Give me a freakin' break!
CNN Story

If and when I'm ever rich and famous. I expect the special star treatment too, what's wrong with that? :confused: wink wink

Chuckle -

The amusing thing is that I will bet you any amount of money you wish that Hermes (like most upscale stores) has a private shopping service for its 'prefered clients' where they will actually send the salespeople to your home or hotel room with a large display of merchandise for you to consider in comfort and privacy.

Yes - the truley rich are different. Ask any guy in NY or LA who's been stopped for being black.

Rob

Hey, if I ever get as rich as her...expect me to crush you all with my thumb.

NJ

Cool, NJ! I usually pay a guy $100 an hour to do that!

LXN

Lux...a hundred bucks for a thumb?

On the first season of The Apprentice, was it Erika? I can't remember, who Queen Omarosa said used "The N word" Oprah had them both on her show, and wouldn't let Erika explain and give her side of story to show Big O (Omarosa, not Oprah) was lying. Oprah is great with charities, people and very gay friendly but I can't stand when "people of a different ethnicity" say:

Officer: Do you know why pulled you over?
Driver: YES! YOU PULLED ME OVER BECAUSE I'M BLACK/CHINESE/ISLAMIC/MUSLAM/KOREAN..(pick one)
Officer: Um, no...I pulled you over because you were doing 120 mph down this little one way street
Driver: NO, IT WASN'T THAT, I'M TAKING YOU TO COURT, YOU'RE RACIST!

The thumb's cheap. It's the expert crushing that's worth the money.

I stopped by Blockbuster last night to return a video, and they wouldn't open their doors to me. They gave me some lame excuse about being "after midnight", which I can only assume is anti-homosexual rhetoric.

LXN

There have been many instances where blacks and other minorities are pulled over without cause because, for example, they happen to be driving an expensive car so the cops suspect it was stolen. I wouldn't compare that to whatever it was that happened to Oprah.

Come on, it was in Paris! No one should be surprised by that incident, hell, anyone is lucky they let you through the door there. Actually anyone can go in, but sometimes it's so thick wiht attitude and Asians buying scarves you can't get in the front door. And June is typical SALE time, so I'm sure the doors were closed promptly. I've even seen lines outside Gucci and Prada in Paris during the sale season because they only allow so many customers in at one time. I would love to see the store video of the incident. And why is she buying Tina Turner a watch BEFORE a dinner party--you send it after the party.

The store has actually produced the security video. It was closed because they were setting up for a private event later that evening. Meanwhile Oprah has cancelled her order for a purse and proclaimed she will never shop there again. Get over yourself. You've been hanging out with little Tommy Cruise too much and are taking yourself much too seriously. I doubt if Hermes will be seriously damaged by this much ado about nothing story.

[ June 23, 2005, 05:04 PM: Message edited by: swiminbuff ]

Oprah really needs to get over herself.

Why is this a story? They told some bitch that the store was closed. I dont see anyone outside Macys wiggin out when they shut the doors before they could buy some handbags that will be there the next day.

I am a bit surprised at the responses here. Ask any person of color how they feel when they are eye-balled by security guards in department stores, pulled over for DWB (driving while black), or just generally perceived as a threat. If it is true that Hermes told Oprah they'd been having trouble with North Africans, as is reported, then they deserve to have all of Miss Winfrey's considerable clout rained down upon them.

Some years ago, a black teen was shopping in a Eddie Bauer store, actually wearing a shirt he had bought at the same store the day before. The staff made him take off the shirt and come back with the receipt (which he did) to get it back. How many times has that happened to you white boys? How about the black Secret Service agents who were ignored by the Denny's servers while their white colleagues at a different table actually got their food before the black agents' orders had even been taken?

As I said, IF the Oprah buzz is true, Hermes should pay the consequences.

To turn this into a racist issue...it's ridiculous. The store was closed to everyone, even high-falootin' celebrities because there was an event being planned inside. Do you think they would turn world-famous Oprah away knowing the implications that could come from such action?

The NYPost in the one saying Oprah was told the speel about North Africans. Why would someone tell a person of color: "Hey, we've been having trouble with people who look like you so we can't let you in"?

Oprah now says she is going to discuss her "crash event" when her show returns in September. "Crash event" refers to the recent race-relations movie CRASH. It's an excellent film.

