Way too many Colombo stores seem to think it's OK to silently follow customers around and just stare at them. It's not. It's just creepy and weird.
Recently we went to Leather Collection. The manager immediately started following us like five feet behind. It was so obnoxious. They don't even greet you or anything, they just follow you around like you're a criminal. It's a really bad way to run a store and it's plain rude in human terms.
You know that feeling when you get when someone is staring at you? It's creepy. A lot of customer service staff seem to think that this is their job, but their weirdness just turns people off. Now I just leave because I feel like their staff wants to molest me.
Other Analities
Another time Shru was at Cool Planet and the Manager asked her to stop writing prices down. I guess not taking photos is one thing (kinda self-defeating in the social media age), but not writing? He said she might publish the prices (which we will) but that's even more absurd. The right to speech including publication is in the Sri Lankan Constitution, if you want to go that far. You can write and think what you want and shop managers aren't mini-tyrants.
Israel Grade Security
Neither should their staff be mini secret police. Shoplifting is an issue, but there are much more effective ways to prevent theft than stalking your customers. For example,
look at how the Israelis do airport security. There's no are few airports terrorists would like to blow up more, yet they do it without stalking everybody personally. The Israelis have trained staff that ask passengers a few simple questions, where are you going, what's in your bag. Based on the responses (nervous, rushed) they single out 2-5% of people for additional screening, which is hardcore.
The application to Sri Lanka is that managers or customer service can just greet customers and have a normal conversation (which they should be doing anyways). From that you can tell who's suspicious. More importantly, it makes the customer feel at home and among friends, which in turn makes them more likely to buy your stuff.
Sri Lankan Stalkiness
Sadly, the basic Sri Lankan security model gets neither security nor prosperity for shop-owners. The current behavior is that the staff doesn't greet the customer at all, they just silently follow them, staring at them from behind. I mean, really? In what other context is that polite? It's not. When a stranger follows you around just staring at you silently, that's called stalking. It's creepy and a bit illegal. This creepy customer service has got to stop.
Tell us if you have any similar experiences, we'll collect a list and contact the managers of these stores. These guys need to know in order to change.
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akasha
I have a clothing store and i make sure i tell my staff NOT to stalk people. Just inform them that we do have sizes available and show what items we have in stock. I hate it when I am followed everywhere as well. The main thing is to view from afar and count and check the people before they go into the changing room and when they come out. Simple as that.
Charlie
I completely agree. It seems to happen in every shop in Colombo, this silent stalking. There is nothing more calculated to put me off buying anything than being followed and constantly watched. The injunction against writing prices down: well, the other day in Raux Brothers furniture store (the oldest of the branches, in Colombo 5) I was told not to measure the pieces of furniture with my tape measure. I needed to do so, strangely enough, to work out whether they would fit in my apartment, but the shop assistant insisted it was against the rules. I didn't buy anything. On that occasion I argued but it made no difference. When being stalked I tend to try and shake them off as I shy away from confrontation - but I shouldn't. Though shaking them off can be satisfying. The stalking happens even in the duty-free shop at Colombo airport…
Uthpala
Agree. I've walked out of shops without buying anything because of the stalking. The local Odel (out of Colombo) is pretty bad - staff have not much to do, so they ALL start following you around the moment you walk in. I guess it's drilled into them that they have to be close by A) for super fast customer service B) to stop shoplifting, but there are less drastic ways to do both, surely, without actually driving people out of the store.
zlonboy
It is so annoying, in places like Odel and elsewhere, especially in DVD (pirate) shops, you have peeps following your every move. In DVD shops, I am sure they get some orgasmic pleasure by asking whether you have watched this and that… DUDE… LET ME DECIDE ;-) plus in Odel, when you ask them in Sinhala, you get answered in English, I don't mind it but I am just being helpful ;-). Also, do not drop off your business card in the seemingly non-harmful fish bowl, placed next to the counter, with a placard saying offers for something. One of the easiest ways to get spam or an occasional sales call.
Ahamed Nizar
Theres a fine line between being too close (stalking) and staying so far away people think they're being unattended. I always ask the staff at my dads store to find that place and stay there. To give the customer their space and at the same time have time to be ready to attend to the customer.
YoYo
Agree with you. The following of customers happens in all shops and it is very irritating. You feel like you are a suspect and not comfortable to shop. also the general attitude seems like the customer is a disturbance. Some of them look at you with hatred in their eyes(like asking you why the hell did you have to come here…???). It is very rarely that you encounter a smiling welcoming face. Even the large chain supermarket are the same.
But no one wants to accept this fact and change the attitude of their staffs.
I feel a suggestion box for customers should be placed in all shops where the owners feel customer comments would help them improve.
