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Lesson learned: Never take someone you love to an Art of Shaving store.

The good:

Well, I had a bad experience the other day which made me pretty sad.

My dad came down three weeks ago to visit me for graduation and the holidays. My dad has horrible skin, so I decided that I'd introduce him to DE shaving. I pulled together my best equipment and put it in a tupaware container for him to try for three weeks.

He LOVED it. After a week he was smiling every morning when I saw him. By the end of the third week he was telling his wife "You know, Brandon really convinced me. This is the way to go. It saves money [compared to cartridge blah blah] and it feels great. "

I tried offering him my DE89, a badger, and a few soaps; of course, he declined (he has too much money to let his poor starving son give him a gift to ship back up to Alaska ;)).

The bad:

On the last day he was here I made the horrible decision to walk him into an Art of Shaving store. I warned him before that everything was overpriced, but that I wanted him to see different DE and brush styles / prices.

As always, there was a hipster looking 20 year old working the sales floor. I promptly ignored him and went on to show my dad a couple razors and gave him some prices online that he could find them at. I also picked up a $260 brush to show him why I prefer boar brushes. This is where EVERYTHING went wrong.

The ugly:

Given that the sales associate was hovering right behind us, he made a comment that made me a little angry. "The reason we don't sell badgers at our (insert snide voice here) store is because they cause irritation on the skin. If you are going to buy a brush, you should by the [260 dollar] brush. [blah blah quality blah blah]."

Of course I was polite and made a quick remark that I didn't notice the difference. My dad was a little uncomfortable at the price of the "good" stuff.

The unbelievable:


Trying to get my dad out of the store before more damage was caused, I said goodbye and then the associate stopped us and gave my dad a sample. He then said something that would damage wet shaving for my dad forever.

Literally this guy had his nose up in the air when he said this with a huge sneer across his face. I could not believe it.

"Do you know why we are the only shaving store in the U.S. that has a physical location? Because our shaving equipment far surpasses the quality of any other shaving equipment in the world. In fact, anything that you buy elsewhere is complete garbage and will not give you the shave you want. Your son is wrong about quality; we have the best and everyone knows it."

The synopsis:

Of course my dad trusts me more than some salesperson, but my dad was really put out by the guys attitude. He was thinking, "Wow, are all wet shavers that rude? Do I really want to be associated with that type of person?" My dad would have bought something there anyway had the sales associate not been a complete jerk. This was the worst experience I've had there and it really turned me off to having a little fun in a shaving store!

There is still hope for my dad, but not this trip!
 
The one time I really browsed in an AoS store (in New Jersey), the young female sales associate could not have been nicer and I did not get any hard sell from her either. She took the time to do a lather demo and gave me samples.

I tend to think the snotty 'tude you got was unusual. If it were me, I'd send a letter about it to the manager.
 
The one time I really browsed in an AoS store (in New Jersey), the young female sales associate could not have been nicer and I did not get any hard sell from her either. She took the time to do a lather demo and gave me samples.

I tend to think the snotty 'tude you got was unusual. If it were me, I'd send a letter about it to the manager.

I had the same experience the last couple times I went -- the employees are usually pretty nice and enjoy showing off their merchandise because they can talk about how much they enjoy doing it themselves. I am planning on writing the manager, but after I cool down a little bit about it! I think it was just one of those guys that doesn't actually wet shave.
 
Wow.. that was absolutely rude of the salesman (also a heap of sales tactic lying). I have worked retail for 9yrs before, both on commission and on salary/comm.. Even I don't came across as that type of "used car salesman" BS'er. First and foremost AOS has shaving store fronts only cause their huge backer/now parent company, Procter&Gamble has decide to invest in the brand and place them out. Yes they do carry quality razors/items but not anything one cannot get elsewhere for way better of a price. I'm sure the salesman knows that. I have a friend who works for AOS but even with employee discount, he gets better prices online for the things he wants. That's when you know a company definitely marks up their products too high!

His attitude at the lack of attention is astounding, as I in my previous retail career was always one to simply allow the "browsers" and never say anything to object a customers opinion/statement. I never had to BS a customer for anything and im not biased nor would say anything just to make the sale happen. My success in retail was great feedback and repeat business from companies who knew they could count on me, and happily spread the word of me to others. What that sales guy just did is make DE shavers look bad, make his company look bad, and just from his own negative projection, I could never blame anyone for not wanting to step into an AOS ever again.
 
