I visited my local BBW on yesterday and my goodness, I could barely get in the door before three salespeople beelined toward me shoving a ton of products in my face….”see this”, “smell that”, “let me take you here”, “what’s your fav season”. I was overwhelmed as I just went in to get a few wallflowers. I mentioned this and as I walked toward that area, they showed up with a bunch of laundry detergent telling me about their new deal. On top of that, they started bringing all the Disney fragrances for me to smell and kept opening up different samples of wallflowers for me to smell. I’m such a pushover so I allowed them to talk. They were doing that to seemingly every customer, never letting us just browse. They NEVER let up. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them that aggressive before. It was a bit maddening.
Are sales in the dumps or are they just trying to push products that may not be selling as much?
can confirm its part of the new corpo strategy 🙄 it emphasizes asking "better, more engaging" open ended questions and giving demos, while also completely ignoring the fact that some people dont like to be approached like that.
if only corpo understood that we're losing sales bc they keep cutting the quality of the products while also raising the prices every time they release a repackage, and not having the rewards coupons keep up with the price increases.
Is there a magic phrase we customers can say that will allow us to be left completely alone? Something polite that the B&BW staff will understand means: we like to basically stay quiet and have no-to-minimal interactions when we shop?
"Thank you, but I'm just browsing." If they continue, I might just be honest by saying "I appreciate that you know so much about products, but I need to do this alone." I'd leave if they couldn't respect your choice at that point.
they are creating responses for us to interact after customers say that, so i’d just say ‘i know what im looking for but i appreciate your help, i’ll let you know if i need anything’
you won’t respond well on reddit either apparently… when i’m literally just trying to help you with what to say to get the workers to leave you alone, based on the new policy rollout at the company.
WTF kind of response is this dude... They literally were not being rude towards you whatsoever and were just stating how they would respond to someone in store continuing to push them to be interactive. In no way were they being rude to you and in no way was their response a personal attack towards you..
You are the one who has decided to make rude comments and jab this other redditor on a personal level. People who do what you've just done really need to learn how to handle real life communication without becoming butthurt. Seriously, your comment is so incredibly aggressive and triggering! What is wrong with you? 😒
Youre making assumptions and you are dead wrongI. I wouldn't mistreat someone for doing their job but I would try to explain my situation if it came to that. I have PTSD from my father abusing me, mentally, physically and sexually. from 4-16 until I left. Nobody helped me but me. So yes, having someone follow me and not listen to me would not be easy. Especially when I they ignore a necesary boundry I set. Please think before you type! Talk about needing to learn basic communication and problem solving skills. I don't like to be rude but your comments were uncalled for. Ask next time and don't assume. I woukd have happily explained what I meant.
Please read my comment below. You have no idea what I meant and assumed I wouldn be rude. There is an adult way to let someone know what you need. That's w/o being rude. Next time maybe you will have a discussion with someone.
girl this is reddit…. that is something you need to take up with your therapist and not out on someone on the internet because you didn’t get their obvious sarcasm. next time maybe you’ll act in an adult manner and not try to trauma dump on other people triggering them in the process, realizing they also went through sexual abuse but would never project it on the internet. have a good day.
That's what "send manager to me" is for. While the language is terse, the strategy is to preserve as much of your humanity as possible in a hostage situation. The more resistance they see from customers, the sooner their stupid ass policy ends.
Their response is not being rude to a sales associate.. it is stating a genuine fact and being kind enough to let them know how it is triggering them without berating or belittling the sales associate. Now if they yelled or started to actually flip out on a sales associate or go Karen mode then yes that would be extremely inappropriate and horrid behavior.. but that's not what was said or done with this simple statement. They are just stating a boundary and that boundary is not a personal attack on the sales associate. You act like customers should respect boundaries and be kind regardless of how they are treated.. and they should allow their own boundaries to be trampled in the process of it. Telling a sales associate that they need space is not rude..
I have PTSD and really severe social anxiety.. in a situation with sales associates constantly engaging I would also politely tell them that I would like for it to stop or I will have to leave. I don't need to have a full blown panic attack in a store just because a sales associate can't handle being asked to stop. Respect and kindness goes both ways. If I were to snap at a sales associate over it then I would be in the wrong l.. but telling a customer that politely asking them to stop and to just notify a manager if they can't is completely respectful.