G
Leather Collection is notorious for this. The few times we've been in there we've actually had to ask them to stop following us around. Never going back. (Plus their shit is no good)
ruthinsir
The Odel outlet at Kohuwala, Nugegoda….every time I go there to the Backstage/ Accessories section, a staff member shadows me the WHOLE time. No greeting or smile, just stands right behind me (And any other customers near the jewelry). Weird and creepy. I've asked them to stop doing that but they talk about shoplifting etc I tend to get passive aggressive with them and just spend ages in that section/ text/ call friends etc.
Divin3vil
There is one sales girl at Odel, Dutch Hospital who kept creepily shadowing me step for step till I turned around and told her I couldn't shop with her following me around :P there are certain sales people in their Kiribathgoda and Wattala outlets who suddenly just trail behind me carrying my basket for me (which is nice but still….creepy!) Otara - take note!
Agreed!
So true! Cargils Food City security personnel do this. My sister and I like to spend ages in the supermarket, just walking around, comparing prices etc. especially in the shampoo/lotion section. And some security person always comes along and stares or they have a spy disguised as a customer who is really (really really) interested in purchasing a tube of veet and ponders for ages about whether HE should go for the pink or blue while shooting u what he obviously thinks are inconspicuous looks. It only makes us stay unnecessarily longer, looking at things we dont intend to buy.
They shoud just use the security cameras instead of making customers feel like promising thieves. Makes me actually want to steal something jst to see them being able to finally pounce and scream I KNEW YOU WERE GOING TO STEAL SOMETHING!! (in sinhala ofcourse). You're right it's got to stop. I'm going to be putting a comment in the next suggestion box.
Tania P.
This happened to me (actually to my two kids) at a Cargills Food City outlet recently. While I was shopping, my two kids were running around and occasionally checking out the sweets and other goodies. One of them noticed this security woman diligently shadowing them. Upon my kid whispering it in my ear, I told them to split up and see what she does. As you can imagine, my kids had a great time after that playing the security person. :-)
Jeevan
I composed this in my head after one too many shop assistants got too close to me…
"Dear shop assistant
Hello there and right off the bat, let me just say that I understand the management wants you to be helpful to the customer (in this case me). They have done this through the various bright and positive posters hanging around the place, those motivational morning meetings and the occasional seminar on customer satisfaction. I know that you dream of the day where your face will hang on that wall in a poorly framed picture stating that at last you are 'employee of the month' and may someday hope to attain that hallowed position of 'employee of the year'.
I get it, I really do, but let me point out to you something that I feel you need to understand. When I, the customer, walk into your shop and don't come over and ask you something, that generally means that I am just browsing. I walked past and thought that I would walk in. It may be to just browse and possibly purchase, it may be to look for a gift, heck, it may be to just pass some time, heck, it may even be to avoid someone. And so, if I haven't already approached you, then please, for goodness sake, don't come and stand so close to me, I can smell what you had for lunch and what brand of perfume you use (or don't use as the case may be) and proceed to question me as to what my intentions for entering this establishment are.
In addition, should I say that I am just browsing, please, and I really can't stress how important you understand this is, please don't proceed to stand there and gawk at me and what I am looking at. It makes me nervous, really it does. By nature I am not a self-conscious person, but you standing there really does not help in keeping things that way.
So thanks and understand, I don't hate you, I don't, just let me be. I'm certain we could even be friends if we met somewhere else. But for now, you just stay over there, and I'll stay over here. And we'll do just fine. Ok? Get it? Got it? Good?"
Summer
Totally agree on the 'stalking at shops' issue. And what about the new 'Parking at your own risk' at almost all the car parks at shops and supermarkets! I mean, come on - you come to their shop but if the security of some passerby happens to damage your car, it's your problem NOT theirs??!!?! Absurd!
slnavy
hi there oh wow this sounds like a new hobby of so called big shops or department stores. here is something to try which i do to many staff….walk about going about your business of looking at stuff and when you notice a staff member following you start slowing down your walk about so that she is just behind you, suddenly do a bout turn and you may just about trod on her toes ,then kindof give her a most annoying look as if she is blocking the way of whatever you want to look at. i did this and wouldnt have hesitated to trod on the staff,s feet but she kindof tried to get out the way…this stalking as i call it happens often at The Lover in nugegoda so i have stopped going there…
sajee
I think backstage@odel, cotton collection, beverly street and almost all the cargills foodcity outlets I,ve been to except @ ward place you experience this stalking. It's really annoying and problem is why all these big stores who can afford security cameras still have to stalk the customers making them uncomfortable.
knathan
any Arpico branch (not the big ones), espec. the one near Open University on Narahenpita Road - silent and scary staring. really freaky
katex
slnavy, you sound like a real idiot! you people, dont you have anything better do then sharing your pros and cons how to torment a sales people who just do there JOBS??? shame on YOU. Maybe you have to try ,just for one day, to get a job in retail to understand how it feels to be abused by idiots( so called customers) like you.
චගු
Fantastic article and yes… Gollum complets the picture.
wanna experience it first hand: visit Vijitha Yapa, at Kandy City Center.
