S.A. Accusing Me of Disloyalty...

#91
I am also at a loss for words for this totally negative experience that is happening to you. I am sorry, that you have to go through this. The nerve of this S.A.!! I commend you because I would gave gone a completely different route.
 
#92
AngieBaby15 said:
I'm usually a nice person but I don't have time or courtesy for rude people. This SA needs to be taught to get off her high horse. Her, as an Saks employee, was hired as a sales associate, which ultimately is a retail customer service job. This job involves promoting products, assisting customers, and (surprise to her lol) being the cashier who rings transactions. No offense to her or any Saks SA, personal shopper is just a glorified title for retail customer service. You are not some celebrity stylist or someone "better" than the person who works at Walmart checkout or behind the counter at Macy's. This is a retail job. That's it. I don't care what you sell; you do not have the right to put yourself on a pedestal simply because the merchandises you sell are priced higher than other stores. Building a relationship with clients or securing a hard to find product for your customer is part of the customer service. If I walk into Walmart and look for a specific product, the associates there will help me too because that is part of their job.

No one is running their own business. You are a Saks employee and thus everyone is Saks' clients. I'm sure Saks management would love to hear that their employees are now suggesting to customers that they run their own client books and businesses. I think it's perfectly fine to have relationships with multiple SA. Why is that unfair? Again, is Saks a membership only store? Are we only allowed to shop with one person forever? No and no. I can buy only once from you. I can buy 100 times from you. It doesn't matter. You have to provide the customer service to every customer who walks into the store. Again, SA or not, you were not hired as a sales person who runs your own book and creates your own rule.

Please report this person to both the LV store manager and Saks management. What a rude, unprofessional, and self-entitled person. She should not work in retail period! May be when she gets the resources to be her own boss (cause she sounded like one) and run her store, then she can be all the personal shipper/personal stylist/client service all that she wants to be.
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AMEN, sister.
 
#94
Manolos21 said:
Ok, deep breath... let me know if I'm overreacting...

About a month ago, I contacted a highly recommended Saks SA to see if she had a Pochette Metis in empreinte leather. She located one for me from Southcoast Plaza and I purchased it through her. There were some defect issues with it, including it being off center and some glazing that ended up on the leather. In order to ensure that she kept her commission, I tried every avenue to keep from returning it. I worked with her too see if we could find a new one, and also was told that I could return it to my local LV for a store credit (so she'd still keep her commission).

While this was going on, I've also been searching for the elusive Neonoe with pink, and found someone on purseforum who said their SA had another one available. Given how limited these are, I reached out to that SA to buy it.

Today, after still trying to work things out with the first SA on the PM exchange, she texts me and says that she knows I have another order with the 2nd S.A., and that she "unfortunately, only likes to assist loyal clients" and that she would no longer be able to assist me." I asked her what was going on to prompt this, and explained if it was because of the neonoe, that I hope she understands how hard it was to find. She hasn't responded.

Am I justified in being annoyed at her tone? I've never had this issue in the past, despite working with various Chanel SAs to find certain hard-to-find bags. We all know that stock can be limited, and sometimes only certain SAs have access to certain bags. Obviously I wouldn't work with this current S.A. again even if she were willing to work with me, but I'm just a bit baffled by it all...
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You aren't overreacting. To be honest what a B*****...
Talk about drama queen. She is a sales associate for a luxury brand she isnt the entrepreneur of Louis Vuitton she has a job to do just like the others. And in the end it is her loss that she carried on that way as i am sure you can now find a far better SA.
 
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#97
Manolos21 said:
UPDATE: She sent me a lengthy text this morning -

