Hermès Ginza — Local services in Tokyo

A very strange and confusing encounter. I have never been into an Hermes shop where you walk in through the front door and then have to check in at varying receptions for varying departments and you're left standing around wondering why no staff even try to serve or assist in anyway until approached and even then; still be unhelpful.

So; here's the lowdown:

Shoe selection here is amazing! Plentiful and lots of exotic and rare models available. However, don't forget to check in at the shoe reception 😉

Bags. No where else in the world (or if there is pleaseeeee let me know!!) do you get to view an iPad with ALL the bags available and anyone is able to purchase. Random assortments include hazlan, picotin 22s, lots of printed gardens in 36 and some bolides. They said it's based on random 'drops' of shipment that they get. They don't tell you whether it's daily or multiple times in the day. One SA told me to wait, another SA told me to leave the store and come back again. There is no consistency in any of their communication. Also, like all the other reviews, it's true that they have rather horrible service! Which is quite shocking, given Japanese service culture!

Verdict:

great if you want any Hermes bag and a large variety of shoes.

Bad if you're a tourist with a profile elsewhere and they don't give you the time of day. Zero chance of scoring a Kelly or Birkin because they'll say 'random drops' but really you hear all the Japanese SA giggling when they see their Japanese customers to the private room. They won't even allow you to make appointments or see if any appointments are cancelled or missed.

Ps: SA said apparently Constantine's are not quota in Japan and anyone can purchase?!

Came back again after a shipment drop the day before and they have even less stock available than the day before. People were there to collect their birkins and Kelly's openly- not even in a private room and every single one of them are Japanese. System is totally rigged...

Wow. This isn’t my first time at a Hermes store, but most likely my last. Don’t get me wrong, my first encounters with the ground floor team and the girl at door, was great. Super friendly and helpful. When I went to the fourth floor, I was treated with such disrespect, and disdain. I mean I get it, maybe I wasn't dressed as nice as the other customers and maybe I was holding another shopping bag that is not considered to be “prestigious.” but when did humanity reach such a low-level of social mannerism. I was simply trying to enquire if I was able to purchase a bag for my wife on our anniversary. Again, I get it, it's the most coveted bag in the world, there is a process, and they are selective on how they sell it too. But I don't think it's a crime to ask. But when I did ask, one gentleman simply looked at me Up and down and pointed me to another colleague. When I approached another girl, she just waved me off and said “hold On”, gave me that “one finger” move and picked up the store phone instead. At this point I said my thank you’s to the floor staff and left.i usually don't get too worked up over these things, but man, what a discriminatory experience. Never again. Maybe I have been spoiled with such politiness at all the other luxury brand stores that I was taken aback. Or that I wasn't prepared for such high school bully tactics. Eitherway, good luck to those who wants to anything from Hermes. Perhaps you will have better...

Surprisingly disappointing and rude services received from a lady sales who was standing by the wrapping services at the leather department on the top floor at the flagship Ginza store. I politely made greetings in Japanese and made enquiries about certain products with a lady sales at the wrapping services ( rest in English ) and the lady sales at the wrapping services could not even be bothered looking up and made eye contact. I was not made aware that there was a registration system for queueing or even to make a simple enquiry at that time, and yet this extremely rude sales said to another sales associate in Japanese right in front of me " narabanai te"... which means " I said I wasn't going to queue up". I was shocked when I heard that as only up till that point in time that I was not aware that I needed to queue up to make a simple hallo greeting or make simple enquiry, but more critically it was that I never said I was not going to queue up!

I studied in Japan's one of the two most famous imperial universities 20 years ago, and I cannot express how angry I was when I heard some random sales associate at a luxury shop like Hermes putting words into my mouth that I did not even say so. The Ginza management should provide adequate "manner" training to their staff especially when it comes to speaking the local language in front of "gaijins" who might have the possibility to understand...