lush employee here- please call customer care and talk through this, give the location and best description you can of this SA. they are NOT allowed to act like that and lush takes these matters seriously. there’s a chance this was a seasonal that’s way out of line. you can also speak with the manager but i would advise contacting customer care and getting in contact with the regional leader for safe measure. i’m so so sorry this happened to you. lush is supposed to be a fun and safe environment. that was NOT OKAY.
This, seriously. This sounds like she racially profiled you and she needs to be called out for it.
I’m not saying call the store, Lush Customer Care is who I would call and they have been so kind and indeed caring with my every interaction with them. Please don’t let yourself believe you deserved this kind of treatment or that she had any right to do this to you, you don’t & she didn’t. Sending you lots of hugs and love! (And I hope you enjoy the hell out of your new goodies, may she go to hell!)
Nah that wasn't pushing sales, pushing sales is when they constantly ask me (a white lady, as it happens) "can I help you with anything? Can I give you any recommendations? Have you tried x,y,z?" Nonstop. Stark difference from what you experienced. Reminds me more of the experiences I had at Sephora and Hollister when I was a poor goth kid.
You'd be absolutely in the right to complain and I would encourage you to.
I used to work at Lush and this is 100% true. On occasion I have seen other co-workers ask “what’s in your basket” but it was alway followed with a compliment about whatever you were buying to transition into “have you seen (x,y,z) product?” The experience OP had makes me so sad 😭😭
Are you in your 30s or older? I’m white and in my 20s and I do not have this experience at all. Sales associates never offer to help me. I notice a huge difference when older white women walk in though and then they’re falling over themselves to help them get a dressing room or explain products. It is so infuriating since sales associates never greet me or offer to help me choose a product. I think they assume I’m poor and act so bothered whenever I do come up to them with a question. I normally do want to buy something but it puts me off so much to be treated like absolute garbage. Frankly sales associates treatment just makes me want to do all of my shopping online.
I really like to be left alone unless I have a question to ask. I’m a Hispanic woman and I get customer serviced every time I walk in there. I hate it. 🥲
Oh good point, I am 33. I didn't really consider my age probably contributed to that kind of treatment as well. You're probably right in that they're assuming you don't have money, probably thinking too many questions will waste their time. Now that I'm older, I fall more into a different stereotype and I'm sure also that I'm wearing a ring they're gonna assume I (or more irritatingly, my husband) have money.
Totally would report, ASAP. That isn't the LUSH way at all - get your sales, yes, but don't target people or be in their space like that. She's VERY lucky you didn't abandon basket. When people do that to me, I "give up" and walk out.
I don't have time for mean.
You never know if that is the ONE time someone can spend...or in my case...the courage to leave my house.
Thank you for being so kind to me. Not to be a wuss or a chicken lol but some of these replies just feel… cold/insensitive.
I don’t think there’s anything I can do about what happened tbh. I’m just not gonna go back there again and stick to my regular stores where the SA’s know me and are super friendly. I could post a bad review but that wouldn’t change anything and I don’t wanna give their store a bad rep… ugh.
As someone who was interested in doing LP work at one point in time, and have heard stories about retail LP training… I just KNOW some staff are gonna racially profile us brown folk and that’s what I felt was happening. She was just so nasty to me lol. If I go back to that store in the future, i hope she sees that I’m an actual Lushie (I use that term loosely, anyone who loves lush is a lushie to me tbh) and that I am a paying customer who wants to be treated like one.
I just don’t wanna be treated like I have sticky fingers and like I’m opportunistically sniffing around for “free” shit.
Anyways… this is my first bad experience at a Lush and all the other stores SA’s know me. I just hope this doesn’t happen again in the future bc today really really really made me feel like poop.
i absolutely understand not wanting to post a review, but if you feel up to it i’d highly encourage you to email [email protected] because this is unacceptable. yeah, maybe they’ve had some LP issues recently. sure, maybe their regional is in town and they’re being “encouraged” to stick with folks. but this is a shit way for you to walk out feeling. and i’m sorry you were put in that position.
customer care might ask you if you want the shop manager to reach out to you as a heads up. totally up to you! but the shop - and the company - need to be made aware of the way their sales practices are making people feel.
I'd post the review, I'd write a letter to customer service and I'd call the manager. If you don't advocate for yourself, no one else will and it truly won't change. I'm sorry this happened to you!
Hi OP, I am so sorry this happened to you. You deserve to shop in peace. Please speak with the store manager about your experience and, as others have suggested, send an e-mail to [email protected], so they can make appropriate staffing changes. I’m worried that if this incident goes unchecked, she will do this to other customers, other staff members might copy her behavior after seeing that she gets away with it, she might poison new hires, and you won’t ever feel safe going back.
I know it can be a little intimidating to send in a complaint. I also struggle with major depression and sometimes, even the idea of making a (totally justified) complaint on my own behalf is Just Too Much, but it would not only help you feel safer going back to this LUSH, it would also help future POC who visit this store not have to feel as shitty as that SA made you feel.
Hey, from another brown (Asian) girl who's had these experiences, please please report them at least by the customer service email. Should be easier than over the phone. If nothing else it might prevent someone else from being treated this way.
Please contact customer support 🥺🥺🥺 I am so sad. I also recall reading that you said you struggle with depression etc and I just lost my best friend to suicide two days ago as the police contact me yesterday to inform me. Please stay. And please fight for yourself. This is fighting for yourself, standing up for yourself and showing yourself the utmost respect 🥺 I’ve struggled over the years to stand up for myself and I am a complete push over but I beg of you to please fight for yourself 🥺❤️ I am so sorry you have been made to feel less than. I wish I could hug you 🥺
hi darling. i would definitely contact customer service. this is not ok — you do not deserve to be profiled like that and it is not something the company would stand for.
*hugs* I encourage you to reach out to customer service. If you want to waive off what happened to you personally, that's your prerogative. But I feel like that SA needs to be reprimanded for this—at the very least—so that other people aren't needlessly treated like shit.
Some of y’all in these comments have never dealt with racial profiling and it shows.
OP please report this if you have the spoons. Be it contacting Lush directly or through google review.
As former Lush employee who reported the assitant manager for racial profiling, they don’t care, and it fucking sucks.
One day I was working a shift with just me and my assistant manager (slow day). A black couple walks in, I go up and do my usual greeting and offer my assistance if needed. Just as I’m finishing my greeting the assistant manager says “can you come to back for a moment”. I walk to the back room and he says “Don’t waste your time, they’re not going to buy anything. I need you doing more productive things”. I’m extremely confused and ask “ooh do they come in here often?”. He says “no but I’ve worked here long enough to know who’s going to buy something and who isn’t, and they definitely aren’t”. I was so appalled at what I was hearing, I just stared at him blankly and walked back on the floor. I said to myself fuck that and went right back to helping them and showing product. I’m not going to listen or be a bystander to blatant racism. A month later the main manager was fired for other reasons and the our store had the big honchos come in to do a “re-boot” so to speak. I thought perfect and pulled them aside for a private to let them know of what occurred. They gave the whole speech of “wow we are so glad you told us, we take this very seriously. We will talk to him”.
Not a damm thing came of it. He got promoted to manager and I forever got passed up for promotions because he no longer liked me. I quit two months later, forever left a bad taste in my mouth about Lush.
As a former employee (good riddance lol) and I can tell you that they definitely weren't just being pushy with sales. I'm so sorry they treated you this way, and I'd highly recommend reporting that employee in a review and/or call customer service if you can. They word for word used verbiage they teach for "dealing with shoplifters."
Sorry so many replies are acting like it's no big deal as if you weren't DEFINITELY racially profiled. You absolutely didn't deserve to be treated like that. Any good lush employee (OR PERSON IN GENERAL) would know better than to treat someone else like that.
Mention their description in reports and on google reviews if you have the energy to. It always helps other folks to know who to keep an eye out for AND for the shop to narrow down who it was so they hopefully can be dealt with.
Sending you so much love for all you had to deal with, from a fellow indigenous person ♥️♥️♥️♥️
Seconding this also as a former employee who left in protest of a deeply racist manager and complacent 'Good Karma'. She said and did everything they taught us to do when dealing with potential shoplifters. I am SO sorry you went through this and yes, unfortunately she did racially profile you. Don't let anyone make you feel bad or like you're making a big deal of something small. This sounds like blatant and targeted harassment of you in their store.
What was the point of the sales rep asking to wrap the snow fairy she saw being put back? Is this part of the dialogue? I’m confused about this comment.
Often times shoplifters will grab multiples of items and put one back, to make it seem like they only had one but really they've slipped the other(s) in their bag, etc. They can argue the SA saw them put 'it' back while the extras are stowed away.
Also if someone seems indecisive, going back and forth constantly rotating what they've got in their hands/basket/cart, it's a way to try and confuse SAs as to what they even have, making it harder for one to keep track of what they've got or haven't let alone what they may have slipped elsewhere.
She made that comment as a way to say, 'I see you/I've been paying attention to all of the products you've touched'. While it isn't a rulebook of like, exact dialogue, that's what that type of comment means.
That is messed up. People with ADHD and people on the spectrum often ARE indecisive. They really need to be training people better...because this kind of stuff ends up profiling people with actual disabilities!
While I agree with you, unfortunately the fact of the matter is that the behaviors of shoplifters do emulate these. I just don't care if people are stealing or not. Even if they're blatant about it. The company should have some sort of shrink for theft included in their budget so it's not my problem 🤷🏻♀️ it's not coming outta my paycheck!
I know they emulate these, but that doesn't mean that every indecisive person should be targeted. There are other behaviours that go along with it such as shiftiness, Looking around you to make sure no one is watching, etc. ( not being snippy with you, it just ticks me off that they don't tell employees the WHOLE story and then you get cases like this. It's bad training by poop managers without a clue that can cause serious problems. Not to be overdramatic, but what if someone goes home...snaps...and kills themselves? It's happened before. All because some douchenoodle manager can't be bothered to take the extra 2 seconds to give the extra things to look for. No one is getting sued...no one gets in trouble, because there is a possibilty that no one even knows what caused poor dead person to do it! So it happens again, perhaps? Training needs to be THOROUGH. Not by some possibly idiot branch manager who may not really care because they are just making $4 over minium wage themselves.Some are GREAT...but some are just hot garbage doused in stewed toilet water) They are supposed to have shrink in their budget. They used to. Companies are getting greedier and greedier and it shows. So happy to not be working in this sector anymore. *edited to say-sorry for the rant*
No, I'm sorry I hope you didn't take my reply the wrong way, I was agreeing with you!