Oprah had told a story many years ago where a store wouldn't let her in during its open hours. (Some fancy stores are locked and have to "buzz" you in.) Well, when she went back and said "I'm Oprah Winfrey" they were bowing and scraping to have her business... but when they (the guard, I suppose) suspected she was just a black woman trying to enter a ritzy story, they turned her away. So this has happened to her before.

I think this also has a lot to do with the quality of service this type of high end establishment is expected to provide. I've worked in similar establishments where you go above and beyond to make the customer happy.

You can bet I would have let Oprah Winfrey in. She knew exactly what she wanted and would have been out of there very quickly. The reality is celebs do receive special treatment and someone missed out on a great commission.

It's also bad judgement on the company's part for not letting Oprah in. Due to that bad service, word will (has) spread like wildfire and you can bet that many people will not shop there because of Oprah's experience.

It's funny that many people here think Oprah should get over herself. Hermes needs to get over themsleves and provide a higher quality of service. Look at it from a customer service point of view. It's not like the store was shut down and empty. There were employees in there and they closed only 15 minutes prior to Oprah's arrival. It's all about exceptional service. Something Hermes failed to provide.

The store was providing "exceptional" customer service...it was toward the event planned later in the evening. I HATE it when people have the attitude that the customer is ALWAYS right. No they aren't. Yes, they closed 15 minutes before she got there...so what? The employees were busy with the planning of that night's function -- they did not have the time to open the doors for someone who might have decided to look around for a while. Yes, Oprah needs to get over herself.

I can't wait to see the episode in September...she's got three months to spin this big, over-blown story about what a tramatic event it was.

[ June 24, 2005, 08:37 AM: Message edited by: bobby78751 ]

Based on the facts presented in the article (and notwithstanding any of Oprah's past experiences with being turned away from stores), I don't think Hermes did anything wrong, except, perhaps, not arranging to have a personal shopper sent to her hotel (once, and if, they found out who she was), if that had been possible.

I do acknowledge that, in this world, celebrities and wealthy people are treated differently and better than most of us, but after all, (a) they were closed (she obviously had not made an appointment, and ( they had a a pre-arranged event they were preparing for.

Please, Oprah, please, do not make this into something it probably is not. There seems to be nothing racial about this, and even so, Hermes is going the extra mile to make good on this (in the name of public relations I realize). Save it for those times when outrage and indignation is truly called for.

By the way, I'm black (and definitely have been discrimated against (I live in NYC in the 77th precinct (Crown Heights)). But I try my best to keep things in perspective; I hope she will.

Once, a few years ago, I was walking around Paris with a friend (black also); we were wearing jeans, carrying cheap backpacks, etc. We spent several minutes looking at the window displays at Hugo Boss on the Rue de Rivoli (I think). As we were walking away, a white salesman came out of the store and proffered both of us a business card and a catalogue.

I get the feeling we would have been welcome to come inside, no questions asked.

[ June 24, 2005, 09:19 AM: Message edited by: NewYorkVenus ]

It's called multi-tasking, babe. I'm sure they can do more than one thing at a time.

As someone that is in the business of training employees to give exceptional service, it's people with your attitude towards service that are a nightmare for employers. And those kind of employees usually don't last very long.

If you're a company that is interested in being successful, you know that the customer/client is always right. Oprah Winfrey is a highly respected person (no matter what you may think), that has a lot of influence on the general public. You need to face the fact that celebs do get better treatment than most people. If you've had any experience with that, you'd know. You may not like it, but that's the real deal.

I'm not sure who "babe" is, but if it's me, I think you need to re-read my post. I acknowledged that celebs and "highly respected" people (not sure if they're the same) get better treatment that most people, and I outlined a way that Hermes could have "multi-tasked" and accomplished both their goals for the evening.

I never said I didn't like anything about the situation, other than that it might have been misinterpreted by Oprah, and mischaracterized by the rest of us.

I was behind a guy at the airport counter in May who had this attitude (he said he had made a reservation with a window seat -- and was being assigned a middle seat -- but did not bring his e-mail confirmation with the info on it) and if I had been the person working behind the counter, I would have probably tossed a computer monitor toward his head. He was banging his hands on the counter and kept saying, "No, you're wrong, the customer is always right." He was even getting on my nerves. He should have had the attitude of working with the American Airlines employee rather than working against her. No, the customer is not always right. As a business, you do your best to please them, but some people are beyond being pleased.

He was talking to me, I think.

Jorel, my apologies; I misspoke, as regards your reply.

