Wished for a Quota Bag in London Boutiques May 2022 , Still No Luck! Hermes Gurus please help :(

[acrowcounted]

Also some suggest i should have bought Hermes, rather than spending on a VCA... i dont want to buy something with that much money all at once at Hermes... on things which i dont really like tbh..

I hear you, and while I don’t suggest you buy things you don’t want, you also need to realize that the people you are competing with will and do spend that much (and many multiples of that much) often. As a business, H, with limited bags, is going to offer them mostly to the highest spenders. I’ll probably get flamed for this but the reality is that H has a business model and you can freely choose to either play along or not, but if you don’t feel like playing along, it is likely that Hermes will also not feel like offering you bags.

 

[lvstratus]

Hey All

Ever since i learnt about Hermes, There wasnt a single day spent without dreaming of owning one of these bags.

I am 33 , married wife and a mom, who works in Finance. I started my luxury bag / jewellery collection since 5 years ago.. In Bags i Started off with Gucci, LV , Dior , Chanel and now my love slowly shifted and Halted at Hermes.
I only buy luxury products two times a year - Once during my Birthday - which comes in May and Again during my Anniversary - which comes in December. I am also a mindful spender. We always set budget aside for the luxury purchases we want to do for that year, as My husband and I , both work in IT.

Ever since i fell in love with the Hermes bag, i do not feel like wasting my money on anything else... Including Chanel Classic Flap.
I bought a chanel classic flap from Harrods last year, but i am just too scared to use it , also not quite happy with the quality , as it feels too plastic...
So i dont feel like adding another Chanel Flap to my little collection whole heartedly.

I have read many great and non great stories online on Hermes. You need to look good, You need to interact , You need to build that relationship with SA etc etc.. Having listened to all of that online, Me being an Interovert, who struggles so much to do small talk generally even at work, Finally managed to step into the Hermes store at one of the London Boutiques , on May 2022.

May 2022 - The day i went in i was greeted by a nice SA - who seemed to help me with what i was looking for, I asked for an Oran Sandal - White one - He showed me one and i got it. I slowly asked him about the Bag and how does the system work, He explained me everything and asked if i want to put a wish. I put 3 neautral B-30 GHW wishes on the list. I also asked for the SA's number, and he happily gave it to me.
Post that, i came home, every once in a while, i messaged him, he used to say no luck on the bag etce,, and one day he suddenly stopped messaging.
I called in the boutique again to get an appointmeht with this SA - 1 after 2 months, and i was told he is no more working with Heremes.

Sep 2022 - Now, they again booked me an appointment with a new SA - 2 , who actually seemed very very wonderful, he made me try the bags, different sizes, explained me about the leathers - and on this visit i bought some perfumes , a nail polish etcetra.

Dec 2022 - i called up the Heremes store again to get an appointment with SA- 2, and i was again told he is no more working with Hermes. UHHH My luck ! i really liked this SA.... Now, they again booked me an appointment with a new SA - 3, who seemed okay, I bought a pair of loafers for my husband, some perfumes , checked on my wish again and walked away...

Early this year April 2023, I called in to book an appointment with the same SA - 3 , Luckily he is still there, i went into the store, checked on my wishlist. He mentioned my wishlist has expired, and asked me to request for a wish again. I did with the same previous intrestes - B30 GHW in all three neurtrals. He mentioned since its my second time updating my wish and since i am local, there is a high chance that my wish may be granted... So he asked me to be a patient. I also mentioned him that my birthday was coming in May next month, and he said he will make a note of it also on the system. He also asked me to come in early May - to check if there is anything available at all. On particular visit i requested him for O- Kelly earrings , and i bough them and left.

Next month in May 2023, I revisited the store exactly on my birthday and met the Same SA-3 - asking him that its my birthday, do you think there is anything for me... he went into the back , did try to look for me.. but came back empty handed... I was sooooo Sad! and i walked out of the store, without buying anything on my Birthday!

I dint want my birthday to be ruined, so somehow made my mind and decided that it will happen, when its supposed to happen. So i walked into the Harrods store - and bought me a VCA bracelet and a small pendant necklace as a birthday present, had nice dinner withmy son and my husband out and went home..

