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.

 

[A74]

A quick question: do you ask your SA to ship items to you that have come into the store? Because I usually go into the store to try it on and then purchase, and any items that have been shipped directly to me have only been charge-sends or H.com online orders. Thank you.

Yes. If I order remotely for an item that is in my home store (as in, I pay through the pay link they send), they send it to me. I don’t come in. When I am shopping in person, I sometimes have any heavy or large items I buy sent to me rather than me trying to carry them out of the store.

 

[Midge Maisel]

Common sense would suggest that if you don’t get an immediate response from your husband, your mother, your best friend, or your Hermes SA: don’t take it personally.

Unless they've left you on read. Then you're free to conspire and assume.

 

[maxroxxherhandbags]

I'm chipping in as someone who works in sales.
At this time of year when clients I dont have a strong longterm relationship with ping me a message containing an image with 'have you got this?' they tend to get ignored or put to the back of the queue in favour of the clients who book appointments to see me or whom see me face to face on a semi regular basis.
I actually do not have the mental bandwidth or time to respond to vague remote requests.
It really is a hideous time for those in sales..I don't work for Hermes so I dread to think how many messages they must get on the daily basis.
We work extended hours and often skip breaks to meet in person client appointments.
Myself and most people in this field really do bend over backwards to meet our client needs (I know myself and my colleagues do) BUT when having to choose between the client face to face in store or the client sending 10 WhatsApp images wanting an instant response ..well the choice is clear really.

 

[fabdiva]

I'm chipping in as someone who works in sales.
At this time of year when clients I dont have a strong longterm relationship with ping me a message containing an image with 'have you got this?' they tend to get ignored or put to the back of the queue in favour of the clients who book appointments to see me or whom see me face to face on a semi regular basis.
I actually do not have the mental bandwidth or time to respond to vague remote requests.
It really is a hideous time for those in sales..I don't work for Hermes so I dread to think how many messages they must get on the daily basis.
We work extended hours and often skip breaks to meet in person client appointments.
Myself and most people in this field really do bend over backwards to meet our client needs (I know myself and my colleagues do) BUT when having to choose between the client face to face in store or the client sending 10 WhatsApp images wanting an instant response ..well the choice is clear really.

I'm so glad you said this. My girlfriend takes it soooo personal if our SA doesn't respond to her in a timely manner or if the response seems cold to her. I remind her all the time: (1) Can you imagine how many text messages our SA gets every day?; and (2) our SA is just the worse at responding to texts. It's not just her. Sometimes you have to ping him a second time, but it's not intentional. And it's not personal. I have to admit, I'm the worse about scheduling appointments. But I understand I may have to wait and I'm never in a hurry for any item.

 

[880]

I'm so glad you said this. My girlfriend takes it soooo personal if our SA doesn't respond to her in a timely manner or if the response seems cold to her. I remind her all the time: (1) Can you imagine how many text messages our SA gets every day?; and (2) our SA is just the worse at responding to texts. It's not just her. Sometimes you have to ping him a second time, but it's not intentional. And it's not personal. I have to admit, I'm the worse about scheduling appointments. But I understand I may have to wait and I'm never in a hurry for any item.

Maybe it’s bc my mother routinely ignores/forgets to respond to a text that I’m not really bothered if my H SA forgets to answer. . . .i cannot be the only one on this thread with a busy mom?

 

[fabdiva]

Maybe it’s bc my mother routinely ignores my texts that I’m not really bothered if my H SA forgets to answer. . . .
i cannot be the only one on this thread with a busy mom?

Maybe because I've been accused of being curt on my texts, I'm unbothered? lol

 

[haute okole]

This is a quote from my recently departed mentor, Charlie Munger. It was his Number 1 rule for a Happy Life. It is also my number 1 Rule towards maintaining a relationship with H. I understand that when we part with our money, many believe we are ENTITLED to a certain amount of attention. The sense of entitlement may be understandable, but it makes it no less obnoxious, in some cases.