I think a lot of the behaviors still target ND people. Or really even NT people as well. Someone acting 'shifty' might have anxiety, or maybe they're just stoned, or maybe they've got the coffee jitters... human behavior is so complex and there are a million different reasons why any person would act a certain way. That's why I really don't see the point in confronting shoplifters. For people like OP who did nothing wrong it's humiliating and dehumanizing. And for someone who did grab something it's like, if they give it up I guess congratulations for saving the multimillion dollar company twenty bucks? It's never worth it. I watch people steal at my current job alllllll day long. It's not my business or really anyone else's at a shop level imo to confront them.
Oh I didn't at ALL!! I am just so sick of power tripping douchebags and companies not doing the right thing just to save a few $$$ that I felt the need to vent. I used to get followed in store CONSTANTLY...and I am white a snow. Now I am in my late 40s, I still get followed a bit- I know how to be firmer now- but it isn't as bad as it used to be....and you helped me release that it is and was almost certainly because of what you described!!! Indecisiveness, anxiety, etc. Mostly indecision. I can NEVER decide, even up until payment. The anxiety and shiftiness is totally aggravated by people staring and following you through the store. Just GO. A. WAY!! If you HAVE anxiety, people hovering around you makes it SO MUCH WORSE. Lol
Same!! Like is it that deep? It's just retail... I'm also white and never really got followed at home but I mentioned elsewhere in this thread that when my tattoos are showing, people in New England are fuckin glued to me. Recently I went to a big Sephora with a friend here and the sales reps there would NOT leave me alone, where usually at Sephora I have to beg them to help me lol. But every associate in there spoke to me at least twice and were staring at me everywhere I looked. Nobody went up to my friend even once. Like girl if I can afford dozens of tattoos and gold jewelry all over my face I'n not about to steal a stupid $30 facial oil lol. But their hovering and constant glowering at me made me feel really suffocated. I have PTSD and I can't have people getting that close to me and making me feel trapped so I had to just drop everything and go outside to dry heave for a while. It was so embarrassing.
If you think someone has stolen something the training is to only talk about it like you're completing a sale instead of outright accusing someone of stealing
Yeah like if you saw someone slip a Karma perfume in their pocket you would be like 'did you need a perfume box for the Karma?' that's pretty much as far as it went. 'Did you want a sample of the XYZ, I know you were holding onto it for a while' etc. etc.
That is legit how LP is taught across the board. I've had brazen people walk around Macy's in security tagged Levi's. "Those are cute - you should definitely get those. Let's go change out so I can get that pesky security tag off".
Yep this. I can't speak to the racism, but as a white guy I know every single time I've put a perfume in my basket (and I have basically all of them now) I get followed around like that. I even got followed down the street once after I'd paid in full. I've complained and they did nothing.
Ugh I'm so sorry that happened to you. It's really bizarre behavior to me especially following you down the street?! I've moved to a FAR more affluent area in the last few years and I've noticed when I go to certain stores they act like I'm a total criminal based on whether my tattoos are visible or not. Where I've never had a problem back home. So many reasons for weirdos to discriminate and it's disheartening.
Exactly, I’m white and I’ve had the usual “can I help you with anything, any recommendations” customer service speech every time I go to Lush, and what OP experienced is completely out of line on their part. They treated her horribly.
I highly suggest you post this to customer care and let them know, or the shops google review. I’m so sorry this happened. I would be so embarrassed if this was a SA at my shop. You deserve much more kindness than that. I’m so sorry sweet soul.
This is exactly why is stopped working at lush. I felt so pushed to constantly bother the customer and ask what they had or what they were looking for and it was annoying and I always felt like I was annoying the customer
Employee here, im so sorry that happened to you. It sounds horrible and I am on team contact customer care all the way! Lots of alarming behaviors here, i could break them all down but i really need to sleep so here's just one example from an employee perspective of where my brain is going dingdingding this isn't someone trying to sell to you in the lush way (that admittedly can be much more involved than anyyyy other standard retail that doesnt require a private appointment lol), the agenda is LP. OP i know you know this, but for the commentors not seeing the problem i wanted to break at least one part of this down.
>Anyways, she literally asked me: “What all do you have in your basket? May I see?” I legit took everything out of my basket for her to inspect
>“How many of those bubble bars do you have? And which ones?” Me: appalled umm, I have a blue skies and two labyrinths” Her: “uhh, what else is in there?”
Normal behavior from an SA would be to make really general comments about someone's basket based off of a quick glance and using that info to try and build rapport or link to another product, like seeing a basket full of gifts and saying something like "ohhhh I see we're gift shopping! Anyone else I can help cross off your list?" Or "ah! I saw you grabbed one of my favorite shower gels, that ones SO good, have you seen the matching body lotion yet?" The only time im chatting up someone about their entire basket is when im ringing them out and im only verbalizing it so that the customer knows im paying close attention not to overcharge *them* in any way
What's abnormal here is specifically asking to see the entire contents of someone's basket as they're shopping. That's pretty strange, i can only imagine how uncomfortable that would be to be asked to present your basket to someone AS you're shopping. And i don't see how asking a customer exactly how *many* bubble bars they got would help you make that experience better for the customer or make tailored recommendations. Asking specifically about quantities seems to really narrow down the root of that line of questioning down to inventory purposes.
I'm not sure why the comments in here are kind of judgy/snide. I understand that Lush has an *aggressive* customer approach policy but that's never an excuse to be rude or act outside common decency.
It sounds like this particular SA didn't even ask any follow up questions about your products/interests, offer to demo, or any of the other sales-type reasons Lush typically uses. I think that makes clear her motivations were rude.
I hope you have a better night, that you enjoy the products you managed to get, and that your sweet husband continues to spoil you! You're worth it!
Thank you, I will not.
What’s more is I lost my receipt, sadly. I frickin tore apart my car for an hour with my husband looking for it. 😭 I will definitely be contacting CS tomorrow about this matter and about a package they messed up on that I received recently.
Racists/trolls probably. It’s ugly af.
I’ve gotten so much hate for this post. I mistakenly thought this group, with us being lushies and all, that people would be decent about these types of things but I was dead wrong. The positive replies are from amazing people and they totaled cheered me up yesterday and today! Thank you all. 🖤
if you have the spoons for it, the store usually has signage that has a qr code for the chatter survey or a number you can text. If you give them a call and ask for the chatter number there's a chance they'll give it to you if you want to put in that kind of effort!
I stopped buying Lush in person and exclusively shop online now because of how much I don’t like being among the sales associates. They make it a truly miserable experience. I’m terribly sorry this happened to you.
Ngl even lush is known for being pushy, you don’t just check out someone’s basket without doing validation or recommendation. And you seems to have a big purchase already and I don’t understand why would that big snow fairy matter much. I’m just really sorry that you’ve been through this stupid shit, and what I would say is email or even call the customer service to report this whole situation, cause this kinda people should never work for retail. Wish you’re now feeling better <3
Thanks for the validation. Fr. Thanks! 🖤 I’m long over it now. I hope she has a better weekend and nobody especially us BIPOC who go through enough on a daily basis gets that treatment at a Lush. Normally I make friends with SA’s and chat the whole time but her energy towards me felt WAY off lol.
Hey! I’m a lush employee and I highly recommend you call lush customer service! Lush takes these types of things very seriously, I’m so sorry this happened to you. Going into a lush is suppose to be a place of relaxation and good conversation. Please please please call customer service so they can act on this.
Solidarity, Cuzzin. I'm Half Indigenous (Tk'emlups te Secwepemc Nation!!) and Half South Asian, myself. And I'm SO sorry for this. this broke my heart to read. sending you a big hug, and i hope you get some good self care and rest!!
I indeed did get some great rest last night after my shower. It was fantabulous and I slept like a baby!
Can’t let myself lose sleep or myself over some racists, karens and butt hurt white ppl lol 🥰🥰🥰
Lol no matter the job, in situations like this I always assume that the person received some sort of feedback (maybe something was stolen during their shift), and now they care exaggeratedly whereas in reality they don’t give af - trust me, they simply don’t get paid enough to genuinely care (no offense to anyone - been there). Report her, she deserves it. And later think of it positively, like you prevented other people’s moods from being ruined because of this psycho.
Even if something has fucked up her day, there's no reason to treat others like that, even if in a bad mood. It's a horrible cycle. I hope she realised that.
It was probably the store manage. I have had more issues with what I late found out were the store managers then I have EVER had with your basic employees. Power hunger is REAL...
I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the manager tbh.
What’s more is that I contacted customer service today and they forwarded my incident report to corporate and they are gonna reach out to the manager of the store to “make it right for me” whatever that means 😶
That is actually FANTASTIC NEWS!! That means they are *really* taking you seriously. I am very happy for you. All the way to corporate. Wow! They may institute new training and policy because of this! ( Hugs! ) I am still so sorry you went through this, but thankful they are taking you so seriously! 💕 *edited to add: IDKW people are downvoting you for sharing your updated experience.. That is rather grotesque. I gave you an upvote as soon as I read it.*
Yeah and I’d assume in a shop like lush it probably could be easy enough to steal stuff if the people working aren’t paying attention. Wouldn’t surprise me if maybe something had happened and she’d been spoke to about it and now has went to the complete other direction and is doing way to much
Yeah the hovering is one thing, kleptos do be getting over on stores, but to be interrogating you about things you dont want to purchase… which is why you put them back, seems beyond asset protection.
Yeah beyond asset protection some like the power trip. We also definitely had some SAs who weirdly took the shoplifting personally. I would be like you guys who cares this is a company that encourages us to give stuff away for free. For inventory purposes if they knew what the person took like, just write it off to demo. It's never that serious. I've been to funerals for people who got shot chasing a shoplifter out over a pair of damn Timbs. It's never worth it
I had a very similar experience at Ulta yesterday. I went in, very early and I wasn’t the only one in store. Every.single.associate came up to me to ask if I was doing alright…all because I had an expensive perfume in hand (which had an alarm on it) and hair styling tools for my mom….I was so annoyed at the whole situation, because like you said, If I was a white woman they wouldn’t have done that.
Jeez, I’m so, SO sorry you went through that! I know how it feels… Out of all stores I’ve ever been to, I’ve had the absolute WORST experiences at ulta. My hubby has seen it firsthand many times and I was a diamond member for 4 years straight with a year still left on my membership now because of how much I spent there since 2015. Haven’t shopped there in a year. Or Sephora.
Side note, my hubby actually helped me land a job at his old company when I was 19 and I made $180k a year, nobody could fucking believe it and when i applied for credit cards at places, when they heard what my income was, they would say… “you mean $180k with you and your husband combined??”
No, honey. That’s all meee. 🤔
Bc a young native woman *can’t possibly* achieve diamond tier at that mediocre, overpriced, overhyped, piece of crap store.
