Paris trip for Hermes

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#29,204
Please try to stay on topic. I realise because of the complexity of some of the posts members may veer off but in answer do not 'go there'.

For info and questions on US customs please post on the thread below: post https://forum.purseblog.com/threads/us-customs-discussion-airports-importing.905560/

Detaxing (to US from Europe) https://forum.purseblog.com/threads/best-way-to-detax-after-h-in-europe.178302/

or non-US destinations: https://forum.purseblog.com/threads/does-h-store-paris-wants-to-ship.605014/page-3

For questions relating to prices https://forum.purseblog.com/threads/reference-hermes-current-prices.102567/page-357

For traveling with boxes https://forum.purseblog.com/threads...me-hermes-boxes-when-traveling.1044553/page-5



I will leave this reminder as a sticky because tthis is often a thread that new members (or new Hermès lovers) post on - hopefully temporarily.
 
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#27,151
I would not travel with large amounts of cash due to security concerns. In addition, when entering the EU amounts exceeding Euro 10k must be declared. I would worry to be suspected of money laundering.
 
#27,152
fashion.me said:
Do the stores take cash for bag purchases? or is there a limit... just thinking if my friend tries to get appt too but doesnt have enough $$ on the card under her name
Click to expand...

I had the same question and called FSH two weeks ago: a sum up to 10,000 EUR can be paid in cash and according to former posts the staff is used to counting big amounts so it seems to happen on a regular basis. You can also split the payment in cash and credit card. I also heard that they stay really nice and polite if your bank rejects the transfer as this seems to happen quite often too. Therefore I would recommend to have the phone number of your bank with you in case you have to authorise the payment.
 
#27,155
Fluffy88 said:
I had the same question and called FSH two weeks ago: a sum up to 10,000 EUR can be paid in cash and according to former posts the staff is used to counting big amounts so it seems to happen on a regular basis. You can also split the payment in cash and credit card. I also heard that they stay really nice and polite if your bank rejects the transfer as this seems to happen quite often too. Therefore I would recommend to have the phone number of your bank with you in case you have to authorise the payment.
Click to expand...
amazing thank you!! just because ill likely be travelling solo and want to try get a friend to apply for appts to double chance and she wont have the $$ on her card so id be paying as its for me but obviously they wont take my card cause it doesnt match passport right? especially if i am trying to get an appt too.
 
#27,158
Part I

Hi everyone, so now that I'm back home and settled I can sit and report back to you all with details! Beware------ LONG READ AHEAD

Before I start I want to thank EVERYONE that has been writing and reporting back in this forum, thanks alot for sharing your intel, it made me extremely prepared (as one can be) for my visit! As many of you might know/remember I have been following/reading/asking etc all about shopping at FSH for awhile now which I have benefit in being successful at FSH.

Background:
- No prior record of any purchase in France
- Never been to Paris before
- Going for first B/K
- Stuck to just FSH as it was a stone's throw from my hotel, did not try Sevres nor George V

1st attempt on Friday for Saturday 13th
My trip was planned for me and DH to land in Paris on Saturday 13th/april 07:30AM, so we applied for an appointment on friday right before we boarded our flight USING A french FRIEND'S & HIS GF'S cellphone #. As expected, when we landed we checked our emails and our friend confirmed that we were both denied our appointment.

2nd attempt on Saturday for Monday
We headed to our hotel and got ourselves 2 SIM cards as we wanted to be able to make calls and surf the web with fast connection (our home country cellphone provider is not reliable for roaming services, very slow in receiving anything). ATTENTION HERE: as we got out prepaid SIM cards at 10am, I waited til 10:30 and proceeded to make our appoints with our own new french cell #, but to our surprise we NEVER received the "validation CODE" in order to move forward with the appointment application! (I even asked here if anyone got that problem before as I was getting worried). I tried 3 times with my cell # and 3 time with DH cell #.... but nothing! By 2pm, I thought there was a delay/problem with H system so I decided to try again with my friends' cell # and Voila, it worked! He got the normal text message with the validation code and I was able to get my 2nd application completed. As I somehow thought that each persons application must be done with different numbers, I didnt even tried to make an appointment with DH's name as we didnt have (at the time) a second French cell # that isn't a prepaid SIM.
It was a Saturday so we stayed close by the hotel (in the Madeleine area) as all the main streets were blocked by police due to the yellow vest protest. At 4:30pm we decided to walk further away and saw that the street blocks were slowly being lifted up hence we went out to explore and found ourselves (maybe I did it intentionally, DH was clueless hahaha) right infront of FSH, hence we went in to browse around. It was PACKED! Looked like groceries market place! It was NOT how I expected FSH to be!!! Literally, no where to stand nor sit. DH was pissed, I was overwhelmed and I was very much looking forward to FSH! I think that since the streets were closed earlier, people stayed away from the stores and just happened everyone went at the same time after the blocks were lifted.....

