I don’t normally do this, but this comment left by a reader yesterday on my previous article on why I don’t use MAC Cosmetics, struck a chord in me.
Here is what Leia wrote:
This evening (Oct 5 2007) I visited the latest M.A.C. outlet in Kuala Lumpur. This is the new mall in Kuala Lumpur, Pavilion. I was there around 6.30 -7.00 pm. I was served by a sales girl. I told her I was looking for a waterproof eye shadow or eye liner. She showed me some colors. She tested a few colors on my wrist and then I asked her if I could try on my eyes. She said yes and I chose blue cream eye shadow. She handed over the cream and a brush but she walked away. I was puzzled and waited for her return. After few minutes, she came back and we looked at each other. So I asked her what to do with the cream and a brush that I was holding. She said I am supposed to put on myself. I told her I had not used cream eye shadow and asked her to help me. So she put on one eye for me. After looking at the mirror, I did not like the color on me so I told her the same. She gave me some remover to clean one eye that I tried the color. After that, I said I could not go around the mall with one eye bare and the other eye colored (my original make up was on). So she said I could use one of MAC color to put on the side that did not have any make up. Then I said I would have different color on my eyes so I asked if she could find the nearest match to the color that I had on my eyes. She said she could find and asked me to look for the color myself. As I could not find any color that is almost like the color that I had, so I asked her if she could help to put on (eye shadow) the side that had no make up as well as covering over the existing make up on the other eye. She said that would cost me RM80.00. I was jaw dropped. I asked to confirm and she replied the same. Then she said I could pick one base color and do it myself. I am totally lost. I had no choice but picked one color and put on myself. Guess I was upset over this and putting on the color badly. She then offered to help and she did but, that was it. I left the place. The reason I walked into the shop because I was told about the product. Just that now thing has gone the wrong way and I was humiliated. What have I done to deserve this
This experience is also part of the reason why I find it hard to patronize MAC Cosmetics, products notwithstanding. Bar a couple of helpful staff, the majority have not been helpful to me – I’m sorry to say. My own encounters have been with unhelpful and patronizing staff, but never one as rude as in Leia’s encounter above or they would have definitely heard from me!
I have written to Leia to advise her to please please take this up with the company – no, not M.A.C itself but the company that brings them in who in turn, hire the staff here. There is no place for rude sales people in a service industry and M.A.C Cosmetics needs to understand that.
Update 2010: 3 years later I now drop by MAC once in a while. I’ve found that there are some helpful MAC sales assistants in the MAC stores at KLCC notably. I have also met helpful MAC assistants at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur and Isetan Lot 10 so perhaps things have improved. I still don’t go to MidValley Megamall as I still don’t get served well there unfortunately.
{ 71 comments… read them below or add one }
hey hey, let me share my expereicnes at MAC with u guys. so ive been buying a couple of items from mac. and at all times, i have had loads of diff experiences. usually when i just go in to buy an item i get what i want n leave.. because i know what i want its not such a problem. thn there were times where id wanted to sample the colors of paint pots. the SA was really nice at pyramid. i think she tested like 3 diff colors on me and in the end i asked for her to leave two diff colors on my lids n left. just to check the staying power. haha. most of the time, i notice that when i call in to reserve stuff that i want to buy, they tend to be nicer to u , because they already know whats in your basket:). so no problem there. ive also been briefly asking about powder colors that would suit me and at all times i almost always get a diff recommendation.
. on this day when i was at the counter, i noticed that the normal SA’s are not actually MU artists. they are just any normal SA’s. because, there happened to be a MU artist around at tht time and she had a name tag with MU artist written below it. so my advice is, to learn abt the things u may want to buy online. thru reviews, the website n what not. dont go in there without knowing anything abt MAC or else ur gonna be taken for a nice ride. their main aim is to sell products even if it doesnt look good on you. n tht should not be the way.
