "I'm sorry we can't help you. My manager has just left for the day and you will have to come back when she is here as she is the only one who can authorize this return". What? Excuse me? I have the Body Shop receipt that states right on it return for refund or exchange within 30 days to any store. Still no go. I was pissed. I packed everything up and stormed out of the store. I got home and emailed the company's customer service asking them to explain to me how I can go about getting a refund. I have yet to receive a response. I tried calling their 1 800 number and waited on hold for 25 minutes and finally hung up out of frustration and still have not talked to anyone. I spent $100 on a body lotion, lipstick, face powder, blush and eye liner and it was a total waste of money and I am not sure if I ever want to deal with the Body Shop ever again. If I am getting the bums rush on this I am bound and determined to tell everyone that I know that the Body Shop does not honour their own policies and is out to scam the consumer. I wish that this wasn't true but I have had nothing but misery over this whole experience. I know one thing for sure, even if I do shop there ever again, it will never be on line and I will never buy make up from there.
Beware my friends, be careful of what you buy and never try to return something to the Body Shop of Horrors.
UPDATE: After several calls to the store and finally a manager assuring me that if I came back in they would in deed refund my money I did get to return the offending products.
I do love the Body Shop and do still shop there but never on line again. I still to this date have not heard back from the on line store's customer service which does not bode well for their on line business. As for the staff member who I initially dealt with in the store (for those who were wondering) she was not a trainee or a newbe, she had been there for some time as I had seen her there on one of my previous shopping trips. She simply stated that "we do not do refunds from the on line store. We never have. A woman came in around Christmas to return product that she had bought on line and we didn't accept it. You have to return to the on line store."
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9 comments:
Wow - I haven't bought anything at the Body Shop for years, and I certainly won't now!
Right, you did not reveal my feed back but I do appologise now that I read your update.
As soon as online business started we have had procedure updated on our intranet, which clearly stated what to do with returns. That customer consultant was one of those 'lazy' ones as our return policy extends even to online shopping. So, no refunds if valid receipt is not provided,an exchange possible but only at managers discretion. We used to take customer details that have had reactions then HO would look at the batch which then would determine possible cause of the reaction.
Its just that I am a loyal employee and a very good hearted customer consultant so I overreacted a bit. Still The Body shop is a good company and whenever you buy something try it first. I for one never say no as this way I actually make sure customer gets a right products.
Cheerio, :)
I want to apologize to my anonymous commenter. It was 4:45 am this morning when I read your comment and thought I had hit publish but alas did not. I am glad that you re-posted. I know what it is like to work in the "retail" business and it is not easy. I still love the body shop and well, just bought another 5 body butters to get me through until Christmas. I was just really put off with how the sales girl treated me in the store as I have never had problems with the Body Shop before and I hope to never go through that experience again. I would just remove this blog but I think it is a good thing that others read it and know that how you get treated is well for lack of a better word judged. Maybe she was having an off day but still, a smile and I will do what ever I can to help you solve this would have been better than a sucks to be you attitude.
The Body Shop is a great company with great products and I think every company will have a lazy employee that maybe needs to find a different line of work to do. I take my hat off to all customer service reps out there that do an outstanding job and leave their customers happy.
It is always good to have healthy little talks :)
You are right by saying there is always going to be lazy people not giving their best to please customers, and believe me I even call stores and tell them off when customers share their unpleasant experiences with me. We also have weekly conference calls where I alwals share these things with our region because I am sick myself when some basic customer needs are not met. It makes me very angry and my team mates sometimes laugh at me because I take my job very seriously but in return I tell them to FCUK off :)))) LOOOOOL
Anyways, I hope you do not go through similar in the future, just request to speak to a store manager (if available and all will be good).
Our main marketing strategy is word of mouth and for that we have to have happy and always ready to help people out there in our stores.
