Maintaining an H relationship

[papertiger]

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

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[cloee]

This confuses me so much cause I also have an SA at the Toronto store who has explicitly told me that there's no "spend" and that there's just a long waitlist that once your turn comes, you get a choice of your bag. Does it depend on the SA or is my SA just not interested in working with me? I've spent maybe 2-3k at this store with her but had to travel for work for the past 6 months so I don't know if it's ever going to happen at this rate with the difference in "policies"?

@momoc and @smoothsailor have articulated it very well.
As for waitlist, it doesn’t work that way or at least I am not aware of any. They do take your wishlist and add it to the system but also just consider you for offers when the SA advocates for you to the SM.
Often times this will be based on your prespend, and your relationship with the SA.
I, for instance, have enough prespend but don’t have any SA now. Even if my wishlist is updated, that won’t get me anywhere until the SA advocates for me.
I often wonder given how competitive it is today, if there are still people getting bags here solely based on good relationship. I certainly hope it’s still the case and would love to hear experiences of people especially here in Toronto.

 

[Genie27]

@momoc and @smoothsailor have articulated it very well.
As for waitlist, it doesn’t work that way or at least I am not aware of any. They do take your wishlist and add it to the system but also just consider you for offers when the SA advocates for you to the SM.
Often times this will be based on your prespend, and your relationship with the SA.
I, for instance, have enough prespend but don’t have any SA now. Even if my wishlist is updated, that won’t get me anywhere until the SA advocates for me.
I often wonder given how competitive it is today, if there are still people getting bags here solely based on good relationship. I certainly hope it’s still the case and would love to hear experiences of people especially here in Toronto.

Having an SA is not enough any more either - mine has told me they are ‘prioritizing new clients who haven’t yet got a quota bag.’ And I’m still waiting for *last year’s* QB. Spend is now well over 2x and climbing across RTW/home/jewelry.

Maybe it makes business sense that they are favouring new spenders beginning their journey with a pair of orans and a belt, but I wonder if there are other long term clients who are feeling undervalued.

 

[Fixxi]

Too many responses to quote here.. but thengist is this: you can think of it as stores having a waitlist, with no *official* spend requirement, and with names constantly being bumped up and down based on spend and categories.

Having read 100+ pages on this thread, there's no magical formula. Lot of luck, strong relationship, and a biiiig wallet

 

[starryidsurprise]

Hi all, I was wondering what your experience was like after declining an offer. A couple months ago I received my first QB offer, but respectfully declined it because it was an exotic leather, which I hadn’t requested. I’ve since bought a couple more things, but I wonder how to “maintain the relationship” and be considered for another offer without spending too much more, if that’s possible? Any advice & anecdotes appreciated!

 

[addiCCted]

@smoothsailor @momoc Thank you for the detailed responses!

I wish my SA was just more open about it. I don’t mind dropping twice or thrice the amount of the bag I want but don’t feel comfortable doing it if there won’t be an offer as a result. I’ve been burned before about 8 years ago by my Dubai SA who made me drop 50k AED only quit the next week and the store basically acted like I had to start again with a new SA + new spend. I hate the games and gaslighting that goes on with SAs at H, I’m a straight shooter so if I need to drop a large amount to be offered a bag, tell me and I’ll do it. The Toronto store turnover is far too high to be taking a risk without assurance of reward.

Also, my job is what affords me this financial stability. Having to travel for work isn’t something in my control so sometimes it feels like unless I’m making a pilgrimage to my local store (1 hour away from my Canadian home btw) on a weekly basis, my SA will never give me what I want. It sucks to be punished by H for being ultra career oriented.

I really do appreciate both of your insight though! Looks like I need to stop keeping hopes that this will result in a bag.

