this is LUXURY?!: the fall of customer service

...When I say I had a "Pretty Woman" moment yesterday at an UES luxury boutique that nearly knocked me on my feet, I do so without a hint of irony. Save for the fact that I'm no hooker, just a personal shopper with a heart of gold, who is just trying to do her hustle, I was essentially shown the door.

So imagine it: me in my finest duds, my hair coiffed, giving off an edgy, stylish, but young spirit, all whilst keeping balance on my six-inch platform pumps. The doors to the tony boutique fly open with the help of a strapping Dominican male youth, who smirks just a little too hard at your girl, and I begin my search for a customer care rep. Any rep will do.

Well, no one emerges. No one barely looks in my direction for that matter and considering I came all the way from Brooklyn, and my client wants this bag like NOW, someone's gonna have to give. Finally, I spot a fellow "sister from another mister" who may just do me the kindness of talking to me. She does...but with total resignation and resentment.

I ask her about the style of bag my client is dying for, and she basically tells me to keep dreaming. It ain't happening. No. Nada. Ever. And no, she won't call me to tell if it comes back into stock...and no I can't call other stores to see if this style is available. Special orders? Forget it. Reserved for the best clients, and management would hardly consider the style my customer is after "special." Ugh!

INNER MONOLOGUE:
Ladypants, listen here: I have worked for (and still do!) for some of the flyest women in the world, and I can tell you I did so with a smile, a real sense of urgency, pride, and passion you simply didn't deign to bring to this conversation. Luxury service is dying, and essentially at the hands of hapless "fashion professionals" like yourself! And how backwards of me to think that another woman of color would help me specifically because we share an inherited racial legacy. How silly of me to think I could bring you business, and vice versa. Tsk, tsk.

So after I gave her a good Bed Stuy eye-roll, I exited swiftly and called my Brazilian contact. She puts me in touch with a close confidant at a West Coast location of the same boutique. Within 20 minutes, I am having a fun and lovely conversation with a customer sales rep who is more than willing to go the extra mile for me, and help me with this Special Order.

Well, well, well...the difference 20 minutes can make? As Christian Louboutin said himself in Dana Thomas' masterpiece, Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster, "Luxury is the possibility to stay to close to your customers, and do things that you know they will love. It's about subtlety and details. It's about service. I cannot accept a place where people are badly received. I can't imagine spending several thousand dollars on something and the salesclerk gets annoyed because you take fifteen minutes to look. Luxury is not consumerism. It is educating the eyes to see that special quality."

Of course Christian gets it. That's why the man rules designer footwear. For me, luxury customer service has meant working hard, yes, but also being proactive. You become almost intuitive to the wants and needs of your clients, and think about the endless scenarios and the productive solutions to them all. You're willing to make the effort to ensure your clients don't lift a finger. And the best part? You develop friendships with them: you become a close confidant, you gain their trust, and wind up knowing things about their lives perhaps their closest friends don't (I mean, you do know their true shoe size).

So yes, I'll be taking my business elsewhere, but dang, I wish I could come upon that woman soon and say, "Do you remember me from the other day? Do you work on commission? Huge mistake...HUGE!"