Have you ever interacted with a home-grown luxury brand, having sky-high expectations of getting A-class services only to come home utterly disappointed? Well, you’re not alone! As per a survey conducted a few years back, around 9 out of 10 customers face poor assistance and post-sale services across retail and utility sectors in India. And when it comes to luxe brands and labels, the situation is even worse.
Ishita Mangal, a video creator and fashion influencer, recently addressed the elephant in the room and called out the desi luxury brands and the poor customer service provided by them. The fashion critic took to her ‘Gram and poured her heart out about her unpleasant experiences with Indian labels over the years.
She wrote, “A luxury brand is never just about the product on its own. Yes. it’s the product but it’s more about the customer EXPERIENCE. Just because the product is of superior quality and is priced high, the brand cannot call themselves a luxury brand. You have to provide the best of the best customer service to fit into that category.” Ishita went ahead and pointed out the highly disturbing behaviour of the store staff and representatives of these high-end labels and added, “Sadly, Indian designers have not understood this. Most of them (and I mean 90% of them) think making pretty stores, pricing the product high, and getting celebrities to wear their pieces makes them a luxury label. They pay no or very little attention to the customer or their experience. I’ve had such terrible experiences shopping at the top Indian labels. Sometimes they don’t take your appointment seriously, they don’t treat you right, they quote different prices at different times, they don’t have price tags on their pieces, their billing takes forever, they don’t deliver the product in time, their product is different from the one ordered, they offer no after service. I could go on and on. Of course, most of these shopping experiences were in my pre-influencer era but why should that matter? Every customer is important.”
She also gave due credit to one of the most celebrated Indian designers- Sabyasachi Mukherji for providing a smooth trail of services throughout and after the purchase and maintaining it since day 1.
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As someone who’s been a victim of the aforesaid and faced rude and poor assistance as a customer, I can def vouch for Ishita’s claims and her disappointment. And guess what? Turns out a whole lot of people have been facing the same over the years. Here’s how some of her followers reacted and shared their horrible experiences:
In a country where we’re constantly thriving and achieving bigger things in the fashion fraternity, it honestly breaks my heart to see customers feel alienated, despite paying a hefty amount. Trusting a home-grown label and buying an outfit worth 5 lakhs is not a joke. The least the buyer can expect is superior service quality, flawless post-sales assistance, and not to forget, being treated with all due respect! I’m glad someone brought up the topic, cuz it’s the need of the hour.
Here’s hoping some of these labels learn their lessons and upgrade their customer experiences. It’s high time.
Feature Image: Instagram
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