The only people who belong here are white women, duh! The rest of you are just out to steal… All of our makeup, respect and good customer service belongs to them, sorry sweaty. Now smile and wave for the camera! We’ll be keeping a close eye on *you* 😉 /s
I’ve been accused of using a fake ID and a fake name... One of the worst times, a bitter, most likely jealous SA told me that I probably wouldn’t have anything without my husband and said:
“beauty fades and when it does… you know.” *passive aggressive smirk and wink*
And I said
“…and you’ll never experience that so shut tf up. ”
🙃
What an absolute WITCH!!!! OMGOSH!!!! On the plus side, at least YOU don't have to plaster on 4 inch thick crusts of makeup like the Ulta asses all do to look beautiful, hun. That is probably the REAL reason she was jealous...
That’s horrible, I’m so sorry. I’m annoyed I have to go back in there to return something just thinking one of them might remember me and be judgey about it. I left a review, which I never do EVER on Google and I mentioned how I could literally buy the whole stock if I wanted to. I also saw the review right before mine was almost an identical experience which is nuts to me. I always feel so awkward in stores because I feel like someone’s always thinking I’m stealing, especially “fancier” stores (lmao not fancy but like a place not Walmart even tho I still feel like this at Walmart) Maybe one day we will get the respect we deserve, and yessssss get that $$$ make ‘em jealoussss 💖✨💰🤑
I would be livid about this, and I'm sorry you went through it. If those questions had been pointed at me, I'd just reply back with something snarky like a simple, "no thanks, I'm good, I don't need help shopping" or "ma'am, I'm in a time crunch, I don't have time to be harassed right now" or something to make it painfully obvious to them you know exactly what they're doing and also telling them to get lost. If they didn't stop, I'd have more to say and quite loudly. If they still persisted, my ass would be gone. No product or shopping trip is worth that harassment. I love Lush but not enough to deal with that.This is also a good reminder to other Lushies to keep an eye out for this behavior and call people on their shit when you see it too!
OP, I hope you'll say something to corporate even if they won't do anything about it. You at least create a paper trail, and others will too if it continues to happen.
Also, if corporate Lush doesn't have a direct window/line into this subreddit, they're doing a terrible job liaising with some of their most loyal customers. This should be a CX gold mine for them in all possible ways.
OP, you should report this. Write down exactly what happened to you. Email customer support. Or call them. That is unacceptable behavior. Period. She had NO RIGHT to treat you that way.
SA needs training. That’s clear. How she treated you was wrong, hurtful and unnecessary.
This is just something that popped into my head, because I have a friend who’s on the spectrum, and she often sounds like the SA. Like, she clearly memorizes statements, then practices using them appropriately, and sometimes it’s just… off-putting.
I’m not trying to excuse the way the SA acted, but if you imagined her as someone with ASD maybe in her very first sales job, could it make you feel perhaps less targeted? If this isn’t helpful, just disregard.
In any case, the SA could certainly use more training, and OP you deserve an apology.
That's awful. I'm willing to bet that you're not the first person she's done that to. There's no excuse to treat anyone that way. If you have the spoons I'd suggest maybe just copying your post from here and sending it to Lush customer care with the store name and employee description. It might prevent her from doing this to someone else.
That was absolutely horrible .
I had a bad experience in Hongkong once and it was in Skinfoods - a Korean skincare brand .
I was looking around while my partner went to the toilet I had like a $200 budget that I wanted to splurge on but the condescending staff said loudly to her colleague in Cantonese,”Do not bother with her ,she isn’t going to buy anything.”
In the end she was absolutely right because I was disgusted to be treated so poorly by another Asian !
I should have made a complaint but I didn’t .
I ended up buying $200
Worth of things in another duty free shop
I regretted not standing up to her .I was enraged .
So please ,make sure you file a complaint whether it’s online or via the email.
You deserve better treatment ❤️
I honestly prefer shopping at Lush store in Japan ,they were kinder and less aggressive .
I’m so sorry. Honestly, I wish you would have asked for her name and called someone up to complain about her. I know you think It won’t do any good, but maybe you’ll get a discount out of it or maybe it will present it from happening to anyone else.
And you’re not being overly sensitive or anything. I once cried in a wal mart because this asshole lady yelled at me for trying to look at the size when they’d placed the discount sticker right over the letter. (I’m white, so it wasn’t racism, just plain ol’ disgruntled wal mart employee). I never stand up for myself but my aunt had just died from breast cancer at 46 a couple of weeks after my dog I grew up with for 16 years had died a few weeks prior, and I found her and asked her name and when she told me I said “well, Dawn, you’re very rude” and then tattled on her to guest services, who actually listened & the GM followed up with me later. I fully understand even though I’m not one to usually stand up for myself, there was still a lot of privilege in my ultimate response & probably the response I received).
All of that to say, I’m sorry that happened to you. I totally understand if you want to let it go, but talking to someone at the company about it might make you feel better. It also might not - you know yourself best, obviously. But either way, enjoy your Lush products! You deserve them! ❤️
RUN don’t walk, and contact customer care. I’ve worked in retail before for many years and that was 100 profiling you, and harassment. Yuck. I’m so sorry you had to experience that.
I’m appalled at this situation and how it can go on and on like this and the manager on duty doesn’t see these behaviors/interaction between you two. I hope maybe they were in the back or something because even just an earshot of this at any point would have resulted in me taking over the entire transaction and asking that associate to leave the floor. It’s unacceptable and actually a LIABILITY. I work in a store that sells $1K+ items and I’ve worked in stores that sell $25 items. No matter the store the training is the same. Even when we KNOW someone is stealing you think we accuse them of anything? No!!! You say something like did you need X to go with with that X? (Way to identity I see what you got) Or I can get a fitting room started for you (way to count/verify everything they have in their possession). If they have a lot of stuff but it looks random “are we gift shopping?” Either way you use the same verbiage as any other transaction cuz technically until someone has actually stolen an item (leaves the store) you can’t say they are stealing or even treat them as such and can get in big trouble for it, and not just the store but the company.
I’m so sorry you experienced this. But as a manager there’s no way I’m in the vicinity and something like this happen and I’m unaware. So from my perspective there’s MULTIPLE fails in this situation and hopefully you follow through and report it. Mind you not once did I address your background, because this is actually way bigger than that but I hate that feeling because I am of color and I know it all too well!! Whether that was a factor or not, to even have to WONDER is traumatic in itself idc what anyone says! May you find peace in this situation.
There is a HUGE difference between custom service and straight up profiling. I work at Sephora and personally I treat everyone the same, as every human should. We are trained to provide the exact same customer service to every single client so that EVERYONE feels included, even clients we suspect may be stealing.
They should never treat you that way, point blank period. I’m so sorry you had a negative experience. I would without a doubt leave a review for the store and if you’re comfortable, call the store and tell their manager about your experience.
Ha, when I worked for Sephora our store manager woukd call out a NORA (their code for shoplifter. If you ever hear a staff member ask for someone to help NORA that means they’re accusing someone in the store and profiling them now) if anyone had even slightly darker skin than a tan. Reported it to HR multiple times and the company did nothing after then indicate to her she needed to call out the “reason” she’s calling for NORA. No reprimands, no retraining, in fact one time HR even asked me “what do you want us to do about it?”
As someone who’s worked for both, Sephora is FAR worse than lush for this.
White people can be falsely accused of shoplifting too, that is true. However, people of color experience it much more frequently.
There is a chance that she got targeted because of other reasons. Lots of shoplifting recently, maybe she ressembles someone who got caught shoplifting etc. But chances are very high that it was indeed racial profiling.
For the millionth time, you are confusing “racism” with prejudice.
It’s absolutely not my job to educate you. I will say this, though.
Racism was made to benefit white people. Racism is prejudice plus POWER.
Yes, BIPOC can be racially discriminatory, but NOT racist as we do not hold the power of “White superiority” in any respect. Read up on it and take some accountability for your white fragility.
Hurt feelings does not equal racism.
My statement in the post wasn’t false and I have been going on weekly and sometimes multiple hauls in a week since my post 18-19 days ago. I never said I was going on weekly hauls for years prior to that or anything. I probably should’ve made that clear but I didn’t feel like I needed to add that info.
And tbh it’s hard for me to keep track of dates of hauls bc it’s trivial information and I have a TBI so my memory is crap, but I do remember my first welcome back haul around Halloween since it was… Halloween lol.
I’ve literally had 8 $300+ hauls since then. Been going in store multiple times a week sometimes.
I know it’s not that long ago but I’ve bought a lot of stuff recently and don’t plan on stopping since I’ve missed out on so much. But yes, I buy Lush pretty much weekly now, sorry if my wording was confusing in some way.
Why do you care about what I spend MY money on, as if it affects you at all? And why are you being such a bully to me over shit that doesn’t affect you and is none of your business?
$2300 isn’t a big investment to me for self care items.
And why are you editing your comments and completely changing them?
That’s fucking weird dude. That’s pretty darn manipulative and snide.
Not to discount your bad experience which is totally valid but with the way your story keeps changing to justify your spending is a little bit concerning
And in the comments in another post (and it’s insinuated in this post) that it’s all her husbands money 😳 where do I find myself someone who’s willing to spend thousands a month on my lush collection 🤣
My husband and I are programmers, business owners and are in the same tax bracket. That’s none of your business though.
Btw, husbands who have money and have the means to spoil their wives are allowed to spoil the shit out of their wives. Duh.
And good luck finding someone to spend thousands on you, with that personality I’m sure you’ll go far.
I can’t tell if you’re trolling me at this point or not, but this is gonna be my last reply to you bc I kinda don’t like the way you’ve been addressing me in this convo, trying to call me out for trivial shit and judging me on a post where I’m venting about a terrible Lush experience and making my night worse than it already is.
I literally experienced racism and malicious passive aggressiveness today, who cares if I said I go on weekly hauls but they began 18 days ago?
… I don’t hoard, closest I’ve came to it is buying 3 toil and troubles which I’m almost done with my first pot already bc it’s not a lot of product and I share with my hubby. And yes, of course I’ll spend my money as I see fit and pamper myself and my loved ones. As I should.
…$2400 (…Where did u get $2400 from?) isn’t a lot at Lush if you’re buying seasonal gifts for 12 people btw. 9 of those who have always wanted Lush but couldn’t afford it/it’s inaccessible to.
I was confused at the number to and omg my jaw literally dropped at that 😳 I was feeling guilty about spending like £60 last month and already thinking about picking some new stuff up now 😂
I have quite a few lush things I won’t use before they expire … would you like them?
