I was at the NBS H today and met a super friendly leather dept SA. I went there not to buy new bags but I was dropping off my B for spa and also wanted a quote on the replacement clochette for my Bolide which I lost. My SA was very friendly and provided excellent after sales service. We chatted alot about H leather and she took the time to show me the leather swatch to ensure the replacement clochette would match the Bolide as I could not remember if it was rouge H or rouge garance and I was not sure if the artisan at the back got it right when she took it to her at first.
So NBS is not a bad location for customer service, in fact I have never had bad service there and have always been greeted by everyone even on other days when I went there not wearing my H bags or scarves, so pls don't generalize every SA at NBS.
I do have some interesting observations today from my brief visit which turned out to be almost an hour stay.
From my own experience today, the store is indeed full of tourists. Time was between 3 and 4pm, so not rush hour. A couple of girls cut in front of me when I first arrived upstairs waiting for an SA to finish with his customer, though they knew I was already waiting for service. The security guard saw that and went up to me to apologise and told me he would find someone to serve me immediately from the back. While I was still waiting, the two girls asked for birkins straight away. and got refused, and then they demanded to buy the two Constance (which has been marked as "display only") on the shelf.
Later on, when my SA returned from from the artisan with my bags confirmed for after sale service, 2 other tourist ladies showed up, interrupted my SA while I was already being seen by her, asking to see the Lindy 30. Later, as my SA was filling out the after sales form they questioned another SA why the bags are for "display only" and how bad customer service it can be that bags are for display only and not for sale.
After spending almost an hour at NBS leather dept I have seen a range of behaviors from various customers , most made enquirers at the leather counter to buy bags and when told none was available, they then left without browsing other sections of the store.
So, I think I have finally got the answer why H bags are marked "display only" nowadays in London. As we know there is scarcity for H bags in London, more tourists due to the low £ and even higher demands due to resellers trying to make profits out of the exchange rates + VAT refunds. Without directly referring to the incidents today, I chatted to my SA today about why shelves are usually empty these days and in general London has a shortage of bags when compared to other H stores in the world. She agreed but said however they would prioritise bags for us as locals, which I do think is absolutely fair.
Note: At NBS today the shelves are actually relatively full (though "display only"): 2 bolides (Gold and Trench) 4 Lindys (gold, malacite, blue agate, and dove grey), 2 constance, 2 Garden party.