Boots — Local services in Newcastle upon Tyne

limited products on the Elizabeth Arden counter and most of the products I use are only available online (or they have been discontinued).

Be prepared for a very long wait if the assistant is busy. I was left standing for so long it became embarrassing. Surely more than one assistant would be beneficial at this time of the year.

In the past customer service has always been a priority at Boots. When hunting down products the warmth and accommodating willingness of the store representatives has been flawless with a gold star service. Over the past couple of years when i've asked where products are i've been told "it's not my department", or the assistant has waved a hand around for a brief second and said "it's just over there on aisle whatever" then turned away from me. The same with buying products. "If it's not on the shelf then we don't have any".

Bossy, pushy assistants directing customers onto self service tills (sometimes with a death stare). The staff just don't seem happy to be there. I had to wave like an idiot for help whilst the assistant wandered off and stood gossiping at the tills.

You have some AMAZING staff working for you in this store but the rude, lazy, unapproachable and complacent staff are spoiling it for the rest of them. Some of your staff don't like being interrupted by the customers when they are talking amongst themselves.

Come on BOOTS, I know you can do a lot better than this ......

Update (customer service from the lovely ladies on the CHANEL counter is consistently outstanding...

I had the worst experience ever here in Lancome. I bought a 115ml bottle of Essence in a small black bottle. When I opened it at home, I found that it had 75ml capacity and the bottle was frayed. I went back to boots with the receipt and asked for a new one. The employee said, "You can't prove you bought it from us, it never happens here, you should open it in front of me and take it away." It's ridiculous. I've never had to unwrap anything in a store to re-examine it, and I think the employee, the white woman with long blonde wavy hair, must have known that there was something wrong with the weight I was being given. What made me most angry was that the staff insisted that I had changed the contents myself to take advantage, something I swear I had never done. As a result, the employee offered no apology, no compensation, and even spoke sarcastically to me. I had to leave with the skincare products I'd spent 98 pounds on that everyone else had used. Since I really needed this product, I repurchased the set and didn't give me the free...

The place needs a thorough revamp. It's like they've lost all interest in any of the beauty areas / counters with Sephora, John Lewis and (a newly jazzed up) Fenwicks Beauty. Slim pickings at the self service drugstore makeup stands, they'd actually ran out of Maybelline mascara and disinterested staff on the premium beauty concessions (someone acknowledged me, said they be with me in a minute and I never saw them again, while other staff blatantly ignored me waiting). The previous time visited a few weeks ago, I went to ask a member of staff where the KVD and Anastasia stands were and as I said "excuse me" they turned round and shouted "WHAT???" - err it's okay, I'll find it myself! The downstairs is a barren wasteland of baby products and an opticians I've never actually seen anyone at, and is generally used as a thoroughfare to get to the bus station. On the plus side, the pharmacy staff are really helpful and friendly, nothing is too...