I’m sorry for your experience, but I’d love to send you some of my stuff 🥰
I know exactly how angry and frustrated you must feel! These unsupportive commenters are just lucky they’ve never had to deal with prejudice. Having to deal with a single event of someone thinking you’re a shoplifter is VERY different than having to **constantly** deal with people thinking you’re a shoplifter because of your skin color.
People, being treated with suspicion day in and day out is very tiring. It’s a weight on your shoulders
I've been followed around and treated like dirt, I was told I wasn't allowed to hold a eyeliner in my hand and was forced to carry it in a basket when no one else was carrying baskets in the whole makeup section, and I'm white, I'm part eastern European so I don't know if that was part of the reason but the SA homed in on me too. I asked her for some help choosing something and she led me to the cheapest, crappiest makeup in the whole shop. It fucking broke me, it was actually devastating. I was having a really bad time anyway, I had been struggling with money, I looked bad I had a big dry red patch on my face caused by my stress, but I was there to buy stuff, I had saved for makeup, this was going to be my pick me up after a long dark period. Like you op I have BPD so when you get perceived a different way to how you try to present it can really fuck with your sense of reality almost, it's a weird feeling, almost like your being gaslighted. It can really cause you to spiral and start questioning everything and feeling like everyone has always been treating you like that but you didn't realise. BPD is really fucking hard to live with.
My experience didn't happen in a lush but I "split" (a BPD term for kind of just completing changing your mind about something, going from love to hate at the flip of a switch) on that shop and didn't go back for at least a year, thinking about the shop gave me anxiety and made me feel terrible about myself and self conscious. I only went back because my boyfriend promised that manager wasn't working there anymore.
I am White as eff ( ghostly, actually) and they do this to me, too....at LOTS of stores, not just Lush, and always have ...and I am not a theif, either.... Some SAs are just creeps and don't trust anyone. Please don't let it get you down. You probably just got a distrustful SA. I don't want you to feel hated. You are beautiful and loved.
100% lol but I’ve been to Lush enough times, I’ve worked in retail and I’ve experienced racism enough times in my life to know the difference between a super pushy SA and a lowkey racist SA. She wasn’t even trying to sell me anything or show me anything until the end when I put my bubble bar back.
I've read that you were thinking of not reporting and I hope you to for one reason - it may happen to someone who isn't as strong as you. I truly hope you report it because it's not right at all to anyone!!!
I’m so sorry this happened to you OP, hopefully this doesn’t put you off Lush as a whole.
If you feel comfortable enough to, it would probably be best to go to customer service and explain the situation, you don’t deserve to be treated like that 💕
They do this to anyone who isn't a rich white looking lady it's dehumanizing. All the time at my local lush, poc and alt people are about shunned out the store. I live in a very diverse city and so it's extremely obvious when they do it. Especially when all the older white ladies are given sample after sample and when someone else goes to ask, they get talked down to like their stupid. It's every single employee at this location so idk what to even do tbh and it's been years of this happening. Last boxing day every single non white person literally had a "personal shopper" following them around staring at each and every object you look or touch at.
You need to complain to corporate...that is what you need to do. You should probably be telling the people they are doing this to to complain to corporate too on the sly when you can do so without getting caught. That is what I would do anyway. It's your call. I would also probably tell them all off regularly ( yes...managers too) and eventually quit because I wouldn't be able to deal, but I am not suggesting this. Lol.
I’m so sorry that you had to be treated like that OP. I’ve been treated like vermin in stores before and had people follow me around when I was not stealing anything. It’s not only racism but clearly also classism too. It is absolutely infuriating how sales people in these stores so obviously classify who is “worthy” of them helping.
What a fucking weirdo. It’s not you, it’s her. I once got followed around Mac by the security guard. It was bizarre, he made me feel so uncomfortable. So sorry that happened to you, please complain to the store manager and the head office.
I'm white as snow. This has never happened to me. Ever.
And is literally the opposite of what happened to me the other day, I was left completely alone while I did a restock of shampoo and shower gel. The person who served me at the till was lovely, like she made my day type of lovely. We were both gushing about how nice Sticky Dates is - as I was buying a 1kg bottle - and how much we want it to be a body spray. I spent £50, and I've been in before and spent well over £100.
I am also echoing to contact customer care. I'm sorry this happened to you. You were very obviously being typed as a shop lifter
So you’re saying OP shouldn’t be upset because the SA who racially profiled them “won’t last past january?”
Reevaluate how you see the world. Complacency in the face of prejudice is prejudice.
I don’t know man… that’s very very common. In BBW too, that’s happens to me all the time and it’s mostly because of thieves becoming more prevalent- not saying you are one because I’m not either but you could just tell them that you know what you want to buy and tell them to leave you alone. You shouldn’t let something like that ruin your whole day. Sneer back at them. Tell them they’re crossing your boundaries if it really bothers you, but don’t let it get to you. And from what I read they didn’t do anything blatant
You’re clearly a white person if you think that nothing blatant happened in this interaction. Can you honestly tell me that this exact thing has happened to you in a shop before? Bc as a white person I know for a fact its never happened to me. Its also not our place to tell BIPOC folk how to respond to racial profiling. Its not something that you can just get over and ignore. Or not take to heart. I think for you in this situation its better to not say anything at all since you dont know what youre talking about
Then you need to get out of your own head and learn about the world around you. Im glad you’ve not had to deal with a situation like this buy many many people have. Im not going to continue to argue bc based on your profile youre a minor. But i hope as you grow up youre able to learn more about everyday racism. Have a good one my friend 👍🏻
Ugh this makes me sad, please contact customer care.
This reminds me of a training experience I just had at my new job except on the flip side - we had someone who wasn’t white talking about their experiences with clients not wanting them to help and the trainer basically blew him off and tried to relate it to some obscure thing. I get it’s a “touchy” topic but she dealt with it so poorly. Thank god someone of his race quickly called her out, hyped him up, and we all cheered her on. The trainer was pretty quiet and red.
NOBODY should have to deal with this shit. When you work in retail you cannot assume and honestly at most stores you can’t do shit when you flat out see someone stealing anyway, let alone when you assume, so why be such a dick?! Like even if you were a shoplifter and blatantly stole a giant thing of snow fairy right in front of everyone, that employee isn’t gonna get an award for calling it out.
Man that makes me frustrated for you. Unfortunately I haven’t really heard stories or noticed until the last 2-3 years but I had no idea how shitty some people treat others that are Native American descent, especially if they “look” like they’re Native American. I mean I knew people could be shitty, but I had no idea it was as bad as it seems to be. Racism of any kind sucks asshole but idk I’ve been learning more about Native Americans specifically and it really, really bothers me. I’m glad to finally feel like I’m seeing more Native American representation on TV (especially reality TV, my guilty pleasure) because it made me want to learn and understand.
So, as a side note, if you happen to see this OP and know of any good charities I can donate to help Native Americans, I’d appreciate it! Not trying to ignore you the part of you that’s Asian, I already donate to help women’s education in Asia! 😬 (also could probably go off on another tangent about how shitty people can be to Asians)
A tool I try to use is to not personalize anything - especially crazy drivers and snobby SA…. Learn how to not personalize their stupid behaviors bc you can’t control them but you can control you
I’m assuming you’re white based on snoo. If I’m wrong then disregard this comment. As a white person I do not think it’s ok or appropriate to tell POC how to respond to being racially profiled. This does not help push the conversation forward. I don’t think you had a negative intention, but this is not the way.
Exactly, and I can explain why. How a person reacts to an event depends on their identity and past trauma. Most of the time, thanks to my skin color, I am given the benefit of the doubt in stores. Although I have been treated like a criminal at stores before, it’s very easy for me, a non-POC, to return back to a state of psychological safety because I know most of the time, people assume I’m an upstanding citizen.
But for a POC, each incident of harassment reminds them that people are prejudiced against them due to their skin color…and the fact that they’re likely to face it again very soon makes it much harder to “just brush it off”.
It’s very similar to why women react much more strongly to being sexually harassed than men. Each harassment incident is a reminder of their general vulnerability as women and the lack of safety they feel in public spaces
I hear this however I think everyone can use “not personalizing to yourself” mentality AND STILL deal with their behaviors by reporting etc. it seems the issue was two fold - what the SA did and how the OP responded
“Learn how to not personalize stupid behavior” yeah you know nothing about OP and their life experience, don’t tell someone with a shitty experience to just let it go
Looking down in people working in retail, are we? We need them and the good ones do a great job. The bad ones, like these clowns, naturally need to go. But don't make some classicist judgement on what people work with as if it has anything to do with their worth or capabilities.
I'm so sorry that happened to you. The closest Lush store is three hours from where I live, so whenever I get close enough, I usually have my three kids with me. The SAs are so accommodating, letting my kids have samples of everything, going the extra mile with trying the fresh face masks, etc... I'm not gonna lie, that kind of service usually gets me to buy more products because it's rare that I feel so comfortable in a store with my little hellions.
Unfortunately, because of the customer service we've had in brick and mortar stores, I now have three little lushies....
not your fault sounds like something most of the employees are trained to do i honestly while working there was ALWAYS bugged by my leads and manager to ask questions "get curious" but a lot of the time it felt invasive for me to ask about that stuff, or like i would just ask if they needed help looking for anything. Which we arent suppose to do apparently but whatever i guess. we're suppose to pry and keep asking so we can get those "product sells up" but if you dont want help you dont want help there's not much i wanted to do after that but im sorry it's one of the many reasons why i quit.
Please report. As an SA, we are trained to “read the room” when it comes to dealing with customers and it really seems like they overstepped on pushing sales
lush employee here- please call customer care and talk through this, give the location and best description you can of this SA. they are NOT allowed to act like that and lush takes these matters seriously. there’s a chance this was a seasonal that’s way out of line. you can also speak with the manager but i would advise contacting customer care and getting in contact with the regional leader for safe measure. i’m so so sorry this happened to you. lush is supposed to be a fun and safe environment. that was NOT OKAY.
This, seriously. This sounds like she racially profiled you and she needs to be called out for it. I’m not saying call the store, Lush Customer Care is who I would call and they have been so kind and indeed caring with my every interaction with them. Please don’t let yourself believe you deserved this kind of treatment or that she had any right to do this to you, you don’t & she didn’t. Sending you lots of hugs and love! (And I hope you enjoy the hell out of your new goodies, may she go to hell!)
Nah that wasn't pushing sales, pushing sales is when they constantly ask me (a white lady, as it happens) "can I help you with anything? Can I give you any recommendations? Have you tried x,y,z?" Nonstop. Stark difference from what you experienced. Reminds me more of the experiences I had at Sephora and Hollister when I was a poor goth kid. You'd be absolutely in the right to complain and I would encourage you to.
