Treatment in Hermes Stores
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And to take ONE more whack at that horse, may I add that Hermes does, for most of us at least, limit hold times. I can't say, "Hmm, maybe, let me get back to you next month" (nor should I). While there isn't any fixed hold time (that I know of), I surely try to decide within 24 hours at MOST, and usually much faster, because I do know that others want a crack at whatever-it-is. And my SAs will also say, "I need to know for sure by ____," because they want to sell the item, too, of course. I actually agree that it rankles when a customer is told "We have nothing" when that is a blatant lie. It would be much nicer to say, "We do have an X, but it's on hold." But the sad fact is, saying that will lead SOME customers to begin an argument of the sort we have seen above: "If you have it and I want it, I get it!" and since this isn't the way Hermes works, I do sort of understand why an SA would choose to say, "We have nothing," rather than find themselves repeatedly--and heatedly--defending their selling policies. Regardless of whether this is morally right or wrong, it makes psychological sense.
I also would like to add just as a blanket statement and not in response to anyone in particular, that I have never just walked into an Hermes store and requested a birkin. I also don't feel entitled that they need to sell me one if I had asked for one. I would never argue with someone in a store over a handbag or their policies. I'm not rude. I can however think "oh man, that sucks". Obviously my way of thinking isn't the majority, and that's ok. I don't feel as though I've put anyone down, but if I have upset someone I apologize. I think some responses haven't been too nice, like talking to someone like they are stupid because if they aren't agreeing with your opinion they must not understand or telling people to go shop somewhere else. If somewhere has something I want, I'm going to shop there whether I like their policies or not. Anyways, hopefully everyone can calm down and not be so angry. We're all from different walks of life all over the world and we won't always see eye to eye. We should agree to disagree and respect others opinions and continue on as "friends" in our common love of fashion. 
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Sorry, I guess I was too factual to be rational 
The fact (oops, sorry!) is, if anything in the store has a waitlist (these days it could be anything from a CDC to a wallet depending on what's currently hot and sold out) or has been put on hold for a customer, the store has made a promise to a customer that needs to be honored. I agree with Mistikat, in no store regardless of brand have I ever been asked to promise to buy before they will put an item on hold. Every time, on hold means it's not available for anyone else to buy until the hold period is over or I say no. My intent to buy plays no part in whether they honor that promise, although if I have a history of putting items on hold but not ever buying, it may affect whether they offer to put something on hold in the first place.
Your point has definitely raised an interesting discussion, especially in light of a few threads over the last year where the OP had items on hold that were sold by the time he/she arrived. And it did not appear these were big spending VIP customers posting these threads. The general consensus was that those SAs were unethical and possibly vengeful. I agree with you on items that are in the back with no claim on them..of course anyone who asks ought to be given the chance to see and buy it. But on hold means off limits until it expires, and waitlist is sacred, at least when it comes to bags.
(Hope I wasn't too irrational in this post, but DH would tell you that may be a lost cause)
The fact (oops, sorry!) is, if anything in the store has a waitlist (these days it could be anything from a CDC to a wallet depending on what's currently hot and sold out) or has been put on hold for a customer, the store has made a promise to a customer that needs to be honored. I agree with Mistikat, in no store regardless of brand have I ever been asked to promise to buy before they will put an item on hold. Every time, on hold means it's not available for anyone else to buy until the hold period is over or I say no. My intent to buy plays no part in whether they honor that promise, although if I have a history of putting items on hold but not ever buying, it may affect whether they offer to put something on hold in the first place. Your point has definitely raised an interesting discussion, especially in light of a few threads over the last year where the OP had items on hold that were sold by the time he/she arrived. And it did not appear these were big spending VIP customers posting these threads. The general consensus was that those SAs were unethical and possibly vengeful. I agree with you on items that are in the back with no claim on them..of course anyone who asks ought to be given the chance to see and buy it. But on hold means off limits until it expires, and waitlist is sacred, at least when it comes to bags.
(Hope I wasn't too irrational in this post, but DH would tell you that may be a lost cause)
Not harsh at all, I have a pretty good sense of humor and respect your opinion even though I might not completely agree with it!
