Am I being too picky?

#46
Tina1010 said:
Yeah I've tried that but there is only 1 dept store near me which carries Chanel. Plus I feel it's so pointless contacting other stores because they will not ship classics and no one holds any longer so I probably don't want to purchase without seeing it in person anyway. In June, when I contacted Chanel over the phone, I was able to get a status on inventory, but this month they changed the rules and said to speak to an SA directly. They won't even tell over the phone which store might have the bag in stock for me to figure out if there are any locations that I can possibly make a trip to. They are making it difficult to even get information.
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I noticed this also that when I called Chanel customer service number with a style code number they USED tell me what store ordered the product know they no longer do this. I'm guessing this change is probably to slow down the multiple purchases of ps or resellers. What I do now is go to a dept store Chanel and a Sa I work with let's me look at their lookbook which shows me the information I'm looking for. When I go to the Chanel boutique I have to be more persistent and ask for style numbers and to search for a product which is ridiculous.
 
#47
mpacia said:
Anyway, I do know that stores now have a lot of stock during launch, but won’t sell to clients who cannot pick up at the store. They’ll only sell and ship out products after the first week and a half or so of a new collection dropping. Apparently this is in place so clients have a chance to purchase items, as opposed to all the stock being completely reserved and gone when a collection launches. I get what they’re doing, and I think it’s great, but it can be very frustrating to longtime Chanel clients who aren’t trying to hoard or take advantage of the system. Some stores give different client privileges depending on your relationship with an SA, while other stores seem to strictly adhere to the rules.
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Chanel and Hermes prioritize clients who visit the store in person to shop. The new, more restrictive bag policies demonstrate a lack of care towards longtime bag clients, especially those who may also use multiple SAs and/or boutique locations. The large premier luxury brands seem more likely to cultivate those clients who also purchase FJ or RTW in one location. Especially after Covid SIP, when the profits from luxury branded goods sky rocketed, these luxury houses have reimagined what they would like their ideal client to be.

An SA should not say that a client is too picky. However, that SA may also realize that the chances of such a client finding an acceptable bag is extremely low. I also believe that it will become harder to find bags with matching leather panels bc these bags are made by assembly line. So the front, back, and side panels are unlikely to come from the same hide. Due to enormous sales goals the SA is required to meet, they have to monetize their time and effort. Processing a return is lost time, and it may also make it less likely that they will be able to sell that particular bag to another. Another TPFer (a different thread, months ago) spoke of the disdain she felt when she asked an SA for a specific bag seen on social media. Her experience also reinforces my belief that the SAs are pushed to sell what is on the floor. None of this is right or fair, but it seems to be the direction of luxury big business today.
 
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#48
880 said:
Chanel and Hermes prioritize clients who visit the store in person to shop. The new, more restrictive bag policies demonstrate a lack of care towards longtime bag clients, especially those who may also use multiple SAs and/or boutique locations. The large premier luxury brands seem more likely to cultivate those clients who also purchase FJ or RTW in one location. Especially after Covid SIP, when the profits from luxury branded goods sky rocketed, these luxury houses have reimagined what they would like their ideal client to be.

An SA should not say that a client is too picky. However, that SA may also realize that the chances of such a client finding an acceptable bag is extremely low. I also believe that it will become harder to find bags with matching leather panels bc these bags are made by assembly line. So the front, back, and side panels are unlikely to come from the same hide. Due to enormous sales goals the SA is required to meet, they have to monetize their time and effort. Processing a return is lost time, and it may also make it less likely that they will be able to sell that particular bag to another. Another TPFer (a different thread, months ago) spoke of the disdain she felt when she asked an SA for a specific bag seen on social media. Her experience also reinforces my belief that the SAs are pushed to sell what is on the floor. None of this is right or fair, but it seems to be the direction of luxury big business today.
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Well I understand all that.. but then whose job is it to ensure that the clients are getting the quality they are looking for so there are less chances for a return? I feel that not only do I have to spend the money but also do the job that an SA should do for me or with me. At the end of the day all the SA did was take out a bag from a shelf and let me view it, no thought, effort or care was shown on their part in making sure that I was getting a quality product or making sure my needs were met. I'm not referring to my last purchase but to the previous ones with issues that were too awful to accept for a $9k bag. An SA should ensure I'm walking out the door satisfied with low chances for a return. There has to be more effort on their part, whether it's through conversation or by helping a customer look through the bag together and ensuring it meets the necessary standards. Whatever it may be. I'm sure some have SA's that go the extra mile but that's hard to find unless you have already built a good relationship. However building a good relationship needs these initial steps. Now through my experience I've learned what to look for, but I really could have used the help in making a right decision over the last month or so. Up until now, I didn't know what to ask for, I was just silly happy holding a piece of Chanel. But when you take the cost into consideration and find issues that shouldn't be, it really takes the joy away.

I'll definitely take note of the quilting of the panels. The two new ones I looked at last week had matching amount of puffyness. Honestly I've never seen a bag like that before. And I've looked through hundreds of pictures online as well.
 
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#49
880 said:
Chanel and Hermes prioritize clients who visit the store in person to shop. The new, more restrictive bag policies demonstrate a lack of care towards longtime bag clients, especially those who may also use multiple SAs and/or boutique locations. The large premier luxury brands seem more likely to cultivate those clients who also purchase FJ or RTW in one location. Especially after Covid SIP, when the profits from luxury branded goods sky rocketed, these luxury houses have reimagined what they would like their ideal client to be.

