Ok here's my detailed Paris trip:
I was in Paris from this Wed afternoon-Saturday noon and tried for appt everyday using my and DH's phone. On Thursday evening, after another rejection for Friday, my cell phone was stolen at a restaurant. It was a beggar woman holding a sign at our table asking for change, when in fact her sign was to cover my phone and she slowly pulled it off the table. I didn't realize until too late.
I was very sad after this incident, and basically didn't even care about Hermes at this point. It is a huge inconvenience to be without a cell phone during travel. However Friday afternoon I decided why the hell not and try for a Sat AM appt before my flight and voila, I used my DH's phone and passport and he was approved for a 11:35AM appt. I was SHOCKED.
My Ritz hotel car is supposed to take my to the airport at 12:30PM the latest, so 11:35AM appt is really tight. I showed up at 10:35 and explained my flight situation and the leather receptionist was super nice and said no problem, you can have your appt now. I did not bring much H products with me this trip, so I only had a Kelly 28 R and some H strappy sandals on. My dress was Chanel. DH was wearing H polo and petit H cardholder haha (he's a good sport). I was introduced to a very nice SA named Thomas (not sure about spelling). He first asked if I had any France purchase history and I said no. He asked where I got my bag and I said USA. He also asked whether I wanted to look at "other items" first or bags first, so maybe if I dropped big $$$ first on other items, he would've produced different things?
Anyways, DH answered bags first and then "other items" later, kind of insinuating we will gladly buy other items as long as there is a bag product first. He said sure and started to take my wishlist. My first item was a croc Kelly and he was taken back and said that would be very hard, and asked if I was open to Ostrich. I said only dark ostrich only. Next item I said B30 Black, K28 Black or Red Sellier. And after that pretty much anything in neutral colors and flexibility in size. DH emphasized we would just like a nice souvenir LOL. He asked what bags I have already and I gave him my list plus upcoming SO which he commented wow you have a lot already. I think finally by this point he realized I know what I'm talking about and definitely not a reseller.
Thomas explained in detail that July and Aug are vacation days for the craftsmen, and production decreases up to 50% at this time. There was no shipment on Sat (don't know if this is every sat) so everything left in store was from the day before. Added on top of the fashion week bringing in VIP and rich clients, stock is lower than usual. (side note: Ritz Concierge also explained July 7th is the first day French people start their holidays) We also chatted about how nice the new appt system is vs the horrible lines before. He hated hated those lines and I was like yes they sound horrible etc lol.
Finally he went to the back to check stock and after less than 10 min, he came out with an orange box! At this time I saw people being shown GP, Herbag, roulis, Evelyn out on the main 1st floor. He asked that we go up to the 3rd floor to view it and I knew right away that it must be good item!! When we got up there, he produced K28 Epsom Sellier in Rouge Casque GHW. I emphasized earlier I want true red only and I must say it is a gorgeous vibrant bag. He told me that he only checked for K and not a B and that I will have to decline the K for him to check a B. For B I only wanted black and he said that's difficult. K black was also not available (despite one being on display). So I said yes to the Red!
Afterwards he asked if I needed a fourbi and I said I already have one. We walked around the store and picked up a beach blanket/towel and a men's sweatshirt. DH said we must buy some stuff from him because he did us a favor by giving us a coveted bag. I would've bought a few more small things but we ran out of time.
Our total was under 9000 euros before VAT refund for everything, and we walked out very happy. We thanked him many times. We left the store at almost noon and rushed back to hotel to finish packing. I don't know why we were able to get a bag today vs all the other people during the appt but I am happy. Perhaps it was just the right color combo, what I'm wearing and a genuine connection with the SA. I wanna thank everyone here who's shared their FSH stories, they were really helpful for me.
A couple of important things I can confirm:
-You can show up to your appt early (or later) if needed
-Hermes employees gets 5 wk vacation a year and most take it starting July 7 (since I doubt they are allowed to leave during fashion weeks) until August.
-Maybe no deliveries on Saturday, so go early Sat as possible.
