Prettychic, I've wondered about the same thing. I'm a scarf collector but I don't buy things from one store only -- I buy them from Hermes.com, from the Madison store when I happen to be in NY, from other cities when I travel, from reputable resellers, and from my local boutique when I come by and they have something I like.
At this point I'm not interested in any special orders or particularly hard-to-find bags, so I don't feel the need to cultivate a particular SA relationship. I've always thought that this is a business and therefore any SA at any H store should be happy to help. But a couple of months ago a small incident made me wonder if perhaps I was breaking some unspoken H etiquette rules.
There is an SA at my local store from whom I've bought small things -- scarf rings and pocket squares -- a couple of times. Initially, when I bought something from her, she gave me a card with her hours. The second time I went by the store, I specifically, out of courtesy, picked one of her days, but the SA was not behind the scarf counter and didn't appear anywhere in the store. I asked the only other lady present to show me a twilly. Three minutes later, my SA appeared -- she must have stepped away to the ladies' room. She didn't say anything, but she stood behind my back, glared at me and literally shook her head at me, which made me feel either as a five-year-old being scolded by her teacher or as a woman caught cheating by her husband. I approached her and greeted her (and I didn't buy anything from the other person), but the subsequent interaction was very, very awkward, and I have since stayed away from that particular store.
Personally, I feel that this kind of "proprietary" behavior on the part of any SA is a bit ridiculous and that the H shopping experience should be a pleasure. Am I wrong? I'd love to hear other people's thoughts.
At this point I'm not interested in any special orders or particularly hard-to-find bags, so I don't feel the need to cultivate a particular SA relationship. I've always thought that this is a business and therefore any SA at any H store should be happy to help. But a couple of months ago a small incident made me wonder if perhaps I was breaking some unspoken H etiquette rules.
There is an SA at my local store from whom I've bought small things -- scarf rings and pocket squares -- a couple of times. Initially, when I bought something from her, she gave me a card with her hours. The second time I went by the store, I specifically, out of courtesy, picked one of her days, but the SA was not behind the scarf counter and didn't appear anywhere in the store. I asked the only other lady present to show me a twilly. Three minutes later, my SA appeared -- she must have stepped away to the ladies' room. She didn't say anything, but she stood behind my back, glared at me and literally shook her head at me, which made me feel either as a five-year-old being scolded by her teacher or as a woman caught cheating by her husband. I approached her and greeted her (and I didn't buy anything from the other person), but the subsequent interaction was very, very awkward, and I have since stayed away from that particular store.
Personally, I feel that this kind of "proprietary" behavior on the part of any SA is a bit ridiculous and that the H shopping experience should be a pleasure. Am I wrong? I'd love to hear other people's thoughts.