India, Jan. 14 -- French luxury goods company Hermes is again in the spotlight for its controversial sales practices. Hermes has built a reputation for being highly exclusive - one cannot simply walk into a store and purchase one of the brand's signature bags, even if one has the obscene amounts of money that they retail for.

In fact, the Birkins and the Kellys don't even go up on display at Hermes boutiques - they are released sparingly by sales associates to customers based on their purchase history, loyalty, spending on other products and whether they have the potential to become full-fledged Hermes clients.

And if all this was not enough, a recent Glitz investigation has revealed that Hermes sales associates go to the extent of Goog...