Disgusting treatment at Louis Vuitton

You should write to their corporate headquarters and complain: the person/department to write to is probably listed on their website under "contact us". Hiring unattractive personnel is hardly a crime, and its mention only detracts from the legitimate complaint in your post. I generally don't shop at places that other forum members complain about (assuming their grievances sound reasonable). I actually *enjoy* walking past the store, as I'm reminded of the complaint post and thinking of the $ I'm *not* spending there. It's one of the great aspects of this forum: not only are the good shops rewarded with our business, but the bad ones are punished. Almost utopian...

The shoe is Bettanin & Venturi, also carried at Barneys in New York. I had a very good experience at Giorgio last year. Although they must have a high commission quota given they way they won't leave you alone (as an American I hate that), they were so pleasant, smooth and helpful, I dropped a few thousand dollars and still felt like I was pillaging the store -- which is the sign of a good sales staff.

My guess is that the 'Italian shoe with a B' with the rope stitching was Stefano Branchini. Check out this link and let us know. I know that I saw Branchini for the first time when I was in Montreal.

Sorry to hear about that. As another college age guy, I tend to avoid most high-end boutiques in general, since I find that the obnoxious salesmen almost always seem to come from there, as opposed to the department stores. I should note, though, that complaining about the appearance of the salesmen and bragging about your money (throwing a $20 away is just retarded, although the middle finger soundedvery satisfying) reek of the same level of snobbishness that you describe. I see where you're coming from, but honestly, if it bothers you, don't do business with the boutique, or write to corporate. Stooping to their level isn't going to help things.

On the other end of the spectrum, i'm 19 like OP and I found the Turnbull Store in Beverly Hills very friendly and easy to shop at.

I had similar bad treatment at the Hermes store in San Francisco about a year ago. The women were frankly vulgar and extremely badly dressed. There must be a reason behind this. However, the Hermes store in Cologne, Germany was pure pleasure. When I am in the mood for a little fun, in situations where I am being snobbed, I start talking in French to my husband, and 99% of the time, service greatly improves. Go figure.

Uomo had a bunch of small sizes higher end Prada hand-made (hand-made=my guess from the stitching...) fully canvassed suits on sale (40%) the other day (26), I think you should be able to get at least 40% if you ask, maybe more if they don't sell them. I think they were subcontracted to Belvest which also makes Hermes jackets... BTW if you want to experience extremely snotty service try walking into Le château d'Ivoire wearing a t-shirt, jeans and sneakers and see how they talk to you...if they do.

I do exactly the same thing with my wife. In stores it does work pretty well. I have noticed that in restaurant, especially when ordering the wine, showing that you are a native French speaker does get you much better service. I have really a hard time understanding this. My wife told me that speaking in French does give an attitude; "I am French and you are not", something which translates to a US staff as "If you want to be arrogant, I am a natural at that, and you will lose.". Stupid and infantile. But it does work. Geronimo

What a terrible thing to happen to someone with such a humble and kind disposition.

Fair enough; I'm not trying to give you a hard time or anything, as I've had similar experiences (though mine haven't been as bad) and definitely agree that you should be pissed off. As for the money thing, it's fair to say that pretty much everyone here realizes that clothing is an expensive hobby generally reserved for people with money to throw around. On the other hand, casually dropping the fact that you happened to toss "about a month's salary for [the employee]... in the space of about 5 seconds" is in poor taste. Same for your friend's action. It's not the fact that you're spending a lot of money that's irritating, it's that there is the implication that it gives you some sort of moral/social superiority over others. The security guard clearly was a dick and foolish to treat paying customers that way, but there's an air of condescension that I'm gleaning from your post, which makes it harder to sympathize with your otherwise justified complaint. Judging by some of the other posts in this thread, I'm not the only person to get this impression. I'm sorry you got treated so poorly, and you have every reason to be upset, but I think that there are better ways to deal with that kind of treatment. That's all.