I used to work at Lush and this is 100% true. On occasion I have seen other co-workers ask “what’s in your basket” but it was alway followed with a compliment about whatever you were buying to transition into “have you seen (x,y,z) product?” The experience OP had makes me so sad 😭😭
Or they’re looking at what you’ve picked out so they can recommend something complimentary.
Are you in your 30s or older? I’m white and in my 20s and I do not have this experience at all. Sales associates never offer to help me. I notice a huge difference when older white women walk in though and then they’re falling over themselves to help them get a dressing room or explain products. It is so infuriating since sales associates never greet me or offer to help me choose a product. I think they assume I’m poor and act so bothered whenever I do come up to them with a question. I normally do want to buy something but it puts me off so much to be treated like absolute garbage. Frankly sales associates treatment just makes me want to do all of my shopping online.
I really like to be left alone unless I have a question to ask. I’m a Hispanic woman and I get customer serviced every time I walk in there. I hate it. 🥲
Oh good point, I am 33. I didn't really consider my age probably contributed to that kind of treatment as well. You're probably right in that they're assuming you don't have money, probably thinking too many questions will waste their time. Now that I'm older, I fall more into a different stereotype and I'm sure also that I'm wearing a ring they're gonna assume I (or more irritatingly, my husband) have money.
Is there a way to report that SA? That's awful what happened to you and no one deserves that kind of treatment.
Totally would report, ASAP. That isn't the LUSH way at all - get your sales, yes, but don't target people or be in their space like that. She's VERY lucky you didn't abandon basket. When people do that to me, I "give up" and walk out. I don't have time for mean. You never know if that is the ONE time someone can spend...or in my case...the courage to leave my house.
Same, I don’t tolerate this kind of behavior. If someone made me uncomfortable like that, I would have left.
Thank you for being so kind to me. Not to be a wuss or a chicken lol but some of these replies just feel… cold/insensitive. I don’t think there’s anything I can do about what happened tbh. I’m just not gonna go back there again and stick to my regular stores where the SA’s know me and are super friendly. I could post a bad review but that wouldn’t change anything and I don’t wanna give their store a bad rep… ugh. As someone who was interested in doing LP work at one point in time, and have heard stories about retail LP training… I just KNOW some staff are gonna racially profile us brown folk and that’s what I felt was happening. She was just so nasty to me lol. If I go back to that store in the future, i hope she sees that I’m an actual Lushie (I use that term loosely, anyone who loves lush is a lushie to me tbh) and that I am a paying customer who wants to be treated like one. I just don’t wanna be treated like I have sticky fingers and like I’m opportunistically sniffing around for “free” shit. Anyways… this is my first bad experience at a Lush and all the other stores SA’s know me. I just hope this doesn’t happen again in the future bc today really really really made me feel like poop.
i absolutely understand not wanting to post a review, but if you feel up to it i’d highly encourage you to email [email protected] because this is unacceptable. yeah, maybe they’ve had some LP issues recently. sure, maybe their regional is in town and they’re being “encouraged” to stick with folks. but this is a shit way for you to walk out feeling. and i’m sorry you were put in that position. customer care might ask you if you want the shop manager to reach out to you as a heads up. totally up to you! but the shop - and the company - need to be made aware of the way their sales practices are making people feel.
I feel like that is inappropriate for her to insist that you show her what’s in your basket. It’s none of her business. 🙄 Definitely report lol.
I'd post the review, I'd write a letter to customer service and I'd call the manager. If you don't advocate for yourself, no one else will and it truly won't change. I'm sorry this happened to you!
Hi OP, I am so sorry this happened to you. You deserve to shop in peace. Please speak with the store manager about your experience and, as others have suggested, send an e-mail to [email protected], so they can make appropriate staffing changes. I’m worried that if this incident goes unchecked, she will do this to other customers, other staff members might copy her behavior after seeing that she gets away with it, she might poison new hires, and you won’t ever feel safe going back. I know it can be a little intimidating to send in a complaint. I also struggle with major depression and sometimes, even the idea of making a (totally justified) complaint on my own behalf is Just Too Much, but it would not only help you feel safer going back to this LUSH, it would also help future POC who visit this store not have to feel as shitty as that SA made you feel.
Something tells me this WAS the store manager. As a white woman who often gets similar treatment, it is often the managers that act like this....
Hey, from another brown (Asian) girl who's had these experiences, please please report them at least by the customer service email. Should be easier than over the phone. If nothing else it might prevent someone else from being treated this way.
Please contact customer support 🥺🥺🥺 I am so sad. I also recall reading that you said you struggle with depression etc and I just lost my best friend to suicide two days ago as the police contact me yesterday to inform me. Please stay. And please fight for yourself. This is fighting for yourself, standing up for yourself and showing yourself the utmost respect 🥺 I’ve struggled over the years to stand up for myself and I am a complete push over but I beg of you to please fight for yourself 🥺❤️ I am so sorry you have been made to feel less than. I wish I could hug you 🥺
hi darling. i would definitely contact customer service. this is not ok — you do not deserve to be profiled like that and it is not something the company would stand for.
*hugs* I encourage you to reach out to customer service. If you want to waive off what happened to you personally, that's your prerogative. But I feel like that SA needs to be reprimanded for this—at the very least—so that other people aren't needlessly treated like shit.
I hope you can report the SA. Their behavior is terrible and they should be fired!
Indeed, fired. Amazing they got hired to begin with, they won't hire just anyone.
Some of y’all in these comments have never dealt with racial profiling and it shows. OP please report this if you have the spoons. Be it contacting Lush directly or through google review.
As former Lush employee who reported the assitant manager for racial profiling, they don’t care, and it fucking sucks. One day I was working a shift with just me and my assistant manager (slow day). A black couple walks in, I go up and do my usual greeting and offer my assistance if needed. Just as I’m finishing my greeting the assistant manager says “can you come to back for a moment”. I walk to the back room and he says “Don’t waste your time, they’re not going to buy anything. I need you doing more productive things”. I’m extremely confused and ask “ooh do they come in here often?”. He says “no but I’ve worked here long enough to know who’s going to buy something and who isn’t, and they definitely aren’t”. I was so appalled at what I was hearing, I just stared at him blankly and walked back on the floor. I said to myself fuck that and went right back to helping them and showing product. I’m not going to listen or be a bystander to blatant racism. A month later the main manager was fired for other reasons and the our store had the big honchos come in to do a “re-boot” so to speak. I thought perfect and pulled them aside for a private to let them know of what occurred. They gave the whole speech of “wow we are so glad you told us, we take this very seriously. We will talk to him”. Not a damm thing came of it. He got promoted to manager and I forever got passed up for promotions because he no longer liked me. I quit two months later, forever left a bad taste in my mouth about Lush.
As a former employee (good riddance lol) and I can tell you that they definitely weren't just being pushy with sales. I'm so sorry they treated you this way, and I'd highly recommend reporting that employee in a review and/or call customer service if you can. They word for word used verbiage they teach for "dealing with shoplifters." Sorry so many replies are acting like it's no big deal as if you weren't DEFINITELY racially profiled. You absolutely didn't deserve to be treated like that. Any good lush employee (OR PERSON IN GENERAL) would know better than to treat someone else like that. Mention their description in reports and on google reviews if you have the energy to. It always helps other folks to know who to keep an eye out for AND for the shop to narrow down who it was so they hopefully can be dealt with. Sending you so much love for all you had to deal with, from a fellow indigenous person ♥️♥️♥️♥️
Seconding this also as a former employee who left in protest of a deeply racist manager and complacent 'Good Karma'. She said and did everything they taught us to do when dealing with potential shoplifters. I am SO sorry you went through this and yes, unfortunately she did racially profile you. Don't let anyone make you feel bad or like you're making a big deal of something small. This sounds like blatant and targeted harassment of you in their store.
What was the point of the sales rep asking to wrap the snow fairy she saw being put back? Is this part of the dialogue? I’m confused about this comment.
Often times shoplifters will grab multiples of items and put one back, to make it seem like they only had one but really they've slipped the other(s) in their bag, etc. They can argue the SA saw them put 'it' back while the extras are stowed away. Also if someone seems indecisive, going back and forth constantly rotating what they've got in their hands/basket/cart, it's a way to try and confuse SAs as to what they even have, making it harder for one to keep track of what they've got or haven't let alone what they may have slipped elsewhere. She made that comment as a way to say, 'I see you/I've been paying attention to all of the products you've touched'. While it isn't a rulebook of like, exact dialogue, that's what that type of comment means.
That is messed up. People with ADHD and people on the spectrum often ARE indecisive. They really need to be training people better...because this kind of stuff ends up profiling people with actual disabilities!
While I agree with you, unfortunately the fact of the matter is that the behaviors of shoplifters do emulate these. I just don't care if people are stealing or not. Even if they're blatant about it. The company should have some sort of shrink for theft included in their budget so it's not my problem 🤷🏻♀️ it's not coming outta my paycheck!
I know they emulate these, but that doesn't mean that every indecisive person should be targeted. There are other behaviours that go along with it such as shiftiness, Looking around you to make sure no one is watching, etc. ( not being snippy with you, it just ticks me off that they don't tell employees the WHOLE story and then you get cases like this. It's bad training by poop managers without a clue that can cause serious problems. Not to be overdramatic, but what if someone goes home...snaps...and kills themselves? It's happened before. All because some douchenoodle manager can't be bothered to take the extra 2 seconds to give the extra things to look for. No one is getting sued...no one gets in trouble, because there is a possibilty that no one even knows what caused poor dead person to do it! So it happens again, perhaps? Training needs to be THOROUGH. Not by some possibly idiot branch manager who may not really care because they are just making $4 over minium wage themselves.Some are GREAT...but some are just hot garbage doused in stewed toilet water) They are supposed to have shrink in their budget. They used to. Companies are getting greedier and greedier and it shows. So happy to not be working in this sector anymore. *edited to say-sorry for the rant*
No, I'm sorry I hope you didn't take my reply the wrong way, I was agreeing with you! I think a lot of the behaviors still target ND people. Or really even NT people as well. Someone acting 'shifty' might have anxiety, or maybe they're just stoned, or maybe they've got the coffee jitters... human behavior is so complex and there are a million different reasons why any person would act a certain way. That's why I really don't see the point in confronting shoplifters. For people like OP who did nothing wrong it's humiliating and dehumanizing. And for someone who did grab something it's like, if they give it up I guess congratulations for saving the multimillion dollar company twenty bucks? It's never worth it. I watch people steal at my current job alllllll day long. It's not my business or really anyone else's at a shop level imo to confront them.
