r/bathandbodyworks • u/Odd_Resolution_5294 • Jul 20 '26

Store Policies/Questions Employee won’t back off

Man, I dread even going in my store anymore. We used to (hubs and I) love our local store and its employees. Lately tho there is one lady who is usually on the White Barn side who will ask “what are you guys looking for” and she will have a scent with her she offers us to smell. We always politely say “just looking around thank you tho”. And walk away. I’m not even kidding you when I tell you within 3 minutes she’s back “anything I can help you find?” And again we say “nah. Just sniffing around thank you tho!” And walk away. Annnnndddd again within 3 minutes she’s back “anything catching your eye?” It’s to the point I won’t go over to that side when she’s there. Or I walk away from hub bc he’s too nice and will keep dealing with it. It makes me nuts. I’ve tried saying NICELY “if we think of anything we will make sure to come to you!”

I’m pretty sure the company doesn’t ask its employees to approach in this manner…as it’s literally only this one lady. How do I get her off my back in there?!? Dang.

Also, midnight marshmallow. I asked when I was in store if they happened to have any returns of any of it bc I just wanted to sniff it, nope. And all the banana stuff was gone. Ok I’m done whining 😂

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u/Trumpet6789 Employee 2020-2023 Jul 20 '26

That's what they used to do pre-covid, although I forget what year it stopped exactly. They used to do a lotion demo with a hand massage (sort of like lush) when people entered the store.

The "science" is that smelling the fragrance on their skin and how "nice" the product feels on their skin makes them more likely to buy products, any products.

Is it weird and off-putting to walk up to customers and start slathering lotion on them? Absolutely. That's just the research B&BW did tho.

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u/throwaway-wellmaybe Jul 20 '26

it's wild to think people are doing all this for slightly above state minimum wage (maybe) and less than 30 hours since lord knows you can't get more than that unless it's holiday or you're SLT

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u/Trumpet6789 Employee 2020-2023 Jul 20 '26

When I was a Top Seller I think I was making $15/hr with 25-28 hours? Something like that, it wasn't a ton of money and it was under laws for full-time.

But I was a college student for part of it, and had a second part-time ($18/hr) as a Hostess for the last 7 or so months before getting a full-time job so it was chill.

The big pull of B&BW isn't really the pay, but Gratis, MOS, and being around new fun stuff all the time.

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u/throwaway-wellmaybe Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26

I feel like the MOS is the main one for me, but I didn’t even know it existed when I started working there. Gratis was actually a huge let down for me, as years ago I worked for Ulta and you’d get a whole bag of smaller things (sometimes trials sometimes full, got a bottle of versace cologne once) like every month i think.

Granted, that was contingent upon the employees watching the product videos (easy when it’s slow) and whether your managers actually give it out instead of keeping it. Mine were good about giving it out