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My first visit to MAC was last year while in NY. Fell in love with the store. Went back several time. The staff was helpful and I felt like a queen walking in. Someone else liked my MAC as much as I and decided they needed it more than I did. So I will be looking for a store near me. Keep up the good work.
Customer service in MAC store in Des Moines is lousy. It was my first time going to the store since there is only one in this state. I use Estee Lauder and since MAC is owned by Estee Lauder I was expecting the same level of service.
Estee Lauder counter that I go to in Coralville has friendly staff members that are eager to help you and if you ask for any kind of product trial or makeover, they're more than happy to help. They don't push you to buy, they give you samples for you to try on the products for a few days so that you can tell if you like it or not. That way you don't buy something and then regret it and return it right away.
I like that philosophy.
Whereas when I went to the MAC counter, it was different. I don't mind waiting while she helps another customer. That was okay. What was not okay is when she asked how she could help, I asked her if they did complimentary makeovers. She said they only do one thing (that makeovers are only for special events such as prom, etc.) and that the one thing also depends on if they're available or not.
Well, we'd been in town for an error and the mall hadn't been open for an hour. I especially stopped at that mall because I was excited to see a MAC store and explore. When the mall opened, the employee wasn't even there. We walked around the department store (Younkers) for about 20 minutes to see if someone was going to come work at the MAC counter or not.
After that, we went to some other stores before finally coming back to the MAC counter. It hadn't been an hour and half and the mall wasn't very busy.
So they don't do the whole makeover, okay fine. I asked her if they could do a foundation match. Eye shadows I could try on my own, they had a great area set up for people to try stuff on themselves.
It took her a little bit before she could even help with the foundation as she was assisting someone else. Another lady came and asked if she could help. I asked if she could help me with a foundation match (I'd heard about a MAC foundation and that's something I'm not willing to buy over internet since I need it to match my skin, and especially for the price).
They had seating for people, she didn't even have me sit down. I was standing as she applied foundation to the corner of my face. Since my skin is mixed, she applied another color to the other corner of my face. She then said which side she thought looked better and I looked at it too. And then she asked me what I thought and wanted to know if I wanted to buy it.
I was shocked. She applied it to one corner of my face and wanted to know if I wanted to buy it?!?!?! I asked if she could apply it to my whole face so I could get a better idea about how the foundation would look.
She applied it to my face. And again, the same thing, she asked if I wanted to buy it.
I didn't like the way she put the foundation on my face, she didn't blend it in at all. So why would I then want to buy it if I didn't like the look of it? Especially since she wasn't even trying very hard for me to consider it.
I asked if she could give me a sample so I could try it on myself at home for a few days and then decide. I proceeded to then buy a couple of eye shadows I'd liked and then left.
Maybe it's because I asked if they did a complimentary makeovers, maybe not. But I think they weren't even trying to help or provide great customer service.
I got better service at the Chanel counter in the store and I had only planned on getting something from one place (MAC or Chanel).
Would rather just order online, but I like to try on the products before buying, especially since they're expensive and I don't want the hassle of returning if I don't like them. Is that too much to ask for?