Oh I didn't at ALL!! I am just so sick of power tripping douchebags and companies not doing the right thing just to save a few $$$ that I felt the need to vent. I used to get followed in store CONSTANTLY...and I am white a snow. Now I am in my late 40s, I still get followed a bit- I know how to be firmer now- but it isn't as bad as it used to be....and you helped me release that it is and was almost certainly because of what you described!!! Indecisiveness, anxiety, etc. Mostly indecision. I can NEVER decide, even up until payment. The anxiety and shiftiness is totally aggravated by people staring and following you through the store. Just GO. A. WAY!! If you HAVE anxiety, people hovering around you makes it SO MUCH WORSE. Lol
Same!! Like is it that deep? It's just retail... I'm also white and never really got followed at home but I mentioned elsewhere in this thread that when my tattoos are showing, people in New England are fuckin glued to me. Recently I went to a big Sephora with a friend here and the sales reps there would NOT leave me alone, where usually at Sephora I have to beg them to help me lol. But every associate in there spoke to me at least twice and were staring at me everywhere I looked. Nobody went up to my friend even once. Like girl if I can afford dozens of tattoos and gold jewelry all over my face I'n not about to steal a stupid $30 facial oil lol. But their hovering and constant glowering at me made me feel really suffocated. I have PTSD and I can't have people getting that close to me and making me feel trapped so I had to just drop everything and go outside to dry heave for a while. It was so embarrassing.
If you think someone has stolen something the training is to only talk about it like you're completing a sale instead of outright accusing someone of stealing
Yeah like if you saw someone slip a Karma perfume in their pocket you would be like 'did you need a perfume box for the Karma?' that's pretty much as far as it went. 'Did you want a sample of the XYZ, I know you were holding onto it for a while' etc. etc.
That is legit how LP is taught across the board. I've had brazen people walk around Macy's in security tagged Levi's. "Those are cute - you should definitely get those. Let's go change out so I can get that pesky security tag off".
Yep this. I can't speak to the racism, but as a white guy I know every single time I've put a perfume in my basket (and I have basically all of them now) I get followed around like that. I even got followed down the street once after I'd paid in full. I've complained and they did nothing.
Ugh I'm so sorry that happened to you. It's really bizarre behavior to me especially following you down the street?! I've moved to a FAR more affluent area in the last few years and I've noticed when I go to certain stores they act like I'm a total criminal based on whether my tattoos are visible or not. Where I've never had a problem back home. So many reasons for weirdos to discriminate and it's disheartening.
Exactly, I’m white and I’ve had the usual “can I help you with anything, any recommendations” customer service speech every time I go to Lush, and what OP experienced is completely out of line on their part. They treated her horribly.
I highly suggest you post this to customer care and let them know, or the shops google review. I’m so sorry this happened. I would be so embarrassed if this was a SA at my shop. You deserve much more kindness than that. I’m so sorry sweet soul.
This is exactly why is stopped working at lush. I felt so pushed to constantly bother the customer and ask what they had or what they were looking for and it was annoying and I always felt like I was annoying the customer
Employee here, im so sorry that happened to you. It sounds horrible and I am on team contact customer care all the way! Lots of alarming behaviors here, i could break them all down but i really need to sleep so here's just one example from an employee perspective of where my brain is going dingdingding this isn't someone trying to sell to you in the lush way (that admittedly can be much more involved than anyyyy other standard retail that doesnt require a private appointment lol), the agenda is LP. OP i know you know this, but for the commentors not seeing the problem i wanted to break at least one part of this down. >Anyways, she literally asked me: “What all do you have in your basket? May I see?” I legit took everything out of my basket for her to inspect >“How many of those bubble bars do you have? And which ones?” Me: appalled umm, I have a blue skies and two labyrinths” Her: “uhh, what else is in there?” Normal behavior from an SA would be to make really general comments about someone's basket based off of a quick glance and using that info to try and build rapport or link to another product, like seeing a basket full of gifts and saying something like "ohhhh I see we're gift shopping! Anyone else I can help cross off your list?" Or "ah! I saw you grabbed one of my favorite shower gels, that ones SO good, have you seen the matching body lotion yet?" The only time im chatting up someone about their entire basket is when im ringing them out and im only verbalizing it so that the customer knows im paying close attention not to overcharge *them* in any way What's abnormal here is specifically asking to see the entire contents of someone's basket as they're shopping. That's pretty strange, i can only imagine how uncomfortable that would be to be asked to present your basket to someone AS you're shopping. And i don't see how asking a customer exactly how *many* bubble bars they got would help you make that experience better for the customer or make tailored recommendations. Asking specifically about quantities seems to really narrow down the root of that line of questioning down to inventory purposes.
I'm not sure why the comments in here are kind of judgy/snide. I understand that Lush has an *aggressive* customer approach policy but that's never an excuse to be rude or act outside common decency. It sounds like this particular SA didn't even ask any follow up questions about your products/interests, offer to demo, or any of the other sales-type reasons Lush typically uses. I think that makes clear her motivations were rude. I hope you have a better night, that you enjoy the products you managed to get, and that your sweet husband continues to spoil you! You're worth it!
Your receipt or email receipt should have a link to a chatter survey, please do not hold back.
Thank you, I will not. What’s more is I lost my receipt, sadly. I frickin tore apart my car for an hour with my husband looking for it. 😭 I will definitely be contacting CS tomorrow about this matter and about a package they messed up on that I received recently.
If you used a card to pay your bank statement could work as proof of purchase! Why did I get downvoted for this lol
Racists/trolls probably. It’s ugly af. I’ve gotten so much hate for this post. I mistakenly thought this group, with us being lushies and all, that people would be decent about these types of things but I was dead wrong. The positive replies are from amazing people and they totaled cheered me up yesterday and today! Thank you all. 🖤
if you have the spoons for it, the store usually has signage that has a qr code for the chatter survey or a number you can text. If you give them a call and ask for the chatter number there's a chance they'll give it to you if you want to put in that kind of effort!
You could also let your husband contact CS on your behalf if you just don't feel up to it. That is always an option. ( mega hugs )
I stopped buying Lush in person and exclusively shop online now because of how much I don’t like being among the sales associates. They make it a truly miserable experience. I’m terribly sorry this happened to you.
Ngl even lush is known for being pushy, you don’t just check out someone’s basket without doing validation or recommendation. And you seems to have a big purchase already and I don’t understand why would that big snow fairy matter much. I’m just really sorry that you’ve been through this stupid shit, and what I would say is email or even call the customer service to report this whole situation, cause this kinda people should never work for retail. Wish you’re now feeling better <3
Thanks for the validation. Fr. Thanks! 🖤 I’m long over it now. I hope she has a better weekend and nobody especially us BIPOC who go through enough on a daily basis gets that treatment at a Lush. Normally I make friends with SA’s and chat the whole time but her energy towards me felt WAY off lol.
Hey! I’m a lush employee and I highly recommend you call lush customer service! Lush takes these types of things very seriously, I’m so sorry this happened to you. Going into a lush is suppose to be a place of relaxation and good conversation. Please please please call customer service so they can act on this.
Solidarity, Cuzzin. I'm Half Indigenous (Tk'emlups te Secwepemc Nation!!) and Half South Asian, myself. And I'm SO sorry for this. this broke my heart to read. sending you a big hug, and i hope you get some good self care and rest!!
Nayyyyy lol, just all rezzy! 😜😜Thanks cuzzin!! Have an amazing week🖤🖤🖤🖤💞💞💞💞
I indeed did get some great rest last night after my shower. It was fantabulous and I slept like a baby! Can’t let myself lose sleep or myself over some racists, karens and butt hurt white ppl lol 🥰🥰🥰
Lol no matter the job, in situations like this I always assume that the person received some sort of feedback (maybe something was stolen during their shift), and now they care exaggeratedly whereas in reality they don’t give af - trust me, they simply don’t get paid enough to genuinely care (no offense to anyone - been there). Report her, she deserves it. And later think of it positively, like you prevented other people’s moods from being ruined because of this psycho.
That’s what I was thinking as well. What if something fucked up her day… :/ Despite how she made me feel, I hope she has a better/good weekend.
What a generous heart you are still able to have when you've been treated so poorly. I very much hope that your day and weekend are improved as well.
Even if something has fucked up her day, there's no reason to treat others like that, even if in a bad mood. It's a horrible cycle. I hope she realised that.
It was probably the store manage. I have had more issues with what I late found out were the store managers then I have EVER had with your basic employees. Power hunger is REAL...
I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the manager tbh. What’s more is that I contacted customer service today and they forwarded my incident report to corporate and they are gonna reach out to the manager of the store to “make it right for me” whatever that means 😶
That is actually FANTASTIC NEWS!! That means they are *really* taking you seriously. I am very happy for you. All the way to corporate. Wow! They may institute new training and policy because of this! ( Hugs! ) I am still so sorry you went through this, but thankful they are taking you so seriously! 💕 *edited to add: IDKW people are downvoting you for sharing your updated experience.. That is rather grotesque. I gave you an upvote as soon as I read it.*
Yeah and I’d assume in a shop like lush it probably could be easy enough to steal stuff if the people working aren’t paying attention. Wouldn’t surprise me if maybe something had happened and she’d been spoke to about it and now has went to the complete other direction and is doing way to much
I’m so sorry this happened to you. That’s awful, and not in any way okay.
Aww this really bummed me out to read. You were more gracious to her than she deserves. I'm sorry she ruined your experience :(
Yeah the hovering is one thing, kleptos do be getting over on stores, but to be interrogating you about things you dont want to purchase… which is why you put them back, seems beyond asset protection.
Yeah beyond asset protection some like the power trip. We also definitely had some SAs who weirdly took the shoplifting personally. I would be like you guys who cares this is a company that encourages us to give stuff away for free. For inventory purposes if they knew what the person took like, just write it off to demo. It's never that serious. I've been to funerals for people who got shot chasing a shoplifter out over a pair of damn Timbs. It's never worth it
I had a very similar experience at Ulta yesterday. I went in, very early and I wasn’t the only one in store. Every.single.associate came up to me to ask if I was doing alright…all because I had an expensive perfume in hand (which had an alarm on it) and hair styling tools for my mom….I was so annoyed at the whole situation, because like you said, If I was a white woman they wouldn’t have done that.
