Treatment in Hermes Stores

[Annabel Lee]

I made my first in-person Hermes purchase on Saturday. I also visited LV and Givenchy on that trip. LV and Givenchy were lovely; Hermes was . . . fine. Like frou frou said, it was like any other transaction at any other retailer (I actually described it this way before even seeing this thread).

The SA was polite but the service wasn't exceptional by any means. I bought a Halzan bag and needed it shipped back. For this I paid a $40 shipping fee and never got any email confirmation or a tracking number. The bag was shipped quickly, though, and showed up today.

The day I made my purchase, I was out walking/sightseeing, so I wore jeans, flats and a Vince tee. I was carrying a well-kept but non-designer purse that I usually bring for travel (ideal size, number of compartments, etc) and wore a Kelly watch. The day was unexpectedly humid, which wasn't doing much for my hair, but my makeup held up. I think it's important not to be a slob when in public, period, and I have noticed I get better service when I dress really well, though that wasn't really practical for me then. However, I also think it's important for SAs to be gracious and serve slobs who are polite and genuinely interested in buying.

 

[Hanna Flaneur]

I get treated better when I make an effort to look put together. Although in my case it's because otherwise I look like a teenager and get treated accordingly (read: not good, since they assume I can't afford anything).

 

[PurseBagDiva]

In my experience (which I must say is not that vast as I've only visited an H boutique a couple times) the treatment has always been correct. Not exceptional but fine. Good enough if you know what I mean.

As it's been said earlier, I don't think the clothes you wear or the way you look are going to make any difference there. It's not just once nor twice that I have seen a VIP dressed like a homeless guy - the clothes do not make the man

 

[Palladium]

I'm a guy. I totally can't wait to walk in Hermes in ripped up sweatpants with dried paint on them, beat up shoes, Courtney Love-esque disheveled hair, and a hole-y vintage-y t-shirt and drop $10-20k in $100 bills on them and see how they react. It's almost comical to me. If the security guard follows me again like they did once recently, I'm going to walk up to him and tell him to hold my bag, since you are obviously shadowing me, you can be my assistant whilst I shop.

I get treated better when I make an effort to look put together. Although in my case it's because otherwise I look like a teenager and get treated accordingly (read: not good, since they assume I can't afford anything).

This is true, although even when I was a teenager I had money. In all honestly I was half spoiled and half worked (not in family business...I had to go out and get the job from someone else), but it was good. If you're a teenager or a very young adult you get pretty much 0 respect in upper mid-range to luxury stores.

I'm just way past the point where I'm going to specifically dress up to go shopping in a store. If I feel like putting together an amazing casual outfit, fine. (Last time a friend and I went to Bottega Veneta in Tysons Galleria, VA, and the sales associate asked if we were in fashion we looked so good.) I don't have to wear a suit for my work; but sometimes I like to wear a nice tailored suit, tailored jacket, or tux jacket with casual pants. Sometimes I wear gym clothes. Sometimes I like to dress vintage/carefree fashion. I never go out of the house dirty though. Ew.

 

[Palladium]

Lately, I am going to say that I have been treated better in H boutiques than in most high-end stores.
I returned something mildly expensive at Barneys in Beverly Hills and was treated as if I were some kind of nasty bacteria (despite a healthy purchase history).
The last time I bought anything at Chanel it was practically thrown at me and it was in a rubbed-up box with a sloppy ribbon.

Meanwhile, when I had to make a change in my recent SO, I went into a boutique - NOT the one where I placed the SO - to get a look at the leather book and decide if I needed to change leathers. The SAs tore the place apart finding me swatches and showing me bags in different leathers. I must have had three people helping me. They even checked with the craftsman on durability of various skins. I was floored at how lovely everyone was.

The only H stores where I have had chilly treatment are SF (really cold and rude) and one visit to FSH when I was looking for something for DH. Even then I could not call it rude, just indifferent.

I DO think Hermes CS has been getting better in recent years. The SAs, even if they don't know you, greet you with a smile and welcome, et cetera. I think it has to do with all that Birkin bag fever calming down, and them wisening up whilst they expand to the east (China), where in some cultures personal-on-personal respect is paramount.

 

[chicinthecity777]

I dress appropriately to what I am doing and where I am going. I also dress to be respectable to myself and others I interact with. I see no need to deliberately dress up or down for shopping at H. I treat everybody with respect and I expected to be treated the same way. I carry my own bags because SAs or security guards are not butlers and carrying customers bags is not in their job description. Just my 2c.

 

[purselover888]

I dress appropriately to what I am doing and where I am going. I also dress to be respectable to myself and others I interact with. I see no need to deliberately dress up or down for shopping at H. I treat everybody with respect and I expected to be treated the same way. I carry my own bags because SAs or security guards are not butlers and carrying customers bags is not in their job description. Just my 2c.

