Maintaining an H relationship

[papertiger]

Please focus on the title of this thread rather than each other, TY

If you find it very hard to ignore certain people, please feel free in adding them to your 'Ignore' list.

For advice on how to obtain a B/K/C please go to the reading room in the Reading Room The Newbie's HOW DO I GET A BIRKIN (or other bag) Reading Room

For advice on how to shop at your local store please do a search in Hermes Shopping sub-forum and look for your store/region/country.

 

[chanel_hermes_lover]

I'm in a similar situation, except my SA is leaving the company/moving. He told me he would refer me to a new SA at the store, and I could contact them before traveling for wishlist items. I reached out one last time, but no response from my SA with a referral. I don't know what to do. Am I really held to a higher degree at this high traffic, "home" store with my purchase/QB history, or do I just find a new SA/store? It's pretty discouraging, because I feel like I'm back to square one.

This happened to me. I reached out to the new SA with a referral and she did not try to help me at all when I asked to schedule a time to meet and purchase a few items. I ended up walking to the store and meeting a new SA who I really enjoy shopping with.

 

[partialtopink]

This happened to me. I reached out to the new SA with a referral and she did not try to help me at all when I asked to schedule a time to meet and purchase a few items. I ended up walking to the store and meeting a new SA who I really enjoy shopping with.

Is your new SA from the same store? I live in NJ, but the stores in my area don't seem to get much inventory. My "home" store with 90% of my purchase history is in Las Vegas. Should I focus on trying to build a new relationship at the same store in LV? Perhaps I should focus on Manhattan?

I'm paranoid now that I'll need to start at square one. I purchased many QBs at the Vegas store over the past 8 years.

 

[chanel_hermes_lover]

Is your new SA from the same store? I live in NJ, but the stores in my area don't seem to get much inventory. My "home" store with 90% of my purchase history is in Las Vegas. Should I focus on trying to build a new relationship at the same store in LV? Perhaps I should focus on Manhattan?

I'm paranoid now that I'll need to start at square one. I purchased many QBs at the Vegas store over the past 8 years.

Same store! Funnily enough, at least twice I've been waiting for my SA (that I have my current relationship with) and that SA with a referral asked if I needed assistance. I don't think she remembers that she was recommended to me via referral at all.

I think it's almost like starting from scratch. If you haven't spent too much since your last QB, I would recommend just finding an SA you like regardless if it's at LV or NYC (preferably NYC if you are local there)!

 

[jyyanks]

I'm in a similar situation, except my SA is leaving the company/moving. He told me he would refer me to a new SA at the store, and I could contact them before traveling for wishlist items. I reached out one last time, but no response from my SA with a referral. I don't know what to do. Am I really held to a higher degree at this high traffic, "home" store with my purchase/QB history, or do I just find a new SA/store? It's pretty discouraging, because I feel like I'm back to square one.

My original SA left the company and he was fantastic. It was a bummer but I had to start from scratch and found a new SA. It took me a few tries before I found one that I really like - the first few SA’s I tried to talk to were cold and rude to me. Then I met my current SA who happened to be friends with my old SA. Luckily I’m in the system and have a long history with the store so if you were to look at my profile, you’d see that I’ve shopped at H for years (though not a VIP as my spend is so minor compared to others). Although I had to build the relationship with my new SA, I love her as much as my old one. It takes time to click with someone but once it does, you pick up where you left off, esp if your SA can tell you love the brand.

 

[happygal00]

Hi all. Seeking some advice. Whenever I’m visiting the boutique, I will tell my SA I am interested in a certain non quota bag or specific shoes (kind of go through a short list of items) and ask my SA if they have it and given the response “no not right now but I’ll let you know when we get some, we’re suppose to get them”.. but I never see the SA input it on my account to put me on a ?waitlist or order it or put it on my wishlist. how can they possibly keep track just purely off memory? My SA doesn’t even remember our prior conversations from a month ago about general chit chat life stuff (which Is totally acceptable to me bc again SAs are so busy). Any thoughts? Same thing when we went over quota bag specs, never input it into my account on the phone. I just informed the SA by mouth. Yes I did get a quota eventually however so I do think I have a good relationship with my SA.

