No Questions at Inglot, Versova :(
Image via WikipediaA few days ago, Inglot was running a 35% off discount. Having heard a lot about their eye shadows, I decided to pick a few for myself & avail of the 20% they had running on them.
As some of you may know Inglot has a freedom palette system. Here one can pick & choose eye shadows to create your own palette. One has to pay for the palette, of course. Now the deal is that the eye shadows both in round form & square form cost the same (Rs. 300) , but the square one has a much larger quantity. The round pan has around 1.8 gms & the square one has 2.7 gms.
But the square empty palette costs almost double that of the round empty palette.
For instance the 5 round palette costs Rs. 350 /-, but the 10 square palette costs 1400/-. So essentially you end up paying/compensating for the extra quantity of eye shadow in the square palette by paying more for an empty plastic structure. It is beyond me why an empty square palette should cost twice that of the round palette considering that both are made from the same material and are of the same quality. The only explanation is that they have offset the cost of extra eye shadow in the square pan to the palette.
For instance the 5 round palette costs Rs. 350 /-, but the 10 square palette costs 1400/-. So essentially you end up paying/compensating for the extra quantity of eye shadow in the square palette by paying more for an empty plastic structure. It is beyond me why an empty square palette should cost twice that of the round palette considering that both are made from the same material and are of the same quality. The only explanation is that they have offset the cost of extra eye shadow in the square pan to the palette.
Now I would imagine as a first time customer the MUA/SA owes explaining this price structure to me, but apparently the MUAs at G7 mall in Versova don’t think so. Here is what happened.
1. When I asked her the difference between the round & the square palette – she told me there was no difference. She didn’t mention the 1 gm quantity difference. I found out about this during billing when I happened to turn the pots around & saw the printed weights on the back.
2. When I asked her the difference between the empty round palette & the square one, she again repeated there was no differences save for the shape, omitting to tell me that there was an appreciable price difference (almost double) between the two.
3. Now this made me wonder why anyone would purchase a round palette when it made better sense to go for the square one. You get more quantity at the same price. The eye shadows cost the same & so does the palette.
4. I found out about the price and product quantity difference when I began to ask more probing questions at the billing counter. One MUA in particular had a very bored & exasperated expression on her face, her attitude being “just buy, & go”.
5. Despite my repeated & explicit instructions to not place the eye shadows in the pan, she still went ahead & potted them while I was checking out the lip glosses. I didn’t want her to place them as the eye shadow number is written at the bottom of the pan & I wanted to keep a record of the same for review purposes.
6. Post my purchase, I further enquired about the prices of different palettes (3, 5, 6, 10, 15 round & square palette) – this bored MUA actually told me “You have already made your purchase, why are you asking so many questions?” The store was completely empty at this point as it was for most of the time I spent there. Save for one foreigner looking for a lip gloss for his GF. So it wasn’t like I was keeping her away from other customers.
Now to be honest I am really liking their eye shadows, & I would definitely like to make more purchases. But I hate the way that MUA treated me, like a money bag. She was unwilling to answer my questions truthfully, ignored my instructions, and basically just wanted me to help her achieve her sales target. She didn’t care for my interests & was certainly not interested in resolving my queries.
Was I asking for too much? Is it not in my right as a consumer to get answers to my questions? Inglot, I am disappointed.
I was so happy to read in newspaper 2day that inglot store has been opened in infinity mall,versova..couldnt be more happier.I was actually making a list of what all I would be buying.Now that you have written about the MUAs'
ReplyDeleteIm a bit reluctant.
you did nothing wrong by asking questions,I hope someone from the inglot side reads this post!
omg!!sick!!! me scared to venture in now....hope someone from inglot is reading this and reacts!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeletewow, i never paid attention to the 1 gram difference between the round and square eyeshadows. but then there's the difference between the empty palettes! how lame...
ReplyDeleteThats unproffessional. But their e/s are very good. Please swatch your entire haul dear. Also waiting for the review dear. Thanks :)
ReplyDeletethats soo bad..dey are not even informed well..and dont even bother to answer..bad service..!
ReplyDeleteits very disappointing and infuriating at the same moment when sales people are so negligent of the need to give attention to the customers....I hope Inglot takes note of this and either trains the sales person some customer service programs or takes on board polite people...the customer service has lot of influence on the consumers now a days....
