Yikes this sounds like the SA I encountered a few weeks ago while I was there. My friend had wanted go in (but was a bit intimidated), so I encouraged her to check it out and I'd be there for moral support LOL. (And who doesn't love checking out the different stores?) I had indicated to the SA that I was just visiting the area and already worked with someone in my home store, but wanted to introduce my friend to the wonderful (and very fun) world of H. Unfortunately, the whole interaction just felt off after that. A few choice questions/phrases:
1. SA: Who do you work with in [city of my home store]? (Gave my answer.) *squints at me* Hmm I've never heard of her.
2. (To get the convo going, I asked about silver rings or exotic Calvis that we could look at.) SA: *sort of huffs* We don't have that many silver rings but you should look online since it's the same quality (huh??)... (and proceeds to explain why and how we should look for new items online... double huh??)
She started going on about how the silver quality is much better than other brands like Tiffany (and this was after she made a visible glance down at the T-ring in my stack
). Then she indicated that Calvis are reserved for local clients.Me: Well my friend was interested in a Calvi and she does live in the area. (I gesture to my friend) Was there a certain color you were looking for?
3. I asked about a specific SS24 scarf that I had been holding off getting (hadn't found a cw I quite liked). SA: You should just get it at your home store, we need to prioritize our local clients.
Me (looking her right in the eye): Yes, I understand that - but if I can, I like getting a souvenir whenever I travel and especially if there is an H store that may have something I can't get at home. If you don't have it or can't spare it, that's fine.
4. I was looking over the Saut collection (Bellevue has a great tableware display! So much to look at.) I pointed to several pieces and was commenting to my friend about how I lowkey love to collect teacups/teapots and have to control myself. SA: Did you want the teapot, or was it the creamer and sugar bowl?
Me: No, not right now. I don't really want to carry this with me as I'll be traveling for another week elsewhere.
SA: We could ship those for you? (So NOW she wants to help me? Make up your mind)
Me: I am interested in this collection, but I plan to get it with my SA directly. (At this point, I was not about to give this woman the sale.)
At the end of our time, I asked for her name (to be courteous but also attempting to connect her with my friend) and after she barely hid rolling her eyes, responded "you don't need to know my name - I'm just someone who has been working here for a long time".
So clearly, she wasn't looking for a new client. In the car later, my friend confirmed she did NOT want to work with her - especially not with her grumpy and passive-aggressive behavior. We even saw her scolding the other SAs for leaving the scarf section "too messy".
Luckily, as we were about to leave, another much nicer SA complimented my friend's scarf and my K28. After a short chat, I asked if my friend could contact her the next time she wanted to come into the store. And now she has an SA!