 

[fice16]

Hi all. Seeking some advice. Whenever I’m visiting the boutique, I will tell my SA I am interested in a certain non quota bag or specific shoes (kind of go through a short list of items) and ask my SA if they have it and given the response “no not right now but I’ll let you know when we get some, we’re suppose to get them”.. but I never see the SA input it on my account to put me on a ?waitlist or order it or put it on my wishlist. how can they possibly keep track just purely off memory? My SA doesn’t even remember our prior conversations from a month ago about general chit chat life stuff (which Is totally acceptable to me bc again SAs are so busy). Any thoughts? Same thing when we went over quota bag specs, never input it into my account on the phone. I just informed the SA by mouth. Yes I did get a quota eventually however so I do think I have a good relationship with my SA.

If your SA offers you a quota bag, that means your SA is looking out for you.
Nowadays with the inventory shortage, it is very difficult for the SA to be able to offer you all the non-bag items on your wishlist (i.e. shoes, SLG, RTW, fine jewelry, home, etc.). Honestly, I feel that the success rate for my non-bag wish items (RTW, fine jewelry, shoes, home, etc.) to be offered by my SA is now at <50%. And I do have a good relationship with the SM and SA for quite some years, and they have no issue to offer me QB or coveted non-QB.

 

[lilpop]

my SA updates my wishlist under my profile on her iPad, not sure if every SA does it this way.



apparently you can connect with the SM if your SA didn't "farm" you out to a colleague before leaving, though I heard mostly you are left out to pasture until your SA is back, because SMs are too busy with their VIP clients (unless you are a VIP, in which case just ignore everything I posted XD), and any temp SAs won't be super motivated to help since they know you won't stay their client for long.

Thanks! Any suggestions for how I should approach the SM? I'm definitely not VIP (have only been a client for about a year but developed a good relationship with my SA/regular purchase history). I tried emailing the general boutique email address - no response yet, and I'm not really expecting one. My SA did say that the SM would reach out to me for wishlist items, but in the meantime, not sure if I should just stop in one day and work with whoever is available for other items I'm looking to get. I also assume there isn't a way to get my regular SA credit for any purchases I make while she's gone?

 

[happygal00]

If your SA offers you a quota bag, that means your SA is looking out for you.
Nowadays with the inventory shortage, it is very difficult for the SA to be able to offer you all the non-bag items on your wishlist (i.e. shoes, SLG, RTW, fine jewelry, home, etc.). Honestly, I feel that the success rate for my non-bag wish items (RTW, fine jewelry, shoes, home, etc.) to be offered by my SA is now at <50%. And I do have a good relationship with the SM and SA for quite some years, and they have no issue to offer me QB or coveted non-QB.

Thanks so much for your input!

 

[eve27]

Ladies and gents need your advice.
I was living before in other country (can be considered as Europe) and had really wonderful SA who was always very helpful. We were buying mainly ready to wear for my husband, no jewelry or furniture. During 9 months from the moment when we first came to the store she helped me to score 6 bags (one was for my mom but from my profile), three of them were quota bags in this country and one SO, I must admit that all the bags that I took were more or less from my wishlist. Moreover it was always so pleasant to come to the store.
She was also very helpful in terms of updates from the website.

A year ago we moved to another country (Middle East) and I started to shop here. I faced completely different experience and everything that I thought is normal appeared to sound as a fairytale here.