 

[VigeeLeBrun]

i dress appropriately to what i am doing and where i am going. I also dress to be respectable to myself and others i interact with. I see no need to deliberately dress up or down for shopping at h. I treat everybody with respect and i expected to be treated the same way. I carry my own bags because sas or security guards are not butlers and carrying customers bags is not in their job description. Just my 2c.

this, +2.

 

[Mindi B]

Add me in as a +3.. ITA with xiangxiang.

 

[s3raph1nas]

I bought my first Hermes scarf earlier this week in the store in Rome. I was wearing a vintage dress, comfortable trainers and a cheap bag. There were aleady a lot of people looking at the scarves when I came into the store, so I was patiently waiting for probably 5 minutes. I would have liked if one of the SAs had acknowledged me even though they were helping someone else. However, after a while, a new SA came over to me from another part of the store and started helping me. He was very sweet and we had a nice chat. He gave me his card and shook my hand as I left the store, and told me to come see him next time I'm in Rome. I am SO glad I got this SA instead of the one it seemed I was likely to get. So if any of you are in Rome, go see Christian at Hermes. Wonderful service!

 

[Leah]

I dress appropriately to what I am doing and where I am going. I also dress to be respectable to myself and others I interact with. I see no need to deliberately dress up or down for shopping at H. I treat everybody with respect and I expected to be treated the same way. I carry my own bags because SAs or security guards are not butlers and carrying customers bags is not in their job description. Just my 2c.

I am always somewhat amused when I read that people will carefully and strategically dress down and spend bucketloads to try to prove a point to Hermes and the SAs. How is that different from someone planning to dress up in head to toe designer?
End of the day, you are still "dressing to impress" and giving ALL the power to the SAs to make you feel worthy or unworthy.

 

[MSO13]

I'm a guy. I totally can't wait to walk in Hermes in ripped up sweatpants with dried paint on them, beat up shoes, Courtney Love-esque disheveled hair, and a hole-y vintage-y t-shirt and drop $10-20k in $100 bills on them and see how they react. It's almost comical to me. If the security guard follows me again like they did once recently, I'm going to walk up to him and tell him to hold my bag, since you are obviously shadowing me, you can be my assistant whilst I shop.



This is true, although even when I was a teenager I had money. In all honestly I was half spoiled and half worked (not in family business...I had to go out and get the job from someone else), but it was good. If you're a teenager or a very young adult you get pretty much 0 respect in upper mid-range to luxury stores.

I'm just way past the point where I'm going to specifically dress up to go shopping in a store. If I feel like putting together an amazing casual outfit, fine. (Last time a friend and I went to Bottega Veneta in Tysons Galleria, VA, and the sales associate asked if we were in fashion we looked so good.) I don't have to wear a suit for my work; but sometimes I like to wear a nice tailored suit, tailored jacket, or tux jacket with casual pants. Sometimes I wear gym clothes. Sometimes I like to dress vintage/carefree fashion. I never go out of the house dirty though. Ew.

While you can obviously wear what you want I sincerely hope you would not be so insulting to a security guard who is merely doing his job which doesn't pay him $20k in 100's. I used to get followed by security everywhere I went, if you're not doing anything wrong (and I'm sure you're not) there's no need to be offended or bothered by their interest in you. Having alert security in all high end retail these days is a necessity.

 

[chicinthecity777]

I am always somewhat amused when I read that people will carefully and strategically dress down and spend bucketloads to try to prove a point to Hermes and the SAs. How is that different from someone planning to dress up in head to toe designer?
End of the day, you are still "dressing to impress" and giving ALL the power to the SAs to make you feel worthy or unworthy.

Well said!

 

[Palladium]

While you can obviously wear what you want I sincerely hope you would not be so insulting to a security guard who is merely doing his job which doesn't pay him $20k in 100's. I used to get followed by security everywhere I went, if you're not doing anything wrong (and I'm sure you're not) there's no need to be offended or bothered by their interest in you. Having alert security in all high end retail these days is a necessity.

I am offended when a security guard specifically follows me and no one else in the store. It is profiling and offensive. And I will let it be known to store management when it happens.

Again, luxury goods stores selling high priced items have, or should have cameras everywhere, so it is a moot point.

Training security to follow someone from section to section in a store is extremely demeaning treatment and bad customer service.

 

[mistikat]

I am offended when a security guard specifically follows me and no one else in the store. It is profiling and offensive. And I will let it be known to store management when it happens.

Again, luxury goods stores selling high priced items have, or should have cameras everywhere, so it is a moot point.

Training security to follow someone from section to section in a store is extremely demeaning treatment and bad customer service.

I don't understand why you would want to be offended in advance? Frankly, your description of wearing what you consider inappropriate clothes and tossing money around sounds like it's intended to be demeaning towards sales and security people. Otherwise, why do it? Not sure what point you would be trying to prove. If a store - any store - requires that kind of theatre, why bother?

I think the best advice, given by so many others in this thread, is to just treat others how you would wish to be treated. That's the only thing you can control anyhow. If you do happen to receive service that displeases you, I'm sure you would want to handle it in a polite manner. Answering perceived rudeness with rudeness doesn't seem that productive to me.