ReplyDeletei think company forgot to train the MUA.:|
ReplyDeleteI get so pissed off when SA or MUA don't give due respect to the customers..Now i will go and buy Inglot stuff from Delhi now..:(
Hmmm... this kind of attitudinal deficiency by the makeup artists / Sales associates is totally un-acceptable..semi skilled / under trained staff in customer facing functions can ruin all the brand building effort companies spend millions on.
ReplyDeleteIf you found the behavior un-acceptable remember to drop a line in the visitor book / write on the credit card charge slip (they can't discard these) or drop email to the company with representative name.
But yes Inglot shadows are great, so yes you should grab some more..
Where does this come from, this sense of entitlement? Seriously? No salesperson is paid enough to have to answer questions that benefit either the person questioning him/her or the multi-million Dollars corporation she's a very small and insignificant minion of. It's not that you wanted them to be just nice to you. You wanted them to let products lie around for your convenience. I don't mean to be rude but stop for a moment and think about people on the lowest rung of the service industry. Each day is a struggle for preserving one's dignity from people who think their money purses make them better than the sales-clerks. Being disgruntled at shoddy service is one thing but to be stuck on the issue of not being treated properly is borderline narcissistic. You complained the same way when someone at the Lakme counter sold you expired lipsticks; even vowing to never purchase Lakme products again. Both you and I know how that went. Wouldn't it be nicer if you'd be the bigger person and cut the salespeople some slack? Your product reviews are amazing and I rely on them. I hope you won't take it the wrong way and just let such things go.
ReplyDeleteATB
May
I disagree with the above comment. The sense of so called entitlement comes from having worked very hard for our money. It is the duty of a company to train their sales staff adequately. And it is the duty of any employee to give their 100%. The fact that a job does not pay "enough" does not give one the right to be downright rude. Even if the sales person did not want to answer what she obviously felt were too many questions, she could have handled it differently. The sales person is representative of the brand in question. If they don't answer questions about the product then who will?
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you actually wrote a post about this. Unhelpful,aggressive rude salepeople at cosmetic counter have become de rigeur.At some counters [ eg. counters at Dorabjee] the sales people are horrid and coolly answer dishonestly. I am so fed up with these people that i don't even bother asking them anything . I just see and double check by myself. People, please double check expiry dates and seals. I have seen salespeople tamper brand new eyepencils and eyeshadows and use them as testers when they don't have a tester.
ReplyDelete@Anon "May": Thank you for your comment. My "sense of entitlement" comes from the fact that I pay for what I buy from Inglot. Inglot is not doing me any favours. They charge me a price determined by them, which is inclusive of service. If Inglot cannot provide basic service where its MUA / SAs are informed / truthful about price & quantity points then it would be better if Inglot just puts up a notice board with all price/quantity information & hires one person to bill your purchases - like it happens in a mall. It saves Inglot the salaries it pays these people as well & will not build expectation in us as customers.
ReplyDeleteI honestly didn't understand your comment of "You wanted them to let products lie around for your convenience." I'm not sure what you are trying to say. If inglot finds it inconvenient to open stores with products for me to sample - they they can also move to an online model. I'm sure they haven't opened the Versova store for my personal benefit. Inglot would never do charity, it let's its products lie around because that is what promotes sales.
& if we are getting philosophical, life is a struggle for everyone I believe, be it a sales clerk or the PM of India. Just becoz I'm the consumer is it ok for me to get treated horribly? Has customer service been reduced to such a state in India that that I am suspected of suffering "borderline narcissism" if I enquire about Price & quantity? LOL!
It is not as if I was asking the MUA esoteric questions on ingredient safety or formulations. Is it too much these days to ask the SA to be informed about prices & quantities? & this is basic stuff. There is no need to "lie" and assure the customer that there is no difference, when there is.
As far as Lakme is concerned, yes I made it a point to blog about the expired lipsticks. Here is something you may not know, Lakme people got in touch with me, understood the entire sales process & now every lakme lipstick sold at NBC is checked before sale.
In any case, no where in my post have I asked any of my readers to not shop at Inglot.
Also FYI this incident occured more than 4 weeks ago. This post is not a reactionary, off the cuff post. This has been put up so that consumers who shop at Inglot are aware of the price / quantity differences, so that they can make an informed choice since it seems their SAs will not make the effort to do so.