I started to shop in a smaller boutique among two because before started to live here I’ve once entered to the flagship store as a tourist and was unpleasantly surprised by the service.
In the smaller boutique I started to work with male SA who seemed not a newbie however I can not consider him as a dreamy SA. What I mean is that when you ask him to update you about receiving some items (shoes, ready to wear, some accessories, silks) he never come back to you. However not because they have nt received it yet. I feel that he rather forgets or he is not interested in taking care of me as a client. He is always in rush, always distracted, never gives direct answers.
My profile can not considered small at all and I’m always nice to all the people in the stores though so I don’t see any reason of him being so unhelpful.
I took a risk and came yesterday to the flagship store. They gave me young intern who was helping with shoes and with some other things and then I asked to speak with somebody from the leather department. I did not want to ask for the bag, I just wanted to understand whether mini lindy considered as a quota bag here and are some particular colors still in production. This guy from the leather department was very straight forwarded. Even before I asked those questions he asked me about my profile then he looked into it and told me that my profile is enough to be offered a bag however I’m not eligible to their store so it’s better for me to shop in the store where I shopped before, even though it wasn’t my question at all. He said this also with a bit of rudeness and I felt that they are not interested in me as a client also.
So I decided to reserve the shoes that I wanted to buy from them for one day to understand what to do. 1) buy from this flagship store and start building my profile with them with the hope that there will be nice SA. However everything that I bought from other store can be considered as nothing and I will need to start again 2) ask my current SA from smaller store to take these shoes from their boutique and buy them from him and hope that he will become better 3) **** them all and buy from website with understanding that nobody will offer me a bag and so what I still want that shoes
I want you to understand that there are lots of things that I like and buy from the brand but I will never buy something that I don’t like to get a bag. It’s more like a good bonus. However the whole situation pissed me so much, I started to feel that its non normal for a client to come and beg for customer service. I wish it would be possible to build profile on the website and be offered a bag through it, would be much easier.
Please advice what should I do with the shoes and if you ever faced same thing with SA what have you done.

hope it’s not too much information and sorry for such a long message

 

[Fixxi]

I know it's far from the holidays, but @880 comment made me curious. Do you gift your SAs something during the holidays?

 

[DB8]

I know it's far from the holidays, but @880 comment made me curious. Do you gift your SAs something during the holidays?

Yes, I always gift during the holidays as I have long standing relationships with various retailers.

However, with Hermes I keep it simple - a generically priced box of sweets for the team to share, warm holiday greetings to everyone, and a polite thank you to the SM. Even though I am “known” to the boutiques I frequent, I still would never want to give off any ill impressions (or put my SA’s in a awkward position).

Outside of Hermes, I don’t limit my gifting to SA’s - I include the seamstresses, valets, etc. because I truly appreciate that they all go above and beyond in making my shopping experience fun and easy. Usually a bottle of champagne, fresh baked goods (store bought, because I’m terrible in the kitchen), or a red pocket.

 

[880]

Then I met my current SA who happened to be friends with my old SA. Luckily I’m in the system and have a long history with the store so if you were to look at my profile, you’d see that I’ve shopped at H for years (though not a VIP as my spend is so minor compared to others). Although I had to build the relationship with my new SA, I love her as much as my old one.

same in my case, when my beloved SA left, I actually paused shopping in the boutique for years. I was drawn back bc I lucked into finding an SA who knew my old one through a personal referral.

This guy from the leather department was very straight forwarded. Even before I asked those questions he asked me about my profile then he looked into it and told me that my profile is enough to be offered a bag however I’m not eligible to their store so it’s better for me to shop in the store where I shopped before, even though it wasn’t my question at all. He said this also with a bit of rudeness and I felt that they are not interested in me as a client also.

although he should have been more polite, I do think the info he gave you was very valuable, and if it were me, and I wanted to build up a QB collection, I would follow his advice. if you truly dislike shopping in the other store, and if you don’t need as many QB, of course you can shop where you like.

Do you gift your SAs something during the holidays

I would now say, (especially after reading the Paris thread) if you are unsure, then err on the side of caution and refrain. Some SAs (Europe) have indicated specific policies prohibiting gifts; so, i would first recommend ascertaining whether such a gift would be unwelcome.

If the relationship consists of simply providing desired QB to a valued customer, or hoping for a QB to materialize, I would say all that is needed or expected is to express thanks and be a frequent, loyal, and high spending client of the house. I will also say that I am a 3X plus (probably closer to 5X with DH) customer; i have no specific wishlist; and, my QB collection is almost complete, so there are no quid pro quo issues.

