Dove Dry Shampoo FAIL, and Shoppers Drugmart Rant

Dry Shampoo & me

I’m a big huge dry shampoo fan.  I’ve probably tried every drugstore, to mid-range dry shampoo out there – Tresemme, Klorane, Suave, Batiste, Oscar Blandi, Ojon.  I haven’t tried to Bumble & Bumble one, because I couldn’t wrap my head around a $50 dry shampoo.  [If you ladies attest to it, then I may try it out.  Maybe.]

Dove Dry Shampoo Quasi Review

Anyway, when I saw that Dove had come out with their own for only $7.99 and Nouveau Cheap’s rave review, I was excited to give it a try.  So, I skipped, hopped and danced over Shoppers Drugmart  (a very popular Canadian pharmacy chain similar to RiteAid, Walgreens, or CVS) and picked me up a bottle.

I tried it out right away, and my first thoughts were this:

• strong smell (which I didn’t like)
• not as much “dry shampoo” was dispersed from the pump as I would have liked

I used it again on the Monday following the weekend I bought it, and in addition to the above, the dry shampoo felt kind of like hair spray (similar to my experience with the Tresemme dry shampoo).

I like to try a product a few times before I deliver my verdict, because, you never know, right?  Well, I will never know, because the third time I picked up the Dove Dry Shampoo, it stopped working.

I knew something was wrong when I shook the bottle and it sounded like it was empty.  When I went to test spray the dry shampoo on my hand, a clump of wet powdery stuff came out, and that was it.  FYI: This has happened to me before on a defective bottle of Ojon, which I took back to Sephora, and they happily gave me a new bottle.

Shoppers Drugmart Rant

I wanted to take it back right away to Shoppers Drugmart to get my refund (or a new bottle), but I didn’t get around to it until a week later.

I brought back the bottle to a cashier and explained what happened.  I also told her that the bottle is defective and the product is likely all clumped together at the bottom of the can.

The cashier checked my receipt, and the bottle.  Then she tried to spray the bottle – which of course, nothing came out.

Cashier: It’s empty.

Me:  No, it’s not.  I just explained to you why it sounds like it’s empty.  The product is clumped together at the bottom of the bottle. You can’t get it out.  This has happened to me before with a defective bottle of aerosol dry shampoo.

Cashier: No, it’s empty.

Me:  No, that’s impossible, because I just bought it last week, and I only used it twice.

Cashier:  It’s empty.  Plus, you got it at another location.  I can’t refund this. 

I know she was just trying to do her job, but at this point, I should have asked to speak to her manager – someone who had authority and cared about customer service.  But, instead, I lost my cool because she was basically calling me a liar.  I raised my voice and said told her this was ridiculous, the product was defective, and stormed out.   What did it matter that I got it at another location – there are a GAZILLION locations for a reason.

I know, I know.  It was only 8 bucks.  It wasn’t very mature of me.  I just wasn’t expecting this kind of service from Shoppers Drugmart, and I don’t appreciate being treated like a liar, when I was the victim. 

Well, now I know better.  In the future, I will try not to lose my cool, and not take comments personally.

Readers, have you ever had a similar customer service experience?  Do you have any suggestions for how I can better deal with situations like these in the future?  I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Update:

I was still very dissatisfied with the customer service I received, so I decided to go back to the Shoppers Drugmart and talk to the store manager.   I calmly explained what happened, and said that I was taken aback from the refusal to process my refund request, when it was a defective item, which I clearly explained to the cashier.  I also admitted that I took the comment as a personal attack (that the cashier basically told me I was lying), and I left very angry, leaving behind my receipt and defective product. 

The item itself was not very expensive, but I felt that it was the principle of the matter, and wanted to bring it to her attention.  I also brought with me printed reviews I found online with other people who also had the same problem as me and provided her with a copy of these reviews.  I explained to the manager, I understood the cashier was trying to do her job, but it was a frustrating experience.  The store manager apologized, and refunded me my money, even without a receipt, and said that her staff should have asked for another assessment before making such a judgement call. 

So, even though I felt I was “wronged”, I am glad that I went back to talk to the store manager.  I have always received great customer service from Shoppers Drugmart, and now I feel better when I go back to the store.  On another note, it would be hard to boycott Shoppers as they are just so convenient and have some great sales! 🙂