A Birkin probably wasn't the best item to use in my hypotheticals, since some seem to be expanding the discussion by raising points that are factual, such as a Birkin being up for grabs and not on any waitlist existing highly unlikely. I wish I had made it a Bearn wallet, so it's less stressful for the mind to imagine the scenario rationally.
If I were a new customer and I really really really REALLY loved an item which someone else had already committed to buy, I would just be patient and wait for my turn. But, if the other person wasn't even sure of buying it, then by golly, yes, I think it would be unfair if I couldn't see it or buy it. I will go home with my lovely orange Bearn, goddammit! TODAY!!!
If I were a loyal customer and was interested (key word: interested, NOT CERTAIN of buying) in the orange Bearn wallet that had just come in, of course I would be disappointed if someone else snapped it up before me before I could see it. But I wouldn't hold it against anyone. Not the SA, because it wasn't a pre-order or waitlist item for me (key words: pre-order or waitlist, SURE of buying). Not the new customer either, because maybe it was just her lucky day. I'd be disappointed at first, yes, but ultimately, I'd be okay with it since a.) I knew I wasn't entitled to the item since I didn't commit to it and that b.) it probably made someone else's day full of joy and c.) created a possibly long-lasting and rewarding relationship between my SA and a new customer. (Wait, not sure if more competition is a good thing... Hehe!)
(Hopefully, no one will be responding with "Oh but stores usually carry more than one Bearn wallet, so that can never happen." LOL!)
I don't know why you insist on defining "on hold" differently for Hermes than anywhere else. When I shop at any department store, when I ask to have an item put on hold for me for a day or two, I am not committed to buying it and it is off limit to anyone else in that duration. I am sure that's how it works for you too. So why should that be different for Hermes?
The only thing may be different for Hermes is that you are not allowed to touch or view an on hold item and I think it's a great policy. If I am spending $3k for a wallet, I want the SA to be opening the plastic wrapping in front of me to ensure me it's untouched. Wouldn't you?
BostonGirl88 - The definition of HOLD in my store is that the item is on hold, with the On Hold sticker on the box put away from the counter until the client comes to see it. There is often an expiration date of hold.
"On hold" sticker doesn't often mean you can't see it if you're not the designated client. If your SA is pleasant, she will let you at least see how it looks like and put you on the wait list should the client declines the item. Then you will have the chance on that. However no plastic wrap will be opened for your view/touch, the item must stay pristine for the other client. With bags, it's almost impossible to let you see because there is shrinkwrap around the box as well.
"On hold" doesn't mean the item will 100% be yours once you get there. Sometimes the sticker just flies away, or there's not enough communication between shifts, and it gets sold to someone else. It sucks but bad luck happens.
The item is on hold in the first place because some have expressed their wish to see and/or have a chance to buy it as soon as the store receives it. This wish is often expressed at least from some time ago. I think it is rewarding to give those clients who know what they want and stay patient for it to have the first bite. Otherwise, if the store sells it first come first serve to a client who is brand new, they risk the chance that 1) the random buyer is a reseller, and/or 2) the buyer returns after a few days and gets mad because the store policy is store credit only, no refund, and that's a lot of cash for the item that they won't get back immediately. I witnessed some ugly cases like that when people "released the Kraken" too loudly that mall police arrived to check and yes, I agree with my SA that high-ticket items should go to clients whom the SA knows well enough.
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Don't understand why customers can't keep the kraken inside until they get home. They are embarassing themselves. I read in the Paris Birkin thread about somebody's friend who had started crying in FSH when they did not have any bag for her. I'm glad I'm not working as an SA.
To be realistic, many times it will work this way:
Scenario 2 (cont.); What-if scenario
a) The new customer is in fact a reseller who someone who is hired to acquire bag for resellers. The bag once bought by the new customer is listed on a major reseller website within days. The new customer in fact is a pro and rotate that same routine all over the stores in the country.
or b) The new customer is not a reseller, who is so happy to see the bag after seeing it so many times on Kardashian or whatever Housewives show. She oohs and aahs and touches the bag all over , carries it around the store before ringing it up. Finally when the counter rings up, that five-digit amount after taxes hits her in the face. The SA also informs no refund is possible. She changes her mind. Repeat this scenario again and again until the bag looks worn.
or c) The new customer buys the bag, uses it out without removing plastic cover. She returns within two weeks. The store refuses to refund or return as the bag metal bases show signs of wear even though the plastic cover on the front is still on. She's apparently not happy and her Significant Other yells out loud in the store.