This whole thing is being blown way out of proportion.

Should Hermes employees have opened the door and let Oprah in? Probably. If I were an employee or manager, I would have definitely let her in. But... arriving after a store has closed does not guarantee anyone the right to enter and I don't care who it is. In fact, I think it's kind of great that Oprah -- for one of those rare moments in her adult life -- is finally treated like everyone else would be.

Think of it this way... Oprah is not allowed to enter a store after it's been closed for business for the day... and it becomes top news worldwide! That shows how pampered she is. Yes I love her show, but my god... is the world going to end if a billionaire has to wait a day to buy a multi-millionaire a freakin' watch?

On a smaller scale, this reminds me of a co-worker of mine (we'll call him John Q. Public for the sake of argument) who thinks WAY too highly of himself and is basically a joke to the rest of us. We traveled for work together to Phoenix, and this guy has such a high opinion of himself that he walked into a very average Embassy Suites hotel in Phoenix and said in a pompous voice to the person behind the desk, "Uh, yeah, John Q. Public, reservation for a room with a view."

The clerk looked at him point-blank and said, "View? OK... would you like a view of the back alley or the auto parts store next door?"

I died laughing.

That's awesome! Ting-ting! It's a knock-down!

So...which did he choose?

LXN

***If I remember correctly, he didn't choose one. He just grumbled something like, "Just give me the best you have then." On that same trip, he went to the front desk to complain that his towels weren't fluffy enough TWICE. And in a bit of poetic justice, the toilet in his bathroom stopped working on the last night we were there. This was like 7 or 8 years ago. This same guy (close to 60 years old now) is currently filing an age discrimination lawsuit at work claiming he hasn't been promoted because of his age. Ugh.***

I wonder if Oprah gives all the members of her staff that same 15-minute window she expected to receive from Hermes?

Can you imagine someone showing up 15 minutes late to an interview at Harpo? Or an employee coming to a staff meeting 15 minutes late? Or a guest showing up 15 minutes after the show has begun taping?

[ June 24, 2005, 11:15 AM: Message edited by: TheOtherFSU ]

The funny thing about people like your co-worker is that no one seems to fall for their line, including themselves.

I worked at a record store awhile back. Eric Clapton came in, bought some CDs, and paid by credit card. The card wasn't signed, so the cashier (either because he wasn't thinking, or he was being funny) asked for ID. Eric went back into the racks and returned with a copy of his Unplugged album. I approved the ID, and we rang up the sale.

LXN

Joe, you missed my point...I know, unfortunately, there are people that are pulled over for "DWB", but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm equating my scenario with Oprah....Like the driver in my little scene, Oprah..when told that the store is having a private party and is closed, she pulls out the race card and says "You did that because I'm black" When in fact Oprah was told that she couldn't shop because they were closed, not because she is black. And the driver was pulled over for going 120mph down a one way, not because he (or she) was black.

[ June 24, 2005, 02:28 PM: Message edited by: Merloni26 ]

Bobby, I was speaking to you but I didn't call you babe to be rude I said it to make light of my tone.

The goal is to keep customers and clients happy so they come back. It's all about how an employee handles and reacts to customers that have a problem or opportunity. (Throwing a computer monitor at someone's head would probably be a bad idea. wink )

I agree with NYVenus's suggestions. It would have been appropriate to have the watch delivered. (I've done that on occasion). And I would have done that with any customer, not just a celeb.

It's all about how you handle the situation, tone of voice, and what you say.

I can't wait til Oprah explains herself, if there really is anything more to it. But from hearing her best friend talk about the incident on ET, Oprah seems like she's overreacting.

Atleast give us something. Were the sales clerks snooty? But even snootyness tends to be overexaggerated from high-end retail clerks. In reality, they are usually desperate for someone to come into their stores.


Her next show should be about how normal experiences are perceived as something more due to our own insecurities and affectedness.

[ June 25, 2005, 01:56 AM: Message edited by: savvy ]

I would have let Oprah in as well. She is after all, THE OPRAH. And in a business sense, she is more important than the average customer. But I really don't know how she can qualify the incident as being racist.

Speaking strictly as a small business owner and employer:

If one of my employees didn't go WAY OVERBOARD to provide EXCEPTIONAL customer service, they wouldn't last long. We provide a SERVICE to a customer. I don't care if we have to turn ourselves inside out to accomodate that particular customer (as long as we don't have to alienate the rest of our client base doing it); we will do WHATEVER it is they need.