I've been to the AOS in Cherry Hill, NJ. There used to be a young lady there, who was pleasant and fairly knowledgeable. Lately, on my rare Mall trips, I've run into that sort of snotty young men. They have all the wrong names, i.e. "Progrressor" , and pretend they know something about shaving. The lather demo was a joke, the wettest, thinnest, large bubbled lather I've ever seen, so bad it just ran off the demonstrators arm. Most of them have the described attitude, but that may be the corporate thinking. As for having better equipment than anywhere else, all I've ever seen is top of the line, (priced high too), off the shelf items. Their soaps, etc., seem nice & work well, but are not enough to switch me to their locations with the snotty attitude of their sales staff.
 
The last time I stepped into an AoS store was a couple of years ago. I had a 20% off coupon (the only way to shop there, by the way!) and wanted some of their shaving cream. The sales guy was very nice, and he clearly didn't know a thing about wet shaving. He asked me a lot of questions and I spent the better part of an hour educating him about brushes, razors, blades and his own company's cream and soap. I bought a couple of tubs of cream, he thanked me and I was on my way.

I've never seen a retail salesperson anywhere say things like that guy said. I would have walked out of there immediately.
 
I've been to the AOS in Cherry Hill, NJ. There used to be a young lady there, who was pleasant and fairly knowledgeable. Lately, on my rare Mall trips, I've run into that sort of snotty young men. They have all the wrong names, i.e. "Progrressor" , and pretend they know something about shaving. The lather demo was a joke, the wettest, thinnest, large bubbled lather I've ever seen, so bad it just ran off the demonstrators arm. Most of them have the described attitude, but that may be the corporate thinking. As for having better equipment than anywhere else, all I've ever seen is top of the line, (priced high too), off the shelf items. Their soaps, etc., seem nice & work well, but are not enough to switch me to their locations with the snotty attitude of their sales staff.

+1 for this.. I actually stood through one of their demonstrations with my brother.. We heard and saw the whole thing, listened to the salesman's bs leaflet ridden product description, and then just for kicks, me and my brother let him have it, corrected everything he said and did wrong, corrected his description on what certain ingredients did, Corrected him on his wrong descriptions of the Futur and 34C,

then proceeded to teach him a lesson in sales by telling him, "You really need to ask qualifying questions to a customer before going on your sales rant. You jumped immediately to your sales pitch without so much as attempting building a rapport with us, nor asking how we shave, if we shave, or what made us walk in to the shop in the first place. You just proved you don't know **** about wet shaving and I can already tell you never stepped out from a cartridge and can of goo. You would of saved yourself this embarrassment you just brought onto yourself, if only you had first asked us the right questions to determine whether or not we are already knowledgeable about your company, products, or shaving in general. You just assumed like most of the people who walk in here with big open eyes, that we don't know the first thing about shaving with your products or even the first thing about your products. You then proceeded onto your BS sales story that sounds scripted and the told us DE shaving is a dying trend and that the Gillette Flexball was the way to go? Here's a tip from a proven salesman, Know your customer before you try to sway the sale in your favor."

Honestly the guy just proceeded to thanks us for coming in and stepped out our way just cause he knew our next move was to leave.. I swear, Never again will I walk into an AOS.. The best shave shop I have ever walked into and never been BS'd in my life was TOBS.
 
The AOS here in Cincinnati has been nothing but polite. Have had several conversations with the staff, although most of the time I made no purchases.. You can run into sales jerks in any store..
 

TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
It sounds more like the company is at fault as much as the employees. I suppose someone in the AoS offices are content to let undereducated salespersons work the shops. Pity.

One would think that, if one wanted to style one's wares and stores as high quality, one would be willing to actually deliver that quality. Pity.


TL
 
To the OP...

I would definitely write AOS and tell them what their associate was telling you. That is just wrong. I'm appalled that he would say those things to you.
 
the one time i went in the new aos store here that just opened there was a older lady who is the store manager (older then me maybe in her early 60's im guessing) and she was pretty obnoxious herself. trying to tell my wife (who really likes her boar brushes and makes sure to keep them very clean) that they dont sell boar because they will give you infections and carry on diseases and you can never properly sanitize them blah blah blah. then my wife saw the cost of their soap and said to me "wow this stuff is expensive compared to the razorock stuff you have me using" (among other brands) and then the lady almost blew up and said "you should NEVER use anything soap wise on your face that is not from a major brand you have no idea what they really put into it and we have had customers try other soaps only to get irritation and infections from them" she would not let up either and we walked out and went over the the l'occ store who could not have been nicer albeit a bit pushy for a sale but otherwise great to deal with. i also asked her why they had not a single de razor in the store only stuff for carts and she told me they sold every last piece they had and people were on a 2-4 weeks waiting list for de razors??? i find that hard to believe.

my wife called p+g and they apologized a LOT and said they would send us some coupons and samples which we have not seen yet.

i will never go into our aos store after that i might try another one if im traveling somewhere but never this one.
 
