My Chanel Fashion Advisor Broke Up With Me For Using Another Location, What Do I Do? | PurseBop

Dear PurseBop:

I met a lovely fashion advisor (FA) in Chanel many years back and have purchased a couple of items and we had a great relationship. I purchase 80% of the items I like from my FA and that boutique but I meet other FA’s as I travel and also have great working relationships. Lately, the rules have changed and new releases are prioritized to walk-in clients and VVIPS. Other lower tier clients have to wait until one week after release for items to be shipped. So happened that one FA I worked with elsewhere agreed to ship new release items to me. When my normal FA found out, she broke up with me!!! And said she values loyalty and sadly can’t ship items to me in the future (will still sell to me if I walk in, but the store is from another coast). It is not the first time I purchased from different FA’s in different months since availability varies from boutique to boutique. Is loyalty now being practiced in Chanel? I was caught off guard and sad because I clicked well with my ex-FA… are they imitating the Hermes business model?

Dear Chanel FA Dilemma:

That is a very interesting question. Many people shop with different Chanel FA’s in different locations including when traveling. It is my understanding that the Chanel FA’s are no longer on commission for sales they make but have overall store quotas to meet. They also can see your profile and what you have purchased from other stores. 

The fact that your FA refuses to ship items to you is unfortunate. In many ways it appears that Chanel is attempting to imitate the “Hermès model” and values loyalty. However, most FA’s understand that different stores have different inventory and demand varies from location to location. It is possible that the FA must prioritize the clients they are able to ship items to and prefer to focus on clients who exclusively shop with them.

Since you enjoy shopping with your former FA, our suggestion is to walk into the store, find your FA and have a face to face conversation with her. Tell her you enjoy shopping with her and you did not know that if another FA shipped you items she would be upset. Ask her to explain the new “rules” with Chanel and if you could continue shopping with her in the future. Also ask if there are items this location did not receive if it would be ok to reach out to other locations such as Chanel boutiques in department stores that sometimes have different inventory or could she order these items for you.

It is always best to be open and honest with your FA. A face to face conversation is the most efficient way. That may be all you need to get back in the good graces with your former FA.

Good luck and Happy Shopping.

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