I felt a little bit like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman this weekend (minus the prostitution part, of course). My Mom was in Arizona for a visit, and being her only daughter I reap the rewards of her need to spend money on girly things. Now, my mother is not hurting for funds, but she's not going to be asked to participate in the Pacific Northwest's (where she's from) version of Housewives anytime soon--too down to earth. So there we were, a couple of ladies dressed for a comfortable day of serious shopping at Scottsdale Fashion Square, when we felt the urge to see the handbags at Barney's.
Maybe I'm overprotective, but my mom is one of the sweetest ladies ever and I hate when she gets her feelings hurt, so after watching the size zero sales lady (I use the term loosly) ignore us for ten minutes in favor of chatting with a fellow clerk, I'd had enough. As I took my mom's arm to lead her away, the woman finally looked us up and down and with a look of distaste said, "Is there something you wanted to see?" Really? I'm sorry, but I don't feel the need to throw up fifteen times a day so that a minimum wage clerk (I'm assuming she isn't paid on commission) will find me worthy of her attention. Do they realize that Neiman's sells Fendi purses too?
I really wanted to bitch-slap the little tart right out of Barney's and into Forever 21, H&M, or Charming Charlie--all fun stores with disposable clothing and accessories for bargain prices (and right outside the exit from the B-word). She might learn a few things from their friendly sales staffs! I'm not wealthy, so I normally wouldn't even walk in to a store like that because a $1,000 plastic purse (hello, Louis Vuitton) seems a bit ridiculous to me. But my mom is passionate about four things: Her family, good food, shoes, and accessories. And I don't mind being on the receiving end of those gifts either.
So... the purpose of this rant is to pose a question: does showing your wealth make you more worthy? Do you have to be rich to receive good customer service? Not that there weren't signs for this rude woman to see that even though my mom hadn't stepped off the runway, she might have the coinage to drop on the handbag she was lusting after. Me? Not so much, but if buying that purse made her feel good, shouldn't she have the opportunity to do so? Aren't you in the business of selling the over-priced objects in your store? What happened to common courtesy?
In case you're wondering, the day ending up being a blast! We had lunch at Nordstrom's and mom parted with quite a bit of "mad money" at Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Neiman's, Nordy's and the "fun" stores I mentioned earlier. But I wanted to use the power of the Internet to say, "Shame on you Barney's!" We won't be coming back until your staff receives a serious attitude adjustment...for now, we'll buy our goodies elsewhere. And a warning to the next person who thinks they can make my mom feel bad: I'm not above snatching every last hair off your head! ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment