You know, the *other* thing is maybe consider whether or not the Birkin is the right bag for you? H makes lots of different bags--that suit different lifestyles, budgets, and body types. But it doesn't seem to me to be the kind of store that wants to move merch all that fast. I think the gals here give good advice. You will probably find your bag in Japan, but when you need it serviced or what something for it, you might be kind of stuck if you are boycotting the store near you. Good luck hunting! That's the most fun!
Hermes SA rant - I want my Birkin! (long rant)
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I feel sad.
I love working with my SA. I dont feel like it is sucking it up at all. We have so much fun talking about new items, what to get next, even if it is small purchase (which it usually is). I have been offered birkins, kellys, every other kind of bag, because she knows I love and appreciate the brand, whether is it a little horn scarf ring or a birkin.
I hope you come to appreciate Hermes of Paris for all that it is, thats all I can say.
Thanks for the advice ladies!
Looks like i will need to "suck it up"
and start the long processed of getting to know a Hermes SA..
I really wanted to get a Garden Party Tote too, but i guess i was just thrown off at first..
^^ Yes, I think in cyberspace, there needs to be extra effort to use the right words to avoid misunderstandings. I would suggest you let this blow over, and re-visit the store at some time with a different demeanor, and the H experience would be rather different. All the best.
Hypothetical question which I'm quite interested in learning the answer to: How do people who don't have time to hang around and chitchat in the store buy a Birkin from an H store? Speaking for myself (and there are probably lots of other women like me) I work 60+ hours a week and barely have time to go grocery shopping...and I expect to have the same kind of schedule for the next 10 years. My usual shopping style is extremely "male" and I'm in and out of a store in a matter of minutes if I'm buying something....
I guess I'll never get to buy a Birkin unless I have time to hang around and make small-talk with the sales ladies
I guess I'll never get to buy a Birkin unless I have time to hang around and make small-talk with the sales ladies
Well...I am similarly busy...but I have been gathering knowledge for a number of years, so, when I go into an H store, albeit infrequently, I am already informed and have an idea what I going to accomplish when I visit. It might be as simple as I need to get a scarf or a particular small item...the bigger purchases are not predictable and I usually plan to engage the SA in a preliminary discussion about a larger item with the plan being to come back at another time to continue that discussion. As for productivity per time spent in the H store: my answer to that is to visit the mothership. But I like my little visits to my local store, even if they do not always end with a major purchase. I do understand the frustration of having to go through this process however.
I don't frequent my H store often, I don't buy alot of stuff from them. I am a meagre buyer, I realized that my chances of getting a birkin is either thro reseller or from Paris, this is ok for me. But that is not stopping me from going to my local store to buy a little animal charm or a scarf. Yes, I go in and buy and leave, as well, if you read the posts here, you will find most of the ladies go in buy stuff and leave as their DH and kids are waiting in the car outside. 
It's just part and parcel.
Most of us are Hermes lover and we like the brand and their products, not just birkin or kellys. I had learnt to understand that my love for Hermes is not a one-bag event or anything close. It's an appreciation for Hermes for a long long time. Maybe if you look beyond that one bag (birkin) and just start looking at the other stuff - like the virbant colors on various leathers, the scarves, etc, you might enjoy that experience and have a deeper appreciation.
It's just part and parcel.Most of us are Hermes lover and we like the brand and their products, not just birkin or kellys. I had learnt to understand that my love for Hermes is not a one-bag event or anything close. It's an appreciation for Hermes for a long long time. Maybe if you look beyond that one bag (birkin) and just start looking at the other stuff - like the virbant colors on various leathers, the scarves, etc, you might enjoy that experience and have a deeper appreciation.
Hypothetical question which I'm quite interested in learning the answer to: How do people who don't have time to hang around and chitchat in the store buy a Birkin from an H store? Speaking for myself (and there are probably lots of other women like me) I work 60+ hours a week and barely have time to go grocery shopping...and I expect to have the same kind of schedule for the next 10 years. My usual shopping style is extremely "male" and I'm in and out of a store in a matter of minutes if I'm buying something....