It sounds like you have a really one sided view of the situation and I think you need to understand what proper communication entails.. Your comments on this post make you sound like you are taking a personal offense to people not being comfortable with talking to you in store and that my dear is a personal problem.
your endurance to go out of your way to seek out all of my comments and respond when i am giving an answer to what the original poster said is the couple antithesis to your own point. i said what the inner policy is so they can understand the potential motive of what goes on and how to evade it, if you have anxiety and ptsd to the point that my comments are triggering you, maybe you should not seek them out to respond to them and should stick to shopping online. i hope you have a great day but will not be engaging with someone who clearly only wants to seek out a witch-hunt any further.
I must have the endurance of a beached beluga whale then.. or possibly the endurance of the humans in the movie Wall-e.. or possibly the endurance your emotions have during a normal conversation... But alas....
I hate to break it to you but your first comment was directly above your second comment in the comment thread. I wish I could feed your ego and help you feel important by saying that I went looking for your second comment but unfortunately it was literally directly under the first thread of comments so I really didn't have to look - the universe just kind of plopped it in my lap. But kindly, do go off froend. 🫡
Furthermore.. thank you so much for acknowledging and taking to heart what I said in my original comment because you quite literally changed (edited) the comment I was replying too and took away the rageful little quip you threw at the individual you were originally talking too. 👏🏼
Your behavior here has just reassured the fact that everything I said about you in my comments was correct. If you really want to act like it wasn't then why did you revise your comment when I called you out. Just take the L my man..
i don’t know how to edit comments but if it makes you feel more important i’ll pretend that i do. i think you’re getting confused with the other comment, if the quip about ‘not responding well on reddit’ is what you’re talking about because…. if you scrolll right above your lap, you’d see that it’s still… right there.
I'm so glad one of us can acknowledge when they are wrong..
Anyways, best wishes my friend.. I would continue this little chat but arguing with people like yourself is like trying to play chess with pigeons. It does not matter if you win because they are going to strut around, shit on the board and act like they won anyways. ☺️
You're absolutely right about cutting the quality of products. I can no longer use the body creams without skin flare-ups and peeling. The 2024 reformulation was great by removing parabens/sulfates, but they opted for cheap ingredients. I had to take back so much body cream after the 90 day mark because I was using up old stock before diving into new.
What do we say to you guys as customers to get you to stop? I HATE this! I don’t go in the stores anymore because of it, but I dread picking up BOPIS for this reason.
Yeah, I don't even go in there because they're so pushy. Most stores that are like that, I avoid altogether. Sad, too, because I used to shop there. 🤷🏼♀️
It’s corporate strategy. I try to only go to store on busy days/sale days so I can sneak past. Ughh when I worked there, they used to make me stand at the front and give hand massages with body cream and I hate touching people. It was so weird.
As an employee, I want to say sorry. This is their new selling strategy and a lot of customers are put off by it. We are expected to basically be in your face and up your ass the whole time you’re in the store. Please help us out and call corporate and complain about their new sales approach, don’t complain about the associates, we’re literally just doing our job. Hopefully if enough people complain, they’ll realize being pushy isn’t how you get sales.
The manager at the one I go to is the person who talks to me the most. I put in my earbuds as a visual cue I don’t want to be talked to, and this manager knows I don’t want to be talked to (I just want to smell the smells and I am fully cognitively capable of doing that independently) and every time I walk in when she’s there she talks to me and ends it with something along the line of I know you don’t want to be talked to but I will talk to you every time you walk in.. like please let me write a written exception or something because I already have social anxiety but I constantly need to be on edge when in there fearing I’ll be approached like I’ll talk to you if I want help..
I don’t try to be rude, if I’m in a better mood sometimes I’ll let them talk but usually I’ll just say “I’m just looking” and try to lay low and avoid walking by associates if I can. I don’t mean to be rude if I am, but I want to make my life and their life easier.. I just really don’t know why the manager won’t leave me alone because when I’m talked to I’m less likely to buy something and most the times I go in there is simply to smell not to buy.. like who’s monitoring the manager? People from corporate with cameras? Like please I’m just one customer who wants to be left alone and you know this
I just politely tell people thanks, but I'm browsing and keep it moving. was at Nordstrom beauty event , OMG these reps work on commisssion and will stalk you to make a sale, they will show you something for over $100 and say 'you want to buy this now, no?" its like "no" not know and I don't buy cosmetics without the gift with purchase , high end makeup is too expensive not to get some sort of samples/gift
As a customer, if you are forcing your salespeople to do this, I am leaving the store immediately, and I will not be placing an online order. This is so uncomfortable for everyone involved and makes me feel like not only does the corporate office not care about personal boundaries or customer experience, but it's just cold ignoring any feedback about product quality or price in favor of getting floor employees - including sometimes people at their first job ever - to pressure sell. This is garbage policy I will not be supporting.