Scenario 3 (cont.):
The client who is supposedly to buy the item on hold is sad and disappointed for not having what she has wanted for a long time. She lives 3 hours away from the store, works full-time and can't really come immediately as she receives the call from the SA. She stops buying from the store out of frustration even though she has been a frequent shopper and referred quite a few of her friends/relatives. The store just loses a long-term business.
Meanwhile, the new clients has her dream B/K bag, nothing else in the store excites her. That's her first and only purchase in that store. She never comes back.
We surely can see that the opportunistic approach to sales is not always better than relationship-based approach, despite inventory turnover can be quick.
Now back to topic before the mods come and scold me 
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I got great service at H at Bergdorf. The male SA is very attentive and not pushy.
Also great service at FSH. They're so nice to keep an item on hold for me for more than a week after I called and inquired from abroad. Finally hunted down my treasures
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.I got great service at H at Bergdorf. The male SA is very attentive and not pushy.
Also great service at FSH. They're so nice to keep an item on hold for me for more than a week after I called and inquired from abroad. Finally hunted down my treasures
.
I agree with Mistikat.
All I can say is NOTHING in this world of business called 100% fair or ideal fair. Fairness is very relative and differ from business/brand to brand. You can argue or complained about how they do business but in the end you just have to play the game or stay out of the game.
Good Luck!!
If we are talking ethics, then a promise to put certain items on hold is an oral contract that is initiated by the SA by choice and should be kept by the SA. For good costumer service on the SA part, whatever the SA intends to show other costumers should not be offered to the loyal costumer over the phone to entice her to come in. Or should have been phrased as "they are available right now and I can't promise they will be here later". As pointed out before, some loyal costumers work or live far away and it wouldn't be fair to then to make the drive and find out the goods are not there. Just because she will still have the B doesn't justify the breach in the oral agreement (since the SA promised to put the items on hold).
The walk-in wouldn't know what she is missing if she doesn't know it exists at the first place. If the loyal costumer declines to buy any of the items.
Then the SA gets to decide her next course of actions. The SA is not obligated to put anything on hold at the first place, but can choose to call another loyal costumer or not...
I feel like Hermes Frustrating Policies 101 class is going on on this thread
.For a) as you said above, you probably will have to argue with Gscott88 a lot because she said that:
and she's not alone.
For b) and c) I did not make these stories up. It came up a lot while I visited stores across the country and happens not only to Hermes. Blame it on buy-and-return/free-rental habit of many people who want the look, not the quality. There are also people who buy scarves, fold the bar code tag away to wear, iron and exchange for something else
. Some people have class, some don't. And different clients from different cultures have different behaviors.Also, yes when people try the bag on, they don't have to wear gloves unless the bag is of exotic skins.
For 3) There are Special Order and Podium Order but the amount is limited per client per store and some products don't have that option.
And, the more you buy, the more you realize that being able to decline something you put on hold is a blessing. For example, many items look good here on photos on tPF, but when you try it on it's awful on your complexion. Or, with bags, because of the irregularity of grains, sometimes it looks much slouchier than the others' same bag. And, there are times when items on hold for you but are minorly defective. I would love to always buy what I put on hold, but sometimes it's not wise to do so.
Hope that makes sense to you. The longer I buy from H, the more I actually become sympathetic to the SAs and the contradicting H policies they have to obey.
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I have never heard of any company doing business this way - if an item is on hold for a customer, it is on hold. Some stores will only hold something for a limited time so that they don't have an item "out of circulation" for very long. The entire point of putting it on hold for someone is that it is being held for that person and is therefore not available to others.
Bottom line, if you don't see something on the floor, it is not available. Anything that you see in display cases is available to you to buy. Of course, the complication with H is that there are many more customers than there is merchandise, so very popular items are extremely difficult to get. That's just supply and demand.