Who else is utterly confused about Hermes selling policy?

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missmari

missmari

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Jan 17, 2010
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#1
Hello everyone! For all of you who have seen my previous threads, I've been looking for a basic togo 35 Birkin and have not had a lot of success! I've had loads of suggestions about heading to Paris or repeats about the waiting list (which I do already have extensive knowledge on since I am actually a veteran). So here is my confusion:

I've been shopping at Hermes London (particularly Harrods) regularly for years now. Usually the SA's are friendly and I haven't had great difficulty in getting anything at all. This year, however, its really been an icy treatment even though I've literally gone through phases of passing by daily! I only get the response "you've got a better chance in Paris"... in Paris (where I physically went in the pursuit of the bag), the SA's said "the stock is in London" (???? that was the biggest lie I've ever heard from an SA). Previously, I walked into the St Honore store with two family friends who purchased three Birkins between them-on-the spot. Even the mention of a gueslist leads to an automatic rude response. HOWEVER, I ordered a Croc Birkin in Orange through my husband's private office and was allocated a bag within a week! Yes, a croc order in a week!!! It did take a few months for delivery, but the whole ordeal was done over the phone!

Is there a smaller supply this year? Have store policies changed? I'm actually quite upset because of the unpleasant treatment!
 
#2
Sorry to hear this. There have been threads about this ad nauseum really. Maybe you visit your store too often? It may sound rude but it´s a possibility.

Getting a croc bag within a week is great, enjoy that, and good luck with your quest!
 
#3
Went to Paris to get a Birkin for a family member and had the same experience! It was awful really, I almost felt bad for asking if the list had opened! I think the sales lady rolled her eyes!
 
#4
lovely64 said:
Sorry to hear this. There have been threads about this ad nauseum really. Maybe you visit your store too often? It may sound rude but it´s a possibility.

Getting a croc bag within a week is great, enjoy that, and good luck with your quest!
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I was a fashion journalist lol... so I was always in and out of stores as I was a writing for an overseas paper about shopping trends here!

I still haven't received the croc... but I don't mind the wait at all! I'm just happy to have one on its way! =)
 
#5
missmari said:
Hello everyone! For all of you who have seen my previous threads, I've been looking for a basic togo 35 Birkin and have not had a lot of success! I've had loads of suggestions about heading to Paris or repeats about the waiting list (which I do already have extensive knowledge on since I am actually a veteran). So here is my confusion:

I've been shopping at Hermes London (particularly Harrods) regularly for years now. Usually the SA's are friendly and I haven't had great difficulty in getting anything at all. This year, however, its really been an icy treatment even though I've literally gone through phases of passing by daily! I only get the response "you've got a better chance in Paris"... in Paris (where I physically went in the pursuit of the bag), the SA's said "the stock is in London" (???? that was the biggest lie I've ever heard from an SA). Previously, I walked into the St Honore store with two family friends who purchased three Birkins between them-on-the spot. Even the mention of a gueslist leads to an automatic rude response. HOWEVER, I ordered a Croc Birkin in Orange through my husband's private office and was allocated a bag within a week! Yes, a croc order in a week!!! It did take a few months for delivery, but the whole ordeal was done over the phone!

Is there a smaller supply this year? Have store policies changed? I'm actually quite upset because of the unpleasant treatment!
Click to expand...

Is it possible there is a feeling you are buying strictly to resell - and hence the icy treatment?
 
#6
I think I sounded horrible in the first post, didn't mean to... there are some lovely SA's... I've just had a set of very bad experiences in the last few weeks which have upset me very much as a loyal customer. Even if a store doesn't have stock or know when the list opens, they should really treat every customer with courtesy. =) sorry for sounding mean
 
#7
mistikat said:
Is it possible there is a feeling you are buying strictly to resell - and hence the icy treatment?
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not at all! I walked in with my two aunts who bought for themselves =) But I had the bad experience recently and I was by myself... and I asked for one bag... so I don't know why... I thought it was just a bad day for the SA... but I tried other places and ended up getting similar responses :sad: that's why I was curious as to whether there was something going on within Hermes (shortage of bags maybe?)
 