After many months i visited the store again this Nov 2023, This SA -3 was still there, did seem to remember me luckily.. I said i want to check if my wishlist has expired , if it is then i want to reupdate my wish and also revise my wishes to an accurate piece i am looking for... He said my wish is still active and expires Feb 2024, so - i am good for now. Also there is no point of asking accurate colors, as in my wishes i have selected any shades of Blacks, Beiges and Greys.. So i was like fine... He also kindly showed me a sling bag in blue color, which is ideally for men, and is not suitable for me.. and i very kindly rejected that bag...

I asked him for a couple of things - Like Kelly belt on this visit , and an H Watch. i dint find the H Watch i wanted , but i did buy an Kelly belt on this visit.

So over all - i am still waiting on my wish to be granted. I have asked for Birkin 30 Gold Hardware in Noir, Gold and Nata originally - but he selected shades of Black, Beige and Whites on my wish to be more flexible. On my recent visit - i have revised my wish by removing Whites and reupdated it to Greys..

I have just seen a video on youtube - where a lady - who visits the same store as i do - Got her wish granted in no time - just yesterday... and i am so sad and happy for her at the same time.. ...

Also - Amelia Liana - who is an instagram influencer goes to the same store, and she gets her wishes granted so easily.. like she got so many Mini Kellys from this store..

I understand London - it totally works on Wish list system - but quite shocked - Are wishlists granted in random or are they allocated to people in queue? So confused?

Also to my Hermes Gurus out here - was there anything better i could have done to get the B Bag early ?

Please help

This Amelia Liana person is the one who got featured in a Daily Mail article for photoshopping her pictures. She was photoshopping herself in different places of the world pretending she was traveling, when in reality she wasn't. It was a major scandal at the time...

As other members have advised, take everything influencers say with a pinch of salt.

 

[luckyadanosii]

Oh btw I completely forgot to mention ,I bought quite a few bags 15 yrs back and then there was a extremely long gap till beginning for this year and that too I wanted to get a spa for a bag ,when I put the wishlist.Fortunately the manager and assistant remembered me from decade back and maybe that helped even though my spend this year was 1500 approx .

Hello dear, I am replying from the USA. I was offered a bag before I knew what it was with no spend history. Then, I established myself in Hermes' system and was offered a wishlist bag much later at another store.

I understand your frustration about influencers. Many of them are simply lying. I have also found out some affluent influencers use proxies to build history so they can have multiple bags at once. I was blown away by this!! Hermes isn't tracked by your government ID. It's tracked by card, phone number, email, easy stuff to mislead details. The proxies spend for them, get offered a bag, and get a payment for doing so. Social media has so much information.

Also there are Birkin, Kelly rentals. If you think an influencer has gotten multiple offers.. check the videos and social media. In my fantasy if I had 10 Birkins in a year I would wear them every time I went out, no exceptions and share on social media (as an influencer). I notice a pattern some women claim to have 10 Birkins in a year but will only wear one or two across their social media platforms regularly. What happened to the other 8? Haha. If someone re sold 8 Birkins in a year, Hermes would not continue to sell to them I think. So suspicious.

 

[Midge Maisel]

I understand your frustration about influencers. Many of them are simply lying. I have also found out some affluent influencers use proxies to build history so they can have multiple bags at once. I was blown away by this!! Hermes isn't tracked by your government ID. It's tracked by card, phone number, email, easy stuff to mislead details. The proxies spend for them, get offered a bag, and get a payment for doing so. Social media has so much information.

I am absolutely obsessed with the idea that we, as a society, have evolved to the point that we have an H pyramid scheme.

 

[Build-a-B-K-collection]

So difficult to give advice which you want to hear vs what’s really happening in the background.

I genuinely would love to see you get offered the bag of your dreams and only advocate purchasing what you truly love and will use.

I don’t know what store you have placed your wishlist however my personal opinion is that you are being ranked by your spend and where you spend this in the store. RTW, FJ and furniture are big ticket items which appears to help a bag magically appear sooner than one realises.

You have requested neural colours - very popular.
In Hermes eyes, they will sell that bag to the person who has spent the most £££ and across an array of departments.

If it was as simple as purchasing fashion jewellery and shoes then most customers would go down that route.

Money talks in every organisation. Hermes is no different. They want to increase profits. They predominantly sell to people who spend the most in store.