Was checking out a few of those "coloring pages" books for some kids and the security kept staring… and staring …… AND staring… ! it was creepy.
On the other end of the spectrum are the staff at Sarasavi (new) Bookshop, Nugegoda… browse and even read books at your own pace… no Gollums staring at you thinkin that you are going to nick their "my preciousssssss". :D
Judy
In SL for a few weeks and noticing the stalking game even more so than before. Have learned to give a dirty look and walk out when ever im stalked or been dished with horrible attitude…they just dont deserve my dime….
vishkid
Idiots aka customers … wow, that's rich and clearly sums up the whole situ. :)
HotActionCop
Its all the pressure that the shop-owners put on the sales persons. Their job performance is measured by the attending to the customer and ensure their products are safe and sold. Most of the sales persons are with minimal knowledge (thats why they are in this field of job in the first place) so its the shop-owners who should be blamed for not giving them proper training. So dont harass the poor attendants, but take on the heat with the managers. These managers/shop owners go to the level of having security personnel in the shopping isles. I went to the manager and asked him what was the threat that the shop had to have security personnel? he had no answer. I told him that this demeans customers to robbers and that's not how I want to feel here and walked off. I noticed a few other customers walked off with me behind.
Anon
We were once the only shoppers at Prenita Fashions and when we asked to look at a sari, we were told that those are the expensive saris and they will pull them out only if we were buying. Is there anyone out there that buys a sari without looking at it??
To be fair this doesn't just happen in Sri Lanka. I've had this happen abroad too… a slightly racist version.
Ayne-MarieLeitch
I totally agree with all your comments on customer service and stalking in shops in this country - it irks me no end as I cannot abide it with a vengeance and have left shops, totally and utterly infuriated on many an occasion.
So I worked out a way around it - whenever I have time to browse or shop, I simply, politely and firmly say " I do not need a baby sitter " to the annoying staff - ( in short, get the hell out of my face before I SCREAM ) and trust me, it worketh, as they then avoid me like the plague and I am left to shop in peace ! Whew !!!
Try it ……
qwerty
Premium Stationers liberty plaza…….a la HORIBBBBBBBLE
Anonymous
It has happened to me at a shop at Majestic city. Long years ago, so can't remember which shop, but it was a clothes shop near the entrance. I really had to get a gift so I went ahead and bought the blouse, and she actually grabbed it off me to hand it to the cashier (probably to make sure she got her commission or whatever)
Then recently when I was looking at handbags at Cool Planet Isipathana mw, a guy stood about 5 feet away watching. I saw him from corner of eyes, couldn't be bothered and walked away……lost customer!
Anura
it is how you take it in. peaple with swollen heads find it pretty much annoying but once you behave in a firendlier manner and talk to the staff they are much friendlier than you expect. It is the culture which makes you feel stalked about. You visit a store in US perhaps best buy for instance and you certainly find 12 CCTV cameras in one isle. you are pretty much being watched worse than a staff being followed. So kindly get a life be a normal sri lankan without trying to be swollen headed on small things like this and next time try talking to the staff and im sure you would see how friendly some are to be honest. Its not like you were born in a Diamond studded cradle for god sake!
Amina
Leather Collection on Flower Road has the same sucky customer service from when this post was made, nearly 2 years ago. It doesn't help to smile at the staff either, they don't greet you or engage you in any way and most of them can be found crowding around the POS while observing customers keenly. If you go up to another floor, one person will inevitably follow you, not to help but to maintain a minimum safe distance while checking to see if you're planning to steal anything. Even asking for something in a different size is a chore as they will flatly say the size isn't available, then change their mind and go look for it…it's like they size you up to see if you're really genuine about purchasing something and only when they've determined that you're not there to waste their time, they actually serve you. There also seems to be a clear difference between how they greet regulars and someone who they're unfamiliar with, the former are treated with a lot more enthusiasm. As a customer I am appalled that this is what passes for customer service. Especially in the line of business that they are in, good customer service is the fine line between someone patronizing their store and never returning again. No amount of fancy leather items could ever make me want to return to something like that, especially given an ample amount of choice elsewhere. As an aside, I have to commend the staff at the adjoining Cotton Collection…the difference between the two stores is like night and day! The Cotton Collection staff leave you in peace to do your shopping, assist you where needed and greet you with a smile once you're done. Maybe the owner/manager needs to keep a closer eye on the LC staff and retrain them to ensure that they're not ruining customer's experiences and perception of shopping there.
Charles
I've been in Colombo just a year and certainly noticed the stalking.
It is so bad now I've started asking the security guards whether there is a problem.
I really feel like saying, if they want to help, they can push the trolley/carry a basket for me.
But missing from this is the 'bag boys'the ones at supermarket checkouts.
A couple of times I have left Keells at Crescat in Colombo, to get home and find some of my shopping is 'missing'.
I have to wonder, did I fail to pick it up, or did the bag boy decide he like the look of what I was buying, and just kept it for himself?
Reverse shoplifting?