For me personally whether to gift is an issue that varies with each individual; every relationship; and the context of what is appropriate to the profession and location. With respect to the few SAs that I do gift, I spend a lot of time with them and I have developed a personal connection beyond the usual professional one.

I will also caveat for almost all of my adult life, it has been my practice to gift holiday homemade comestibles of no monetary value (so entirely a product of my own efforts). Very few are set aside for SAs as per the criteria above. They are mainly for regular service providers who have expended exemplary service and efforts on my behalf and who deserve an additional personal acknowledgement beyond/ or in addition to a monetary tip (as per usual custom)

This is a seasonal gesture that comes very naturally to me, and the list changes from year to year. If I do gift an SA, it is very clear that this is simply an expression of holiday good will without any strings and is accepted as such

 

[880]

was living before in other country (can be considered as Europe) and had really wonderful SA who was always very helpful. We were buying mainly ready to wear for my husband, no jewelry or furniture. During 9 months from the moment when we first came to the store she helped me to score 6 bags (one was for my mom but from my profile), three of them were quota bags in this country and one SO, I must admit that all the bags that I took were more or less from my wishlist. Moreover it was always so pleasant to come to the store.
She was also very helpful in terms of updates from the website.

A year ago we moved to another country (Middle East) and I started to shop here. I faced completely different experience and everything that I thought is normal appeared to sound as a fairytale here.

@eve27, I reread your post, but it was too late to edit mine above. It may be possible to continue a long distance relationship with your friendly European store utilizing charge send. (@QuelleFromage kindly gave me this idea). I would contact your EU SA; explain your predicament; and, ask for her suggestions. I just contacted my FSH SA re the sheer difficulty of getting select pieces of RTW at my local boutique. She said that I can add her to WhatsApp, and we can go forward from there. You might have to travel for QB, and tailoring might be less convenient, but it’s better than retail aggravation. I don’t shop where people are not nice, and I forgot to say in my prior post how sorry I am that you have to deal with that.

@Fixxi , want to apologize for my very long answer to what seemed like a simple question

 

[Fixxi]

@Fixxi , want to apologize for my very long answer to what seemed like a simple question

Long or not, always appreciate your insight! I leave big tip for services during the holidays, but didn't know about luxury shopping (I've never shopped consistently or long term enough to have one SA with any brand, even Chanel), and I just started my Hermes experience early this year. I am very happy with my SA, with absolutely no QB expectation any time soon. Just last visit, the SA and I shared personal stories. I told her about my baby's 1st bday, and she showed me photos of her dog's bday party, so I was thinking it would be nice to get her some doggie treats, and just wanted to see (even though the holidays aren't for a while) if that would be construed nice or crass.

Always nice to hear feedback from those who have been shopping for much longer than I have to learn proper etiquette! Thanks so much! And always love your OOTD pics!

 

[Crapples]

Same store! Funnily enough, at least twice I've been waiting for my SA (that I have my current relationship with) and that SA with a referral asked if I needed assistance. I don't think she remembers that she was recommended to me via referral at all.

I think it's almost like starting from scratch. If you haven't spent too much since your last QB, I would recommend just finding an SA you like regardless if it's at LV or NYC (preferably NYC if you are local there)!

This is exactly what I did and I am mixed. I had a great experience in Vegas and received a K and C, on top of beautifully sourced stuff from my old SA. She referred me to a colleague in late 2021 (I had been shopping since Fall 2020). The new Vegas SA responded once with a simple introductory hello, but when I tried to make an appointment, never again. I have started shopping in an NYC boutique. I like my SA, but they are not going out of the way to source me anything, unless it's a huge price tag (which I get). I feel like requests for shoes, homeware etc goes unnoticed, but he did work hard to get (aka discontinued) a few things I really wanted (but they seemed to be in store already). I am at 2.4 to 1 and just brought up my wish list. I didn't get any sense of enthusiasm around it. I don't know if I shot myself in the foot moving to another store, but I literally couldn't get a response from Vegas.