Web purchases and SA

[funkydiva6]

Well at the end of the day. H.com did not have enough in stock and cancelled the order. I had used a different email address so I asked them to close the profile. What a pain in the butt. I have my eye on a bag from another brand so if the quota bag does not materialize soon I will just do that and then revisit when the quota bag appears.

Yikes, how annoying.

As an aside (don't mean to get offtopic, let me know if I should delete) their online system is the absolute pits. My online account which I've had for over a decade doesn't work. When I log-in, I just get an "Oop!. Sorry, something's gone wrong. Try again." I've tried resetting my password 3x, emailing the customer service too many times to count, even talking to customer service reps on the phone. Nothing. I got an email saying it's been fixed, but in reality it hasn't, I still can't log-in. Their email also says to call to order - so I did, just to learn I can't buy via the phone because the item I wanted is above a certain dollar amount. So I had to create another online profile using a dummy email address just so I can log-in and buy something! Craziness.

 

[momoc]

Well at the end of the day. H.com did not have enough in stock and cancelled the order. I had used a different email address so I asked them to close the profile. What a pain in the butt. I have my eye on a bag from another brand so if the quota bag does not materialize soon I will just do that and then revisit when the quota bag appears.

So sad to hear that! What a frustrating experience. I hope your SA is working for you. As it is common with a lot of H questions, it really depends on your SA, your SM, your country...but totally agree that what *should* be is you shouldn’t lose a bag offer for trying to grab a hot item online.

I will also say - having spent 2x across categories sounds like a strong profile for quote bag offers as far as I understand it. Even if not exactly what is on your wishlist (if your wishlist is super hard) at least something...If this continues on I personally would start wondering what’s going on. Took me two tries to find a good SA myself but I didn’t already spend 2x with the first one...sounds like a very frustrating situation to be in.

Even though I’m currently and foresee myself being a longtime H customer, I totally understand why many find problems with the way H works and don’t want to play the H game.

 

[momoc]

Yikes, how annoying.

As an aside (don't mean to get offtopic, let me know if I should delete) their online system is the absolute pits. My online account which I've had for over a decade doesn't work. When I log-in, I just get an "Oop!. Sorry, something's gone wrong. Try again." I've tried resetting my password 3x, emailing the customer service too many times to count, even talking to customer service reps on the phone. Nothing. I got an email saying it's been fixed, but in reality it hasn't, I still can't log-in. Their email also says to call to order - so I did, just to learn I can't buy via the phone because the item I wanted is above a certain dollar amount. So I had to create another online profile using a dummy email address just so I can log-in and buy something! Craziness.

Sorry continue to be off topic - I think their IT systems in general may be a little sub par. I have had hiccups with the website too but also their click to store system - where SA orders something for you to be shipped to store - has been the most broken system I’ve seen at least at my home store! Works maybe 10% of the time and I am being generous. Both my SA and others have had long calls to IT to fix it while clients wait to try to check out (personally saw this 4 times already).

Although in my experience if someone’s IT department is not great, it’s quite often because IT (and in this case online shopping) is simply not something the company as a whole values. I can see that with H too.

 

[Etriers]

Well at the end of the day. H.com did not have enough in stock and cancelled the order. I had used a different email address so I asked them to close the profile. What a pain in the butt. I have my eye on a bag from another brand so if the quota bag does not materialize soon I will just do that and then revisit when the quota bag appears.

If your SA is sensitive to out of boutique purchases but not getting you the items on your list it can be helpful to buy elsewhere once in a while or at least intend to, because it can communicate to her and the SM that while you are always (of course!) their most delightful and kind customer, you are a serious H buyer, you have money to spend, and you fully intend to acquire the items on your list. Since your SA has your list, she has fair warning and she gets to decide if she wants the commissions or not. It puts the ball and the power in her court so it’s hard for her to complain. You might try emailing her with a few items every month or two (whatever your timeline is) and tell her which items you would like and when you’d like to get them and ask if she prefers to get them for you in the boutique or if she’d rather you pick them up in your travels.

 

[lynne_ross]

x

 

[Etriers]

May I ask if you shop at the Toronto store? If so I personally would be careful about purchasing elsewhere where your SA can find out about it, especially while awaiting a quota bag. My personal experience is the SAs I have encoured frown upon purchases elsewhere and they see it as breaking loyalty - I have had SAs there tell me something similar. Probably best to wait for your quota bag or have someone else purchase items for you online/elsewhere.

I agree! If your quota bag is imminent, then your SA is doing what you want her to do, so be patient and don’t rock the boat.

If your quota bag never seems to arrive and your SA isn’t getting you the other items on your list, it can be a way to allow the SA to actively choose to participate in serving you or not. If you ask her if she would like to get you x,y,z or would she rather not bother with it and prefer you find it in your travels, you are opening up a dialogue and it gives her the chance to say, “Yes, I will get these things for you.” Or to step aside and let you get them elsewhere. (Which I doubt will happen.) My experience is that given the choice, she wants the commission and will work to get it.

 

[CMilly]

So sad to hear that! What a frustrating experience. I hope your SA is working for you. As it is common with a lot of H questions, it really depends on your SA, your SM, your country...but totally agree that what *should* be is you shouldn’t lose a bag offer for trying to grab a hot item online.