Anyways, as I was well prepared with intel, I went directly to the leather host, waited my turn as there were so many people with her, and politely explained my text message issue and asked if it was normal..... She said that it had never happened before but asked me to make the appointment right there so she could check it in her system. I obediently applied with DH info (thank God i didnt try to apply with his info earlier with our friends' #) and it showed right away in her cellphone system, which she even showed me, and gave me the generated "validation CODE" that we are supposed to receive as text message in order to complete the application. The host apologized for this problem and confirmed that if I dont get the codes, I can just go to them everyday to get the code for the applications..... This was not ideal as that meant that our daily tours have to start AFTER reporting first at FSH and finishing our daily application. But in the other hand, they would get to see me everyday and establish a relationship (needless to say DH was not happy).

3rd attempt on Monday for tuesday
Nada, but I did buy a belt which i really needed and hoped it would boost my chances (by creating a profile at FSH) of getting an appointment for tuesday.

4th attempt on Tuesday for wednesday
I went again to FSH to get my 4th validation code, and asked what if i get rejected as I was leaving Thursday late night to Cannes? The hostess "A" said that if we didnt get an appointment then to go at 4pm so she could help me out.... and we both got rejected, I was bombed, however I found out that we were not leaving thursday night but friday night!

5th attempt on Wednesday for thursday
We went AGAIN to FSH at 11am to get my 5th validation code, to which both the hostess and a sales person (by now, many people in there knew me hahahah) were surprised that neither me or DH got any appointment! (8 tries by now), so the new hostess was very sweet and told me to make sure to come back around 330-4pm on thursday if we got rejected again.
Nevertheless, We went back at 5pm (as the previous hostess "A" told me the day before and to looked for her) but it was packed with people wanting to get an appointment so I didnt wait for a free leather sales person (I didnt want to get burned with DH by waiting in vain when we still had a chance for thursday appointment)

But Lo and Behold! I got an appointment for thursday afternoon!! :nuts:
 
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#27,159
Part II

THE day
The email link said it was for Thursday 4:15pm which throughout the day kept changing from 3 to lastly 4:30pm. I showed up at 4pm as I thought about browsing around to pick up things I wanted to get. I checked in with the hostess at 4pm, DH sat by the stairs where the horse riding accessories are.
It was fairly busy (not as busy as saturday) but we both got to watch few drama from our different locations..... from a man making a scene about a bag, oligarchs not getting what they want, tourist that were not happy to be told they needed to get an appointment, credit card payment issues all the way to "uncle-niece" relationship, and more.....:biggrin:
I waited and waited and kept on waiting until at 5pm the hostess (who i think forgot about me) told me to go upstairs and report to yet another hostess as my sales rep was ready for me. Off I go (alone), DH decided to wait downstairs to keep on "people watching", I reported with the 2nd hostess (she turned out to be the hostess from previous days so she knew me, and wished me luck) and she asked me to wait and we did a bit of chit-chat and drank some champagne while I waited (by this time I was already offered and drank coffee and water by other departments).

Finally, at 5:20pm, my SA came to find me (in the open space by the belt section on the 2nd floor, no hidden rooms for me to wait), she was relatively young-tall-pretty-friendly and upon seeing me she apologized profusely for making me wait for so long and went straight to ask me "how can I help you today"
I was VERY NERVOUS but I replied directly by saying "im looking for my first B or K in size 30-25/32-28 respectively or Ghillies in neutrals in the family of greys, gold, blues, black and I'm open for color as long as is dark, example dark-red-green-orange etc RHW or GHW. Leather Epsom/Barenia/Togo/Chevre" I even showed her my notes on my cellphone, to which she asked if she could take a picture of. She said she would check what she can do with a smile and off she went, leaving me sitting right there..... I marked the time (so I could get a sense of whether im getting something or not) it was 5:23pm.... tick-tock it was 6pm and still she hadn't come back!

