A mum was baffled after learning a chemist refused to sell her elderly mother some makeup.
The mum explained her mother, who is 85, is a "bit deaf" but still has "her faculties", went shopping at a chemist to buy her 20-year-old granddaughter some lipstick for her birthday. The grandmother was refused service and had to venture to Boots instead.
The mum, whose daughter was the one she'd been shopping for, relayed the "odd" incident on Mumsnet, in a post titled "Chemist refused to sell my Mother makeup. How odd?"
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She penned: "DM [dear mother] went to a local independent chemist. The sort that stinks of perfume the moment you walk in. She explained to the sales assistant (who mum presumed was the owner or manager) that she was looking for a colour to suit someone with blonde hair, fair skin tone.
"Assistant replied, 'sorry I know this sounds awkward but we only serve people who have bought a product before as it's caused problems in the past.' So mum went to Boots with the [exact] same request and was helped, no problem. Except now she is over thinking it and worrying the lipstick could cause God knows what skin allergy.
"Does this sound really odd? I wondered if [the] first shop thought she was buying for a child. [My daughter] is 20 years old btw [by the way]. Or do you think it's because makeup choice [is] so personal it's highly likely it's not to daughter's taste. But why should that be of any concern to the shop, everyone should know makeup can not be returned."
She added: "To me, it's a weird business model only to [sell] products your customers have had before. How is business growth achieved if nobody tries anything new?"
The mum's post was met with more than 200 replies from fellow Mumsnet users keen to share their opinions. One simply said: "That is bizarre!"
Another said: "I'd be ringing them for an explanation but I'm an a*** like that". A third commented: "The "grandchild is a small child" thing sounds the most likely explanation, if only because I can't think of any other."
One Mumsnet user joked: "I'm old. I would have had an incontinent 'accident' on the shop floor and left." And another said: "My guess is the independent chemist has had people trying to return unwanted presents and causing a fuss when they can't. Whereas if you go in knowing exactly what you want, they know it will be 'wanted' iyswim [if you see what I mean]?"
Another Mumsnet user said: "That's really bizarre. I live in a tiny town with an independent chemist like the one you describe but I can't imagine them ever saying something like that or behaving in that way. Your poor mum - I hope she wasn't left feeling too humiliated or upset. It almost sounds like a bit of a UK small-town version of that scene in Pretty Woman where the snooty shop staff wouldn't serve Vivian."
In several follow up comments, the mum explained she'd called the chemist for more information and the manager said they are going to investigate, as her mum's experience was not indicative of how they run their business. The mum believes the shop assistant was perhaps being "ageist".
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