Customer always RIGHT?

[metalslug]

http://tnp.sg/news/story/0,4136,204833,00.html?

Customer always RIGHT?
Reporters sweat it out, then put 10 shops to the test by trying on clothes
June 13, 2009

NO SWEAT: (From left) A La Luce shop assistant helping our reporters. TNP PICTURE: NG XI JIE

IS the customer always right, even when he or she is dripping with sweat?

The New Paper decided to find out if sales assistants would mind perspiring customers trying on their merchandise.

Surely, the sight of two sweaty and smelly girls would turn them off, we thought.

On Tuesday, we went undercover and visited 10 outlets in town.

To look the part, we worked out at the gym in the morning and wore the same clothes - T-shirts, shorts and sneakers - when we hit town.

We even sprayed some water on our hair, face and clothes, and pinched our cheeks to look flushed.

First stop, Far East Plaza.

We stepped into Stream on the first floor and complained loudly about the hot weather and how sweaty we were.

As we walked past the sales assistant, we mopped the perspiration off our foreheads in front of her.

We each picked out a dress and headed towards the fitting room.

The sales assistant stopped us. We froze. 'Oh no!' we thought.

But she said with a big smile to one of us: 'That dress is too big for you. I think you should try a smaller one.'

Phew!

When we identified ourselves as reporters, the sales assistant, Ms Duan Bin Bin, 25, a Thai national, said: 'If customers really want to try the clothes, we will let them.'

At our next stop, Purpur, it was also a breeze.

The sales assistant, Miss Baby Choo, 25, was friendly and did not mind our sloppy appearance one bit.

'I did notice that you girls were sweating, but it's quite normal since many of our customers are students who come here after their PE lessons,' she said, after we revealed who we were.

Over at Na Na Rêve De La - which sells imported Korean clothing - we thought we would finally be stopped from trying on clothes.

After all, their pretty lacy dresses do look delicate.

We did get stares from two sales assistants but they quickly turned into wide smiles as one of us picked out a cream dress - that looked like it could be dirtied easily - and headed towards the fitting room.

After we identified ourselves, shop assistant Yau Nga Kwan, 19, said: 'I noticed the two of you were sweaty, but I did not stop you from trying the dress because you did not smell.'

But her Taiwanese boss, Ms Christina Qin, 26, said she would have stopped us from trying on the dress if she had noticed us earlier.

'We will tell the customers that our clothes are unique as we have only one piece per item,' she explained.

We tried our luck at three more shops at Far East Plaza. Again, no sweat.

We decided to check out the bigger stores.

But first, we 'touched up' by spraying ourselves with water again.

At the ladies' department in Tangs Orchard, we went to the fitting rooms with clothes we had picked out.

The sales assistant, Madam Julia Tan, did not stop us as the store does not discriminate against any customer.

Her sentiment was echoed by Madam Sok Lan Sim, 58, a promoter at Isetan Orchard.

'I don't think I have the power to deny customers the right to try on the clothes,' she said.

The Giordano and G2000 Ladies outlets at Wisma Atria were crowded when we were there around 5pm.

The sales assistants were obliging, seemingly oblivious to our sweaty appearance.

Giordano's outlet manager, Ms Shidah, 25, said she did not notice how sweaty we were as there were many other customers.

But even if she did, it would not have been an issue, she added.

'We will send all dirty clothing, such as those with make-up stains on them, to our company's laundry every week,' she said.

At G2000, none of the sales assistants gave us a second glance even when we made a big show of wiping away our perspiration.

Manager Serene Koh, 45, said 'the company allows everyone to try everything, even the items which are white.'

So we left, convinced that sales assistants do believe that the customer, sweaty or not, is always right.

Geraldine Yeo and Audrey Tan Ruiping, newsroom interns

 

[metalslug]

http://tnp.sg/news/story/0,4136,204834,00.html?

Customer can be WRONG?
Shop owner asks sweaty student to take off blouse she is trying on
June 13, 2009

SWEATY: (From left) Reporters Geraldine Yeo and Audrey Tan in La Luce in Far East Plaza. TNP PICTURE: NG JI XIE

JUNIOR college student P Ray, 18, and her older sister had gone shopping in the Orchard area on 30 May.

After more than an hour, she finally found the perfect blouse at a shop in Far East Plaza and decided to try it on.

But her happiness was short-lived when she was told by the shop owner to change out of it.

She was perspiring and the owner did not want the blouse to be dirtied.

Her sister, undergraduate Nicky Ray, 22, was upset and wrote about their experience on a local online forum.

She later recounted the incident to The New Paper in a phone interview.

The older Miss Ray said when her sister saw the chiffon blouse, she was keen to buy it.

'My sister asked the salesgirl if she could try it on, and she said okay,' Miss Ray said.

The New Paper later learnt that the salesgirl was actually the shop owner.

When her sister was in the fitting room, Miss Ray said the shop owner was talking to a salesgirl from the opposite shop.

She said: 'They seemed to be talking about whether my sister should be trying on the top. When my sister came out of the changing room, the owner told her to change out of the top as soon as possible because she was sweating.

'She also told my sister, 'I still have to sell these clothes'.'

