Hi All,
A while back I bought two fragrances from ebay, both from the House of Creed. One was Love in White and the other Royal Water. My wife was not impressed with either and I began to think that I might have been duped by unscrupulous sellers.
Fast forward a month and the family and I were off to San Francisco, CA, for a working vacation. Being new to fragrances and the whole upper echelon of niche perfumes, I realized this was my chance to compare apples to apples.
Union Square in San Francisco is a bustling mega-tropolis to consumerism and a must see to visitors and shoppers alike. The big chain stores are there, Macy's, Forever 21, and the like, as well as the upmarket high end stores such as Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue. The latter stores are not as exclusive as I feared they might be to a family of hillbillies, such as my family is.
My intention was to go inside Saks and Marcus and ask about the Creed perfumes, with the hope of sampling the real things. I first went to Saks and met a very nice gentleman named, Jacob Shapiro. I kindly asked to sample a few Creed perfumes and he very gently told me that Saks does not carry Creed perfumes and that I would need to go to Neiman Marcus in order to sample the Creed perfumes.
I patiently told Jacob my buyer beware story and he shook his head in a very knowing way. I also told him I was very new to wearing fragrances and had quite a bit to learn. I mentioned that I had recently joined an online website called basenotes and that it seemed to be an excellent resource for the new users, as well as the old pros that are into wearing perfumes.
Jacob's smile broadened at the mention of basenotes and immediately shared that he too was a member of the basenotes community. After a little exchange of information, he informed me that he worked exclusively for Tom Ford and that he was the in store representative for the brand. He let my wife and I sniff anything we desired, Clive Christian, Tom Ford, Bond No. 9 and then gave us very generous samples of the Tom Ford's we were most interested in.
I could not make up my mind whether I liked Tobacco Vanille or Noir de Noir better. He also gave us carded samples of a few others, shook our hands and wished us well in our search for knowledge and vindication.
With smiles on our faces and running against closing time, my wife and I headed over to Neiman Marcus and met Trisha Mendiola, the Creed in store representative. I am sure the only thing that Trisha did not know about the House of Creed was what the name of the next heir to be born, who would inherit the Creed brand , would be. Other than that, her knowledge was vast and historical.
She generously and patiently listened to my sad tale and smiled knowingly. She offered us comfort in letting us sample the in store Creed's of the same names I had bought from ebay. I was certain then that I had been duped. The freshness and the oils were quite lively and real. The longevity of the perfumes in store,were better than what I had purchased from ebay.
Trisha also had a few very exclusive reserve Creed fragrances she kept under the counter that she let us sniff and I am sure she did not share these with just any customers (sorry if I let the cat out of the bag Trisha). She also was very generous in giving us Creed samples to take home and wished us the best in our future purchases. I still do not know if Trisha is a member of basenotes, as that never came up, but I have a feeling about that.
The next day was our forth and final day in San Francisco and I still had not purchased myself anything to take home from our trip. I did mention that I found the Tom Ford Noir de Noir infatuating and wished that I had some. My wife literally took me by the hand and marched me back to Union Square, back to Saks Fifth Avenue and told me to buy the perfume that I desired.
Jacob was not there, another young man was, but I did mention that Jacob was the reason I had come back to buy Tom Ford's Noir de Noir EDP and purchased the 100ml spray bottle.
All in all it was fun and exciting to meet very kind people working for the big perfume companies and it was a real pleasant experience. They treated us hillbillies like we were the only people standing in the store (and we sort of were, really).
Thanks for reading and if Jacob or Trisha happen to read this post, speak up and share some stories of some of the customers you have met, good, bad, or indifferent. (you can change the names to protect the innocent)
Larry
A while back I bought two fragrances from ebay, both from the House of Creed. One was Love in White and the other Royal Water. My wife was not impressed with either and I began to think that I might have been duped by unscrupulous sellers.
Fast forward a month and the family and I were off to San Francisco, CA, for a working vacation. Being new to fragrances and the whole upper echelon of niche perfumes, I realized this was my chance to compare apples to apples.
Union Square in San Francisco is a bustling mega-tropolis to consumerism and a must see to visitors and shoppers alike. The big chain stores are there, Macy's, Forever 21, and the like, as well as the upmarket high end stores such as Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue. The latter stores are not as exclusive as I feared they might be to a family of hillbillies, such as my family is.
My intention was to go inside Saks and Marcus and ask about the Creed perfumes, with the hope of sampling the real things. I first went to Saks and met a very nice gentleman named, Jacob Shapiro. I kindly asked to sample a few Creed perfumes and he very gently told me that Saks does not carry Creed perfumes and that I would need to go to Neiman Marcus in order to sample the Creed perfumes.
I patiently told Jacob my buyer beware story and he shook his head in a very knowing way. I also told him I was very new to wearing fragrances and had quite a bit to learn. I mentioned that I had recently joined an online website called basenotes and that it seemed to be an excellent resource for the new users, as well as the old pros that are into wearing perfumes.
Jacob's smile broadened at the mention of basenotes and immediately shared that he too was a member of the basenotes community. After a little exchange of information, he informed me that he worked exclusively for Tom Ford and that he was the in store representative for the brand. He let my wife and I sniff anything we desired, Clive Christian, Tom Ford, Bond No. 9 and then gave us very generous samples of the Tom Ford's we were most interested in.
I could not make up my mind whether I liked Tobacco Vanille or Noir de Noir better. He also gave us carded samples of a few others, shook our hands and wished us well in our search for knowledge and vindication.
With smiles on our faces and running against closing time, my wife and I headed over to Neiman Marcus and met Trisha Mendiola, the Creed in store representative. I am sure the only thing that Trisha did not know about the House of Creed was what the name of the next heir to be born, who would inherit the Creed brand , would be. Other than that, her knowledge was vast and historical.
She generously and patiently listened to my sad tale and smiled knowingly. She offered us comfort in letting us sample the in store Creed's of the same names I had bought from ebay. I was certain then that I had been duped. The freshness and the oils were quite lively and real. The longevity of the perfumes in store,were better than what I had purchased from ebay.
Trisha also had a few very exclusive reserve Creed fragrances she kept under the counter that she let us sniff and I am sure she did not share these with just any customers (sorry if I let the cat out of the bag Trisha). She also was very generous in giving us Creed samples to take home and wished us the best in our future purchases. I still do not know if Trisha is a member of basenotes, as that never came up, but I have a feeling about that.
The next day was our forth and final day in San Francisco and I still had not purchased myself anything to take home from our trip. I did mention that I found the Tom Ford Noir de Noir infatuating and wished that I had some. My wife literally took me by the hand and marched me back to Union Square, back to Saks Fifth Avenue and told me to buy the perfume that I desired.
Jacob was not there, another young man was, but I did mention that Jacob was the reason I had come back to buy Tom Ford's Noir de Noir EDP and purchased the 100ml spray bottle.
All in all it was fun and exciting to meet very kind people working for the big perfume companies and it was a real pleasant experience. They treated us hillbillies like we were the only people standing in the store (and we sort of were, really).
Thanks for reading and if Jacob or Trisha happen to read this post, speak up and share some stories of some of the customers you have met, good, bad, or indifferent. (you can change the names to protect the innocent)
Larry
Why ?