#8
It didn't sound mean. I just wonder if your modus operandi has made the SAs feel that you are Birkin stalking to resell. I have had SAs tell me they really frown on that so it may account for the treatment. Not saying that's right on their part, only that it may be a plausible explanation.
 
#9
I was just discussing with another member that there might be in fact a smaller supply this year... This would also explain the tension in store!

I don't know if they assumed it was for re-sale, can't say for sure... I'm puzzled now lol! In my usual store they would know otherwise, but I guess that in other stores they could have thought that! I usually try to spark up a conversation about my job in order to minimise those chances lol!
 
#10
^ITA that there is absolutely no excuse for rudeness, I know that the Harrods staff said that there was indeed a short supply leading up to Christmas and a mad demand for Birkins/Kellys from lots of customers. Also another pfrmer posted that Harrods now have a VIP service whereby for a premium (around £2000) you can get a Birkin within a few weeks which also sounds ridiculous, maybe their short supply is coming from their demand to satisfy the VIP customers. I'm not sure what's going on here but VIP or no VIP the £2000 certainly sounds like a H bribing way of getting a B?
 
#11
Syma said:
^ITA that there is absolutely no excuse for rudeness, I know that the Harrods staff said that there was indeed a short supply leading up to Christmas and a mad demand for Birkins/Kellys from lots of customers. Also another pfrmer posted that Harrods now have a VIP service whereby for a premium (around £2000) you can get a Birkin within a few weeks which also sounds ridiculous, maybe their short supply is coming from their demand to satisfy the VIP customers. I'm not sure what's going on here but VIP or no VIP the £2000 certainly sounds like a H bribing way of getting a B?
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That was what I was trying to get at with the thread! Back in October, I was speaking to a SA in the international designer womenswear and told her I was looking for a new Birkin. She introduced me to the By Appointment team which can actually get a Birkin at any given time of the year. I was told about the 2,000 premium and that I could get any specification within a week. I saw your post in the other thread... I'm just unsure if the fact that now they are making distinctions between clients, has the policy on lists and stocks changed? It doesn't making sense how they would be able to get any bag within a week when other loyal clients are being given a limited selection. I heard from Harrods SA's that the way they do this is because they deal directly with Paris rather than going through the London stores. This would also mean that Paris policies have in fact changed regarding availability. Also, this service would mean ordering and getting the bag without even setting foot in a Hermes store or speaking directly to a SA. I think its worth debating and if anyone has information on what's really going on, it would be interesting to know!
 
#12
^I do really think they are still running the waitlist system as before, i.e the list opens twice a year and customers can put their name down etc and get their bag within a year. There also must be a huge demand from VIP customers which Harrods must be hoping to satisfy using the By appointment system to avoid disappointing their wealthy customers who obviously spend a lot of money in their store. I'm sure for the uber wealthy spending a premium to get what they want doesn't affect them one way or the other....if they are dealing directly with Paris as you said then of course the SM of the Harrods concession would still have his normal allocation of Birkins for the regular customers.
 
#13
Syma said:
^I do really think they are still running the waitlist system as before, i.e the list opens twice a year and customers can put their name down etc and get their bag within a year. There also must be a huge demand from VIP customers which Harrods must be hoping to satisfy using the By appointment system to avoid disappointing their wealthy customers who obviously spend a lot of money in their store. I'm sure for the uber wealthy spending a premium to get what they want doesn't affect them one way or the other....if they are dealing directly with Paris as you said then of course the SM of the Harrods concession would still have his normal allocation of Birkins for the regular customers.
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I heard that they were dealing directly with Paris from a SA in womenswear, I'm not 100% about it! Even if they were dealing with Paris, that would mean that there is a larger stock in Paris than expected lol... I wonder if its only Harrods or if other stores of similar stature also have this type of agreement with Hermes!
 
#14
Having read back over your posts I am confused. You ordered and received a croc bag through, as you say, your husband's private office (not sure what that is supposed to mean). You are asking about "starter bags", when you already have an exotic. And having purchased this exotic, Hermes will not sell you a basic black togo 35?
 
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