Yes, I've seen similar attitudes by AOS shop clerks in the past. I have stopped going to their stores a long time ago and have told everyone in my family that knows that I'm into wet shaving never to give me anything from AOS.
 
This thread makes me think of my only visit to an AOS store which was in SF just before Christmas this year. I was shopping the the downtown mall with my wife and was wasting a few minutes waiting for her and saw the AOS store and decided to pop in and check it out. Since I had seen their products at Macy's & Ulta, I expected a limited range and expensive price, and was curious how they would have a whole store... would there be more products? Anyway I just had a few minutes, so I wanted to look and not get involved with the staff. Nevertheless, I had a nice 50ish salesman politely ask questions, offer to sample the scents, and talk a little about my shaving experience (told him about my EJ89). He was persistent in trying to help, but very polite and got the message that I wasn't likely on a real buying trip. I hurried out, feeling a bit like I was escaping from a hard sell, but maybe I'm just too used to shopping online to feel comfortable anymore in a brick and mortar buying relationship? I did buy a little earlier at the L'Occitane shop practically next door... a Plisson synthetic brush. I had to be persistent to find it since it was hidden away in a drawer. The saleswoman didn't know anything about shaving brushes, and maybe the "I know more than the staff" attitude from that carried over to the AOS experience later. Anyway, I was actually somewhat impressed my AOS, more so than I thought I would be, but don't think I'd go in again because I don't think I would buy anything or learn anything from them, two reasons to shop.
 
So my question is an obvious one. If we only use AoS, and for that matter, any brick and mortar for showrooming purposes, pick out our products and then run immediately to our Internet distribution systems to shop for the best price, how exactly is the B&M business, whether Mom & Pop or P&G, supposed to survive? How are they supposed to pay commissions, benefits and train their associates properly, in both the skill of sales and their specialized product lines, so that they can properly advise expert ( or know-it-all, jury is still out ) customers, if nobody who walks in, actually intends to make a purchase.

Surely mall retail space rent in, I don't know, let's say Tulsa OK, and the cost of paying a sales force entails somewhat higher overhead costs then a 60,000 square foot warehouse in the middle of nowhere that also fulfills Internet orders of beef jerky and spark plugs. It's clear that the sales assistant in the OPs post may have crossed that invisible line of decorum, but I would have liked to be there for his entire interaction as two potential "customers" enter the store only to be told that his merchandise is unacceptably priced and inferior, that they are there for research only and would be patronizing someone else, once they use his locally convenient inventory to make a purchase decision. We also don't know what his day was like prior to this interaction. That can't be used as an excuse, but we're all human and we all have limits.

I'm reminded of a family owned toy store in an affluent part of Philadelphia that went out of business last year after 55 years at the location. The owner could not compete on price with the Amazons despite a healthy and loyal customer base. He mentioned that during the "going out of business" clearance, a Radio Flyer Red Wagon was marked 50% off. The young woman looking at it was displeased that the bar code was missing from the product, because he son saw it in the store and liked it, but she needed to scan the bar code to compare to the internet.

I shop online. Love the savings and convenience. But the B&Ms provide a service. And even though they don't charge for it, making inventory locally and conveniently available isn't free, at least to them. Personally, I feel that if I use a physical location to get first hand exposure to merchandise, and their price is no more than 20% over the internet, then I owe the physical location my business. Over a 20% premium, they need to evaluate their business model and perhaps shouldn't survive.
 
I have been into one AOS store in Buffalo NY. I actually went in looking for a strop and to just see what was in there. After wandering the store for about 10 minutes seeing nothing but $100+ gillette cart razors, and being snubbed by sales staff because I wear jeans have long hair and tattoos instead of looking all preppie like their friends they were to busy talking to, I decided to never go again.

For x-mas, my daughter was texting her mother and I suspected where she was, I made it clear that I wanted nothing from there, but being 17 she listens extremely well.

So I now have a beautiful little lathering bowl with AOS on the side.

When I say little, I mean little..... For the $50 investment she made, I can't even make a lather in it because my brush is as big as the bottom of the bowl. It looks great, but is far from functional.

Complete waste of time to even walk through the door in my opinion.
 
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