Hello everyone,
I have learned so much from TPF and am so happy to finally be able to share my own story.
We arrived in Paris last Monday (December 20) the day before, I registered for an appointment from Canada. I was one of the many who received an appointment via a technical error, which as you all know was eventually cancelled. We visited FSH on Tuesday and bought a Clic H for my husband. We also visited Sevres on Wednesday and got to make garlands with scrap pieces of leather and silks. It was such a fun experience! I received 5 rejections in a row and finally, on Friday, I received an appointment for today at 2:25PM! I was shocked and overjoyed. The email arrived just after 8pm (I should note that most of my rejections came around 8:30-9:00PM). For my first two tries, I used my Canadian mobile and for the rest, I used a French mobile number.
Today, my appointment time changed many times - it was a bit stressful. One time at 12:20, it changed to 12:35 and I was still about 15 minutes away from the store. At 12:30 it changed to 1:30. After checking in, I met my SA at 1:44PM - we had about a 15 minute wait after checking in. My SA was very very lovely. We started in French and then I asked if we could switch to English. She took me upstairs to sit and offered drinks. We asked for waters and she came back with waters for all of us and also some chocolates for my two children. She then asked me what I was looking for straight away. I told her that my dream bad was a B30 gold on gold, togo, but I know that it would likely be difficult given that it was a popular combination, so I was open to all neutrals, particularly greys and browns. I told her that I would also be open to a 35. At that point she did warn me that because it was after the holidays, that their stock was very low but she would try her best for me. She asked me if I've ever tried the sizes on before, and I told her the 30, yes, but not the others. She said that she would bring out both a 30 and 35 for me to try on! She brought out two model bags to where we were and I got to try both sizes, after which I told her that I did like both sizes but my preference was the 30. She then asked me whether colour or size was more important to me and I said colour.
After that we made some small talk - she asked if we were there on vacation, and I said yes and I told her how I received one of the cancelled appointments on Monday. She asked me how long it took me to get an appointment, and she told me that I was very lucky because she's heard of some people who have gotten over 40 rejections in a row. She mentioned to me that the number of appointments allocated usually corresponds to how much stock they have - if the have low stock, they offer fewer appointments for the day. They do this as they want to make as many people with appointments as happy as possible by possibly offering them the bag they want. She also mentioned that next time if I don't have luck with the online registration that I can try to request a walk in appointment - that they were not always available, but if they happen to have a lot of stock that day, the likelihood getting a walk in was higher. After that, she told me that she would check to see if she could find anything for me.
After about 10 minutes, she returned and said "we have to go upstairs." We went up another flight of stairs and there in a little alcove sat a big orange box. She opened the box for me and inside was a B35 gold on gold togo! I was SHOCKED and so so excited. She said that she knows I prefer the smaller size but the stock is very low on the smaller bags and she hoped I would be happy with this! She asked me to try it on in front of the mirror around the corner. It was perfect! After that, she helped me choose a twilly and I paid for my purchase. While we waited in line to pay, she stayed with me the whole time and we chatted some more.
I am still so over the moon - to be offered my dream bag in Paris and with such a pleasant experience feels like a dream come true! I feel so fortunate to have been paired with such an attentive and kind SA. Thank you all for allowing me to share my story and for all of the knowledge that I have learned through this forum!
