Alright, this is hopefully not a big deal, but I wanted to get some opinions. It’s kind of a long story because there’s a lot of context.
TL;DR: my mom’s SA was going to ship her a fine jewelry bracelet from the store. Mom couldn’t contact him to tell him she was at her other home, so she calls the store and tells the store director that the delivery address needed to change. SD freaks out and chews my mom out… before changing tune and agreeing to ship it.
My mom’s “local” boutique is about a three-hour drive from her second home, and she stops in every 3-6 months when her schedule permits, and she also orders things from her SA between visits. Anyway, my mom’s SA texted her last week saying that his store was about to get a rose gold CDC bracelet with diamonds on the pyramids and asked if she would be interested. She said yes, and he said he would text her again when it arrives. The plan was that the store would ship it to her, which is what they did when she got her Kelly bracelet a couple of months ago (they had to transfer the correct size from a different store). The CDC arrived in store Saturday, and he sent her a payment link late Sunday afternoon. My mom missed that text because she was out for an early dinner with my dad, so her SA texted her again around Hermès closing time saying he would resend the payment link on Tuesday.
Come Tuesday, my mom receives another payment link via email, and she pays for it successfully. She texts her SA for confirmation and to tell him that she is currently at her primary home, not the one closest to Hermès, and that she would need it shipped there, instead (note: she has not ordered anything to that address before). No response. 30 minutes later, she receives a confirmation email from FedEx stating that the package would be overnighted to the wrong address. Panicked, she texts SA again. No response. So she calls the store and finds out he’s not working that day, hence the silence (also, totally understandable, but in this case, she needed help ASAP). She is put through to the store director, and this is when all hell breaks loose.
SD is extremely huffy on the phone. Mom explains that she is at her primary home and nobody is at the original address to receive it. At first SD insists that it go to the original address, and that if my mom wants the bracelet and cannot be there to receive it, she will have to come into the store to get it. Mom explains that she will not be in that area again until September. SD is irritated but agrees to ship to the new address. More context: the new address is a townhouse in a row of six (a very small development), and each townhouse shares the same street address but has a individual unit number (they are technically zoned as condos, but they look like townhouses with individual exterior front doors and driveways). SD flips her ish when my mom says “123 Random Street, unit number 6.” SD shouts “We do not ship to apartments! The bracelet is too expensive! Too much of a security risk!” Mom was really taken aback but kindly explained that it’s a condo, not an apartment, and that each unit has its own driveway and front door. Still, SD insists that FedEx will not deliver it there, which is not true. SD said that she still wanted to cancel it “but, oh, it’s already been paid for” (in a super disappointed voice). My mom then told her she had already contacted her SA to tell him that she was at her other residence and that she did not know that he was not in that day. Then, SD’s tone softened, and she became much more polite and friendly, and then she agreed to the address change.
Mom was really taken aback by the exchange. She described the SD’s tone as “quite mean” and said that she felt “talked down to,” especially for living in an “apartment” (which she doesn’t lol). I didn’t hear the conversation, but I believe my mom completely because she is a pretty darn intimidating woman in her own right, and she rarely feels belittled by others. But now my mom is so afraid of this woman that she’s going to drop everything from her work (even ending or canceling meetings, if need be) whenever the bracelet arrives so she can sign for it, open the box, and confirm with the SD, who will follow up with a phone call whenever FedEx sends a delivery notification. My mom never gets distracted when WFH, so this is pretty unprecedented. She literally told me “I have to open it immediately, no matter what, because I can’t imagine how upset and mean she’ll get if I can’t confirm that I received it when she calls. I can’t do another tongue-lashing! Not this soon!”
Soooooo, is it just me, or is this crazy? Did my mom do anything wrong here? Does she need to tread lightly around the SD the next time she goes to the store? Or can anyone explain the SD’s perspective here?
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