By now all my nerves had gone away, i got yet another coffee, I got entertained with the events that was happening while I was waiting at that time (more events to add besides what I saw at 4pm), DH got served drinks as well in his downstairs corner couch (he got drinks because downstairs SA took pitty of him watching him wait and wait). I was already given the idea that nothing was coming up for me and I was ok thinking that maybe Cannes, Monaco or Nice airport (tho I knew it would be near to impossible with those stores), worse case scenario I would just continue with H stores whenever I go to the USA (I have already been offered B which I have declined before).....

6:15pm she shows up and tells me "madam please follow me" AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! :nuts: I played it cool, but inside I was jumping and texting DH (btw he was already loosing his patience). I followed her to the lady's apparel dressing room and she showed me my beauty... She said she couldnt find my first choice in size (B30 or K32) but she was able to find me a B25 Swift GHW in the color that matched what i was wearing Bleu Hydra!!!! I loved it and thanked her, she asked if she could help me with anything else to which I asked for a Halzan mini in neutral and she found me a Black with GHW, twillies and a fourbi. We went downstairs for the twillies, she picked up all my other items (clothing, housewares and small leather) so I could pay everything together.

6:40pm when they had everything packed ready for me to make the payments.... but not everything went to smooth.... I wanted to cry!!!!
 
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#27,160
Part III

I knew that the rule of thumb was that the person on the appointment needed to pay with matching credit card but I still had DH to call his bank and have his credit card ready just in case.... And Boy I needed his help at the end.

I showed 2 credit cards Black cards (with enough balance) from 2 different country of issue and NONE of them passed! At the beginning both the SA and the cashier said that DH couldnt pay for it as it had to be with my name on the card..... I even provided 2 debit card and NOTHING! I asked if i could pay in cash and they mentioned that they cannot take cash for the high amount in my grand total, that was company policy to prevent fraudulent money.

The cashier was super nice, she laid out all my options and even tried many times with different amounts with my 2 different credit cards and 2 debit cards. After so many tries DH insisted again to see if he could pay it for me to which the SA consulted with her manager and came back with the OK but the purchase profile would be under his name, he would be the one building a history there (tho I already have one as I bought a belt few days earlier, so I didnt mind that). Hence, DH proceeded with his credit card and guess what........ his credit card was denied as well!

7:15pm I was already sweating, the store was empty, SAs gone, besides a few with another couple which were having same problems with credit cards and I swear I thought I saw cleaning people coming in! DH immediately checked his emails and he got his bank security email regarding a purchase in H, he confirmed the email, called the bank to sort it out and....

7:30pm the cashier tried again with DH credit card and "alleluyahs" were sang in my ears..... I could breath again and I thank DH for his timely intervention and not making a scene on how much I spent over my "planned" purchase (there was one husband scolding his wife in H while I was waiting upstairs, seems like he kept on scolding all the way to downstairs when they passed by my DH's couch and he heard it too).
The cashier was very sweet and told me to check with my bank as its very common for them with customers having the same problem and most of the time a call to the bank would solve the problem... I didnt receive any emails from my bank nor any calls etc in the moment but when I got back to the hotel 2 hours later (with my many brown bags they didnt have white ones anymore) I received a bunch of emails from the banks!!! I wanted to kill them or the cellphone company!

Also, While we were all sorting things with emails, calls etc the cashier, SA and I were chit chatting about vacations in Spain and family etc very merry conversation, they really tried to made me feel at ease, I bet they started to notice that I was sweating in my forehead :shocked:

We thank everyone and apologized for keeping them there until so late and we walked out the door at 7:45pm with our hands full of brown bags. My heart content:heart:, DH relieved I have gotten what I wanted as he knew i would be really bumped out if I went back home empty handed and most of all I thanked DH for being as patient as he was after waiting >3.5 hours in the store (eventho he is not a big fan of H's game).
 
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#27,161
betty_cecilia said:
Part II

THE day
The email link said it was for Thursday 4:15pm which throughout the day kept changing from 3 to lastly 4:30pm. I showed up at 4pm as I thought about browsing around to pick up things I wanted to get. I checked in with the hostess at 4pm, DH sat by the stairs where the horse riding accessories are.
It was fairly busy (not as busy as saturday) but we both got to watch few drama from our different locations..... from a man making a scene about a bag, oligarchs not getting what they want, tourist that were not happy to be told they needed to get an appointment, credit card payment issues all the way to "uncle-niece" relationship, and more.....:biggrin:
I waited and waited and kept on waiting until at 5pm the hostess (who i think forgot about me) told me to go upstairs and report to yet another hostess as my sales rep was ready for me. Off I go (alone), DH decided to wait downstairs to keep on "people watching", I reported with the 2nd hostess (she turned out to be the hostess from previous days so she knew me, and wished me luck) and she asked me to wait and we did a bit of chit-chat and drank some champagne while I waited (by this time I was already offered and drank coffee and water by other departments).