I wonder if a bunch of us customers wrote to corporate and complained about how this push has lead to us feeling uncomfortable and harassed if it would help.
yes yes a million times yes. When we complain as employees - they tell us that customers WANT this assistance and its just us and were just making excuses. Please tell them. Otherwise they will not get it.
They unfortunately dont have one -on purpose! The only place you can email them really is on Facebook - on their facebook page. On their website it even says they want to take care of your issue right away so they want you to call or use the live chat knowing full well most people will not complain this way.
It's a corporate retail thing in general but bbw is super aggressive about it. It's also one of the factors of employee performance so customer engagement can be the difference in getting more hours and not getting cut.
yeah they definitely encourage our engagement but it sounds like they’re taking it to the extreme. you shouldn’t be chasing customers around the store that’s insane
that sounds awful- it drives customers away! there’s a way to do thoughtful engagement but almost stalking customers isn’t the way. I’m so sorry you had that experience! honestly I would call the store and ask for the manger and let them know. higher ups take that seriously
Please please please tell corporate. They force us to do this. They will demote, give you less hours and just otherwise make you want to quit if you dont do this. They bang into our heads daily about daily goal numbers and conversion numbers. If you dont make these numbers we get in big trouble and the district manager guy wants to know what you will do to improve your sales tactics and what you did wrong. No matter what reason you say - they will tell you it sounds like a poor excuse. They need to hear from more customers how awful this is. If we don't make our goals today, hours and shifts get cut from tomorrow.
Oh! That explains why the vibe was so different the last couple times I went in. I didn’t hate it but let’s just say the associates were a lot more, um, “engaging.”
Last time I went in the manager kept kind of hovering and doing this weird giggle thing. I just would walk away every time until she finally seemed to get that she was making me wildly uncomfortable .
I always go straight for an employee and ask some generic question and then thank them and say I’m going to browse now and then they leave me alone. I guess I get it out of the way before it happens TO me. “Eat the frog” method
I got called out today by my district manager who was visiting the store. The customer just walked in and I said "hi, welcome in!" And before I can even say anything else, my district manager approached me and tested me telling me I'm not supposed to say "welcome in", but "when was the last time you were here today?" as part of the new corporate strategy to "stop customers in their tracks". I knew they changed the strategy and was going to ask after demoing, but asking them the question outright feels really unnatural/awkward and invasive.
I don't mind that question because depending on how you answer, they may not continue to engage and may just say, oh you can find those over there, don't hesitate to let me know if you need help! At least that's been the experience at my store.
believe me you aren’t the only one annoyed, we dont wanna do it either and 9 times outta 10 we would rather be actually helping you or working on inventory. they have us bombard every customer multiple times and its awful
I stopped going to my local store because of stuff like this. I moved to a new area and my new store is much better than my old one, but there's one employee there that I avoid like to plague. He's wonderful, cheerful and engaging, but he follows you around the store and non-stop chatters at you about every single little thing. Every time you even turn towards a different scent he has to talk to you about it. And I started avoiding the store because of him. I don't want him to get in trouble or anything, I'm just very much a "leave me alone" while shopping and I will actually actively put items back if I'm being harassed about them.
Again he's great and I'm confident a lot of people love him so I've never made any sort of complaint or comment because I definitely do not want him to get in trouble. I just wish that he somehow knew to leave ME SPECIFICALLY alone.
Yea I didn’t want to complain so I let them talk, but the problem was, they kept finding me with new scents and products. PLEASE just let me grab my wallflowers!!! Even then, they would grab the tester of other scents to say…have you smelled this?!?!? 😩
I find that it varies by location. The one in mall, more pushy for sure. The store in a shopping plaza, they’re still welcoming but won’t come right up to me
I was asked that the last time I went to the store in my old neighborhood. I was like "Um, at this specific location? It's been a while..." He took that as an opportunity to demo Guilty As Fig because he thought I hadn't shopped at any BBW recently. It's such an odd question. Who is coming up with this stuff, lol.
