Luxury stores, displaying their high-end perfumes, bags, shoes and other irresistible products are in the limelight, but this time not for their unique features or price but for the rude behavior of its employees who make the customer feel miserable. Indian journalist Vir Sanghvi recently criticized staff’s behavior at one of Delhi’s luxury stores in Vasant Kunj mall. The 69-year-old outraged by rude behavior of the staff called out the snobbish treatment he received at Dior and Scentido India stores.
Condemning the unacceptable customer treatment and elitist mindset of staff employed at designer stores, in a post on
Sharing his recent harrowing experience, he added, “What makes Indians who work for foreign brands feel so superior to ordinary people? It disgraces the brands themselves & suggests that this is how they feel about Indians.”
Social media reactions
Social media strongly reacted to the issue, as a user wrote, “But the irony is this: the truly wealthy rarely dress loudly or try to prove anything. Many luxury brands globally train staff to treat with respect because the person in simple clothes might be the biggest buyer. In India we still carry a colonial hangover; working for a foreign luxury brand creates a false sense of superiority. It’s not confidence, it’s insecurity disguised as attitude.”
Another user shared similar sentiments as she faced similar experience last year. In the comment thread, she wrote, “I experienced the same thing last year in Delhi, but then I went to Iconsiam in Bangkok. We were enjoying Songkran and entered without any issues. We went straight to a luxury store there; the staff were so welcoming, and I purchased a few things. In contrast, the staff in Delhi and Mumbai act so rude and arrogant.”
A third user stated, “I experienced this in CP at the Mont Blanc store. I love Mont Blanc pens and I have a decent collection. I was in Delhi and went to the store in CP, where the salesman didn’t allow me to write on paper to check the flow and nib and was rather condescending, as if could not afford a Mont Blanc.”
A fourth user remarked, “There’s a strategy to make people with low self-esteem pay high prices to buy a product they don’t really need except to prove to themselves and similar folks that they have arrived.”
A fifth user replied, “Most of the time they do it with purpose to bruise your ego! When self esteem is hurt most end up buying the most expensive product which otherwise they wouldn’t have!!”
A sixth comment read, “That’s coz most of the Indians visiting malls are just window shoppers with no serious intention to buy…they just want to do timepass & the luxury salespeople are just filtering them out & preserving their time instead of wasting on people who would never buy.@
