The next day was our final day to be spent at FSH. We decided to split, with me at the side entrance. I think this was a good strategy. On that day, they were sort of opening the both doors at the same time. And instead of stopping after few, our side door security guy was actually letting in a lot of people at once. There were about 15 ahead of me and I was in with them right away.
With the side door so much closer to leather dept, it is usually easy to get onto the inside queue once you are in. However, inside queue was already long enough to reach to the end of leather dept by the time I was in. And folks front of me were not moving fast to get to the end, making a mess at the cramped space near wallet displays! If in NY, I would've yelled, "Let's move it, people!" but ahem, I impatiently waited until this confused crowd of people in front of me finally realized they have get on another queue inside the store. By the time everything cleared, I was standing just 10 feet away from front entrance.
When it was finally my turn to get appt, SA asked the reason of my visit, lol. Uhm... I thought we all came here for the same reason? I was given 2:50 slot and started to walk around, looking for sis and ended up finding her, all upset, around wallet section. She said they would not let in people from front door for a long time and she probably was allowed after all the side door customers were in. Rules of which door goes in first seem so fickle, I can now say there is no rule.
She later told me it was especially more upsetting as some people were allowed in even though they were not on the queue. Some told the security "my husband is already in" or "I'm here to buy scarves." If they were really telling the truth, she doesn't know but it didn't really seem like security would keep track of those customer.
Sis got a time slot of 5:50. We browsed through the mens dept to see if we can get something for dad, and was quickly assisted by a friendly SA. After a short chat about fabrics, he gave me his card, which said he also does shoes, so off we went to get me a pair of sneakers from mens dept. (Not only I have the typical wider Asian feet, I'm also tall and big, so more than often get mens shoes, provided they are cute kinds.) My SA was actually very nice and we had a nice chat through the whole time. He wished us well with the bag mission and arranged for my shoes to be sent to the hotel.
Even after lunch, there was still much time left till my appt time. We had an hour or so rest at the hotel room, till I get a text saying I should head back to FSH. Texts I received in the past were "Please see SA xxx at xxx" but this was something new. It said they would assign me to a SA later and I should return myself to the store. By the time I got to FSH, I get the SA is ready text, and sighed when I saw the name. It was the same SA I got on the very first day of this trip!
I just knew I wasn't getting my bag. Although a lovely girl, I could not help but get the feeling she is the SA who is supposed to say NO. And I didn't mention it earlier but she was also resposible for wasting my precious time when making a purchase went wrong that first day. Just like I expected, she came back empty handed, awfully fast, I should add, after supposedly "checking." She didn't even ask for hardware or leather choices btw.
Sister's time kept changing, and she finally got the revisit FSH text around 4:20. However, the final text with SA's name was not sent for what felt like the longest time. Her time kept delaying back at then, in 5 or 10 minutes, and final text came at 5:40.
When I saw who was her SA, I knew it was not a good. I saw her assisting another customer right next to me during my appt and that customer also got a "no." She did seem to work hard, showing her many other things. And she definitely had more professional vibe than all the SAs I got. While sis gave her wishlist, I asked for a Rodeo, a I noticed many customers getting them in the last two hours. She came back with two boxes, small one containing this
and a much larger box that got sister's eyes widened with joy. BUT it was a Cher Midi., not a Kelly!
Now the rest of the boxes... Surprisingly elusive Herbag was available at CDG H! SA said they also get Constances but none in stock that day. But sis was just so happy to at least get one bag from her wishlist. I also picked out a shawl for ma and sis picked a twilly. And that wraps it up for our winter shopping trip.
Thanks again for all the kind words from everyone here! Our visits to FSH turned out to be failures hunt for Ks but at least now I have great SAs at mens and jewerly for future purchases. And sis got her fave Christmas present at an airport, of all places, which she found so amusing.