Hi gurl..am a newbie in this..
ReplyDeleteIs it cost of pan + cost of eyeshadow? like 1400+ whatever the cost of the eyeshadow total
or does the amount INCLUDE the eyeshadow?
@KG: If you buy a 10 square eye shadow palette, your total cost wld be 10*300 = 3000 for the eyeshadows plus the 1400 for the empty square palette. Therefore cost is 4400 Rs. I hope this makes it clear.
ReplyDelete@Anon - those sales people are paid to create a good shopping experience. If not, what is the difference between a drug store and inglot? Either way, Tanveer, I think you have the right to rant. You should go to Inglot in Delhi if you get the chance, the service is fabulous there.
ReplyDeleteTanz .... am so glad you raised your voice, am so pissed off with Inglot, It was when I purchased for the first time from their store and was seeking permission to cover their event, their PR said right good things about Inglot, one blogger writes very good about us and Tanz I hope you know that ONE BLOGGER, I said to PR “this is about my purchase how can write good or bad when I didn’t even tried that “. she was like pls write good about US that was the very first point I had disrespect for the brand when a PR has to convince a blogger it is the biggest shameful act and as you said in your post about MUA, I even know their SA through a friend and yeah its same with me but I never bothered to write about that, let me write my experience as well.
ReplyDeleteI thanks a ton to you and I respect you even more for being honest and you are ONLY Indian Blogger I love for this nature.
Nice reply tanveer, but there are these type of anonymous comments trashing most blogs...saw one more in p&b . I cant help but say awesome quid pro quo.
ReplyDeleteHi Tanveer, agree with you all the way....
ReplyDeleteIts a good thing that you wrote about this.We can understand the attitudeds of SAs at small counters in cosmetic shops as they are hired by the shop and has recieved zero training in customer relations what so ever.But at a CCO like Inglot,the SAs are meant to be trained to provide us the consumers a good service.If we go to a Dior/Gucci Showroom,we expect to be treated with the luxury these brands' products signify,and high end cosmetic brands have the same need to treat us with the basic manners a consumer of such costly products should be given.
ReplyDeleteIt is a good thing you thought to write about this,and i honestly hope that this issue comes to the attention of someone from Inglot as they NEED to know about things like this as the sales Service in India is still so whatever and the SAs still treat us like they are doing us a favor,they should KNOW that it is the otherway around and that the Brand is not the ones paying their bills,but us,the consumers are.!!!!
i agree with you tanvi. even i just wrote my experience on misleading information by SAs.
ReplyDeletei didn't know that inglot has been opened in infinity will check out.
hi tanz....this is my first comment on your blog.i came across this link thru indyabeauty and coudn't resist commenting here.
ReplyDeletei am actually horrified at reading this post of your's.if inglot can mete such behaviour to beauty bloggers like u and rash...then i dont know what they are going to do with regular customers like me.
i have shopped at inglot just twice but never faced such problems as i never asked any questions......just bought and went...
but even i have an inglot story to share here with u....inglot counter is too far away from my place so i once asked my friend to buy inglot 30 t bent eyeliner brush for me.and i told her that the brush will cost around 640 bucks.but wen she handed me the bill the brush costed 720 bucks....and i was horrified at seeing that they have charged her 80 rs extra as vat..this despite the fact that the price tag on product read 640 bucks inclusive of all taxes.
i understand that my friend shud have checked this thing right at the time of billing but i also feel that this is something really shameful and innocous that inglot has done to thier naive customers.....
inglot really need to read this post and comments and they shud brush up their pr things...... i stopped buying lakme for same reason...ill informed and rude sales attendant...
I've never been to Inglot, but thanks for the heads-up. It's a pity experiences end up being like this. BTW, while we expect MUAs/ SAs to answer our questions here in India, abroad not too many of them are willing to help out. What they think is fine is pathetic by our standards!
ReplyDeleteOn a side note- Inglot was supposed to open at Atria, Worli. It got canned, and now it won't be opening there anymore. Not sure why.
I feel like punching the SA. Of course she has to know these things! It was very rude of her to say that to you! Believe me T, Inglot SAs in Delhi are like that too, that's why I don't even talk to them most of them time. They just give that vibe as soon as you enter the store- they act like we're there to steal.
ReplyDelete♥xx♥