What do you do when a customer's cologne is lowering your IQ by the second...

Had a guy here yesterday who wanted to spend some money on good Champagne and Brunello but his cologne was SO strong and pungent that I was literally losing the oxygen flow to my brain as I talked with him. I had to RUN to answer the phone and even go outside to “check on a delivery” a couple of times just to get my breath. The real shame is that no one who drinks those wines with him will be able to taste them…

I hear you. We get people at our bar that come in cologned-up and it is a dilemma for sure. Do I just kick people out or do the rest of us have to tough it out?

And even worse, wine reps have come in smelling. Come on people…

I get a headache from perfume/cologne so the first day of classes I tell my students that either refrain or sit at the back of the class.

It is one of my biggest bitches. I’ve even asked my sister & brother-in-law not to wear it when we get together because it destroys my palate and gives me a headache.

We have a few customers that saturate the store with stinky perfume/cologne when they come in and it’s the same thing, run for the door, hold your breath. We usually take turns while the other hides.

On our wine bar menu it’s printed,
"We kindly request no cologne or perfume be worn in the wine bar as it detracts from the wine experience of others " . Or something along those lines.

With reps, if we have a tasting appt I tell them not wear it. It is blunt but too bad, if they want me to buy wine I don’t want to smell their $1.99 sale perfume/cologne that seems like they put it on with an industrial bug sprayer !

For you, I would call it a rounding error :slight_smile:

Um, you DO know the difference between “literally” and “figuratively,” don’t you? neener

Strong perfume/cologne is one of my pet peeves. I’ve been in restaurant situations where we all were upset at the next table’s perfume–we asked to be seated at a new table, and we spoke just loudly enough that the adjacent table could hear it.

Bruce

We have that advisory too, somewhere. Customers are usually pretty good about minding it.

What gets me, is when members of the Trade go to Trade tastings wearing cologne or perfume. [swearing.gif]

THAT is my biggest pet peeve, aside from pouring corked wines. Corked wines is unavoidable, and everyone has different sensitivities to it, but did you really need to douse yourself in an industrial version of skunk musk? And you’re ITB? Really?

Grrrrrrrrr… [swearing.gif]

Bruce, when you hold your breath for over a minute and deliberately do NOT inhale while speaking, you literally lose oxygen intake. It was THAT bad.

Better to smell like zee French? Oui?

Oui. It’s called terroir. neener

This is also my pet peeve. Here in Italy at outdoor tastings and wine events people will come up next to you with a cigarette in hand. What a bunch of clowns. I know for some people it’s all for fun, but when you see people doing a serious tasting, don’t blow smoke at me. Then again people here won’t even move when they’re standing on the sidewalk and you’re trying to walk down the street, so… headbang

It’s good Randy didn’t post that. [whistle.gif]

[pillow-fight.gif] you’re crusin’ neener

Note to self:

Enter Roberto’s store wearing 3 types of Sex Panther…wait for him to pass-out…then bring in 3 floor stackers WITH POS and vacate premise. Send in decoy buyer, and when he regains consciousness, have the customer pick up new wine from floor stacker and exclaim “I love this stuff!”

Or as it is known in Napa, Silver Oak Release Day!!!

My store has a customer (though he hasn’t been in for a while) who wears way too much cologne too. You can smell him coming from the parking lot. Once he leaves it lingers for about 20 min throughout the store too.

We affectionately refer to him as Mr. Stinky. He’s very nice, but needs to tone it down a little!

I’m more tolerant of BO.

I was in a wine store (I won’t say which one). An employee who I knew from the wine boards stopped by even though it was his day off. He stank of BO so badly, I almost gagged. Perhaps he was just coming from the gym?

What wine would you have paired with that Ken?

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