Neiman Marcus staffers sound alarms as chain fires greeters

Customer service reps who handled returns at Neiman Marcus were among the key casualties in a round of firings earlier this month — and the swanky retailer’s remaining sales staff aren’t happy.

So-called “service ambassadors” — who typically had greeted customers at store entrances and helped process returned merchandise — were laid off chainwide on Feb. 16 in a cost-slashing move that claimed 5% of the luxury chain’s workforce, sources told The Post.

Now, commissioned sales reps are expected to take care of returns — and some say it’s threatening chaos at the stores.

“I avoid eye contact if I see someone come in the door with a lot of boxes,” one sales rep who works on the first floor of an East Coast store near the entrance told The Post.

Another rep also unapologetically vented over the cuts, raising concerns that processing returns had already become a distraction from crucial time on the sales floor.

“Do I want to spend my time looking at a pair of shoes brought in for return, but they’ve been obviously worn and can’t be returned?” one top-performing sales rep griped, asking not to be identified. “Not when it’s not my sale and the discussion will be long and argumentative.”

“Even Walmart has greeters,” the rep added.

Before the pandemic, the Dallas-based luxury icon had a dedicated customer service department that handled everything from returns to bill payments and disputes. It got replaced by so-called welcome centers near store entrances, where hourly associates handled curbside pickup orders, returns — including online purchases — among other things and were meant to “create a welcoming environment,” employees told The Post.

The service greeters who were just fired “were great presence in the store,” said a former Neiman Marcus employee. 

“Fair or not, Neiman Marcus still fights the perception that the salespeople are unapproachable and that the store can be exclusive and intimidating,” said this former employee. “The service ambassadors helped fill that void in trying to create a welcoming environment.”

Another sales associate blamed new leadership — president Ryan Ross who joined Neiman Marcus in August from Williams Sonoma — for foisting returns on sales associates.

Sales associates are loathe to get bogged down by non revenue producing transactions. 

Previously, management “realized it’s best that I try to close the sale on a several thousand dollar item instead of spending valuable time on a return or a customer issue,” said the sales rep. “Ryan has to realize we are not Williams Sonoma. We sell more expensive merchandise, we create deeper relationship ans most importantly, we are not hourly.”

Neiman Marcus is already reeling from a recent interview its chief executive Geoffroy Van Raemdonck gave, in which he said the retailer is going to shift its focus on the 2% of the company’s customer base that accounts for a whopping 40% of its business or the people who shop with the retailer “25 times a year and spend $27,000,” Van Raemdonck told Fortune. 

The retailer’s sales associates told The Post that some of their customers were offended by the remark and that they had to “scramble” to calm their ruffled feathers.

A Neiman Marcus spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.