Hermes Birkin Offer/Approval

[DB8]

Thank you so so much @momoc for your detailed explanation of your experience. That was very insightful. Yes I am absolutely not going to ask my SA anything further and was just curious to hear if anyone else experienced something like this. You might be right that the bag I wanted was a hot ticket item and perhaps she was trying to gauge whether I would be interested in it before asking SM for approval. It just wasn’t clear to me that that was what she was doing? I always thought if an SA offers you a bag it’s been approved by SM abs if you say yes to it you get it. I didn’t think of your alternative option as something SA’s could do ie gauge your interest in a color/size before it comes in and then ask for SM for approval. That makes me feel a bit better that you have gone through that as well but at least your SA was transparent on it!

I hope your SA (and SM) work with you and get you another offer & are also more clear with you in the future so there aren’t surprises!

Unless you've discussed otherwise, I think it is safe to assume if your SA shows you something it's yours until you say pass. These kind of situations are....unprofessional, to say the least.

I'm going against the grain here but I would definitely pivot this incident to get the bag you want. While I'm not condoning constantly reminding your SA about what happened, I am all for calling out not great customer service (regardless of the intention, you definitely felt it was a bit off). I've been caught up/called out some boutique drama and it worked out to my benefit (as in, I was guaranteed the bag I wanted fresh out of the Fedex box, and received a big fat apology from my SA/SM).

I would say: "while I was looking forward to that B25, I was disappointed when the offer was retracted, so please let me know when one becomes available." I feel that shows you still want the bag but you won't stand for that kind of crap again.

Datapoint: What I'm shown, I am pre-approved for, as I take my bags home same day. I give my SA's very open parameters (size, color), keeping in mind general preferences (as i'm never really looking for x bag in y color). They'll say something along the lines of "oh there may be something coming in that would suit you," to which I say "great, let me know if it's available." I'm basically giving everyone involved an easy out if the bag is allocated to someone else. I've learnt with H it's better to have zero expectations and be surprised vs. going in with high hopes and being disappointed.

 

[WhiteBus]

. . . While I'm not condoning constantly reminding your SA about what happened, I am all for calling out not great customer service (regardless of the intention, you definitely felt it was a bit off).

not great customer service seems to be the most appropriate phrase to use.
With all due respect to SAs , whether the A stands for 'associate', 'assistant' or 'advisor', selling goods in a shop is not a profession.
Therefore in their defence they cannot be accused of being unprofessional.

 

[jmen]

not great customer service seems to be the most appropriate phrase to use.
With all due respect to SAs , whether the A stands for 'associate', 'assistant' or 'advisor', selling goods in a shop is not a profession.
Therefore in their defence they cannot be accused of being unprofessional.

I can think of another word that starts with an “a”.

 

[jmen]

The definition of professional is: relating to an occupation : of or as an expert professional advice. 2 : taking part in an activity (as a sport) in order to make money. 3 : participated in by people who are paid to compete professional sports. 4 : having or showing a quality appropriate in a profession He did a very professional job.

Notice the term quality appropriate in the definition. Perhaps the company would benefit greatly from having their sales personnel attend training and define their standard of excellent customer service. I would gladly participate as a mystery shopper for that training. I would really test them as they have mine on a couple occasions.

 

[Dreaming Big]

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[880]

I've learnt with H it's better to have zero expectations and be surprised vs. going in with high hopes and being disappointed.

I also have this in mind with family and friends and find it invaluable advice

 

[shoppe]

I'm so sorry this happened to you. It's a terrible feeling to have the rug pulled from underneath you.

Sometimes my SA is unsure if I will like a quota bag. She will ask me beforehand if I am interested in it before she tries to get approval. Unlike your SA, she is very upfront with me that nothing is final so the expectations are very clear. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. When it doesn't, I agree with others to leverage the situation. Mention how you are still thinking about the bag and bummed. Hopefully you will get an even better offer (this actually happened to me).

Inventory in all departments is very low in my store too.

 

[HAllDay]

I've been following in the background of this thread. Just came here to say to OP that I'm sorry this happened to you. "It sucks!" to put it ever so eloquently. I would also sublety leverage this experience to get a bag that you want. It's not great customer service indeed. Hopefully your SA also learns to not jump the gun again as this makes him/her look terrible at his/her job as well as a mismanagement of the store.

 

[jmen]

I would not hold your breath hoping h will come through and make things right. Odds are 50/50 imho.
The basis of them making right the wrong is based on what I have experienced over the years.

My first purchase was a scarf and I asked the SA if I could have a deck of cards showing how to tie scarves. She replied, we give them to our customers. Somehow i refrained from replying, Hello I just bought a scarf that makes me a customer.

The second event: I had an item that was supposedly on hold for me sold to someone else. I am 2 hrs from the store, so you can imagine how much that move was appreciated. The best was yet to come.

Third: I was offered my 2nd SO and no show ever and was told none of them arrived. Yes it was thrilling to order a SO, but that is one happy moment on the chalk board of 3 instances my knickers were twisted. And no they never made that right.

Good luck to you should you stay in the game.

 

[HAllDay]

I would not hold your breath hoping h will come through and make things right. Odds are 50/50 imho.
The basis of them making right the wrong is based on what I have experienced over the years.