"Good morning. Since I was driving, I had to answer more briefly than what I normally would. I wanted to write to you with full attention that is why I'm texting you right now.
We as Saks employees are trained to build relationships. We are not cashiers. We are personal shopper/personal stylists, sometimes your friends and sometimes closer to clients than family. It may sound strange, but I have witnessed both. On a retail level, it works similar to how one person cuts our hair and only one doctor sees us as a patient. It's part of the retail culture that we try to go to one person for all our needs. Especially in Saks, not in many retail stores, we are here to help you in every Dept., Cosmetics, Shoes, etc. The item you are looking for might be rare, not rare, could be anything. Because it is a relationship based on loyalty, I will do my best to make sure you get it, I even find items from Neimans, BG etc. for my clients. You stay loyal to people who stay loyal to you or vice versa. Everybody is running their own business here and in everywhere, everybody has their own client books. The item you inquired about with another associate might be something I might already have already on hand. It kind of upset me all day yesterday and also surprised me when I saw your record. I started thinking if I have done something wrong to make you look for another alternative. Of course, you can shop anywhere you want or with anybody you want. it can be Lauren, Adam, Mike, Barbara, etc., does not matter who s/he is, but it would not be fair for multiple associates to build their relationship with the same person. It would not be fair to me and it would not be fair to my coworker either. Also, commission is something that I am not worried about. I never even bring it up at a professional level if it is a relief to you. Although it is very sweet of you, something you should not be worried about, You don't need to keep or feel guilty returning anything that does not fit you. And my apologies, if I upset you yesterday on a busy day full of flights, handbags, texting, etc."
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I'm not sure she is totally correct. It may be the way she conducts business at her SAKS, at the ones in my area if I want something in a different department , my SA takes me over, introduces me to the person responsible for it & the sales. My SA may (or may not) have part of the commission of the item.
Louis Vuitton is an independent leased part of SAKS. The SA's in LV conduct the sales. I even have a separate receipt in addition to a SAKs receipt.
 
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#98
Manolos21 said:
UPDATE: She sent me a lengthy text this morning -

"Good morning. Since I was driving, I had to answer more briefly [uh no]....
We as Saks employees are trained to build relationships. We are not cashiers. We are personal shopper/personal stylists, sometimes your friends and sometimes closer to clients than family. It may sound strange, but
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She had me at "it may sound strange." Ultra strange.

As others said, report her.
 
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#99
As others have said, I think you should let the manager know about her behavior. You may feel bad about reporting her (I would), but she need a course correction before her attitude really gets her in trouble.
 
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#100
I think you should report her and email LV the conversation. Also, from what I understand you found her reference and ordered 1 bag from her. How the hell does that bound you to her? Did she ask you about your previous SA's? Or was she happy enough to take their customer? But won't serve you in future because you dared go to another SA? ‍♂️ what's happening to LV customer service.
 
#101
Keren16 said:
I'm not sure she is totally correct. It may be the way she conducts business at her SAKS, at the ones in my area if I want something in a different department , my SA takes me over, introduces me to the person responsible for it & the sales. My SA may (or may not) have part of the commission of the item.
Louis Vuitton is an independent leased part of SAKS. The SA's in LV conduct the sales. I even have a separate receipt in addition to a SAKs receipt.
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There's no official policies on who should or can assist a customer across different departments/brands. In fact, I have asked my SA about this. I go to different SA for different brands simply because I have tried to use just one SA across different departments, and the lady had no idea in terms of products and available inventory except for the particular brand of clothes that she works with. She ended up being just a "translator". I would ask a question about a bag, and she would ask the bag SA and repeat her answer back to me. It was awkward and took much longer when it could be much easier just having the bag SA help me. This happened then at the perfume section as well. So I decided to stop doing this. I can shop for myself and if I need help with a product, I will go to the SA who works in that particular section or for that particular brand. Having one SA helping me for the entire store felt more like a personal shopper/stylist, whom I didn't need.

What prompted me to ask my LV SA about this was that I purchased a handbag (not LV) and then went over to LV to pick up something I reserved. Well, the handbag SA saw me and came running to the LV counter. It was very awkward. Handbag SA pretty much tried to start a conversation but it was very obvious to me and my LV SA what she was trying to do. When she finally left, I asked my LV SA if I was being rude to not have the other lady help me for LV purchases and if that's what most customers do. My SA said some associates are more "competitive" when it comes to commission so some do prefer to assist their customers across the entire store. However, Saks and LV do NOT have any policy or rule regarding this, so it is entirely up to the customer. Some customers do and some don't.

There. Don't feel bad if you use different SA. You do what is best for you and what makes you feel more comfortable.
 