Then we will charge them for it.

My personal time is billed at $500 an hour (Don't choke, I bill EXACTLY what my Attorney and Accountant bill). I am worth every penny.

If you INSIST on my working the 4th of July weekend or on Christmas - and my ruining my employees holidays as well - then I will happily do it - for a price. Usually triple time (or higher if you are REALLY annoying).

Many have later decided that they don't need me quite that urgently - they can wait until after the weekend or holiday. Many have said "Do it now" and we have complied. We are there for the clients convenience, not our own.

Yes - the rich are different than you and me. They think they can get whatever they want, when they want it, and they usually want it NOW. You know what - they are right. If I don't provide, someone else will.

"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others..." - Orwells pig

The truth is that I get very different treatment now than I did twenty years ago as a penniless student. Usually if I want to go to a hot club, a concert, or a casino, I don't have to wait in a line stretching half a block any more hoping the doorman will let me in. These days the Concierge at my hotel or my Secretary will call ahead, my driver will drop me off right at the door, and the management will come outside to the curb and escort me in to a private table.

It has nothing whatsoever to do with my worth as a person - I could be an absolutely despicable human being - it has entirely too much to do with the owners/management hoping that they can coax more money out of me than they can a dozen penniless college students.

Lets face it - I could be a billionare child molester wink and I would get even better service as long as I didn't commit a crime in the middle of the show floor (and if I did - I suspect the owners/management would simply politely inquire if a small mistake was/had been made, and how could they please assist me in rectifying the mistake? Then they would charge me till my nose bled )

Life in a capitalist society.

Rob

[ June 25, 2005, 11:42 PM: Message edited by: ITJock ]

If you are billing at $500 an hour...I think that makes you one of "them".

The store was closed for a private event. Oprah's skin color doesn't have anything to do with that but her attitude clearly does. She could have called ahead, she has a cell phone and numerous staff at her beck and call. I've never seen Oprah in all these years sound so elitist, and calling this racism is just bullsh*t. And while there has been a great deal of conflict with north africans in France, i'm just sure no one confused Oprah for a north african. She's way too famous.

They were closed. They're French. They're not opening the doors for anyone unless offered a cigarette, a drink, and an opportunity to criticize everyone.

And my experience tells me that many people, black, white, gay, whatever, walk into rooms with their baggage leading the way. These days it appears that calling the race card or the tolerance card is simply a tactic a good deal of the time.

[ June 27, 2005, 03:35 PM: Message edited by: Bryan ]

Sounds like you've got a U-Haul load of baggage, yourself! Geez! :mad:

Yeah - Well I remember where I came from. There's no question I'm a long way from where I started out.

Believe me there is a HUGE difference between someone like me, and someone who is truley RICH, like that. Not that I don't aspire someday wink

The thing I find interesting to look at is the 'Richest People in America' lists. Usually a third to half of the people listed started out working/middle class (as I did). That says something great about our system that ALL of the names are not hereditary... We hava our problems, but GBA we're still the best place on earth if you want to work hard to improve yourself or aspire for 'more'.

Rob

[ June 28, 2005, 09:21 AM: Message edited by: ITJock ]

First, the racial problems in France haven't been just with "North Africans," but with immigrants from French-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa as well. Are you even aware of LePen's campaign and its rhetoric? Or Nicolas Sarkozy's "crackdown" on immigrants, etc.? Second, I'm not sure if you've ever set foot in Morocco (or Mauretania or Tunisia or Algeria or other nations in northern Africa), but there are people there who are darker -skinned, with broader features, than Oprah.

You people must be unaware that Oprah was refused service at a tony New York store several years ago; the proprietor later admitted that Oprah was not buzzed in because she wasn't recognized--which is to say, she was seen as some random Black woman trying to get in, and not a billionaire who wanted to drop some dollars on whatever over-priced crap they had.

I do think she's making too much out of this particular incident, but it's telling that people are so willing to conflate her problematic explanatioon with legitimate accusations of racism, which any person of color in this society, but especially Black Americans and dark-skinned Latinos, have to face every day. I posted on another thread about the definitively conservative New York Post's outrage over the fact in a study of Black and White applicants for jobs, White male applicants who had criminal convictions were STILL hired more frequently than Black males who had none.