Polite & apologetic

Miss Ray admitted that her sister was perspiring, but she did not see why her sister should not be allowed to try on the blouse.

Miss Ray said the owner was polite and apologised profusely.

'But the damage was done. My sister tried so hard not to look embarrassed,' she said.

The sisters left the shop immediately.

When contacted, the owner, who is in her early 20s, said she would rather leave it to others to decide if she was in the wrong and declined further comment.

Miss Ray's online post was met with mixed reactions.

A netizen, OddEye, wrote: 'Your friend should know that she is sweaty and is wearing what will be put up for sale.

'(She) should have tried it on another day, knowing her own situation.'

But SweetObscurity disagreed: 'If the shop is customer-oriented, I believe she (the owner) would have bothered to clean the clothes after a sweaty person tries it.'

The New Paper asked five sales assistants what they would do if they came across perspiring customers.

All said they had no qualms about letting the customers try on the clothes.

Their refrain: The customer is always right.

Really?

Two reporters went undercover to put shops to the test. (See report on facing page for the results.)

At Tangs Orchard, a sales assistant, Madam Julia Tan, in her 60s, said the store does not encourage policies that discriminate against any customer.

But Madam Tan noted that most customers are considerate enough to not try on clothing when they are perspiring.

Five of six shoppers The New Paper spoke to did not see anything wrong in trying on clothes when they are sweaty.

Said Ms Siti SH, 58, who works in a management consultancy company: 'Shoppers should be allowed to try the clothes regardless of whether they are perspiring.'

Full-time National Serviceman Khairul Ar, 20, agreed: '(The shop owner) didn't have to make it so obvious.'

But student Jacky Kok, 19, said both parties were at fault.

'If the customer was perspiring, she should have been more considerate,' he said.

'The salesgirl also shouldn't have told the girl directly as it was too obvious.'

Audrey Tan Ruiping and Kerri Teo, newsroom interns

 

[tonychat]

Then provide a towel for them to dry themselves before allowing them to try it out lah.

Surely this sort of thing you do not need a manual of standard operating procedure for that? GOsh... sinkies.

 

[metalslug]

http://tnp.sg/news/story/0,4136,204835,00.html?

STREET TALK
Sorry, sweaty girl, don't come near my clothes
By Low Ching Ling

June 13, 2009




A GIRL, sweating profusely, tries on a blouse in a shop. The shop owner politely tells her to take it off.

Who's in the wrong?

The girl for being inconsiderate in dirtying someone's merchandise with her perspiring body?


Or the shop owner for not following the maxim: The customer is always right?

Such an incident happened at a shop in Far East Plaza on 30 May when the owner politely told an 18-year-old student trying on a blouse to remove it.

The girl's sister was upset and wrote about their experience on a local online forum, fuckwarezone.

She felt the owner was wrong to tell her sister off, even though it was done in a polite manner.

After all, the customer is always right, right?

Five out of six shoppers The New Paper spoke to saw nothing wrong in trying on clothes while perspiring profusely.

And most sales assistants have no qualms about letting sweaty customers try on their merchandise.

What? So nice? Who says Singapore service is poor?

If you can put up with sweaty and smelly bodies, your standard must be truly high.

But if this bodes well for Singapore's service standards, I worry about our standards of public behaviour.

Where are our manners and common courtesy?

Just like pushing into lifts and trains before others can get out, trying on clothes while sweaty should simply not be done.

I accept that perspiring is part and parcel of living in Singapore weather, especially with the current heatwave.

I also understand that most sales assistants may be too nice or afraid to tell customers that they are sweaty.

But if I were in their shoes, sorry, you're going nowhere near my clothes.

Of course, I'd be polite and apologetic - like the shop owner at Far East Plaza.

But perspiring customers should know better than to try on clothes that are not theirs.

Is it so hard to cool yourself off or wipe your sweat first before trying them on?

Disgusting

Spare a thought for shop owners who are left with clothes that have been stained with your sweat.

Spare a thought for other customers who are going to try on the same clothes after you.

Would you try something on if you know it had previously been soaked in someone else's sweat?

I pose the same question to the netizens and shoppers who slammed the shop owner for telling the perspiring girl to take off the blouse.

If your answer is yes, then sorry, I think it's just disgusting.

Customers are not allowed to try on underpants for hygiene reasons.

Sweat breeds bacteria. So why should sweaty people be allowed to try on clothes at shops?

It's like how women with heavy make-up shouldn't try on tops in case they leave their cheek and lip marks on them.

In most shops, when you break something, it's considered sold. I say let's apply the same rule to clothes.

Once you dirty it - with make-up or perspiration - you pay for it.

 

[po2wq]

Customers always RIGHT? ...

ofcos customers oways rite! ...

otherwise, customers oways left ...

wif pigs captured in fones, go home, den go 2 internet n stomp! ...

 

[shOUTloud]

Then provide a towel for them to dry themselves before allowing them to try it out lah.

Surely this sort of thing you do not need a manual of standard operating procedure for that? GOsh... sinkies.

I can't believe the latest stupid idea proposed by you. One towel per customer or one towel for all customers? I think pple should have some decency to not try on clothes if they are sweaty, stinky or dirty.

This is basic manners. I guess I better not try any clothes in Thailand since you are based there.