Beware of beautiful women wielding skin-care products in mall kiosks. Kevin was on his way toward the mall exit when a skin-care kiosk saleswoman approached him, putting a product in his hand. An hour later, he somehow had spent about $666 on skin-care products that he never really wanted in the first place. How does this happen? Did the woman drug him? Did she sneak his credit card out of his wallet and scan it while he wasn’t looking? Nope. It was all charm, flattery, and persistence. Then more persistence. His disjointed account sounds more like a description of a drunken evening than of a shopping experience.

Kevin accepts full blame for what happened, but still wants to warn others. And maybe test the company’s “no refunds” policy. He writes:

I usually don’t like to complain about this type of stuff (since inevitably the decision and choice is always ours), but it seems like this is going to turn into a legal issue for the amount of money these people managed to get from me.

The manager of this Kiosk is named [redacted] the other “associates” may claim to be the Manager themselves but in all honesty, I think they’re trained to say anything to make the sale and I would assume they’re being paid by commission which would explain their persistence and sneaky sales tactics.

So instead of writing an anecdote I’ll just put what happened in (parts)

1) I’m leaving the mall towards Bloomingdales exit

2) Some cute girl handed me something in my hand and pulled me towards a chair in a Kiosk and started talking to me as she put stuff on my hand.

3) 10 minutes later I spent $168 dollars on something I didn’t really feel like I needed ‘but sounded good based on what she told me’.

4) She looked at my belt, my shoes, my jacket and said “Money doesn’t seem to be an issue for you. Come over here.”

5) 45 minutes later I was swindled out of another $498 dollars on stuff I REALLY DID NOT NEED. I even told her I did not want the stuff (countless times), but as mentioned in other posts ‘these people are persistent’.

6) Moral of the story: KEEP WALKING, RUN FROM THESE PEOPLE IF YOU MUST.

I also didn’t realize until I got home the “No Refund” Policy, which is why I’m going to have to give my attorney a call on Tuesday (Memorial Day Monday). Obviously I don’t think it’s just that they didn’t mention a thing about the Refund Policy (while I should have saw it on the very bottom of the receipt as I was signing my soul away) when I was making the purchase and I’m pretty sure there are laws here in California which protect US as the consumer from being entrapped, manipulated, and swindled in by these people.

…

Ladies, you look beautiful with or without these products.
&
Gentleman, don’t be pulled in by their looks or their FAKE indicators of interest – they’re not interested in you. They’re interested in the 10-50% they’re probably going to get from you.

This is probably going to be just an expensive lesson: another reader didn’t have much luck getting back the $300 that her mentally disabled uncle was talked into spending at a similar kiosk.

Have you, or has anyone you know, been dazzled into overspending by aggressive kiosk salespeople? Sex not only sells, it apparently can move a lot of skin-care products. My usual tactic is to snap at them that I’m allergic to their products (which is true) or pretend not to hear them at all. In my area, they’ve become so aggressive in the last year that I avoid the mall entirely.

Politeness is a disadvantage in these situations, which seems to have been Kevin’s problem. Don’t just say that you don’t need the product: say that you don’t need the product and physically walk away. Don’t take out your credit card. Don’t touch your wallet. Walk away.

RELATED:
Mall Skin Care Kiosk Hustles Mentally Disabled Man For $300, Refuses To Refund

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