customer service-- does it exist in paris?

i've been back in paris for a week or so, always a bit of an adjustment period after being in the US-- land of fastfood filled airports and, sigh, easy returns. spend some time in my hometown buying and returning, just for the joy of being able to do so with ease. -- buying on impulse, finding the item useless or ugly or cheaper elsewhere, then returning it with no hassle.

during my purchased-filled xmas vacation, i wore my new chic parisian boots. until one day i could no longer remove them, the zipper pull having completely fallen off. i pried them off, chucked them in the bag and decided to deal with them in paris.

so as i said, i've been back for a week-ish, and decided it was time to muster the courage/energy/frenchspeakingskills to return said pair of boots. jumped on the metro, boots and receipt-- critical piece of info. here, as the boots were only just over a month old-- and plumped up my feathers, ready for battle at the shoe store minelli.

i was pleasantly surprised to find the vendeuse helpful [although not friendly at all], and told me to pick another pair of boots for an exchange, as they no longer had the first style in stock. hmmm. really liked first pair of boots, but ok. tried on everything in the store in my size, with help of serviceable saleswoman, who kept retreating down the stairs to fish out other pairs that i might like. after about 30 min. of this, i decided what i really still wanted was my boots, the ones i had come in with. i asked her if it would be possible to call the other branches of the store. as it was nearing lunchtime, she said it would take a while, but she would try. i volunteered to return in a hour. i did, and alas, no boots were found, and i ended up with a pair that i didn't like quite as much, but hey-- the important point here was that i didn't have to beg, scream or plead to get my way and i was relieved to the point that i practically skipped my way out of the store.

moral of the story? if you find a shop that is accomodating and easy to work with in france-- stick with it! minelli will now be on my top ten list of favorite shops, for this very reason. and yeah, i know, there is a certain je ne sais quoi allure going on in the snotty, we-won't-help-you-until-we've-finished-our-cigarette-and-even-then-maybe-not salesperson in some boutiques, and it can be fun if you are just visiting. but living here means that you expect a little more, and might even go out of your way to get it.