I guess I'll never get to buy a Birkin unless I have time to hang around and make small-talk with the sales ladies
kasumi,
you are lucky to have a boutique near by. I dont have a boutique near me.... At this rate, the only way I can get any bag at all and visit the boutique regularly is if I divorce my husband and move back east.
you are lucky to have a boutique near by. I dont have a boutique near me.... At this rate, the only way I can get any bag at all and visit the boutique regularly is if I divorce my husband and move back east.
Hypothetical question which I'm quite interested in learning the answer to: How do people who don't have time to hang around and chitchat in the store buy a Birkin from an H store? Speaking for myself (and there are probably lots of other women like me) I work 60+ hours a week and barely have time to go grocery shopping...and I expect to have the same kind of schedule for the next 10 years. My usual shopping style is extremely "male" and I'm in and out of a store in a matter of minutes if I'm buying something....
I guess I'll never get to buy a Birkin unless I have time to hang around and make small-talk with the sales ladies
From what I gather reading posts here, SAs are most responsive to customers who love the brand as a whole, and are not just in it for the Birkins (or the It Bag of Forever as I like to call it) Of course, you demonstrate this brand appreciation by buying small little items (whether regularly or not).
I also believe that SAs function like all other humans.. they are nice to people who are nice to them. If I were an SA for example, I would be more inclined to help a customer who has been visiting me for years and apart from helping me generate sales, also shows an interest in me as a person (I'm saying as a friend, not anything else!) This is not saying that chitchat is totally necessary because a sale is a sale, but I'm trying to point out how it might have a little extra touch.
Well, I suppose it depends on how you look at it. I am very busy, too. I do spend some time here on the pf, and I try to educate myself, it is fun for me to learn, in general, not just about H....other than that, its work, and mom duties, driving driving driving.
By the time I visited my store, I had several things purchased and waiting for me, nothing huge, but things my SA had found for me and put in the back after I paid by phone, including an evelyne (they do not ship bags to people they dont know, thats just how it is at my store). I had to fly there.
I had not met my SA other than by phone..but when I arrived she placed an ostrich birkin in my hands for me to try. First visit to the store. But I think they knew I appreciated the brand, my purchases ranged from scarves to small leather goods till that point. I am not even trying to get a birkin.....
I did not buy, as I am strictly cow (chevre for samll items). Now she sends me pics by email and I put things on hold or buy by phone, and have them shipped when there are enough to make a nice haul for me!! Small things, mostly (though, dang, they do add up!!!)
Going to H is one of the very few indulgences I have, and I consider it something for me, its very enjoyable, and I do not consider it a chore to have to get small items, nor do I think I have to, in order to get a birkin, should I ever want one.
Merika, most of the chit chat involved simply trying on bags in different colors and leathers, better than a spa day, and lots of fun if you love bags...and if you are here, you must love bags!
Its just fun!!! The orange boxes are great, and what is inside is always lovely!
By the time I visited my store, I had several things purchased and waiting for me, nothing huge, but things my SA had found for me and put in the back after I paid by phone, including an evelyne (they do not ship bags to people they dont know, thats just how it is at my store). I had to fly there.
I had not met my SA other than by phone..but when I arrived she placed an ostrich birkin in my hands for me to try. First visit to the store. But I think they knew I appreciated the brand, my purchases ranged from scarves to small leather goods till that point. I am not even trying to get a birkin.....
I did not buy, as I am strictly cow (chevre for samll items). Now she sends me pics by email and I put things on hold or buy by phone, and have them shipped when there are enough to make a nice haul for me!! Small things, mostly (though, dang, they do add up!!!)
Going to H is one of the very few indulgences I have, and I consider it something for me, its very enjoyable, and I do not consider it a chore to have to get small items, nor do I think I have to, in order to get a birkin, should I ever want one.
Merika, most of the chit chat involved simply trying on bags in different colors and leathers, better than a spa day, and lots of fun if you love bags...and if you are here, you must love bags!
Its just fun!!! The orange boxes are great, and what is inside is always lovely!
i was in hermes a few weeks ago and a young ish black gentleman was asking a SA about buying a bag for his girlfriend. the woman showed him what was on the floor--not much two kellys but yuckly colors. he persistently said how much he wanted to get her a really pretty and special color and how would he go about doing that and she says just a minute and comes out with a blue jean kelly--which he promptly bought. he was so sweet, polite and sincere to her.
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