Personally I think even more important than prespend is face time. Your SA needs to remember you when that bag you want comes in. (Not saying prespend doesn’t matter but at this point everyone is prespending)

 

[JaneyBae]

Personally I think even more important than prespend is face time. Your SA needs to remember you when that bag you want comes in. (Not saying prespend doesn’t matter but at this point everyone is prespending)

I have met her in person a few times and have kept in touch over email multiple times through holidays and stuff but perhaps that isn't enough for her.

It sucks cause the Dubai SA's are "we only sell to local citizens, not expats" (I'm a legal permanent resident but not citizen) and priority are the VVIPs who don't get any quota limits imposed on them so they keep getting 10-20 quota bags a year while the Canadian ones (I'm Canadian), are all about coming in 10 million times a week + spend while not having enough stock of anything. When I'm not traveling for work, I live 1.5 hours away from the Toronto store so coming in through gridlock traffic from the highway and back isn't ideal, I just want to relax lol. I'm somehow caught in between two countries that won't sell me bags lol.

 

[yuukei]

Hi all, I was wondering what your experience was like after declining an offer. A couple months ago I received my first QB offer, but respectfully declined it because it was an exotic leather, which I hadn’t requested. I’ve since bought a couple more things, but I wonder how to “maintain the relationship” and be considered for another offer without spending too much more, if that’s possible? Any advice & anecdotes appreciated!

Personally I've never had any issue with declining a bag. I rejected a B30 in Craie and a tri-color k25 last month and got offered a B25 in Craie by the end of the month. As long as your "pre-spend" is enough for your store/SA, then it's really up to you to take your favorite bag.

 

[addiCCted]

I have met her in person a few times and have kept in touch over email multiple times through holidays and stuff but perhaps that isn't enough for her.

It sucks cause the Dubai SA's are "we only sell to local citizens, not expats" (I'm a legal permanent resident but not citizen) and priority are the VVIPs who don't get any quota limits imposed on them so they keep getting 10-20 quota bags a year while the Canadian ones (I'm Canadian), are all about coming in 10 million times a week + spend while not having enough stock of anything. When I'm not traveling for work, I live 1.5 hours away from the Toronto store so coming in through gridlock traffic from the highway and back isn't ideal, I just want to relax lol. I'm somehow caught in between two countries that won't sell me bags lol.

Lol on the ten million times hahah. Where do you travel to for work? Maybe if it’s a frequent enough destination, go shop there? Sorry this is so difficult. Would you ever consider the preloved route? What are you looking to get?

 

[getthebag]

At what point would you follow up with your SA, if they haven’t been responsive? Background: I don’t have a store next to me so my communication with my SA is mostly happening over text, they’ve been super responsive in the past but my resent text asking for a few items hasn’t been responded to for a week. I’m ok waiting, but I’m also worried they might not work there anymore and I’m just wasting my time. At what point would you follow up?

 

[jimmyshoogirl]

At what point would you follow up with your SA, if they haven’t been responsive? Background: I don’t have a store next to me so my communication with my SA is mostly happening over text, they’ve been super responsive in the past but my resent text asking for a few items hasn’t been responded to for a week. I’m ok waiting, but I’m also worried they might not work there anymore and I’m just wasting my time. At what point would you follow up?

Call the store and ask. Your sa could also very well be on vacation.

 

[smoothsailor]

I have met her in person a few times and have kept in touch over email multiple times through holidays and stuff but perhaps that isn't enough for her.

It sucks cause the Dubai SA's are "we only sell to local citizens, not expats" (I'm a legal permanent resident but not citizen) and priority are the VVIPs who don't get any quota limits imposed on them so they keep getting 10-20 quota bags a year while the Canadian ones (I'm Canadian), are all about coming in 10 million times a week + spend while not having enough stock of anything. When I'm not traveling for work, I live 1.5 hours away from the Toronto store so coming in through gridlock traffic from the highway and back isn't ideal, I just want to relax lol. I'm somehow caught in between two countries that won't sell me bags lol.

So sorry to hear that. Maybe the reseller route is the clean and simple one for you.