At any rate, Hermès will rue the day it scorned Oprah, so now they'll probably open their door to any slightly overweight brown-skinned woman with a retinue standing outside their windows!

Bobby, CRASH by the way is a horrible, fake, implausible film. A piece of garbage that I hope will sink back into the La Brea tarpits.

I don't think Oprah herself has said anything to imply that she thought this was a racial incident. A spokesperson for her production company made the "Crash" reference which I suppose was probably cleared by Oprah. I thought the theme of the movie was about racial sterotyping all around and the way that it colors not only our assumtions about others but our assumtions about how we are perceived by others. Her good friend Gayle King told ET that it was one of the most humiliating moments of her life, which is saying something when you consider we're talking about someone who claims to have been a victim of child abuse not to mention her weight problem. Gayle may be a good friend who's unable to keep her mouth shut, particularly when the cameras are rolling. Of course it would be humiliating for any star to be left banging at the door on the Faubourg St. Honore. All that achievement, fame and fortune and you're taken for North African chamber maid on the streets of Paris. I wonder if Oprah is really that well known in Paris/France/Europe in general. I mean it's mostly the TV show in this country. It's not broadcast over there and the Color Purple was a long time ago. The BBC carried one piece on the story on the 24th, but I haven't found any references on any of the other European news sites. Of course they're within their rights not to let her in after closing though I'm sure they would have done so had they recognized her and her bankroll. I can just picture her telling some clueless French security guard who's probably never heard of her "I'm Oprah Winfrey dammit!" She's within her rights not to shop there anymore. Your talking about a global chain of stores that caters to the likes of European royalty and Arabian princes and such. They'll never feel it.

We'll find out what all of the hoopla is when it's on Oprah's show when she returns in September for her next season.

There will also be a follow-up on Steven "Cojo" Cojocaru who had his recently donated new kidney removed in LA the other day. He's back on a waiting list for a new one.

Boston Herald story

[ June 29, 2005, 02:11 PM: Message edited by: TommyC84 ]

Here's what Oprah can do to win a lot of respect and admiration (beyond what she usually gets):

1) Forget about doing a show about this
2) Stop buying expensive presents for other celebrities who can buy their own things, just because you're meeting them for dinner -- save it for a real occasion like a birthday, wedding, etc.
3) For God's sake, if you're going to go to an exclusive store after they close, CALL AHEAD FIRST TO WARN THEM!!!!!

Joe in Philly said: It would be nice, but she won't forget about it because it's a hot news story and that's what her show is about. Plus, the angle of the story is most likely about the "Having problems with North Africans" racial profiling that Hermes is denying. The only reason I believe this is the issue is because she doesn't need to make up a news story to get ratings or for hot topics for her show. There's plenty of them out there, and her producers turn away LOTS of them. Oprah obviously feels there was some racial profiling by the store. That would explain the humiliation factor. Just being turned away by a store would be nothing for her to be humilated by, and wouldn't have been made a news story by Oprah or Gayle King.

Oprah is a very spirtual person and is a big believer in Deepak Chopra's "Seven Spiritual Laws of Success" of which the second is the Law of Giving It can be a gift of prayerful thought, or whatever you want. In her case it's a watch for Tina Turner.

Most people of wealth, celebrities included, never shop at a high end store during normal business hours because of all the chaos that would ensue from fans that would want a piece of their time. It's the only way they can have a peaceful shopping experience. And because they're celebrities they never have to call in advance because as some others have mentioned in this thread if Oprah or Pat Burrell were to show up after hours and want to shop, you open the store and let them.

I think that the staff at Hermes in Paris had no idea who Oprah is, some may have but she's much better known here than in France. And the French also have no patience for Americans, or any others that come to their country. But especially they have a dislike for anyone from the U.S.

I'd definitely open up for Pat Burrell.

But didn't they think she was from North Africa?


[ June 30, 2005, 09:25 AM: Message edited by: bobby78751 ]

Wow, some of you are really missing the humor in these posts and in this situation. Glad to know that you're all feeling terribly sorry for poor Oprah who's worth more than all of us combined and doubled and tripled. So she couldn't buy an expensive watch for Ms. Turner at the last minute. Poor dear. Give me a break. Oprah may identify with the victims of the world but she's certainly no longer one of them. We all have baggage from our youth but i'm certain that once we've made millions from it, we can let it go... And Oprah's shopping disaster has nothing to do with the extensive immigration/existence problems in France with North Africans and others....