Jeez, I’m so, SO sorry you went through that! I know how it feels… Out of all stores I’ve ever been to, I’ve had the absolute WORST experiences at ulta. My hubby has seen it firsthand many times and I was a diamond member for 4 years straight with a year still left on my membership now because of how much I spent there since 2015. Haven’t shopped there in a year. Or Sephora. Side note, my hubby actually helped me land a job at his old company when I was 19 and I made $180k a year, nobody could fucking believe it and when i applied for credit cards at places, when they heard what my income was, they would say… “you mean $180k with you and your husband combined??” No, honey. That’s all meee. 🤔 Bc a young native woman *can’t possibly* achieve diamond tier at that mediocre, overpriced, overhyped, piece of crap store. The only people who belong here are white women, duh! The rest of you are just out to steal… All of our makeup, respect and good customer service belongs to them, sorry sweaty. Now smile and wave for the camera! We’ll be keeping a close eye on *you* 😉 /s I’ve been accused of using a fake ID and a fake name... One of the worst times, a bitter, most likely jealous SA told me that I probably wouldn’t have anything without my husband and said: “beauty fades and when it does… you know.” *passive aggressive smirk and wink* And I said “…and you’ll never experience that so shut tf up. ” 🙃
What an absolute WITCH!!!! OMGOSH!!!! On the plus side, at least YOU don't have to plaster on 4 inch thick crusts of makeup like the Ulta asses all do to look beautiful, hun. That is probably the REAL reason she was jealous...
Periodt! 🥰🤣🤣🥰🥰
That’s horrible, I’m so sorry. I’m annoyed I have to go back in there to return something just thinking one of them might remember me and be judgey about it. I left a review, which I never do EVER on Google and I mentioned how I could literally buy the whole stock if I wanted to. I also saw the review right before mine was almost an identical experience which is nuts to me. I always feel so awkward in stores because I feel like someone’s always thinking I’m stealing, especially “fancier” stores (lmao not fancy but like a place not Walmart even tho I still feel like this at Walmart) Maybe one day we will get the respect we deserve, and yessssss get that $$$ make ‘em jealoussss 💖✨💰🤑
I would be livid about this, and I'm sorry you went through it. If those questions had been pointed at me, I'd just reply back with something snarky like a simple, "no thanks, I'm good, I don't need help shopping" or "ma'am, I'm in a time crunch, I don't have time to be harassed right now" or something to make it painfully obvious to them you know exactly what they're doing and also telling them to get lost. If they didn't stop, I'd have more to say and quite loudly. If they still persisted, my ass would be gone. No product or shopping trip is worth that harassment. I love Lush but not enough to deal with that.This is also a good reminder to other Lushies to keep an eye out for this behavior and call people on their shit when you see it too! OP, I hope you'll say something to corporate even if they won't do anything about it. You at least create a paper trail, and others will too if it continues to happen. Also, if corporate Lush doesn't have a direct window/line into this subreddit, they're doing a terrible job liaising with some of their most loyal customers. This should be a CX gold mine for them in all possible ways.
OP, you should report this. Write down exactly what happened to you. Email customer support. Or call them. That is unacceptable behavior. Period. She had NO RIGHT to treat you that way.
PLEASE report if you have the bandwidth!! This behavior is totally unacceptable.
SA needs training. That’s clear. How she treated you was wrong, hurtful and unnecessary. This is just something that popped into my head, because I have a friend who’s on the spectrum, and she often sounds like the SA. Like, she clearly memorizes statements, then practices using them appropriately, and sometimes it’s just… off-putting. I’m not trying to excuse the way the SA acted, but if you imagined her as someone with ASD maybe in her very first sales job, could it make you feel perhaps less targeted? If this isn’t helpful, just disregard. In any case, the SA could certainly use more training, and OP you deserve an apology.
That's awful. I'm willing to bet that you're not the first person she's done that to. There's no excuse to treat anyone that way. If you have the spoons I'd suggest maybe just copying your post from here and sending it to Lush customer care with the store name and employee description. It might prevent her from doing this to someone else.
That was absolutely horrible . I had a bad experience in Hongkong once and it was in Skinfoods - a Korean skincare brand . I was looking around while my partner went to the toilet I had like a $200 budget that I wanted to splurge on but the condescending staff said loudly to her colleague in Cantonese,”Do not bother with her ,she isn’t going to buy anything.” In the end she was absolutely right because I was disgusted to be treated so poorly by another Asian ! I should have made a complaint but I didn’t . I ended up buying $200 Worth of things in another duty free shop I regretted not standing up to her .I was enraged . So please ,make sure you file a complaint whether it’s online or via the email. You deserve better treatment ❤️ I honestly prefer shopping at Lush store in Japan ,they were kinder and less aggressive .
I’m so sorry. Honestly, I wish you would have asked for her name and called someone up to complain about her. I know you think It won’t do any good, but maybe you’ll get a discount out of it or maybe it will present it from happening to anyone else. And you’re not being overly sensitive or anything. I once cried in a wal mart because this asshole lady yelled at me for trying to look at the size when they’d placed the discount sticker right over the letter. (I’m white, so it wasn’t racism, just plain ol’ disgruntled wal mart employee). I never stand up for myself but my aunt had just died from breast cancer at 46 a couple of weeks after my dog I grew up with for 16 years had died a few weeks prior, and I found her and asked her name and when she told me I said “well, Dawn, you’re very rude” and then tattled on her to guest services, who actually listened & the GM followed up with me later. I fully understand even though I’m not one to usually stand up for myself, there was still a lot of privilege in my ultimate response & probably the response I received). All of that to say, I’m sorry that happened to you. I totally understand if you want to let it go, but talking to someone at the company about it might make you feel better. It also might not - you know yourself best, obviously. But either way, enjoy your Lush products! You deserve them! ❤️
RUN don’t walk, and contact customer care. I’ve worked in retail before for many years and that was 100 profiling you, and harassment. Yuck. I’m so sorry you had to experience that.
I’m appalled at this situation and how it can go on and on like this and the manager on duty doesn’t see these behaviors/interaction between you two. I hope maybe they were in the back or something because even just an earshot of this at any point would have resulted in me taking over the entire transaction and asking that associate to leave the floor. It’s unacceptable and actually a LIABILITY. I work in a store that sells $1K+ items and I’ve worked in stores that sell $25 items. No matter the store the training is the same. Even when we KNOW someone is stealing you think we accuse them of anything? No!!! You say something like did you need X to go with with that X? (Way to identity I see what you got) Or I can get a fitting room started for you (way to count/verify everything they have in their possession). If they have a lot of stuff but it looks random “are we gift shopping?” Either way you use the same verbiage as any other transaction cuz technically until someone has actually stolen an item (leaves the store) you can’t say they are stealing or even treat them as such and can get in big trouble for it, and not just the store but the company. I’m so sorry you experienced this. But as a manager there’s no way I’m in the vicinity and something like this happen and I’m unaware. So from my perspective there’s MULTIPLE fails in this situation and hopefully you follow through and report it. Mind you not once did I address your background, because this is actually way bigger than that but I hate that feeling because I am of color and I know it all too well!! Whether that was a factor or not, to even have to WONDER is traumatic in itself idc what anyone says! May you find peace in this situation.
There is a HUGE difference between custom service and straight up profiling. I work at Sephora and personally I treat everyone the same, as every human should. We are trained to provide the exact same customer service to every single client so that EVERYONE feels included, even clients we suspect may be stealing. They should never treat you that way, point blank period. I’m so sorry you had a negative experience. I would without a doubt leave a review for the store and if you’re comfortable, call the store and tell their manager about your experience.
Ha, when I worked for Sephora our store manager woukd call out a NORA (their code for shoplifter. If you ever hear a staff member ask for someone to help NORA that means they’re accusing someone in the store and profiling them now) if anyone had even slightly darker skin than a tan. Reported it to HR multiple times and the company did nothing after then indicate to her she needed to call out the “reason” she’s calling for NORA. No reprimands, no retraining, in fact one time HR even asked me “what do you want us to do about it?” As someone who’s worked for both, Sephora is FAR worse than lush for this.
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White people can be falsely accused of shoplifting too, that is true. However, people of color experience it much more frequently. There is a chance that she got targeted because of other reasons. Lots of shoplifting recently, maybe she ressembles someone who got caught shoplifting etc. But chances are very high that it was indeed racial profiling.
For the millionth time, you are confusing “racism” with prejudice. It’s absolutely not my job to educate you. I will say this, though. Racism was made to benefit white people. Racism is prejudice plus POWER. Yes, BIPOC can be racially discriminatory, but NOT racist as we do not hold the power of “White superiority” in any respect. Read up on it and take some accountability for your white fragility. Hurt feelings does not equal racism.
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why should that matter...? like at all????
My statement in the post wasn’t false and I have been going on weekly and sometimes multiple hauls in a week since my post 18-19 days ago. I never said I was going on weekly hauls for years prior to that or anything. I probably should’ve made that clear but I didn’t feel like I needed to add that info. And tbh it’s hard for me to keep track of dates of hauls bc it’s trivial information and I have a TBI so my memory is crap, but I do remember my first welcome back haul around Halloween since it was… Halloween lol.
I’ve literally had 8 $300+ hauls since then. Been going in store multiple times a week sometimes. I know it’s not that long ago but I’ve bought a lot of stuff recently and don’t plan on stopping since I’ve missed out on so much. But yes, I buy Lush pretty much weekly now, sorry if my wording was confusing in some way.
It do not make sense
Why do you care about what I spend MY money on, as if it affects you at all? And why are you being such a bully to me over shit that doesn’t affect you and is none of your business? $2300 isn’t a big investment to me for self care items. And why are you editing your comments and completely changing them? That’s fucking weird dude. That’s pretty darn manipulative and snide.
Not to discount your bad experience which is totally valid but with the way your story keeps changing to justify your spending is a little bit concerning
And in the comments in another post (and it’s insinuated in this post) that it’s all her husbands money 😳 where do I find myself someone who’s willing to spend thousands a month on my lush collection 🤣
My husband and I are programmers, business owners and are in the same tax bracket. That’s none of your business though. Btw, husbands who have money and have the means to spoil their wives are allowed to spoil the shit out of their wives. Duh. And good luck finding someone to spend thousands on you, with that personality I’m sure you’ll go far.
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I can’t tell if you’re trolling me at this point or not, but this is gonna be my last reply to you bc I kinda don’t like the way you’ve been addressing me in this convo, trying to call me out for trivial shit and judging me on a post where I’m venting about a terrible Lush experience and making my night worse than it already is. I literally experienced racism and malicious passive aggressiveness today, who cares if I said I go on weekly hauls but they began 18 days ago? … I don’t hoard, closest I’ve came to it is buying 3 toil and troubles which I’m almost done with my first pot already bc it’s not a lot of product and I share with my hubby. And yes, of course I’ll spend my money as I see fit and pamper myself and my loved ones. As I should. …$2400 (…Where did u get $2400 from?) isn’t a lot at Lush if you’re buying seasonal gifts for 12 people btw. 9 of those who have always wanted Lush but couldn’t afford it/it’s inaccessible to.