 

[880]

In my limited experience, only SAs in Asia will admit to prespend. In the US and Canada, a number of regular clients were spending 3-5X per visit post Covid. In that environment, your SA will have a harder time advocating for a client who is 1X +. And, now that people are traveling again and supplies may be coming in, it’s much harder if not impossible to rewind expectations. I buy both boutique and resale depending on the scarcity of the item.

ETA: this may belong in the unpopular opinions thread, but SAs prefer to reward clients who can spend generously and who do not really keep track of prespend. Outside of Europe, that is best for their compensation and sales goals, and it encourages the notion of brand exclusivity and draws the aspirational shoppers to more accessible first floor merchandise.

i generally prefer to walk in and shop boutique merchandise, but occasionally I will screen shot something I like. I don’t go out of my way to look up ref numbers, but of course include them if it’s in the shot.

@starryidsurprise, I’ve received and declined full exotic and exotic touch offers before eventually getting a neutral K25 and a B25. Ive been told it’s harder to move exotics, so such offers may be easier to obtain than regular leather in popular sizes and combinations. Im not sure whether I would have received my B25 gold sellier without additional, continued spend.

 

[starryidsurprise]

This is helpful, thank you and thanks to @yuukei. I was surprised to receive an exotic offer as I had thought it was a more exclusive offer.

In my limited experience, only SAs in Asia will admit to prespend. In the US and Canada, a number of regular clients were spending 3-5X per visit post Covid. In that environment, your SA will have a harder time advocating for a client who is 1X +. And, now that people are traveling again and supplies may be coming in, it’s much harder if not impossible to rewind expectations. I buy both boutique and resale depending on the scarcity of the item.

ETA: this may belong in the unpopular opinions thread, but SAs prefer to reward clients who can spend generously and who do not really keep track of prespend. Outside of Europe, that is best for their compensation and sales goals, and it encourages the notion of brand exclusivity and draws the aspirational shoppers to more accessible first floor merchandise.

i generally prefer to walk in and shop boutique merchandise, but occasionally I will screen shot something I like. I don’t go out of my way to look up ref numbers, but of course include them if it’s in the shot.

@starryidsurprise, I’ve received and declined full exotic and exotic touch offers before eventually getting a neutral K25 and a B25. Ive been told it’s harder to move exotics, so such offers may be easier to obtain than regular leather in popular sizes and combinations. Im not sure whether I would have received my B25 gold sellier without additional, continued spend.

 

[880]

Is it ok if I can tell her I would like to wait for the bag first and purchase that fine jewelry together with the bag?

I’m not sure why you would tell her that you only want to buy the FJ with the bag. IMO this would be viewed negatively by the SA and SM bc 1. you might appear to be communicating an entitlement/ quid pro quo; 2. The SM would much rather offer the bag to someone who is willing to spend and who doesn’t have conditions or expectations.

also, most of us advise not to buy anything unless you love it. If you love the FJ, why risk waiting and missing the chance to purchase.

Don’t think they can hold any stock for so long nowadays. And if u don’t buy it, u may not get the bag

Agree with @smoothsailor

The SA cannot guarantee that you will definitely get the bag if you do x. Bc for every person who says I got the bag of my dreams after buying onlu a pair of oran sandals, there are many others who have bought the FJ, bought the RTW, spent more, waited longer, and still have not gotten a bag.

Others have already posted that your SA may be trying to tell you that you have no chance of obtaining SM approval without the additional spend. But, it’s also possible that if you wait you will not be able to get either the FJ or the bag.

 

[spape08]

Wondering if folks can share how long their SA has been able to hold something for? I’ve tried searching but not found a dedicated thread or master response.

My SA texted me that something I’d asked for (GP 49) was in store, but I am traveling and can’t make it in until early next week. The image she sent also looks like the bag is in a display area, not in a back room, so unsure if that means it can’t be held at all?

I’ve texted asking her to hold but haven’t heard back so thought to seek the friendly wisdom here