The first rule of a happy life is low expectations. If you have unrealistic expectations you’re going to be miserable your whole life. You want to have reasonable expectations and take life’s results good and bad as they happen with a certain amount of stoicism.”

 

[tinkerbell68]

I'm so glad you said this. My girlfriend takes it soooo personal if our SA doesn't respond to her in a timely manner or if the response seems cold to her. I remind her all the time: (1) Can you imagine how many text messages our SA gets every day?; and (2) our SA is just the worse at responding to texts. It's not just her. Sometimes you have to ping him a second time, but it's not intentional. And it's not personal. I have to admit, I'm the worse about scheduling appointments. But I understand I may have to wait and I'm never in a hurry for any item.

Two great points: don't read coldness or exasperation or humor into a text...that reflects on the recipient, not the sender. We cannot know anyone else's intent as they dash off a quick message. Which leads to 'it's not personal'...SAs are super busy and, particularly in texts, just don't have the time to put that much thought into their responses. Texting is supposed to be a quick asynchronous way to communicate, not literature to dwell on...we're not meant to parse the meaning of each word!

 

[Midge Maisel]

Maybe it’s bc my mother routinely ignores/forgets to respond to a text that I’m not really bothered if my H SA forgets to answer. . . .i cannot be the only one on this thread with a busy mom?

My mom did not respond to me AT ALL for a few days in there, which was so unlike her...turns out, she had notifications off for our chat only? Way to tell me I'm not the favorite, Mom...

 

[MacawGuy]

I thought I would share my own relationship with my SA since it might be a little different. I live in Dallas, but the first shop I made a purchase at was in SF on a business trip in May 2022. I waited on line outside for an hour until about 5 minutes til closing. I was going to give up but the security guard said to not give up hope and hang in, and a minute or two later I was welcomed inside and met the sweetest SA. She could tell I was anxious about the time and told me to relax and not to worry. We looked at a bunch of scarves and I left with two, one for me and one for my husband. We stayed in touch via txt, and a couple of months later I reached out and she helped me with an Apple Watch purchase. The next year, in March, I requested an appt with her for a birthday trip to SF, and this amazing SA spent TWO HOURS touring me and my husband around the shop. I ended up buying one more smaller scarf, a bracelet, and an etriviere tote for myself, and a scarf, bracelet, and pair of shoes for the hubby. He surprised me with a black shirt that I love. After that, we stayed in touch, again via txts, and one Saturday in September I got a surprise txt followed by a call asking if I could come to SF to see a bag. Of course no photo sharing was allowed, but when she told me it was Birkin 35, gris meyer, palladium hardware, I bought a ticket and had an appt for the following week. Of course I was in love with the bag and took it home with me, along with a belt and buckle and twillies. It was the most special and exciting shopping experience ever, and I thought the bday trip would be hard to beat.

 

[880]

This is a quote from my recently departed mentor, Charlie Munger. It was his Number 1 rule for a Happy Life. It is also my number 1 Rule towards maintaining a relationship with H. I understand that when we part with our money, many believe we are ENTITLED to a certain amount of attention. The sense of entitlement may be understandable, but it makes it no less obnoxious, in some cases.

The first rule of a happy life is low expectations. If you have unrealistic expectations you’re going to be miserable your whole life. You want to have reasonable expectations and take life’s results good and bad as they happen with a certain amount of stoicism.”