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#102
AngieBaby15 said:
There's no official policies on who should or can assist a customer across different departments/brands. In fact, I have asked my SA about this. I go to different SA for different brands simply because I have tried to use just one SA across different departments, and the lady had no idea in terms of products and available inventory except for the particular brand of clothes that she works with. She ended up being just a "translator". I would ask a question about a bag, and she would ask the bag SA and repeat her answer back to me. It was awkward and took much longer when it could be much easier just having the bag SA help me. This happened then at the perfume section as well. So I decided to stop doing this. I can shop for myself and if I need help with a product, I will go to the SA who works in that particular section or for that particular brand. Having one SA helping me for the entire store felt more like a personal shopper/stylist, whom I didn't need.

What prompted me to ask my LV SA about this was that I purchased a handbag (not LV) and then went over to LV to pick up something I reserved. Well, the handbag SA saw me and came running to the LV counter. It was very awkward. Handbag SA pretty much tried to start a conversation but it was very obvious to me and my LV SA what she was trying to do. When she finally left, I asked my LV SA if I was being rude to not have the other lady help me for LV purchases and if that's what most customers do. My SA said some associates are more "competitive" when it comes to commission so some do prefer to assist their customers across the entire store. However, Saks and LV do NOT have any policy or rule regarding this, so it is entirely up to the customer. Some customers do and some don't.

There. Don't feel bad if you use different SA. You do what is best for you and what makes you feel more comfortable.
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Maybe different SAKS stores have varying protocols
I have two SAKS in my area where I shop. The SA's at LV handle exclusively the customer help & purchases. They are the most knowledgeable about the product
I actually had a situation where I went into LV with a SA I buy from in a different department. We looked together & asked the LV SA questions. It was the LV domain & the purchase was made from her
This was also true with a LV SA in the other SAKS I shop at
I want to add the SA's were respectful of who initially helped the client. I have bought from different associates in the same area. Though I buy intermittently (I am not a huge LV client) I have never been confronted about buying from different people. I find this to be true also at the Louis Vuitton where I live that is not a part of SAKS
 
#103
Keren16 said:
Maybe different SAKS stores have varying protocols
I have two SAKS in my area where I shop. The SA's at LV handle exclusively the customer help & purchases. They are the most knowledgeable about the product
I actually had a situation where I went into LV with a SA I buy from in a different department. We looked together & asked the LV SA questions. It was the LV domain & the purchase was made from her
This was also true with a LV SA in the other SAKS I shop at
I want to add the SA's were respectful of who initially helped the client. I have bought from different associates in the same area. Though I buy intermittently (I am not a huge LV client) I have never been confronted about buying from different people. I find this to be true also at the Louis Vuitton where I live that is not a part of SAKS
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It seems that the associates who assisted you were respectful and you as a customer felt fine having both of them with you. This is ideal, but associates this great are not common in my store. I do go to a very touristy store though, so I guess I can't blame the SA.

In the situation I mentioned in my previous post, my LV SA ended up splitting (or gave parts of) the commission on my LV purchases for that day to the other SA who came and tried to start a conversation. Apparently some associates do this when they try to avoid any kind of "argument" or "problems" afterward, as explained to me by my SA because she said some associates will come back to her after the customer is gone.

In the same store, I also had an occasion where I made a handbag purchase. The SA asked me if I will be making any other purchases that day, and I told her I may head upstairs to check out a coat I was looking at last time. She asked me to leave my handbag purchase (already wrapped up and in shopping bag) in her department because according to her, if I take the shopping bag with me to shop upstairs, the SA there may get unhappy (this wasn't her exact words but she made it clear that my best option was to head upstairs first and then come back to take the shopping bag on my way out). And no, it wasn't because so this way I didn't have to carry the heavy bag with me.

Also in the same store, I've had occasions where I shopped on one floor and bought something (a completely new SA whom I never worked with) and immediately after I pay, the first thing they asked is, "are you getting anything else? I can walk with you." They ended up being my "personal shopping assistants" for the rest of that day. Again, may be some shoppers like this but personally, I don't. I don't enjoy having someone following me around while I shop, even if they are being very nice and try to make conversations. I enjoy doing this with friends and families, not total strangers.
 
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