It’s an awful game. It took me years to get my London SA. Sometimes I have no idea what to buy (I’m being honest here) but know that in order to have my wish list fulfilled I need to spend. Needless to say, I haven’t purchased anything for some time!

 

[cyy12113]

Chipping in regarding the wishlist wait - my wish (K25 neutral) took almost exactly 2 years and it was the third wish!

During that time I've seen 2 people I know being granted SO's with a lot less spend than typical cases (we're talking 0.5:1), 1 acquaintance managed to get the SO offer within a year of shopping at Hermes. Both are relatively new clients with no prior quota bag offers.

Everyone's story is different and that 2 year wait made me learn to not overthink it!
Don't trust everything you see online, you never know the true story behind their orange boxes (e.g. family connections, borrowing a friend's bag...).

Purchase the things you truly love and will use day-to-day, ultimately it's your hard-earned cash and valuable time to be spent towards whatever your heart desires. ❤️

 

[Twinkle.84]

Patience is the magic word when it comes to Hermes. Certainly when you don't have lots of $$$ to spend. My SA told me they will not sell you a Qb or any other items if they know/have a suspicion that you are a reseller. But they will sell it to those who are genuine interested even if they do not spend a lot. The pre-spend does help you but also don't buy everything you get offered.

 

[A1aGypsy]

So, I’m not in London but from what I’ve read and heard, my suspicion is that you have asked for a highly sought after bag and you (conversely) have a low spend in areas that are not appealing to Hermes from a client retention perspective.

Wish lists sound great but they certainly don’t seem to be as simple as: ‘next one gets the bag’. I think you’ll be waiting a long while, unfortunately unless you really spark with someone at that store.

Sorry for the bluntness and it’s only my opinion, of course.

 

[880]

So, I’m not in London but from what I’ve read and heard, my suspicion is that you have asked for a highly sought after bag and you (conversely) have a low spend in areas that are not appealing to Hermes from a client retention perspective.

Agree with this. For many years, I was in a similar position, and I mainly bought non leather stuff I loved from the boutique and well priced reseller bags. you could be lucky, or you could face a long wait. Either way, I think it’s important to be realistic so as to avoid stress or disappointment. That way, you could be happily surprised

 

[WhiteBus]

Going back to the original post for this thread, it seems that you have been particularly unfortunate. The 'doesn't work here any more' situation with the first SAs that served you, combined with your infrequent (just an observation of fact that you described, not a criticism) visits to the boutique, mean that you never established yourself as a potential long-term customer.
That seems to me to be the most important element of a satisfactory Hermes shopping experience.
I don't see any point in messaging 'just to keep in contact'.

I can understand how much you would like the 'getting a new bag from Hermes' experience, but is that more important than having a Birkin to use? If you can look upon a Birkin like an antique that will have a number of owners, you should be able to source the bag of your dreams from the pre-loved market without paying a pointless reseller premium.

This will get you a bag to enjoy soon and give you the opportunity to build up your presence as a known customer with the potential to be offered a new bag in time.

 

[Ani2401]

Hey All ... I value all of your feedback... I am thinking to consider most of your opinion and may be get something from Fine Jewellery section this year... What are your recommendations? I want dainty , Yellow gold with diamonds.. something i can wear every day... Also when do you think is the best time to go back ? Should i go in Dec 2023? Is it worth it - as its the busiest time of the year? Or should i go back in Jan 2024? Also my wishlist is going to be expired 2nd time in feb 2024...

 

[maxroxxherhandbags]

Hey All ... I value all of your feedback... I am thinking to consider most of your opinion and may be get something from Fine Jewellery section this year... What are your recommendations? I want dainty , Yellow gold with diamonds.. something i can wear every day... Also when do you think is the best time to go back ? Should i go in Dec 2023? Is it worth it - as its the busiest time of the year? Or should i go back in Jan 2024? Also my wishlist is going to be expired 2nd time in feb 2024...

rather than asking us this would be a great opportunity to connect with an SA (if you don't already have one) and discover the range for yourself..
discuss what you want, see what they suggest, try some pieces on.
Now may have a good selection of stock in for the holiday season..
Most importantly don't buy Hermes fj with a view to a bag offer.
Hermes Fine jewellery does not hold is value and there is plenty available on the resale market at good prices which others have brought as 'Birkin bait'....