boutique vs. neiman?

lilbluebear

lilbluebear

O.G.
Sep 30, 2006
1,055
374
#1
Would you prefer buying your chanel at the boutique or at neiman marcus? I'm thinking of making a purchase this Friday, but I'm not sure where I want to get it at. What are the advantages or disadvantages at the boutique vs. NM? Or does it not matter at all?
 
#2
I buy as much as I can at NM because I rack up INcircle points there.
I also happened to have found the best SA ever there and I'm pretty loyal to her.
 
#3
Neiman Marcus is the best! Not only can you rack up InCircle points like Swanky has mentioned, you will find Sales Associates that will bend over backwards to get you the things you need. I would definitely pair up with a Chanel DSA (such as myself) for questions and requests.

The only difference between the Chanel Boutiques and Neiman's is that they have different buyers, so they sometimes have different selections. That is not a problem though because at Neiman Marcus, a good NM SA will be able to find you anything.

PM me with any questions.
 
#7
ChanelS83 said:
Good point...NM has no refund policy...but certain people really take advantage of that in a bad way, so they are starting to get a little stricter...
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Yea, they don't have WRITTEN refund policy limitation, BUT they do monitor your NM account and in my case, they said I made too many returns (which I totally disagree, and hey, sometime you have to return stuff when a $2000 + bag is in not-so-perfect condition, or there's this one time when I asked the SA to stretch my Gucci shoes a little bit and the left one ended up being 2 sizes bigger then the right one....), they discontinued my card and said they will never accept any returns from me. And plus my favorite handbag SA no longer works there. And I found that other SAs in my local NM are often not so knowlegeble about Chanel bags as the SAs in the boutique.

So now I only buy my chanel bags from the boutique (I found the sweetest SA there) and from Saks (the SAs aren't as sweet but they are also very knowlegeble about Chanel bags).
 
#9
hikarupanda said:
Yea, they don't have WRITTEN refund policy limitation, BUT they do monitor your NM account and in my case, they said I made too many returns (which I totally disagree, and hey, sometime you have to return stuff when a $2000 + bag is in not-so-perfect condition, or there's this one time when I asked the SA to stretch my Gucci shoes a little bit and the left one ended up being 2 sizes bigger then the right one....), they discontinued my card and said they will never accept any returns from me. And plus my favorite handbag SA no longer works there. And I found that other SAs in my local NM are often not so knowlegeble about Chanel bags as the SAs in the boutique.

So now I only buy my chanel bags from the boutique (I found the sweetest SA there) and from Saks (the SAs aren't as sweet but they are also very knowlegeble about Chanel bags).
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If you return more than 90% of your purchases, they do in fact revoke your charge priveleges...I don't shop at Saks..I never have, and I never will...They have terrible customer service, and their merchandise is not fashion forward enough...I would however shop at the Boutiques. I don't agree that the Boutique SA's are more knowledgeable than the Luxury Retailer SAs...They all go to the same seminars and have the same product knoweldge...SA's at retailers have way harder jobs...and they are less snobby...i mean, unless its beverly hills or michigan avenue or some of those stores
 
#10
wickedassin said:
^^How many returns did you make? How long of a period of time did they look at?!
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I think I have their card since like 2000? So it's over a few years now, so I don't count how many times I return things to them since 2000. But I can tell you I am not the type of shopper who would buy something expensive, take it home, play with it and take 2 weeks to decide to keep or not. I don't buy unless I have thought thru it and seriously WANT something. Maybe it's just my luck with NM, I also have problems buying things there. Like with the Gucci shoes I was talking about, I LOVE them and they were on sale and they only have that one pair in my size, the SA had to ruin them by making the left one 2 sizes bigger....then I had 2 missing packages within a week from 2 different NMs that they ended up have to refund me the $$$. Then I also often got bags that have issues from them....peeling leather, scratches....I don't know, it just my luck with NM....
 
#11
I have a question. So do exchanges count? I don't usually return things for a refund but if a bag is not right, I do exchange. Sometimes you just have to take it home and try it on with clothes, put all your stuff in it, parade it around the house etc. to get a feel if it should be a part of your permanent collection.
 
#12
It's interesting. Last couple of months, I bought MANY shoes(most of them were over $500/pair) and return most of them. Some of them came from stores out of my state, because my local NM doesn't carry certain items....in that case I can't really see the shoes when I order them. I usually order 2 or 3 pairs of same shoes, because a lot of designer shoes (esp. CL) run different depends on styles and all. If NM has a policy for those people who return a lot, my card should have been revoked already.
 
#13
With all of the online shopping people do now days I'm surprised that Neiman's would have a policy about returning too many things. I buy so much stuff online from Neiman's and it doesn't always work out so I have to return it. So far I haven't had any trouble.
 
#14
Smoothoprter said:
With all of the online shopping people do now days I'm surprised that Neiman's would have a policy about returning too many things.
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An excellent point Smoothoprter! Surely NM has to factor into the equation it's the cost (literally and figuratively) of doing busines online.:yes: Also customers are buying merchandise sight unseen and the website lacks size measurements on most of their bags.
 
#15
I personally find the salespeople in my local chanel boutique (in the Drake hotel in chicago) to be more knowledgable than the ones in NM, and they have aa huge seleciton, unlike NM. however, the NM salespeople are more accommodating.
 
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