Customer service

I went shopping today to get my boyfriend some after shave back home in Peterborough today. Now normally I'm the type of person that doesn't like being harassed by sales assistants and like a good browse but today I went into town for help. I had no idea what I wanted to get him, but thought someone would be able to assist. The first place I went to was Boots, walking in was a group of female staff chatting away, great start. As I got to the men's section there was a horrible smell of weed anyway which made it impossible to know if I liked any smell. Lovely. Anyway, there was about 4 people in the area and not one even acknowledge me, let alone try to help me. F*ck this, nearest store was the Perfume Shop, again exactly the same thing. So off I went to Superdrug, no success. John Lewis are supposedly known for their fabulous customer service so off I went there and I stood there for a good 10 minutes and not one person made any attempt to help me. So I left without nada and now my boyfriend won't smell as good as I planned, not that he doesn't already, but...yeah.

Now none of them sales assistants had any idea that I was willing to spend up to £50, then maybe their attitude may have changed?  Had I actually been a qualified journalist writing for a popular newspaper/magazine me writing this could potentially cost them a lot of money.

Is Christmas time not the most competitive time for retail?

I've worked in retail in many different places such as River Island and the Body Shop and every training session emphasis was heavily placed towards giving the customer brilliant customer service. I found that simply greeting a customer that walked through the door went far even if they didn't buy anything. A couple of years ago I even got an interview with John Lewis and for a good 45 minutes bragged about their reputation for having the best customer service in retail. Lie.

I wish I'd said something, yes retail isn't the most interesting job but they're paid to do their job so should be done properly. I don't think saying hello to someone is much to ask.

What do you guys think? Have any of you experienced bad customer service?