Somewhat untrue. If you don't have time to make a personal relationship w/ an SA (or youre like me and the boutique nearby seems to have a revolving door for SA's and there are always different people every time you shop!) then the only thing they have to go by if how much you spend. The SA's at my sister's boutique told her yesterday that this PCE was for boutique customers & it was based solely on who spent the most at any one particular coach boutique recently. (For example, she was told that by purchasing from 2 or 3 different stores instead of always going to the same one, you can be hurting your chances of getting a card since it is the individual boutiques, not corporate, who are deciding who gets the PCE). If you were above some limit for whatever time period they were looking at, you got the card. But it can't hurt to have a friend who works in the boutique and puts you on the list regardless of how much you spend.
I commented on your thread about being upset you didn't get one based on how much money you spent, that I don't have ANY time to go to Coach on a regular basis - I live 2 hours away from the closest boutique and usually don't feel like going up after work since I'd still have to drive 2 hours home in the opposite direction. This doesn't lend me much time AT ALL to go hang out with SA's.
Like I said, it's about being efficient with your time, and if you go in enough to notice that there are different SA's, why not talk to the managers or someone that will remember you?
I'm not personal friends with any of the SA's but I think they send me PCE's because I know a lot about the company and make an effort on my part to be more than just a consumer.
And I think the SA's can tell you whatever they want - I've heard from some of my friends that their SA's told them they sent cards out to a list of people that visited the most often, and one of the SA's at my boutique said it goes to the top 10% of Coach customers. Both seem very far apart from one another.
I really think that the stores get a certain amount of cards, and some go to people that spend a lot of money, some go to people they just like, and others go to a random amount that don't seem to fit either category.
I don't think there is really rhyme or reason.
AND it doesn't matter because if you go in and ask most of the time you'll get the discount anyway! You'll always know when PCE is because of the forum, so you'll always be well-equipped to get what you want.