so when i finally decided to pick up the powder, i walked in to the midvalley outlet. n asked her for what i wanted n she recommended the shade. so i decided to trust her, even tho previously another SA recomeneded a diff shade. so i tested n it looked fine, i bought it n left. now may i warn all u mac users or potential users, never to trust the lighting in the stores. especially never ever look at the mirrors in the centre where they display make up. always use the mirrors at the corners where they do their makeovers.the lighting there is more reliable. so back to my story, i bought it n left. when i got home, the product didnt seem to be coming out onto my brush, and the color way 2 shades darker, i swear i could have used it as a bronzer. so i took it back. and the SA tried to convince me tht it was the right shade n tht it will be fine when it oxidizes n so on. she didnt know what she was in for, since the product tht i bought was mineral based and ive used minerals before and when they oxidize, they turn darker! so i gave her a piece of my mind ntold her tht if u give me a darker shade to begin with, it is sure to turn darker when it oxidizes. i refused to leave without them changing the powder. and so when they agredd, the color of my chocie was out of stock. still i didnt budge, i told them tht i would pick other items for the same worth. and i ended up getting it my way
I went to a MAC store yesterday with my best friend to get her first MAC lipstick. There were not many customers around and 3 SA available. Right after we step our foot there, this SA named Daya if I’m not mistaken, greeted us with a smile.
We told her we need lipsticks and she was very nice to us even we both looked like secondary school students. She even said that, she suggest a more natural color for my friend so she can use it to school. The main point here is, she was not a snob at all even we dressed like school girls and she still treat us nicely. That was in Pavillion, KL btw..
HEllo there people…
I tried on my friend’s Tinted Lip Conditioner SPF15 (color:Soothing Beige)(15ml) from MAC and it really suits me n i totally love it.
However, my friend bought it in the UK & now i am wondering if anyone in Malaysia could tell me what is the PRICE for this product here…??? since im still a student, i would like to know the price range first so that i can save up and buy it.
Im planning to buy the above mentioned product from MAC Suria KLCC…
Do kindly advise me when is the appropriate time to buy (eg:promotions,off-peak hours,friendly hour..)
Thank you…Good Day.
mac’s products are okay but the service sucks big time. i went to SOGO and the SA (male) treated me nicely although his english is like crap. hye, he did have effort yo serve me, so i bought a lipglaze and mascara.
i went to pavilion. the staffs there sucks horribly. besides unable to converse in english, that whore did not even bother to serve me. i asked her nicely where the white eyeliner is and she made this much uglier face. (btw, she is ugly). i asked her to put it on me and she told me to put it on myself, then suddenly she put it on for me and nearly poked my eye. i had to leave as my optical vision was in jeopardy. i went straight to sungai wang to the anna sui booth. thanks for the “friendly” treatment i received from mac sa, i am now an anna sui advocate. never again would i visit and buy a mac product anymore.
I started my MAC addiction in London and have not really had a terrible encounter with any of them. Most times, I like to be left on my own to try out colours, products, etc..when I do ask for assistance, they are normally nice and responsive. I’ve been to the one in Covent Garden and one in Selfridges, and I prefer the store in Covent Garden. There’s a Jap girl there who is super helpful.
Anyway, I’ve since relocated to Spore and tried out the MAC store at NAC..omg..they make you feel as though if you have no intentions to buy (just to browse), dont even touch the products! And while I was choosing lipstick colours and I couldnt decide, I could see her rolling her eyes at me (from the corner of my eyes)! OUTRAGEOUS. Seriously, with that kind of attitude, she should be sacked. I got such a big culture shock.. Obviously, I no longer patronize the one at NAC. The MAC counter at Tangs, Orchard Road is soo much better. They mostly very nice and leave you to try out things if you let them know you want to browse first. I’ve been to the one at Raffles City, and they are nice. Just the one at NAC, they seriously need to sack all the SAs there.
hi all….would like to tell u guyz about my ‘make-up shopping’ experience.
i’ve tried a few expensive products and never tried MAC before. a few of my friends recommended me of MAC and told me that this product is really good and worth buying.
so i went to MAC counter in Pavillion last Sunday (14th Dec 08) to look for a compact powder and a lip gloss. when i reached there, i was welcomed by this super-duper friendly SA, i still remember her name..Daya Yunus. even though i asked her many questions about MAC (coz im a first time MAC user), she replied and answered with smile. she nicely asked me to sit and she put make up onto my face. i bet she’s the best SA i’ve ever met. she never give you a ‘do you have money to buy this product’ kinda look. After i paid for my compact powder, i asked her about face and eye cream, without any intention to buy. She explained in details and even gave me 2 samples (one face cream and one eye cream). Now im happily using MAC and would stick to this product (the compact powder is real smooth)…gonna try other range in future…and double thumbs up to Daya for a pleasant and friendly service. Hope there would be more SA like her who never give you double standard service.