OMG. I’ve lived by this my entire life. (I apply it to my family mostly)
I knew we were kindred spirits
only half joking

 

[880]

I thought I would share my own relationship with my SA since it might be a little different. I live in Dallas, but the first shop I made a purchase at was in SF on a business trip in May 2022. I waited on line outside for an hour until about 5 minutes til closing. I was going to give up but the security guard said to not give up hope and hang in, and a minute or two later I was welcomed inside and met the sweetest SA. She could tell I was anxious about the time and told me to relax and not to worry. We looked at a bunch of scarves and I left with two, one for me and one for my husband. We stayed in touch via txt, and a couple of months later I reached out and she helped me with an Apple Watch purchase. The next year, in March, I requested an appt with her for a birthday trip to SF, and this amazing SA spent TWO HOURS touring me and my husband around the shop. I ended up buying one more smaller scarf, a bracelet, and an etriviere tote for myself, and a scarf, bracelet, and pair of shoes for the hubby. He surprised me with a black shirt that I love. After that, we stayed in touch, again via txts, and one Saturday in September I got a surprise txt followed by a call asking if I could come to SF to see a bag. Of course no photo sharing was allowed, but when she told me it was Birkin 35, gris meyer, palladium hardware, I bought a ticket and had an appt for the following week. Of course I was in love with the bag and took it home with me, along with a belt and buckle and twillies. It was the most special and exciting shopping experience ever, and I thought the bday trip would be hard to beat.
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Awww! I’m so happy for you both! Love your taste and your SA sounds so sweet!
welcome to TPF

 

[MacawGuy]

Awww! I’m so happy for you both! Love your taste and your SA sounds so sweet!
welcome to TPF

Thank you, I appreciate that! And that SA truly is a gem. I have my eyes on a pair of ankle boots for myself next year, and a so black Click HH bracelet if it comes in my size!

 

[jimmyshoogirl]

I think this is important! My own job is client service-adjacent (in-house attorney); I'm usually managing a lot of different requests from internal stakeholders and trying to keep them all happy. It's simplest and most pleasant and easiest to respond in a helpful way when I get an outreach with a very brief pleasantry, short background and clear request, and I try to bring that perspective to my interactions with my SA. There are few things I dread more than a Teams message just saying "Hi" with no other context...it takes me longer to answer while I sit and wonder about what crazy situation or request might lurk beneath! Also annoying is when I'm in a meeting or otherwise tied up and someone keeps pinging to try to get my attention about a non-emergency situation...I'm busy and when I stop being busy I will give you my full attention, but sending me 5 different messages in an hour or two isn't helping me want to prioritize you!

A lot of this may be intuitive, but I found the "treat my SA the way I want my clients to treat me" approach helped me keep perspective. The messages I send are pretty much exactly as @A74 describes above and I also get prompt responses.

I’m not an attorney but same. I receive a lot of info on a daily and have to prioritize the ones that I can close out quickly. The client texts a string of texts get answered by the end of the day IF I don’t forget to double back (I’m human and do forget!)

My least favorites to even read are:
Text 1
Hi.
Text 2
How are you?
Text 3
I know you are busy but I have a question. (The acknowledgement of me being busy but not getting to the darn point sends me )
Text 4
Do you have a minute?
Text 5
I need to get this (not saying the actual item) shirt I saw and wanted to know if you have it available).
(Clients REALLY do text like the above! Also not in retail just used the shirt as an example)


and by text 10 I’ve already answered other texts that read like:
Hope you are well. Do you have x, y, z available. If so, can I pick it up on a, b, c?

Be pleasant and get to the point. Don’t take the lack of response personal.

 

[jimmyshoogirl]

This is a quote from my recently departed mentor, Charlie Munger. It was his Number 1 rule for a Happy Life. It is also my number 1 Rule towards maintaining a relationship with H. I understand that when we part with our money, many believe we are ENTITLED to a certain amount of attention. The sense of entitlement may be understandable, but it makes it no less obnoxious, in some cases.

The first rule of a happy life is low expectations. If you have unrealistic expectations you’re going to be miserable your whole life. You want to have reasonable expectations and take life’s results good and bad as they happen with a certain amount of stoicism.”

Sooooo true. I’ve learned long ago (thanks to my therapist) to manage my expectations! It’s so much less stressful. I’m mainly in therapy to constantly unload on my therapist about the entitled clients that I deal with daily. UGH