Tod’s

I’ve purchased Tod’s shoes many times in NYC, Harrod’s in London, and at the outlet in Orlando, and always the salespeople were professional, helpful and polite. They’ve shown me they appreciate my purchases and value my future business.
When I visited the store at Bal Harbour, I did not anticipate being treated any differently. Had I known this store practices a level of malignant elitist snobbery on par with an Arabian dictator, I would not have entered.
My husband and I were visiting a friend in Coral Gables, and our visit corresponded with an intense time for her preparing to take the Bar exam. So to give her breaks in entertaining, to allow study time, we made little trips out shopping. One such trip was to the Bal Harbour shops, specifically to visit Tod’s for a pair of loafers.
Perhaps the pay-​to-​enter, gated, guarded mall entry was our first clue? I did not realize that luxury shopping was a privilege I needed to pay for? Considering the fact that luxury shopping involves spending copious sums of money, one would think the parking (like parking for any other kind of shopping) would be gratis. No. I am at a loss to understand this. I have had many posh shopping experiences in Paris, London, Biarritz, Tahiti, St. Barths, Florence, NYC, La Jolla, Naples, Dallas, etc. and never have I had to pay to self-​serve park in a tiered garage. Is there a high crime rate in this area that requires such restrictive nonesense? Or are the local residents just that snobby? Either way it is an incarcerating feeling to have such a controlled atmosphere. And it feels extremely shyster-​y of this place to invent such a nickel-​and-​dimey experience.
The off-​putting experience did not stop there. Tod’s did their best to live up to the «GET OUT WE HATE YOU» vibe going on at Bal Harbour.
There was some Paris Hilton type in the latest-​greatest section at the front of the store. («Paris Hilton» is not a compliment, it’s a dirty word.) The only associate there was buzzing around her, ready to drop at her feet. Who knows what the back-​story on this nonsense was, but why I needed to be affected by it as a customer is ridiculous.
The associate left her a moment to ask me «Can I help you?» and was hassled by my outrageous request to purchase a pair of ladies loafers. I got the feeling that if I’d been the only customer, he’d have gladly behaved decently, but with a prospective larger commission in the room, who was fussing like a baby the minute she wasn’t being coddled, he just could not handle the pressure.
Because «Paris» was getting restless (along with the dirty old dude with her), the associate made a pained show of rushing my purchase along («You don’t need to try them on, do you?»), not thanking me for the $ 300 sale, and refusing to condescend to eye-​contact the whole time he took my money. Instead he made «I know, right?» looks at the messy excuse for a human soul, who was tossing bleached hair all over the place.
Then he left the desk, while I was still collecting my things, so he could go dance for a crumb from «Paris» (just like the middle-​schooler on the fringe of the cool group, hoping to get in).
I always find it ironic when retail clerks get uppity.
On a different day (had I not wasted time in an unfamiliar city to find the place, or had to pay to park there), I’d have left without buying anything. In retrospect, those are stronger reasons for why I should have. When I shop with Tods elsewhere, I am treated with professionalism.
I emailed Tod’s directly through the website about this experience, including information from my receipt to provide details about the associate who «helped» me, and never received a reply. Wretched attitude, Tod’s.