Hi girls~
I bought my first mac product the other day (the mac 187) and they gave me a sample of their foundation in NC30. I was pleasantly surprised as I hadn’t thought of asking for a sample.
However I knew I was an NC15 so I asked them if they had a lighter shade, but the girl said “NC30 was all they had” in a really rude way (she was trying to sell me more brushes earlier, but I only wanted the 187).
I left the store after that, as I wasn’t even expecting a sample, however her attitude was so mean and rude! It totally ruined my joy in finally getting the item I’ve coveted for so long!
Is it normal to have only one shade + one kind of sample from a large mac store in HK? I know in Australia (where I usually live), my friends have gotten samples without even buying anything…..so lucky!
Hey there, i totally agree with you but i have met a few mac girls taht are really nice. my fave girl is estella from KLCC, maybe you could go look for her there if you wanted to try stuff, she literally tries everything on me and she doesn’t expect you to buy.
another girl is hari, but i don’t really know which outlet she’s at anymore!
MAC service which I just encounter just now while I was shopping for my eye brow pencil. I bought my MAC eye brow pencil at Gurney Plaza, Penang Malaysia (3:39pm 31.Mar.2009) receipt is still with me. Total 3 staff working at the counter and 1 “unknown” with no uniform lingering around and chit chatting in the store with 2 of the staff and no customer except myself. When I walk-in as a customer I expect greeting like hello or welcome to MAC but no greeting or any sort of acknowledge and no eye contact. All staff just ignored me and busy with their make-up and chatting among themselves. I even have to make the first move to call them and get them to help me. One staff (with no name tag) was standing less than 5 steps away from me refused to stop what she was doing which is doing her own make-up for their own private photo shoot in the store. She didn’t even look at me and ask if I need any help instead she yell at her colleague to assist me. Obviously I’m just invisible in the store and hoping I will just walk away from the store without buying anything since they are not interested to sell me anything or even acknowledge me. I’m very unhappy with this sort of working attitude and with the way they serve me. The store Manager was even there and she never apologize when I confronted her about the bad service, bad working attitude & her staff was unbelievable rude. The staff who is less than 5 steps away from me just smile and I think she has no idea what she was doing and she thought it was funny when I ask her where is the customer service, greetings & etc? She just smiles and turns away and continues with her make-up. They turn the store into their own fantasy where they can do what they like and behave how they like. It was an INSULT to me!! It was very rude, ignorant and I can’t believe MAC has such a shocking team working for MAC. Unfortunately I was very disappointed and this is so excruciating and degrading MAC reputation. Wearing thick make-up and skimpy dress doesn’t sell.
I was a MAC user for 2 years from late 2006 until early 2008. I usually purchase my make-ups in KLCC outlet. The staffs there are quite ok compared to other outlets, but since it’s far from my house I had to turn to Midvalley outlet instead. It was Saturday afternoon, somewhere in January 2008, the crowd wasn’t really packed. Me and my partner decided to visit MAC’s Midvalley to grab some eyeshadows. I remembered wearing just plain t-shirt, jeans & slippers on that day. When I walked into the store, I saw 4 salespersons in there. 3 of them were occupied at the time (doing makeovers to some customers..) and a male Chinese salesperson halfheartedly greeted me. I was a bit annoyed with his attitude, but continue to browse for the things I needed. I mentioned a few eyeshadow names to him and asked politely if he could help me get them as I’ve tried searching but couldn’t find them on the rack. He just stood there blankly and I felt like a fool talking to myself. So I asked the same question for the second time, this time he smirked and went to the shelf to find the things i asked. At that time, a well-dressed Chinese couple walked into the store and so this dumb salesperson just dropped the eyeshadows back on the shelf and went on to entertain the Chinese couple. I was so damn shocked when he did that, and thank God my partner wasn’t around at that time or that guy would’ve gotten a slap from my man. I stood there for another 5minutes and witnessed the couple walked out of the store without buying anything. Serves him right! Padan muka! I mean, just because I wasn’t dressed like rich people, doesn’t mean I can’t afford to buy MAC stuffs! Come on la, I wouldn’t have gone into the store in the first place if I know I couldn’t afford it. And so, that was the last time I ever buy or use MAC products coz I was so frustrated with the way the staff treated me. I would’ve spent hundreds of ringgit if the stupid salesperson entertained me better. Girls.. don’t even dream of walking into MAC stores especially Midvalley outlet if you’re not dressed to impress. Coz they think if you wear slippers to their store, that means you got no money to spend. Such a lowly attitude..
