So, I very rarely ever go to the mall without my husband because I get swarmed by those overly pushy, highly aggressive, often Middle Eastern sales people who reach out and physically grab you in the mall to shove their junk products down your throat (think: Dead Sea Spa types).
BUT, lucky for me, today the kids and I were killing time in the mall waiting for my husband to do job testing. I was actually after the Inside Out button from the Disney Store (a weekly freebie – trying to get the whole set), then we thought we’d walk around. Unfortunately, we were also out of town, so I did not know the dodge points in this particular mall. Yes, I am the type of anal that I plan routes to not cross the paths of the rude sales kiosks whenever I can help it.
We walk by this shop called Forever Flawless. I had no idea what it was, and no interest in it either. But there was a guy with very fake red hair (by the blonde bits, it looks like he threw peroxide on himself to try and look more “white”) standing outside and trying to hand me a free sample. Usually, I’ll put up my hand, say no thank you, and keep going – but this sample was in the shape of a diamond, and my daughter reached out for it. As she clasped her hands around the sample, the man simultaneously put his hand around my wrist and drug me into the store, insisting he had to show me something and it would just take a minute.
Alright, I thought I’d do what my husband does when he gets cornered like this – let them carry on, show me whatever, then say “I’ll think about it” and rush out of there, never to return. Well, as Magneto said when the police started using plastic weapons against him, “they’ve finally learned!”
This guy, who barely speaks English, gets me in a hair dresser’s chair and starts putting this goop on my face without my permission. Some kind of skin exfoliation cream. He starts carrying on, asking me what I do for a living, then insisting that I don’t take care of my skin and that I need to be doing so. I said that I use soap, and that I don’t really care about my skin because I’m already married, my husband isn’t vain enough to be concerned with my skin, and, being a photographer, my job means that I care about what my clients look like, not myself. He tried to say that my face was my business card, and I told him “no, my work is my business card.” He didn’t like that much and just tried to talk circles around me – because, how dare a dumb woman try to talk back to a man, I guess.
After putting three different products on my skin (all of which he applied without ever asking my permission before using it and touching me), he then starts talking prices. For three products, it was something like $500. I told him I wasn’t interested, and he started trying to wheel and deal with me to give me his “one voucher for the day” and to give me the items at cost. I insisted I wouldn’t use it, that I’ve bought crap like this before and I don’t use it. His response to that was that his crap included diamond dust and would 100% clear up acne.
At this point I was ready to go, but the man would not stop talking in circles. He was physically blocking me in the chair. I did not have enough space to even stand up. Every time I said “no,” he insisted that I needed it. He said “well, you spend money on clothes don’t you?” I looked down at my clearance Regular Show t-shirt and said “not really.” He sighed, getting upset, “well, you spend money on handbags!” He was good, and he almost had a point, being that I was holding a huge Dooney and Burke bag, but the truth was “this cost $6 at a thrift store.” He sighed again and got really irritated.
“Listen,” I said, “the photography business isn’t that good, my husband lost his job in April, and these three things that I will never use cost more than my mortgage. I won’t use this, I could care less about my skin.”
He just kept telling me not to lie to him and say that, everyone cares about their skin, and I’ll feel more beautiful and confident. When I would laugh with annoyance, he would get mad and ask why I was laughing at him. I said “I need to go.”
Then, he pulls out his desperate, last trick. He pushes the other two boxes back and hold up the exfoliation product. “The other stuff is junk, really, but this you really need. I tell you what, I’ll give it to you for cost because I know you’ll be my model and then your friends will come buy from me. $60!”
He wouldn’t stop the sales pitch, he wouldn’t stop blocking me in the chair, and I finally broke and said, “ok, for $60 I’ll take it.” Mind you, they claim the retail is $180, but there are no stickers on the box to prove this, but I just wanted to get the hell out of there.
Then, I’m trying to check out. I hand him my card and he walks off and tries to add the other two products back into my purchase. Uhh, didn’t he just say those were junk anyways? “NO! I don’t want those!” He tried to fight with me and speak more nonsense, but I shot it down. I guess I looked annoyed enough that he gave up on that – but then he walked to the side of the store and brought out a gift box. It had the exfoliation cream and a moisturizer, and he told me that it was a left over gift set from Mother’s Day, and he was going to sell me that instead for $100.
I said “no, I’m not going to use the moisturizer.” “Oh, of course you will,” he told me, “and it’s only $40 more so it’s a better deal for you.” “I don’t think so.” “It’s going to save you money, that set, I can sell for $300!” “I don’t have it, I am living off of $600 a month right now, I don’t have the money to blow on stuff I don’t need!” “But it’s okay, because this is a years supply so you’ll save money!” “Look, if this is wonderful stuff, I’ll come back and get this if I want it.” “It’s on sale now, not later. It’s only $40 more, it’s a better deal for you. I save you money!” “I don’t care. I will pay full price later IF I want it, but I do not need to pay another $40 for something I’m not going to use.” “Ohh, no no no, you will use it. Just use it when you brush your teeth every morning!” Then he tried pulling out an iPad and trying to show me how much more expensive the creams are online. “I don’t care.” “Don’t tell me that!” “Give me my card back or I’m going to call mall security.”
He finally relented and checked me out for just the $60 exfoliation cream. Had he not been holding my credit card in my hand this whole time and trying to force an up-sell, I would have already walked out. Oh, and half the time when I said “not interested,” he acted like he couldn’t understand me and kept going.
I also strongly considered having my husband promptly return this product after his testing ended, but, alas, the receipt says “No Returns” (always a sure sign that a product is garbage). The product also isn’t sealed, so there’s no way to know if it was ever used as a tester on someone else. But, the sales people are definitely bullies. I haven’t seen Dead Sea Spa in a while, I think they finally got enough complaints that the mall we were at today shut them down, but they seem to have just repackaged their stuff and thrown their employees into a different company name.
Now, since I was stuck with it, I did use the creme once. I used it as directed – applied it to clean skin and washed with warm water after I was finished. My face feels softer, but also very dried out and itchy. My eye also feels like it has tiny shards of glass in it (I think I got a little dab of it on my tear duct). I may update this post if I actually like this product, but I will never step foot in that store again. I may just scream “rape” and run the next time a Middle Easterner puts their hands on me in the mall again – I’m really over their behavior in every store that they run, and this one was definitely was more terrible than the others I’ve encountered.
I’m also finding online reviews saying that this stuff is not FDA approved, that diamond dust has no proof of being a good exfoliating agent, that the $6 cheap-o stuff works better than Forever Flawless, and that all the sales people are just as horrendous (with the claim that the staff is illegally here from Israel and work in the store to pay for their room and bored – which, if true, is highly illegal on many different levels). I don’t know about all of these reviews, but I can attest that the staff has no tact or manners, and the men seem to have no problem with bullying female shoppers and putting their hands all over them. Very disrespectful.
And, as a final note – just because there are Middle Eastern people who work in the mall and act like this does not mean that every Middle Eastern person is this way. The mall workers definitely tend to fit a stereotype of being rude, aggressive, and pushing high pressure sales, but that doesn’t necessarily equate to the behaviors of an entire region of the world. Just, you know, stay the hell away from them in the mall if you don’t want to end up in a screaming match.
Trying to Mom 