VCA shopping experiences and insights, corporate / store policies, etc.

[EpiFanatic]

Yeah. I prioritize getting the piece. My SA does not take it personally. She told me to buy the WG guilloche bracelet and earrings in Canada but ultimately I didn’t cause I didn’t want to stress about customs, and the exchange rate wasn’t beneficial. Their policy is stupid, but no I’m sure if you’re a big spender they will make all kinds of exceptions for you.

 

[helsw]

Hi all,
Lately there has increased discussion in various threads about our VCA experiences in terms of corporate or store policies, either shared by SAs or otherwise gleaned from interactions with SAs, including how certain pieces are allocated to clients, who “qualifies” for what, whether it is possible to place orders / deposits for items, etc.
In my observation there has also been an unfortunate trend of SAs talking about “profile-building” and maybe even misleading clients (either because they themselves don‘t clearly understand the policies or for the more unsavoury reason of driving sales) about the policies attached to purchases.
So I hope, to the extent it doesn‘t violate trust where a SA has told us something in confidence, we can share our experiences and insights in one thread for easy reference, to help everyone separate fact from fiction and give transparency to the process. It can also be simple ”general“ knowledge that might help those who are newer to VCA.

There is a very recent post about a particular experience a member had, which I link here:

Rather strange store experience

Is anyone a old VCA client and not feeling the love with the new "system"? I had a really rude exchange today at my local store. I came in to purchase a YG Vintage Alhambra pendant with diamonds, but they didn't have it in stock. The SA was particularly snotty and didn't offer to put me on a...

forum.purseblog.com

A couple of things I can share to start us off — if you have a different experience than the below please do share so we can compare notes!

- The recent special releases of pietersite, RC and silver obsidian were directly offered to clients based on their past 12-months’ spend. Ie even if you have an overall higher amount of purchases, someone who spent a higher amount recently would be ahead of you in the queue

- Holiday pendants or other “special“ pieces are allocated according to the client‘s “home store”, so it may be worthwhile for those who have shopped in more than one boutique to understand where their ”home” account is, and to alter it if necessary. For example, I started my VCA purchases in country A. I then relocated to country B and bought significantly more in B than A. However my home account still showed as A, so a couple years ago my B SA had some trouble getting me the HP as she had to convince corporate to change my home account to B in order to sell me the HP.

Will post some more later.

This is interesting, thanks for sharing. I now wonder if it’s worth delaying some purchases to next year if they are counting 12 month spend 🤷‍♀️

Hi all,
Lately there has increased discussion in various threads about our VCA experiences in terms of corporate or store policies, either shared by SAs or otherwise gleaned from interactions with SAs, including how certain pieces are allocated to clients, who “qualifies” for what, whether it is possible to place orders / deposits for items, etc.
In my observation there has also been an unfortunate trend of SAs talking about “profile-building” and maybe even misleading clients (either because they themselves don‘t clearly understand the policies or for the more unsavoury reason of driving sales) about the policies attached to purchases.
So I hope, to the extent it doesn‘t violate trust where a SA has told us something in confidence, we can share our experiences and insights in one thread for easy reference, to help everyone separate fact from fiction and give transparency to the process. It can also be simple ”general“ knowledge that might help those who are newer to VCA.

There is a very recent post about a particular experience a member had, which I link here:

Rather strange store experience

Is anyone a old VCA client and not feeling the love with the new "system"? I had a really rude exchange today at my local store. I came in to purchase a YG Vintage Alhambra pendant with diamonds, but they didn't have it in stock. The SA was particularly snotty and didn't offer to put me on a...

forum.purseblog.com

A couple of things I can share to start us off — if you have a different experience than the below please do share so we can compare notes!

- The recent special releases of pietersite, RC and silver obsidian were directly offered to clients based on their past 12-months’ spend. Ie even if you have an overall higher amount of purchases, someone who spent a higher amount recently would be ahead of you in the queue

- Holiday pendants or other “special“ pieces are allocated according to the client‘s “home store”, so it may be worthwhile for those who have shopped in more than one boutique to understand where their ”home” account is, and to alter it if necessary. For example, I started my VCA purchases in country A. I then relocated to country B and bought significantly more in B than A. However my home account still showed as A, so a couple years ago my B SA had some trouble getting me the HP as she had to convince corporate to change my home account to B in order to sell me the HP.

Will post some more later.

This is interesting. Thanks for sharing. I was thinking of purchasing more this year for Christmas but, given what you’ve posted about yearly spend, I think might delay until next year!

 

[880]

Regarding shopping at multiple locations and how this is apparently discouraged by VCA policies —

I think it comes down to VCA not being customer-centric. In speaking with VCA SAs, what I understand to be corporate’s POV is that (and note this is my interpretation of what was said, not a literal transcription), if a customer shops at multiple locations it is “difficult“ for them to determine who their primary SA / store is, and therefore difficult to determine who should be contacting the client on matters such as HP or special pieces allocation, extra-special SO opportunities, etc.

