Remember that tragic scene inPretty Woman when “Viv” gets kicked out of the posh Rodeo Drive shop? I can still barely watch it. But that was a movie and we could all take comfort in the notion that in real life customers are not treated that way. Or are they?
Keara O’Neill (the “Vivienne” in this story although she’s not a hooker) told theHerald-Sun that she was clothes shopping with friends for an upcoming wedding when the salesman verbally assaulted her after she wanted to take a moment to mull over the purchase. Ultimately he managed to badger her into buying the dress but not without insulting her size eight frame and tellingher and her friends that they “were a joke.”
Talk about disgruntled! Since we don’t all haveRichard Gere to swoop in and come to our rescue we write complaint letters that are supposed to educate the owners of stores as to how they’re being negatively represented. The normal response is usually an employee termination or at least a verbal warning/offer for amazing discount on behalf of the customer.Unfortunately this was not the case withGasp, a popular chain of boutiques in Australia, who’s stunning response to O’Neill’s complaint, left us well…gasping.
The New York Daily News reports the area manager jumped to the defense of the salesman sayingthat its store was just too fabulous for her and that the salesclerk was a “superstar.” The letter read as follows:
“Chris whom served you is a qualified stylist whom has a sixth sense for fashion, and Chris’s only problem is that he is too good at what he does. People whom [sic] are talented generally do not tolerate having their time wasted, which is the reason you were provoked to leave the store.”
Further evidence of their superiority over unfortunate customers like O’Neill — the store styles celebrities such asKim Kardashian,Selena Gomez andKaty Perry — which he explained, has the tendency to “frighten”the common shopper with its fashion-forward sensibility. He went on to say:
“Sometimes we have found that this type of customer almost finds our dresses funny, and on occasion noted comments such as ‘it looks like a dead flamingo.’ When we receive comments like this, we like to give ourselves and our buyers a big pat on the back because we know we are doing our job right.”
It would appear Gasp has no interest in actually selling clothes — they’d rather conduct their business as a popularity contest. Even though consumer response has been outrage followed by taunts and insults directed towards the salesclerk, the boutique remains firm saying:????????
“We respect that not all consumers strive for a glamorous appearance; some prefer to simply blend in,” a rep wrote in response to the uproar, it. “But we ask that their opinions be expressed through blogs, social media or around a warm latte, but certainly not inside our stores.”