for me MAC ok i think you all one girl in pavilion name are Miss DAYA she very good, she really good advisor & also economical too me…she suggest the thing which worth to buy,..i think u all just find her lah…she very good in explaination & dunt shy tell her the trust yr exact budject,,,,
I was going to purchase quite a bit at Mac but have also run into snotty, rude, counter workers and would rather spend my money elsewhere.
so far i’ve only been to 1borneo KK’s branch. This MA call sylvester greeted me. he is damn nice. he served me and gave me advises. when there are other customers coming in, he’ll ask me to wait and he’ll be back in a while. he was so so so polite. i asked him about some foundation stuff and i didnt expect him to give me a sample! it was so nice of him. I’ll definitely go back.
My dear, u guyz havent seen nothing yet… mac’s hospitality here in malaysia is terrible.. I went to mac SOGO, and told d lady there i needed mac studio fix, can u imagine wat she me, dat my colour is not available for test trial, so i should pick up a colour dat she ‘guessed’ should be my colour. so i was suprised, i mean dis is meant to be a registered Mac outlet…its not done anywhere in d world.. i could as well have gone to a fake low classed place, coz i felt so degraded and insulted… i mean WHO doesnt know, dat u hav to test ur make up first B4 buying it, especially an xpensive brand like mac?? even d way she acted was totally bad… Mac is terrible…
N5 was recomended at Sogo ,kl .Now when I call for my second refill.No stocks available.
Told me to go KLCC.But upon checking on line,no stock either.Thank God I
didn’t take a trip there.
Fedup
Actually they are the same the world over…
France and London…the same..
If you are dressed like Liz Taylor or had the face of Liz Hurley, they gush all over you…
Hallo…if I have the money to travel half the continent to your country I surely have the money to buy your stuff even if I dont dress myself up – both face wise and dress wise…
Just boycott their counters…
Hey ladies, I’m sorry to hear about those horrible experiences! Well actually it is a mac policy thingy to only do one eye because they do makeup services and in the past ppl chose not to have the service as there were many people who just get a free makeup session. So we have to try to understand that business standpoint. I might agree some sales personal are simply horridious, I have had some really great experience with a couple of mac assistant.
This is why i buy MAC products online, i love MAC products, but i absolutely hate the service i get from them. I think its the same in Singapore and Malaysia, employees from MAC are very snobbish, i walked in and no one bothered to serve me because i wore plain t-shirt and jeans, and they only bothered to serve people who dress “impressively”. Not only that, the employees were mocking me behind my back, and only stopped when i glared at them, and also only then, they came forward and provided assistance. I have went to most MAC counters in Singapore and 2 from Malaysia, and only 1 in Singapore was okay. Maybe its just in Singapore and Malaysia, because everytime i go somewhere else like Hongkong, they serve me readily. I hope MAC would do something about this, everybody hates their service attitude
Hi,
As a Counter Manager for MAC, i have very mixed opinions about everything i have read here today. I feel for those people who have had bad customer service or who havent been happy with a Makeup Application, and its hard to say because these complaints are on the other side of the world to me. But at the same time, i was very hurt at some of the comments relating to “ALL MAC Staff”. I would fall under this category and have worked extremely hard to get to where i am and dealt with alot of bad experiences myself, and pride myself on always delivering 110% on customer service and have never had anyone walk away upset or unhappy with the way they look. Understandably it wouldnt be the case everywhere and i have found some rude staff myself, but it is unfair for people to be branded by you due to someone elses mistake! I treat everyone i serve like its my own family or friend, and will never turn anyone away!
last Wednesday i bought cream foundation from M.A.C midvaly the manufacture date its 2008 /11 and maximum duration its 12 mounts up to 18 mounts what do you suggest i found out this after i get doubt it seems its expire and i use it several times this week is there any way i talk to manager directly and whats the result simply replace ?
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