At first blush it sounds “stupid”, but I can see why it makes sense from an operational perspective. However I think VCA should think of a workaround that prioritises the client.

And regarding SAs who advise you have a “home“ store and to stick with it — it could be that they are being helpful in making sure all your purchases can be counted towards any ”quotas”. Or the other possibility is that the SA does not get any credit for “tourist” clients — I don’t know if this is VCA‘s policy, but I do know that for some luxury leather goods / clothing brands, the SAs don’t receive commission for so-called ”tourists” (which is such a horrible practice IMO).

Agree with all of these insights.

And, re my missing my chance at the liane and tubogas necklace, I may be in the minority, but I don’t regret waiting. Even though I missed out, in the end, something better eventually comes along. I rely on my home SA to tell me their opinion, and I don’t want to make a mistake at this price point.

 

[Yssie]

From talking with my SA about the limited releases - the spend “threshold” for these sorts of things, if we want to call it that, can vary quite staggeringly between boutiques, even boutiques in the same city.

Personally I’m more annoyed that I can’t even get the website stock pieces I want! 🫠

 

[citykitty24]

Regarding shopping at multiple locations and how this is apparently discouraged by VCA policies —

I think it comes down to VCA not being customer-centric. In speaking with VCA SAs, what I understand to be corporate’s POV is that (and note this is my interpretation of what was said, not a literal transcription), if a customer shops at multiple locations it is “difficult“ for them to determine who their primary SA / store is, and therefore difficult to determine who should be contacting the client on matters such as HP or special pieces allocation, extra-special SO opportunities, etc.

At first blush it sounds “stupid”, but I can see why it makes sense from an operational perspective. However I think VCA should think of a workaround that prioritises the client.

And regarding SAs who advise you have a “home“ store and to stick with it — it could be that they are being helpful in making sure all your purchases can be counted towards any ”quotas”. Or the other possibility is that the SA does not get any credit for “tourist” clients — I don’t know if this is VCA‘s policy, but I do know that for some luxury leather goods / clothing brands, the SAs don’t receive commission for so-called ”tourists” (which is such a horrible practice IMO).

Interestingly enough, I was at the boutique today to see my SA and overhead a situation about a home store. A family was visiting from out of state and inquired about a piece that my local boutique did not have in stock. They asked about having the new SA they just met today order it, but she suggested it would be best for them to stay with their original "home" store and SA in the long run and to contact them instead. The SA seemed nice about it and offered to show them whatever else she had in stock, so I got the sense that she was trying to help (albeit in a slightly roundabout way with their policies.)

While I lost my original SA when he left the brand to work elsewhere, I got lucky with a friend's referral for another very nice one, so personally I have had a pretty good experience. Of course, I was told I could not MTO something yet because I don't have a sufficient "profile," but it was done very politely. I feel badly that many people do not always have a positive experience. Something like jewelry should be fun and easy and not stressful!

 

[A bottle of Red]

Interestingly enough, I was at the boutique today to see my SA and overhead a situation about a home store. A family was visiting from out of state and inquired about a piece that my local boutique did not have in stock. They asked about having the new SA they just met today order it, but she suggested it would be best for them to stay with their original "home" store and SA in the long run and to contact them instead. The SA seemed nice about it and offered to show them whatever else she had in stock, so I got the sense that she was trying to help (albeit in a slightly roundabout way with their policies.)

While I lost my original SA when he left the brand to work elsewhere, I got lucky with a friend's referral for another very nice one, so personally I have had a pretty good experience. Of course, I was told I could not MTO something yet because I don't have a sufficient "profile," but it was done very politely. I feel badly that many people do not always have a positive experience. Something like jewelry should be fun and easy and not stressful!

I wonder what they would have said if it was in stock in your store but not in their home store.
Personally in that situation I would not be happy being unable to buy it in store and have to have my 'home store' order it in.

 

[Stardust Andromeda]

I don’t understand the whole policy about farming repeat customers into a specific boutique with a specific SA. I love meeting new people and making new connections especially on holiday. So I spread my purchases. In this day and age - VCA not knowing how to contact a customer for an allocated piece is impossible. There is always snail mail. I think SAs are encouraged to compete among themselves - with every woman for herself, pre-spend criteria starts to vary, request to spend with one SA is openly expected. Question is loyalty to VCA or loyalty to SA? The 2 interests are not always aligned.

I waited 2 - 3 years for 2 boutiques to get me a pair of butterfly earrings in a certain shade. During this time, prices for the earrings increased 2-3 times. I saw the earrings while I was overseas. We came home together.