Finally, at 5:20pm, my SA came to find me (in the open space by the belt section on the 2nd floor, no hidden rooms for me to wait), she was relatively young-tall-pretty-friendly and upon seeing me she apologized profusely for making me wait for so long and went straight to ask me "how can I help you today"
I was VERY NERVOUS but I replied directly by saying "im looking for my first B or K in size 30-25/32-28 respectively or Ghillies in neutrals in the family of greys, gold, blues, black and I'm open for color as long as is dark, example dark-red-green-orange etc RHW or GHW. Leather Epsom/Barenia/Togo/Chevre" I even showed her my notes on my cellphone, to which she asked if she could take a picture of. She said she would check what she can do with a smile and off she went, leaving me sitting right there..... I marked the time (so I could get a sense of whether im getting something or not) it was 5:23pm.... tick-tock it was 6pm and still she hadn't come back!

By now all my nerves had gone away, i got yet another coffee, I got entertained with the events that was happening while I was waiting at that time (more events to add besides what I saw at 4pm), DH got served drinks as well in his downstairs corner couch (he got drinks because downstairs SA took pitty of him watching him wait and wait). I was already given the idea that nothing was coming up for me and I was ok thinking that maybe Cannes, Monaco or Nice airport (tho I knew it would be near to impossible with those stores), worse case scenario I would just continue with H stores whenever I go to the USA (I have already been offered B which I have declined before).....

6:15pm she shows up and tells me "madam please follow me" AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! :nuts: I played it cool, but inside I was jumping and texting DH (btw he was already loosing his patience). I followed her to the lady's apparel dressing room and she showed me my beauty... She said she couldnt find my first choice in size (B30 or K32) but she was able to find me a B25 Swift GHW in the color that matched what i was wearing Bleu Hydra!!!! I loved it and thanked her, she asked if she could help me with anything else to which I asked for a Halzan mini in neutral and she found me a Black with GHW, twillies and a fourbi. We went downstairs for the twillies, she picked up all my other items (clothing, housewares and small leather) so I could pay everything together.

6:40pm when they had everything packed ready for me to make the payments.... but not everything went to smooth.... I wanted to cry!!!!
Click to expand...

Congratulations!

I was there the same day as you but my appt was at 3. I got very lucky getting an appt my first try on our first day.
 
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#27,162
Lessons learned:

1- Always be polite, it pays off to ask things nicely
2- DO NOT demand or feel entitled to a bag
3- DO NOT hesitate, if you do, your first offered bag might be gone (which is what happened to one person and he got upset and made a big scene about it)
4- I didnt wear brand name head-to-toe just wore what I normally wear when being a tourist (jeans, shirt, sweater and H Quicker sneaker)
5- Buying something before hand is not a factor for appointments (but then I just bought a belt and buckle didnt drop $$$ before the appointment acceptance)
6- DH 6th application was DENIED
7- Be prepared to spend more than 4 days in Paris if you are hoping the get an appointment at FSH
8- They do not accept payments half in cash/check/credit card, it has to be all credit card or all cash (as long as you dont go over 5000-10,000Euros cant remember)
9- You can ask for drinks while you wait for your appointed SA
10- They let you use their phone to call the bank (we didnt use their phone, but they offered)
11- Payments matching name with the appointment depends solely on the SA, he/she can get the OK from the manager
12- Hostess in the leather department rotate, so they are never the same ones everyday
13- Weekdays between 1-3pm are less packed than AFTER 3pm as it seems like its the time when people without appointment can try their luck for an open slot
14- Be prepared with your credit cards LOL notify your bank
15- They DO NOT have Iphone chargers (at least they dont borrow) so have your cellphone fully charged so you can keep on updating your appointment status.... or to call your bank :p
16- Tried to get a bag or appointment with Black/Centurion Amex card concierge and that was not successfull
17- No need to have different cell # for different individuals, I later found out that we could have used the same cell # for both of our applications
18- Leather hostess can see who has applied for an appointment in her iphone and all other information, so no way to lie about it
19- Be prepared to wait until is your SA is ready :P
 
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