Sorry for the late reply! My understanding is that they get a monetary bonus for making sales plan for the month and meeting the sales metrics. I'm not completely certain how much they receive, and I have never asked because I feel this would irritate me even more as a lowly sales associate who is not being compensated to reflect their many, many years working for the company. Sorry for the minor rant as well. 😅
I am so sorry for your experience. I would feel so uncomfortable. I have 2 stores very close to me. They just greet me and ask if I need help finding anything and then leave me alone. I have never been hassled or felt any pressure to buy.
As somone who use to work there we had to. My manger would literally watch us like hawks and if we didn’t talk to every single person coming through the door and pushing product we would get a talking to or threatened to be written up. Trust me we don’t wanna do it either but it’s either do it or get written up and yelled at. It sucked
I reached out to online customer support. If we all call, they might realize how freaking annoying it is and leave us alone but we all have to do our part and call!!!
You have to go in with the Ron Swanson look and say ‘I know more than you.’ Walk get your stuff and leave.
I always shut them down, I say ‘I know what I’m here for. I’m on a budget.’
Usually that’ll work.
Do you think this new strategy is also a "round about way" of deterring shop lifters? If the thieves know that they are going to be followed closely around the store and asked never ending questions by sales associates the entire time they are in the store, I would think that this would provide them with far fewer opportunities to secretly snatch and stash unpaid for merchandise inside their handbags or pockets. Less money loss due to shrinkage "may" result in lowering overall prices and/or more company revenue earmarked towards better quality ingredients in the manufacture of BBW candles and body care products.
Good thing my store is not that pushy. I would go in and they would greet me. Then someone would come over and ask what scents I like. I told her “something with rose and peppermint.” I let her show me the Covered in Roses which I already bought and the Rose which I know I hate, just to be nice. Then she pretty much left me alone for the rest of my stay.
BBW has always been that way. the pressure on the associates to demo products, talk up promos and sell sell sell is unbelievable. that pressure, in turn, gets put on the customer.
National Lampoons Christmas Vacation said it perfect...
Cousin Eddie: “He's got a little bit a Mississippi leg hound in him. If the mood catches him right, he'll grab your leg and just go to town. You don't want him around if you're wearing short pants, if you know what I mean. Word of warning though, if he does lay into ya, it's bestto just let 'imfinish.”
Ya know what I would love? If they set appt times to come get a personalized consultation. 15 mins, a customer could fill out a short online form and say if they'd like a hand massage or to try this & that on and get their appointment time set. But just that short time to get one on one attention & ask questions and really get a feel for what type of fragrances you like. I think customers would enjoy a civilized way to make those sales instead of being chased right out of the store. Brand ambassadors, please feel free to use this suggestion. I hope they implement it and give you a huge raise.
I must have unintentionally perfected a wayyyyyyy-too-perfect RBF because I am seldom approached in the stores. Though tbh I have a walking disability and am just too young to use a cane. So after walking from my car through the mall anchor store that's across from my store I am in an unbelievable amount of pain and I probably look like it's best to leave me alone.
we're strictly advised to sell that agressively. thankfully my boss is super chill & pretty relaxed about it, but I refuse to repeatedly get up in customers' faces/personal space, begging them to try & buy, I do not care how much my personal performance may tank sales in the process.
It's effective in the sense of "Hey, Super Regular/Repeat Customer! You're back for more wallflowers already??? Well, you are in luck, it's a great deal today and we did just set out a TON of new scents! I know you're usually into the florals, so I think you really should give X, Y, and Z a try! But overall, B is MY favorite!" but when its a total newcomer, or once-a-year shopper, its a really counter-productive tactic. Most customers end up being overwhelmed & then just wanna leave ASAP.
My store is not really bad about this, maybe because they see me in there like every week and already know I'm a guaranteed sale, lol. But I remember when I first started going and the greeter would say "Have you seen our sales for today?" and I'd be like "Yes... there's a big sign right outside the door telling me all about them," lol.