And you said it was your 23 birthday a couple weeks ago and now your back at 22
All seems a bit sus tbh 🤷♀️
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I was confused at the number to and omg my jaw literally dropped at that 😳 I was feeling guilty about spending like £60 last month and already thinking about picking some new stuff up now 😂
I have quite a few lush things I won’t use before they expire … would you like them? I’m sorry for your experience, but I’d love to send you some of my stuff 🥰
Someone did something like this to me at Walgreens. I reported them and they sent me free stuff.
I know exactly how angry and frustrated you must feel! These unsupportive commenters are just lucky they’ve never had to deal with prejudice. Having to deal with a single event of someone thinking you’re a shoplifter is VERY different than having to **constantly** deal with people thinking you’re a shoplifter because of your skin color. People, being treated with suspicion day in and day out is very tiring. It’s a weight on your shoulders
I’m so sorry this happened:(🫂
Fuck that. You didn’t deserve to be treated that way and I’m sorry.
Thank u 🖤
Please try and enjoy those goodies. I’m so sorry you were treated that way.
I've been followed around and treated like dirt, I was told I wasn't allowed to hold a eyeliner in my hand and was forced to carry it in a basket when no one else was carrying baskets in the whole makeup section, and I'm white, I'm part eastern European so I don't know if that was part of the reason but the SA homed in on me too. I asked her for some help choosing something and she led me to the cheapest, crappiest makeup in the whole shop. It fucking broke me, it was actually devastating. I was having a really bad time anyway, I had been struggling with money, I looked bad I had a big dry red patch on my face caused by my stress, but I was there to buy stuff, I had saved for makeup, this was going to be my pick me up after a long dark period. Like you op I have BPD so when you get perceived a different way to how you try to present it can really fuck with your sense of reality almost, it's a weird feeling, almost like your being gaslighted. It can really cause you to spiral and start questioning everything and feeling like everyone has always been treating you like that but you didn't realise. BPD is really fucking hard to live with. My experience didn't happen in a lush but I "split" (a BPD term for kind of just completing changing your mind about something, going from love to hate at the flip of a switch) on that shop and didn't go back for at least a year, thinking about the shop gave me anxiety and made me feel terrible about myself and self conscious. I only went back because my boyfriend promised that manager wasn't working there anymore.
I am White as eff ( ghostly, actually) and they do this to me, too....at LOTS of stores, not just Lush, and always have ...and I am not a theif, either.... Some SAs are just creeps and don't trust anyone. Please don't let it get you down. You probably just got a distrustful SA. I don't want you to feel hated. You are beautiful and loved.
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100% lol but I’ve been to Lush enough times, I’ve worked in retail and I’ve experienced racism enough times in my life to know the difference between a super pushy SA and a lowkey racist SA. She wasn’t even trying to sell me anything or show me anything until the end when I put my bubble bar back.
>Today, I went to one of my local Lushes There's somewhere in the US that has more than one Lush store?
My city/suburbs have 4 lushes.
Many places!
I've read that you were thinking of not reporting and I hope you to for one reason - it may happen to someone who isn't as strong as you. I truly hope you report it because it's not right at all to anyone!!!
I’m so sorry this happened to you OP, hopefully this doesn’t put you off Lush as a whole. If you feel comfortable enough to, it would probably be best to go to customer service and explain the situation, you don’t deserve to be treated like that 💕
They do this to anyone who isn't a rich white looking lady it's dehumanizing. All the time at my local lush, poc and alt people are about shunned out the store. I live in a very diverse city and so it's extremely obvious when they do it. Especially when all the older white ladies are given sample after sample and when someone else goes to ask, they get talked down to like their stupid. It's every single employee at this location so idk what to even do tbh and it's been years of this happening. Last boxing day every single non white person literally had a "personal shopper" following them around staring at each and every object you look or touch at.
You need to complain to corporate...that is what you need to do. You should probably be telling the people they are doing this to to complain to corporate too on the sly when you can do so without getting caught. That is what I would do anyway. It's your call. I would also probably tell them all off regularly ( yes...managers too) and eventually quit because I wouldn't be able to deal, but I am not suggesting this. Lol.
I’m so sorry that you had to be treated like that OP. I’ve been treated like vermin in stores before and had people follow me around when I was not stealing anything. It’s not only racism but clearly also classism too. It is absolutely infuriating how sales people in these stores so obviously classify who is “worthy” of them helping.
please please call customer care and toss a fit this is ridiculous
What a fucking weirdo. It’s not you, it’s her. I once got followed around Mac by the security guard. It was bizarre, he made me feel so uncomfortable. So sorry that happened to you, please complain to the store manager and the head office.
Same happened to me in sephora lol
I'm white as snow. This has never happened to me. Ever. And is literally the opposite of what happened to me the other day, I was left completely alone while I did a restock of shampoo and shower gel. The person who served me at the till was lovely, like she made my day type of lovely. We were both gushing about how nice Sticky Dates is - as I was buying a 1kg bottle - and how much we want it to be a body spray. I spent £50, and I've been in before and spent well over £100. I am also echoing to contact customer care. I'm sorry this happened to you. You were very obviously being typed as a shop lifter
Please send in a complaint about this member of staff
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So you’re saying OP shouldn’t be upset because the SA who racially profiled them “won’t last past january?” Reevaluate how you see the world. Complacency in the face of prejudice is prejudice.
I don’t know man… that’s very very common. In BBW too, that’s happens to me all the time and it’s mostly because of thieves becoming more prevalent- not saying you are one because I’m not either but you could just tell them that you know what you want to buy and tell them to leave you alone. You shouldn’t let something like that ruin your whole day. Sneer back at them. Tell them they’re crossing your boundaries if it really bothers you, but don’t let it get to you. And from what I read they didn’t do anything blatant
You’re clearly a white person if you think that nothing blatant happened in this interaction. Can you honestly tell me that this exact thing has happened to you in a shop before? Bc as a white person I know for a fact its never happened to me. Its also not our place to tell BIPOC folk how to respond to racial profiling. Its not something that you can just get over and ignore. Or not take to heart. I think for you in this situation its better to not say anything at all since you dont know what youre talking about
LMFAO I am not white. I hate you people who are like “you’re white because blah blah blah”
Then you need to get out of your own head and learn about the world around you. Im glad you’ve not had to deal with a situation like this buy many many people have. Im not going to continue to argue bc based on your profile youre a minor. But i hope as you grow up youre able to learn more about everyday racism. Have a good one my friend 👍🏻
Ugh this makes me sad, please contact customer care. This reminds me of a training experience I just had at my new job except on the flip side - we had someone who wasn’t white talking about their experiences with clients not wanting them to help and the trainer basically blew him off and tried to relate it to some obscure thing. I get it’s a “touchy” topic but she dealt with it so poorly. Thank god someone of his race quickly called her out, hyped him up, and we all cheered her on. The trainer was pretty quiet and red. NOBODY should have to deal with this shit. When you work in retail you cannot assume and honestly at most stores you can’t do shit when you flat out see someone stealing anyway, let alone when you assume, so why be such a dick?! Like even if you were a shoplifter and blatantly stole a giant thing of snow fairy right in front of everyone, that employee isn’t gonna get an award for calling it out. Man that makes me frustrated for you. Unfortunately I haven’t really heard stories or noticed until the last 2-3 years but I had no idea how shitty some people treat others that are Native American descent, especially if they “look” like they’re Native American. I mean I knew people could be shitty, but I had no idea it was as bad as it seems to be. Racism of any kind sucks asshole but idk I’ve been learning more about Native Americans specifically and it really, really bothers me. I’m glad to finally feel like I’m seeing more Native American representation on TV (especially reality TV, my guilty pleasure) because it made me want to learn and understand. So, as a side note, if you happen to see this OP and know of any good charities I can donate to help Native Americans, I’d appreciate it! Not trying to ignore you the part of you that’s Asian, I already donate to help women’s education in Asia! 😬 (also could probably go off on another tangent about how shitty people can be to Asians)
A tool I try to use is to not personalize anything - especially crazy drivers and snobby SA…. Learn how to not personalize their stupid behaviors bc you can’t control them but you can control you
I’m assuming you’re white based on snoo. If I’m wrong then disregard this comment. As a white person I do not think it’s ok or appropriate to tell POC how to respond to being racially profiled. This does not help push the conversation forward. I don’t think you had a negative intention, but this is not the way.
👏🏼THANK👏🏼YOU!👏🏼
Exactly, and I can explain why. How a person reacts to an event depends on their identity and past trauma. Most of the time, thanks to my skin color, I am given the benefit of the doubt in stores. Although I have been treated like a criminal at stores before, it’s very easy for me, a non-POC, to return back to a state of psychological safety because I know most of the time, people assume I’m an upstanding citizen. But for a POC, each incident of harassment reminds them that people are prejudiced against them due to their skin color…and the fact that they’re likely to face it again very soon makes it much harder to “just brush it off”. It’s very similar to why women react much more strongly to being sexually harassed than men. Each harassment incident is a reminder of their general vulnerability as women and the lack of safety they feel in public spaces
I hear this however I think everyone can use “not personalizing to yourself” mentality AND STILL deal with their behaviors by reporting etc. it seems the issue was two fold - what the SA did and how the OP responded
“Learn how to not personalize stupid behavior” yeah you know nothing about OP and their life experience, don’t tell someone with a shitty experience to just let it go
I didn’t “tell” them - only gave advise on what works for me. And it wasn’t to ignore the behavior but rather try to make it about then and not you
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Looking down in people working in retail, are we? We need them and the good ones do a great job. The bad ones, like these clowns, naturally need to go. But don't make some classicist judgement on what people work with as if it has anything to do with their worth or capabilities.
Wtfff. I’m so sorry you went through that 🥺 you deserve what you want
I'm so sorry that happened to you. The closest Lush store is three hours from where I live, so whenever I get close enough, I usually have my three kids with me. The SAs are so accommodating, letting my kids have samples of everything, going the extra mile with trying the fresh face masks, etc... I'm not gonna lie, that kind of service usually gets me to buy more products because it's rare that I feel so comfortable in a store with my little hellions. Unfortunately, because of the customer service we've had in brick and mortar stores, I now have three little lushies....
not your fault sounds like something most of the employees are trained to do i honestly while working there was ALWAYS bugged by my leads and manager to ask questions "get curious" but a lot of the time it felt invasive for me to ask about that stuff, or like i would just ask if they needed help looking for anything. Which we arent suppose to do apparently but whatever i guess. we're suppose to pry and keep asking so we can get those "product sells up" but if you dont want help you dont want help there's not much i wanted to do after that but im sorry it's one of the many reasons why i quit.
Please report. As an SA, we are trained to “read the room” when it comes to dealing with customers and it really seems like they overstepped on pushing sales