Customer Service Experience

As part of my research behind the brand Nars, I decided to go to a few concession stands to see what the customer service was like. 

The first stand I went to was in John Lewis, Oxford Street, London. At first the Nars concession was hard to find, obviously they sell a lot of makeup products in John Lewis so we had to hunt around for the stand. The stand itself was quite small with limited Nars products. The make-up artists were reluctant to come over unlike on other concessions where they engage with you straight away. The concession wasn't busy  so I thought they would have made a bit of conversation. When I then asked for some products, she looked bored and reluctant to get them, not asking if I needed anything else, therefore it felt like we kept bothering her to get some products. I then asked for a lipstick shade and was told someone was bringing stock up from downstairs but I was welcome to wait whilst she did. I asked if she had any information on the brand that I could take away for my research and was told to Google the PR brand in charge of Nars and they would send me something. Whilst I was waiting, my friend brought some items from the neighbouring counter who said she could call down to the stock room for me to find out if they have this particular lipstick shade. So in total I waited around half an hour to be told by someone who doesn't work for Nars that they could call down to the stockroom to check. Whilst I was being told this, I looked over to the Nars counter to see that the makeup artists were doing each others makeup, ignoring the customers around them. In the end I paid for my products with someone who doesn't work for Nars. Perhaps they were having an off day but it definitely wasn't the customer experience I was expecting when I walked into the concession. 

I then went to House of Fraser to see if they had the lipstick in stock. Once again they were reluctant to come over and didn't acknowledge any of the customers lingering around the stand. Even though it was quiet. I then went up to one of the ladies and asked for the lipstick shade, she was very helpful and checked on the stands but didn't check in the stockroom. It was as though checking in the stockroom was a huge task for them. So I decided to leave and order the lipstick online instead. 

My overall experience at the concessions was quite poor and not what I would expect from such a high end brand. My experience online shopping has been slightly better but not quite. I ordered a few products receiving free shipping. I got the usual confirmation that they had received my order and would receive another email when it had been packed and shipped. I waited around two weeks and then received an email saying my order hadn't been shipped yet. Obviously not an email you want to receive after two weeks, but they offered me a £10 discount on my next shop which I used to buy the lipstick that was 'Out of stock' in store. Result! 

My experience has made me want to look into what kind of training staff receive. Is there more emphasis on the product knowledge than customer service? If so, why? Or was my experience a one off?