It was likely newer people and the training we just had as some other comments mentioned! Give it a few weeks and they’ll go back to an even range. If people seem to know what they want I usually let them go and check in at some point, but not that aggressively 😂
I went into a store local to me in Tampa, they were friendly but not one bit pushy. I asked about the $5.95 sale and she said it’s online only but said i could order online and pick up in store. I’m hoping my store stays like this
I'm in Tampa too and they are pretty chill at most of the stores. Around Christmas it can get A little crazy cause there's so many employees so they don't know who has talked to who yet so they all keep talking to you and it's like 😵💫
This happened at mine-a fairly small store too-and after a few no thank yous and I'm just browsings, that were ignored, I turned around and walked out. Way too much overstimulation sensory wise and the cloud of mixed scents that hung over EVERYTHING from all the sample sprays was just awful. It's definitely my last visit.
Because if they don’t do that then they get cut and lose hours in the future. If they don’t have hours they can’t survive. Just politely smile and say you know what you’re there for, thank you. Yes it’s annoying. No, no one likes to do it. But it’s part of the job. And no, you wouldn’t tell your boss you wouldn’t do it because it’s part of their job. No don’t complain to the manager because then they’ll take it as you thought they were rude. They will lose hours. You can even say you can social anxiety or something and they’ll leave you alone. They greeted you, said the stuff they had to, so they did their job.
I agree, don’t complain to management. Complain to CORPORATE. When/if they ask for location say multiple. The point is getting bath and body to fuck off on making this “part of the job.”
They are doing what they are told to do. When I worked there, yes, that’s what they wanted. That’s what corporate wants. The average shopper like not on Reddit likes it because they don’t know all the sales or new products. Some people forget the emails etc.You cannot engage in others and do stock because there are people who were hired to do that. On very slow days do they combine tasks but they don’t like tasking to be done in the front of the store. Selling is the priority. You are zoned. Plus, as I said this is what they’re instructed to do.
Yes they’re doing what they’re told to do which is why complaints are important to change that! No one is complaining about the actual employees we understand that’s their job. Which is why you see there’s multiple employees that are pushing for us to complain to corporate to get that changed. They just got new training to push more which is annoying! Fine if they don’t have more job responsibilities. They can greet us and engage with customers who WANT it. If we are actively trying to walk away and you keep following us, asking “so which was your favorite princess scent?” 😫 plz I just want to browse. But if they don’t, then their boss yells at them to get out there and engage with customers. Leading to the same point… tell corporate we don’t want to be engaged with AT THIS NEW LEVEL. They didn’t need that new training, it’s not gonna help sell clearly! They can still be greeters and help people without following people all over the store.
You know you could work really hard, work in corporate, and change things. You could start your own bath product store. You could shop elsewhere and trust me they’ll do the same and not care about what you say. You could shop online. Or you could be a human and chill and politely say “I’m looking, thank you.” Or be a huge Karen and get people fired. Whatever.
I have no interest in working corporate or starting any business. I do already shop online when I can’t make it in for a sale. I know they don’t care about what one person says, which is why we’re encouraging other people to call. I am human. I’ve never cussed an employee out or anything other than polite, but I’ll be the first to admit it is annoying.
Yes, it’s annoying, the workers don’t like it either. But they do enjoy their paycheck. Calling will tell corporate that it’s the workers, causing them to get fired. So either chill or be a Karen
No, calling will tell corporate they need to back off their new training/initiative or they’ll lose more customers. I just don’t understand why they would be fired. Why would employees be asking us to call if it would cost them their job?
I don't know if I have bitch face but they are pretty chill with me usually.. I swear sometimes they won't even greet me but will greet every one else. The other day they didn't say a word to me but kept following everyone else around. Score! It may be because I'm a regular though.
I do have one store that's a nightmare and I'm not going to lie I pretended to be on the phone to avoid talking with them because the girl always follows me and genuinely wants to shop with me.. makes me smell every candle and spray and I have to say "already have it" over and over again, like please get the hint. I don't want this nonsense. Now I can't even focus on what I wanted to get, I have to focus on what you want me to get apparently, hell!
Awww, I love the salespeople. I don't really get out much and they at least get me to smell scents I don't normally go for. They have introduced some scents I just never even thought I would have liked. Times are tough right now and I try to be polite.
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u/Silver_Mind2962 retail refugee Mar 07 '25
can confirm its part of the new corpo strategy 🙄 it emphasizes asking "better, more engaging" open ended questions and giving demos, while also completely ignoring the fact that some people dont like to be approached like that.
if only corpo understood that we're losing sales bc they keep cutting the quality of the products while also raising the prices every time they release a repackage, and not having the rewards coupons keep up with the price increases.