I am reading your exciting stories for a very long time (even before I was am member) and now I am ready to write my own story down. It will be a looooong, really looooong one and you have to excuse some language mistakes
.
I went to Paris in the end of October. I met two friends there and friend A (hello, of you are reading this
)) wanted to buy a B there. She has a really good shopping history in Paris and in her home country and so we were sure, she will be successful. We signed in for an appointment for Monday (we did this on Saturday) and were all rejected. (To make this a little bit shorter, I will write only about the visits in the Hermes stores and not about all the other things, we did. It was not only about hunting the Birkin!)
Nevertheless we went to FSH and bought some little things, I bought a scarf ring, friend A a belt and friend B a bracelet. Buying the belt friend A met a very nice SA at the mans department and we four had a lot of fun. She wanted to buy en Evelyne and usually you are not able to buy a bag without an appointment, but suddenly he said, he can ask, if he can make an exception, and voilà, she was able to buy the Evelyne. Friend B wanted to buy a Herbag they had on display, but he was sorry that he can't do an other exception and she has to have an appointment.
He told us several times, that we have to make sure to sign in for an appointment online for the next day, cause then it is much easier for them to give us an appointment if we just walk in the next day, even when we get a mail that we were rejected. He and friend A talked then to the lady at the counter, who managed the appointments, and she looked into her phone and told friend A, she shall try tomorrow at 11.00.
At the evening we all got rejected for an appointment for the next day at FSH.
The next day we were at FSH at 11.00 and friend A really got an appointment for 11.30. They had all her dates in their system already as she signed in for the appointment in the online system. I think, this is really important to do and to tell them, you did and got denied. For me, it was not a good morning. Somehow I was upset about the lady at the counter managing the appointment system. I asked her to give me an appointment for the next day as she did for my friend and she said, she can do this exception only once and something in her way talking to me made me really angry. She even didn't tried to give me the feeling, that she would like to try to help me. She was more like - what do you want from me, leave me alone. I was really upset. In the meantime a very nice SA came to my friend, asked her, what she wants, wrote everything down an disappeared for maybe 10 or 15 minutes. Then she came bag and asked us to follow her. She led us to a private room and there was a B, not exact the color she wanted but the size and leather and HW, so she took it. As I already mentioned, she has a good shopping history and so I was nor surprised she was offered a B. And now, as one of us had an appointment, friend B was able to buy the Herbag and I was able to buy a Evelyne in Etoup and silver HW, my dream combination.
We then went to Rue Sevre because we wanted to see the beautiful store and I met a nice SA and chatted with him and we had really some fun. He was from the leather department but for some reasons he coudn't look for a K or a B for me. He had no other customer and we were just talking, but well ... He said, I can come into the store tomorrow and he will see, what he can do for me.
My friends left Paris that evening and I stayed for two more days, so I registered online for an appointment for the next day and - yes, got rejected.
So it was the third day and I went to Rue Sevre in the morning, where you walk in and they give you an appointmenttime for the same day. I came half an hour before the store was opened but there was already a line of maybe 10 people before me. When I was in store I asked for the SA from the day before and he had a customer and I was told he will serve me as soon as he is ready. I really thought, this could be it - we talked so nice the day before and HE encouraged me to come back the next day. This was after I told him, that I do not want so spend all my time in Paris just with walking from one Hermes store to the other. He saw me and said, he will be with me after his actual customer. And this took 70 minutes!!! When he finally listened what I want, he didn't even write it down and somehow I knew, I won't leave with a bag. He came back empty handed and I was really disappointed. I mean, he saw me and new what I am looking for and still he let me wait for more then one hour just to tell me, there is no stock. But I was not upset like the day before because he did this in a very respectful manner and at least he gave me the feeling he really tried to help me.
I promised the nice SA from the mans department at FSH to come back to see him on Wednsday and to tell him, if I got my bag (he had the day off on Tuesday), I thought, it might be a good idea to keep a relationship to him. So I went to FSH without appointment and the SA was off for lunch. I asked for any cancellations and for free appointments but there was nothing. I said, it is my last chance as the next day the store will be closed and I also said, that I was not lucky with the online system and that I tried every das. The lady at the counter (not the snotty one) told me to come back and try at 16.00.
I then went to George V and this was a really bad experience, I didn't like the store at all. Useless to say, they had nothing.
I was done. I decided to finish my hunt and to go sightseeing and not to return to FSH. So I did and at 16.00 I went to the catacombs - where they told me I have to wait for more the two hours in line to walk in and it started to rain. OK, I felt like this is a sign to return to FSH and give it a last try, and so I did. It was 16.30.
I asked for cancellations and really - they said, I can wait, there will be a SA with me within the next 30 Minutes.The really lovely SA was back from lunch and we had some fun and he was really sweet and was exciting with me, if I will get a bag. He said, he can't do anything for me as he is not from the leather department and that it is really random, who will get an appointment and after hat who will get a bag - and I believe him. Certainly they have special clients, but with all the tourists just popping in store without relationship to an SA and without shopping history (like me - the three items I bought the days before were the first items I ever bought in Paris - and I bought some scarves at home) it really is about being lucky. At 17.30 I met my SA and he directly asked, what I want. No chatting, no relationship, nothing. Just straight business. I even can't remember his name (I do remember the name of the SA at the mans department). I told him a K in blue nuit and wanted to say more, but stopped, because one advice I was reading about was, to focus on one bag. But he recognized, that I wanted to say more and encouraged me. He said, I should tell him everything I want cause if he can't serve me with the first wish he may be able to serve me with my second. So I told him a B in 35 Etain PHW (I always wanted Epsom leather, but didn't talk to him about the leather, I would have taken every one). He disappeared for 20 minutes and in the meantime, I saw a lot of people asking for B's and K's and they were all offered some other bags. I was thinking, that if they had some bags for sell that day, they all are sold already for sure. Suddenly my SA came back with a big orange box and I was sure he will offer me a different bag like maybe a Lindy. He didn't take me to a private room as I experienced the day before with my friend and just put the box on a table at the mans department. I was ready to decline the bag he will offer me, especially as he said, he has MAYBE something for me but is not sure, if I will like the leather. And then he showed me a B 35 in Etain PHW and Epsom leather. I think, I said "I love you", but I am not sure
. My heart literally skipped a beat and I immediately said yes. Ind till that day I think about the reasons, why I got offered a B, and I can't tell you. It was just fortune. After paying I continued chatting with the SA from the mans department as the store wasn't busy anymore and after all he brought a glas of champagne and suddenly I realized, that the store was closed already and we were still talking.
So after four days we had
7 "no" at the online system.
2 walk in appointments in FSH
1 Herbag
2 Evelynes
2 Birkins
It was a really nice and exciting experience and now - may I introduce you my two new girls
.
Thank you for letting me share and thank you for your patience.
TWO????? Both are so beautiful! Super Congrats!