All the best,
Dragana
I just wanted to leave a comment, not excusing the employee who was 'lazy' but maybe explaining. Retail is not what it used to be, and The Bodyshop, as all companies are very much Sales orientated. They state about a full refund/exchange, but when we do refund, it takes our KPI'S (Key Performance Indicators) Down, and then in turn, we get a lot of grief for not achieving sales. So for us Managers, it makes things harder, and makes us want to pass these sort of cases straight to H/O, Ive worked for the company for 10 years, and it really is something they need to look at, its like they punish the staff for returning customers products, very silly!! I can only speak for myself and my team, and we always put customers first, but get put off doing full refunds for the reason Ive explained!! Store managers work very hard to get our sales and also keep our customers happy, I personally, as do other managers think it is unfair to punish us when customers need a refund,lets see if it changes anytime soon!! Glad you love the products, sorry the makeup didnt agree with you, try the new NATURES MINERALS, mineral makeup, its fantastic, and should not irritate the skin, go into your local store, have a consultation, try before you buy!!!
Well after reading these posts, I do wonder now about the Body Shop. My daughter had a deb makeover which would normally have been $40. We were explained to that if we purchased $40 worth of products we would get the make over for free. Thought it was a great idea until, as with weddings, debs etc it can be a daunting day for mothers of daughters to keep everything on track for the day. At the end of the makeover we were offered some makeup that my daughter liked, but the consultant pulled out everything from brushes to foundation and so on, not thinking i paid for the 4 items which came to $122.. I was abit dumb struck to why it cost so much not realising the out ragerous prices on each item, that I left in a hurry to get my daughter ready for her deb that after as we were on a time limit. It was not until the next day when I looked at everything I though OMG I just thought the woman took the piss out of us under the situation.We agreed to keep all products except for one. I took the item back on the Monday.....and you guessed would not even give me a refund with a bloody recept, the sales person said it was not their policy to return items cause of change of mind..OMG I thought you are joking me. I asked them to show me their policy...which of course could not produce. She then phoned which I presume may have been the manager who said the same.. Again no policy produced....I was so pissed off I just left but now I will do my investigating and have all my evidence before I go stick it up them or will go to consumer affairs. Seems such a big thing for one item...but its the principal of how retailers are treating their customers....Great blog fom the person who wrote about that they may loose their so called browny points for each sales....Hmm interesting. Very interesting that I had Sony replace a faulty $2000 TV without an extended warranty...Good stuff Sony..
The Body Shop has ripped me off over $1,000 through their fraudulent claims about return policies. I am disabled and unemployed, but do a lot of volunteer work, including running errands and shopping for shut-ins in three institutions. I was given a budget to purchase gifts for a resident gift exchange, but no guidance as to what to get. Wandering through a mall, I thought about getting Body Shop gift sets, and was looking at them when a saleswoman came up. I explained the issue, and said I thought these would work, but I might have to return some or all or the items, and there would be a LOT of the gift sets purchased and possibly returned. No problem, I was told, anything can be returned within 30 days (this was purchased in store, not on line). So, I brought just over $1,000 in gift sets (which sounds like a lot, but since they're $45 each plus tax, that doesn't cover all that many people). It was later decided by the retirement home managers that this would not do, in case some people had allergies, so I was instructed to return them. Of course I did not try to return that much at once, just a few items at a time. But still, every time I went into the same store I had purchased them at, I was told that they had not made enough sales to cover the return, so I would have to come back later (this was by the store manager). The FIFTH time I came back, I heard the manager in the back room say to one of the girls "whenever someone comes in for a return, say they'll have to come back later when we've made more sales, until the 30 days has passed, then tell them the return period is over." Still haven't gotten a return, so the money for all this useless stuff had to come out of my own pocket, and now this disabled, unemployed woman is without heat during the most brutal cold snap in over 100 years because the Body Shop ripped me off so much money that I couldn't pay my heating bill! I, too, want to warn everyone I can about dealing with this company.
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