My first purchase was a scarf and I asked the SA if I could have a deck of cards showing how to tie scarves. She replied, we give them to our customers. Somehow i refrained from replying, Hello I just bought a scarf that makes me a customer.

The second event: I had an item that was supposedly on hold for me sold to someone else. I am 2 hrs from the store, so you can imagine how much that move was appreciated. The best was yet to come.

Third: I was offered my 2nd SO and no show ever and was told none of them arrived. Yes it was thrilling to order a SO, but that is one happy moment on the chalk board of 3 instances my knickers were twisted. And no they never made that right.

Good luck to you should you stay in the game.

Why do people say that H customer service is unparalleled?

 

[vilette21c]

I would not hold your breath hoping h will come through and make things right. Odds are 50/50 imho.
The basis of them making right the wrong is based on what I have experienced over the years.

My first purchase was a scarf and I asked the SA if I could have a deck of cards showing how to tie scarves. She replied, we give them to our customers. Somehow i refrained from replying, Hello I just bought a scarf that makes me a customer.

The second event: I had an item that was supposedly on hold for me sold to someone else. I am 2 hrs from the store, so you can imagine how much that move was appreciated. The best was yet to come.

Third: I was offered my 2nd SO and no show ever and was told none of them arrived. Yes it was thrilling to order a SO, but that is one happy moment on the chalk board of 3 instances my knickers were twisted. And no they never made that right.

Good luck to you should you stay in the game.

I'm pretty new to the H game and just recently found out that the 5K I spent online doesn't count towards anything. With the pandemic and 2 kids at home, it's hard for me to drive an hour away to work on my profile. Anyway, I wonder if I should just buy all my Hermes' bags from Fashionphile and call it a day. My husband's time is so valuable that he'd rather have me spend the money to get what I want vs wasting time chasing Hermes stuff--- I mean how many scarves, jewelry does one really need to just get a bag or two? I still have a long way to go but I'm still hopeful and it's early to quit the game.

 

[AnnaE]

I can think of another word that starts with an “a”.

This is just uncalled for. It sounds like OP’s SA made a mistake.
OR the SM wanted the bag to satisfy another upset customer.
OR something else happened and the SM did not allow the SA to share the context (e.g., the bag was imperfect).
OR the OP was flagged as a potential reseller.

We will likely never know. But I doubt the SA enjoyed dampening OP’s spirits. I think it is fair to express disappointment and hope for a replacement offer though, but we should we more understanding of other people’s mistakes. From OP’s history, it seems that she was offered at least two quota bags she passed on recently, so I assume the SA is actually trying hard here.

 

[Ball]

This thing about SMs not "approving" a sale of bag is utterly unprofessional. If my or a SA said that to me I would literally challenge them. Why not say something more polite in the form of " I am so sorry, there must have been a misunderstanding within the team, as my manager confirmed that this bag was already reserved for another customer before I offered it to you. My mistake and I sincerely apologise!"
I have formed quite a few Sales people in my career in the luxury industry and I can assure you, I would never go back there if I was told that... sorry.

ETA: I would like to add however that all my B bags I got in the past (except my very 1st one) I was offered on the get go. I asked, the SA would see if anything was available and hence also available to sell to ME and then bring it out to me to see. Never would the SA promise me sth without checking if it was ok for me to buy. That would be a major let down ...

My experience is exactly the same as yours. Other then my first B, all others were offered to me on the spot during regular appointments I went in for other stuff. My first B though was also a disappointment - I was offered a B30 in Bleu Nuit ghw through emails - when we were emailing back and forth on the time I would come, she told me later in the day that there was a mix up and the bag wasn't available anymore. I was soooo disappointed because I really want it in Bleu Nuit. A month later she offered me a B30 in etoupe ghw. Ever since, she has been my Hermes fairy and she got me many rare items including two Kelly Pochettes, a Kelly Danse, two Mini Lindy ...... etc.

 

[Ready2wear]

It was heartwrenching She informed me to keep spending and wait until March for the next delivery. After seeing how distraught I was my husband (bless him ) went and spoke to the head of the leather dept who offered us a mini lindy as a consolation...I turned it down as it is not for me. I made the decision to switch SAs after this. Unprofessional and an absolute damper on the Hermès experience

Switching SAs seems like a good idea. Her telling you to “keep spending” makes me think that she isn’t going to jump through hoops to make it up to you and get you another (SM approved) offer.

 

[jmen]

I'm pretty new to the H game and just recently found out that the 5K I spent online doesn't count towards anything. With the pandemic and 2 kids at home, it's hard for me to drive an hour away to work on my profile. Anyway, I wonder if I should just buy all my Hermes' bags from Fashionphile and call it a day. My husband's time is so valuable that he'd rather have me spend the money to get what I want vs wasting time chasing Hermes stuff--- I mean how many scarves, jewelry does one really need to just get a bag or two? I still have a long way to go but I'm still hopeful and it's early to quit the game.

i can vouch for Fashionphile as I just purchased from them. i have a stack of scarves, bracelets, ties, etc. and with COVID my trips are to the food store. Your husband’s logic is on point. When one adds up time, gas and money spent on other stuff, you could have had a bag without any game playing.