I will also say - having spent 2x across categories sounds like a strong profile for quote bag offers as far as I understand it. Even if not exactly what is on your wishlist (if your wishlist is super hard) at least something...If this continues on I personally would start wondering what’s going on. Took me two tries to find a good SA myself but I didn’t already spend 2x with the first one...sounds like a very frustrating situation to be in.

Even though I’m currently and foresee myself being a longtime H customer, I totally understand why many find problems with the way H works and don’t want to play the H game.

I think my wish list is pretty normal (black k28 sel

May I ask if you shop at the Toronto store? If so I personally would be careful about purchasing elsewhere where your SA can find out about it, especially while awaiting a quota bag. My personal experience is the SAs I have encoured frown upon purchases elsewhere and they see it as breaking loyalty - I have had SAs there tell me something similar. Probably best to wait for your quota bag or have someone else purchase items for you online/elsewhere.

Thanks Lynne. I find the whole thing baffling. I find the whole thing stressful. They don’t like you to come in without an appt either so there’s no spontaneous shopping either. She has a list of things I want that are not quota bags too. I will just lay low and do a lot of holiday shopping at the store! The website deleted the online profile for me.

 

[Ethengdurst]

This is so frustrating! I’m from the US and never encountered this, and I have 3 SAs from different states that can see my purchases from each other because I use one profile. Granted there’s no reason to be jealous of each other as I’m not a big spender. But a twilly? Or a tpm? And will threaten a possibility of a quota bag? I understand why you would worry. But maybe next time mention it to her that hey, you saw it online, you know it’s difficult to get, so you tried getting it but it didn’t work out, and maybe she can reserve/order one for you if she can find one. Sorry this is happening to you.

 

[lulilu]

IDK if she'd be mad if I ordered online, but I always ask my SA to get things for me that I've seen online. She brings them in, and I pay for them when I pick them up. I just prefer to give her the sales. Granted, I have not been looking for rare items. But I have found that even if I "miss" something, H always manages to have something else I want.

 

[CMilly]

IDK if she'd be mad if I ordered online, but I always ask my SA to get things for me that I've seen online. She brings them in, and I pay for them when I pick them up. I just prefer to give her the sales. Granted, I have not been looking for rare items. But I have found that even if I "miss" something, H always manages to have something else I want.

We can’t do that in my country. I have to be in store with the SA and pay for her to order from the website. It’s not very practical for a “hot” item.

 

[SPBiaes]

this just sounds...crazy... Why are we staying on our toes around Hermes SA's like we are stealing from the store when we are the ones that spend our own hard earned money on things WE LIKE? Do we owe them money? Did Hermes SA's save our lives? Why are we letting them hold our purchases and emotions hostages lol. This does not make any sense. Before we become slaves for those quota bags, we are already slaves for those SA's. That's an extremely unhealthy relationship.

 

[jh88]

Hey
I’m not in the US but I think it depends on your SA. I have a good relationship with my SA in London. I tell her what I want and she will tell me straight out if she can locate it from another store and if not then I should order it online. I told her I didn’t like it as it took away the experience of shopping for a luxury brand but in reality I just didn’t want to jeopardise the relationship as I felt close to a quota bag so she said I could order online through her. But I don’t think she gets the commission but helps me maintain a relationship. Also when it arrived we opened the package together etc and we like bonded over it. Anyway it does depend on your SA.
On the spendin x2 for your quota bag, I almost got my bag quite early on after spending 1:1 ratio but for some reason or another it didn’t quite happen until 6 months later. But she did say to me I did not need to buy any more stuff, not explicitly but I think she got it when I msged every month for another item I “really wanted” but i was kinda just looking for an excuse to interact with her. The things we do for that quota bag...

 

[stillfabulous]

If your SA is sensitive to out of boutique purchases but not getting you the items on your list . . . You might try emailing her with a few items every month or two (whatever your timeline is) and tell her which items you would like and when you’d like to get them and ask if she prefers to get them for you in the boutique or if she’d rather you pick them up in your travels.

This is a good approach, IMHO. I adore H Box leather, which has been difficult to obtain through H boutiques in recent years. Last year I saw a bag I would like to have on H.com in Box, so I connected with my SA to ask if he could source the same product reference number for me at the boutique. He checked. He was able to get it in at the boutique for me, so I purchased it from him and he appreciated the opportunity to serve me. If you can obtain the reference number for your SA it makes it an easier query for them.

That said, I do travel internationally a good bit, and when I do, my SA graciously encourages me to get whatever might catch my eye as a reminder of my trip.

There are other times when I’m in another H boutique in my country and need to decide right then and there whether to purchase a gift for someone. This happened with a shawl for my daughter’s birthday this year. It was the day of her birthday and I needed a gift immediately. I’m fairly certain my SA could have sourced it for me directly had I known in advance, but time was of the essence, so I trust my SA will understand when I later share the story with him.

In addition to my primary SA relationship, there are three SAs in my country whom I’ve purchased from several times, as I find myself in their cities at least once a year. I think this is OK because what would happen if my primary SA ever left H—although he’s perfect in his role, so I doubt he would; wouldn’t it be wise to have a secondary or tertiary relationship with alternate SAs rather than to have to start from scratch?