 

[xnxnxn]

Chiming in here with my 2 cents on what I suspect is happening here. I think there are 3 factors that create this situation:

• Boutiques are "graded" on revenue that can be directly attributed to them - ie, pieces sold directly by their SAs. The more direct revenue, the more resources they are allocated (e.g., marketing / events budgets and LE allocations)
• Due to this "grading", boutiques would want to incentivize spending with them - and that means allocating pieces to THEIR own most loyal customers. There's little reason for a boutique to give a limited allocation to a customer that's spent lots of money elsewhere, when they could reward one of their own instead
• All of this is a natural result of the conscious choice of VCA to have boutiques, not corporate, own most client relationships. I think there are good reasons for this (easier to build personalized relationships, more likely to understand local customs / cultures, logistics), but that means that corporate will give boutiques wide discretion to decide for themselves who qualifies for their allocations - leading to the process described in the first two bullet points

To put it another way:

• Customer spends lots of money with 1 boutique
• Boutique recognizes loyalty by allocating a highly desirable LE
• Customer feels valued, and continues spending with this boutique
• Boutique grows and is allocated more resources in the future, allowing it to reward more customers

Ultimately, VCA is a capitalist enterprise. They've determined this operating model is the most efficient to drive customer loyalty and in turn, growth. As a consumer, I think it's healthy to decide for yourself - is this a model that's worth engaging in? How can I derive the most value from this commercial relationship? And be willing to walk away if the value just isn't there for you.

I for one will continue to focus my spend on trips abroad with tax free shopping or a good exchange rate. That means I'll miss out on LE pieces like pietersite and silver obsidian - but it's tradeoff I'm willing to make.

 

[JLO1]

My boutique was so crowded yesterday I felt a bit uncomfortable shopping. I guess it’s my fault picking a Friday during the holiday season. Other customers were staring at my handbag, looking me up and down, listening to my convo with my SA and when I stood up to see what the jewelry looked like in the full length mirror it made me so uncomfortable. I almost had buyers remorse and felt guilty for my purchases as other customers seemed so “hungry”. It was not a luxurious jewelry shopping experience at all.

 

[GlamarousBarbie]

I was told at my boutique that people are offered the holiday pendants in categories. Category one gets offered it initially, and they need to have spent 100,000. In November, they would then offer it to category 2 and those people have spent 20,000-50,000. Then there’s the last category who will get a chance sometime at the end of the year or new year, and they have a spending amount of $10,000.

I’ve spent an amount in the 1st category and never got offered it! So, the SAs are obviously lying. I also had struggle trying to get a permanent range set of earrings, not even limited edition, because the SA doesn’t want to sell me it. I’ve only had this issue with male SAs, never female SAs, I wonder why this is…

 

[GlamarousBarbie]

My boutique was so crowded yesterday I felt a bit uncomfortable shopping. I guess it’s my fault picking a Friday during the holiday season. Other customers were staring at my handbag, looking me up and down, listening to my convo with my SA and when I stood up to see what the jewelry looked like in the full length mirror it made me so uncomfortable. I almost had buyers remorse and felt guilty for my purchases as other customers seemed so “hungry”. It was not a luxurious jewelry shopping experience at all.

Seems like luxury is just dying… The ‘luxury’ experience is having anxiety when purchasing an item it seems

 

[lvchanellvr]

Seems like luxury is just dying… The ‘luxury’ experience is having anxiety when purchasing an item it seems

I agree with your statement 100%. The anxiety of purchasing has certainly killed it for me and I have paused spending in the interim. I still love VCA offerings but it has to be a comfortable shopping experience and this goes for all the other luxury houses.

 

[DS2006]

Their regular stock offerings are so pitiful that we still can't get the most basic, iconic pieces. How can they not be stocking hammered gold and pave Alhambra??? That's a real turn off and why my jewelry money has been spent at Temple St. Clair the last couple of years. I cannot believe the regular stock is still so low. I did want to buy something for Christmas. It shouldn't still be so hard to spend my money, even though I am far from the high spend category.

 

[A bottle of Red]

I'm traveling now and there is a vca in this location that i walked past. i looked at it and walked away. Honestly I was so turned off after the comment to'continue my journey' (when i was looking for the summer wave earrings ) that i just had no interest in even going into the boutique.

 

[GlamarousBarbie]

I'm traveling now and there is a vca in this location that i walked past. i looked at it and walked away. Honestly I was so turned off after the comment to'continue my journey' (when i was looking for the summer wave earrings ) that i just had no interest in even going into the boutique.

Same here! I blocked my SA cause he irritated me so much. I just want a pair of earrings to be done but they make it so difficult with the dishonesty. My SA said there were none of the earrings I want in the country, so I called the online boutique and they said there were a few pairs in a specific boutique, so I called that boutique and they confirmed they had some but can’t sell it to me and I need to contact my local SA. Like… ? I personally believe it’s because he wants me to get Fluerette earrings as they’re 3x more expensive than the ones which are my first option.