This is going to be a long response, but I was having a pretty distressing day and am feeling massively guilty and awful for going to Hermes recently. Essentially what happened was my family is in process of getting window blinds installed at the new house. We had an appointment with the salesperson at 4:30pm today. The guy (who turned out to be a nice old man in his 60s), drove down all the way from West L.A. to Orange County. He spent over 3 hours at our house educating us about blinds and taking measurements. He did everything he could to lower the price and everything. At the end, we didn't commit to buying. Why? All because he wanted a 33% deposit as opposed to a 10%.
I felt very bad for the guy. He spent so much time with us, and drove so far. Not to mention everytime he walked up and down our stairs, he was panting non-stop! Yes, as customers we have a right to say no but gosh, all becaues of the deposit amount! That was when it struck me. I made it TOO EASY for my SA! I almost never said no and when I did, I was made to feel unwelcome (not directly but I could feel it in the change in demeanor and tone). What happened today with the blinds salesman was what really made me feel guilty. It was never easy to make a sale, why am I making it so easy for my SA? Especially when I don't even want the item to begin with?!
When I go into the store, I don't just ask for bags. In fact, whenever I go in, I TALK about Hermes, I ask questions about Hermes, I am passionate about it (because I AM). Of course, I also always buy something everytime I was there. I don't know if my buying things EVERYTIME I was there had become a form of classical conditioning in which my SA is expecting me to buy something. All I know was, whenever she offered me something and I declined it, I could sense the change in her demeanor. If this was over the phone, she wanted to get off the phone right away. If this was in person, I could feel that she wanted to finish our "session" as soon as possible.
I've said it many times already and I'll say again. I LOVE Hermes. I love their products. But I'm very picky and methodical about what I want to get first. Everyone has his/her own quirks. I have my own methods, process, and superstitions. I cannot justify spending money on things I don't need right now. I don't need ANYTHING else from Hermes aside from the bags ... Now, if I have my own place then yes I can see myself getting their china and what not, or even the scarves to be used as pictures on the wall. Otherwise, no I don't need anything from them. I'm not a clothes or accessories person, and I don't have the habit of jotting down notes on agenda. Try as I might, and as much as I love the products, I cannot justify buying when I have no use for them.
So, I'm led to think that my buying lots from her is actually having the opposite effect of what I wanted. In fact, I noticed that they were especially nice to me when I have not talked to them for two months. I hate to think that I have to be high maintenance and distant in order for them to be nice to me. Now I think I probably shouldn't have gone in there in December for holiday shopping and should've instead gone in January ... Well, it's either that or maybe I don't have the "Hermes" aura about me? Maybe I don't "look" like someone who deserves to own Hermes? But then again, my friend who makes many times more money than I do and drop at least 100K a year is having it worse than I am.
Anyways, how do I address this with the manager? I do not plan on getting anyone into trouble because I don't feel anyone should be in trouble. In a way, my SA is doing her job by trying to get as much comissions and business for the store as possible. I'd think it may be the SA's job to push and sell as many items as possible. Perhaps I am an easy target because I'm too nice and don't exude enough confidence. Perhaps I should make it known that I also shop elsewhere? I don't think the latter is a good idea as my store has expressed and implied that they don't like it when ppl shop elsewhere and that they wanted their customers to be loyal.