Also, but turning it into a simple transaction, it takes out the begging aspect of the whole thing which I would really like. I really appreciate perfumers like DelRae and Czech & Speake that only ask a shipping or other nominal fee and send generous samples.

But in general, this is why I wish they’d just sell samples, so it was a regular consumer transaction. Why not charge a few bucks for a Bond sample?

So, anyway – on the same day as my annoying NM experience, I had also gone to Saks on a sniffing expedition. I was specifically looking for samples of by Killian Back to Black and Pure Oud – the didn’t have any Back to Black and she explained that they didn’t have, wouldn’t get and weren’t allowed to make samples of the Pure Oud because it was a special limited edition. But she did offer to take down my name and address and said that she would send the sample of Back to Black when they came in – and I thought “yeah, right, sure you will”.

Well, I got a package in the mail today (which I was kind of surprised, because I wasn’t expecting anything) and it was from Saks! Not only did she send me a sample of the Back to Black, she sent me six samples! Yay! I don’t know if I’ll like any of them, but I can tell you one thing – if I buy anything at Saks, it will be from her.

So, there’s the other side of the SA experience – although the Bond No 9 SA was a little snippy with me when I was at Saks, too. She has apparently decided that I’m unlikely to actually buy anything from her and has gotten stingier with the samples. Of course, if I found something that I liked and she was still being generous with the samples, I would buy from her. I guess it’s easier to go after the quick impulse or prestige buyer than to spend some time cultivating customers. Which is pretty short-sighted on their part because I think that my 3rd quarter damage proves that I could be a much better customer than most – hell, besides the decants and splits – look at how many FBs I bought, including three from NM alone.