Perfume samples

Melissafairy

I used to work on the fragrance counter at my local Boots and it's true, the samples are rarely given away. They are generally given to the staff who are also shopping, or just given away randomly by nice staff like me. But if someone came right up to the counter and blatantly ask for samples I probably wouldn't have given them out. If someone was buying some perfume I would give them away. Or, if someone was finding it difficult choosing a fragrance I might have given them away then.
If you're desperate though, I suggest saying you have allergies to some fragrances and you'd like some samples to take away and try. This way they can't fob you off with it sprayed on a stick.

MrsB2100

I was in House of Fraser in Camberley a couple of weeks ago and they had their samples on the counter. I did ask if I could take a sample and they said yes. I hadnt bought anything, though I was trying to look like I couldnt make up my mind! Mind you, they were also giving away a paring knife if you watched a demo for a super-dooper bread knife! (which, if you bought it, you got 2 more free, another paring knife, 2 lemon squeezy thingys and something else I cant remember! All for £23!!!)

I took the paring knife and didnt bother with the others!

Beate

I went to Debenhams at the Bullring in Birmingham on Saturday, armed with my vouchers for samples of Dior Midnight Poison and Elizabeth Arden Mediterranean. A very nice lady said they had run out of both but asked me to follow her to the main till, where she opened a drawer and took out a handful of perfume samples, two of them being 1.2ml bottles. I thought that was terribly nice of her.

oojeyboojey

I've had mixed luck with perfume samples. It does help if you're buying something - sometimes, I use the perfume counter at boots to buy non-perfume items because the queues are usually shorter there, and then I'll ask if they have any samples. They do get loads more in for promoting new fragrances, so it's worth keeping an eye on that - last time, I got about 5 spray bottles of "envy" the new SJP one (I don't like it much, but it'll be a good stocking filler!)

SharkyGeorge

Melissafairy wrote: »

I used to work on the fragrance counter at my local Boots and it's true, the samples are rarely given away. They are generally given to the staff who are also shopping, or just given away randomly by nice staff like me. But if someone came right up to the counter and blatantly ask for samples I probably wouldn't have given them out. If someone was buying some perfume I would give them away. Or, if someone was finding it difficult choosing a fragrance I might have given them away then.
If you're desperate though, I suggest saying you have allergies to some fragrances and you'd like some samples to take away and try. This way they can't fob you off with it sprayed on a stick.

How come you wouldn't give them out if someone just came up and blatnatly asked?

Melissafairy

SharkyGeorge wrote: »

How come you wouldn't give them out if someone just came up and blatnatly asked?

Because generally when someone did that they tended to be rude and/or have only come into the shop to get free samples. If I was serving someone at the tills there and someone was chatty and asked for samples I used to put what I can find into a big bag and give them loads (as long as the manager wasn't watching!). But if someone was rude, I wouldn't give them out. Call it a power thing. As I'm sure many of you can identify, shop assistants put up with quite a lot of crap so it's a case of exploiting power in any which way! (For the record, I am so longer a sales assistant lol).

Gettin_me_own_back

Went shopping in Boots yesterday, explained 13 year old son had grown out of the Lynx phase and wanted some posh aftershave, very nice lady gave me 6 samples, refered me to this site and said why didn't I make them into a smellies hamper for him. BF nearly wet herself laughing.