An SA should not say that a client is too picky. However, that SA may also realize that the chances of such a client finding an acceptable bag is extremely low. I also believe that it will become harder to find bags with matching leather panels bc these bags are made by assembly line. So the front, back, and side panels are unlikely to come from the same hide. Due to enormous sales goals the SA is required to meet, they have to monetize their time and effort. Processing a return is lost time, and it may also make it less likely that they will be able to sell that particular bag to another. Another TPFer (a different thread, months ago) spoke of the disdain she felt when she asked an SA for a specific bag seen on social media. Her experience also reinforces my belief that the SAs are pushed to sell what is on the floor. None of this is right or fair, but it seems to be the direction of luxury big business today.
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I’ve been fortunate enough to have some SA’s that truly want you to love what you buy. They’re few and far between, but they exist. I think if a bag has legitimate issues, like the one the OP described, it’s not unreasonable to expect even leather throughout a bag. I have seen bags that have more puffy quilts on one side and less puffy quilting on another, but generally that’s not a common issue. Normally it’s so minor, it’s not so noticeable.

I feel good SA’s will not use that against you. But the bad ones who don’t know how to cultivate relationships will. If an SA is constantly selling bags and won’t acknowledge quality issues, it hurts their sales in the long run. I think generally speaking I’ve seen an uptick of quality in Chanel bags and slg’s across the board, thank goodness.
 
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#51
880 said:
An SA should not say that a client is too picky. However, that SA may also realize that the chances of such a client finding an acceptable bag is extremely low. I also believe that it will become harder to find bags with matching leather panels bc these bags are made by assembly line. So the front, back, and side panels are unlikely to come from the same hide. Due to enormous sales goals the SA is required to meet, they have to monetize their time and effort. Processing a return is lost time, and it may also make it less likely that they will be able to sell that particular bag to another. Another TPFer (a different thread, months ago) spoke of the disdain she felt when she asked an SA for a specific bag seen on social media. Her experience also reinforces my belief that the SAs are pushed to sell what is on the floor. None of this is right or fair, but it seems to be the direction of luxury big business today.
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Hard agree. While a good SA will inspect it with you, remember there's hundreds of other customers who will love the item you deem low quality. An SA's job is ultimately to sell, not QA ("monetize" was spot on). While you are within every right as a customer to only buy the best quality out there, that doesn't mean it gives off the perspective you're a difficult client. Again, not saying you're wrong, and I don't think you should ever accept a bag that's not up to your standards, but maybe it's time for a new SA that you are more aligned with.
 
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#53
Fixxi said:
Hard agree. While your a good SA will inspect it with you, remember there's hundreds or ither customers who will love the item you deem low quality. An SA's job is ultimately to sell, not QA. While you are within every right as a customer to only buy the best quality out there, that doesn't mean it gives off the perspective you're a difficult client. Again, not saying you're wrong, and I don't think you should ever accept a bag that's not up to your standards, but maybe it's time for a new SA that you are more aligned with.
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Right, makes sense. It's sad that there's very little "selling" or work involved at Chanel because these bags are in such high demand they really don't need to make the effort. I was just thinking about my experience at Chanel to my experience at Sephora from the other day. I went in looking for a foundation and the lady went above and beyond to help me match to different color shades and asked so many questions to understand what my preferences were. No commission involved for her, just basic customer service and I walked out with a great match. A little bit of effort from Chanel SA's would have gone a long way for a newbie like me. One of the SA's I work with is clearly only interested in making a sale, I can tell. Unfortunately I don't have many options other than the two stores so can't really pick and choose. Also how do you go about changing an SA without making it uncomfortable?
Now that I'm more aware of what I'm looking for, I think I'll be able to manage without the hand holding.
 
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#54
I just got a Chanel black lambskin woc. They had a green one in store and the quilting was more plush while the black was flat with no puff. I need someone's opinion if this is normal for lambskin quilt to be flat. I heard they will have a price increase again. At my state, they do not have any woc in stock. I am currently in Vegas if someone would give me an idea of what would you do? I understand the functionality of the bag is there but just having a classic woc with flat quilting makes me second guessing if I should go return this. Please help.
 
#55
wendyh26 said:
I just got a Chanel black lambskin woc. They had a green one in store and the quilting was more plush while the black was flat with no puff. I need someone's opinion if this is normal for lambskin quilt to be flat. I heard they will have a price increase again. At my state, they do not have any woc in stock. I am currently in Vegas if someone would give me an idea of what would you do? I understand the functionality of the bag is there but just having a classic woc with flat quilting makes me second guessing if I should go return this. Please help.
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My WOC has flat quilting too and I don't mind it on the WOC. I think the WOC looks better to me with the flat quilting vs the puffy one. Depends on your preference. All the caviar classic bags I've seen these last few weeks have been on the flatter side. Can you tell me more about
where you heard about the price increase? And when?
 
#56
Tina1010 said:
My WOC has flat quilting too and I don't mind it on the WOC. I think the WOC looks better to me with the flat quilting vs the puffy one. Depends on your preference. All the caviar classic bags I've seen these last few weeks have been on the flatter side. Can you tell me more about
where you heard about the price increase? And when?
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is your woc lambskin too? I do like the puffy quilting more. My friend told me about the price increase may happen again but she didn't say when.
 
#57
wendyh26 said:
I just got a Chanel black lambskin woc. They had a green one in store and the quilting was more plush while the black was flat with no puff. I need someone's opinion if this is normal for lambskin quilt to be flat. I heard they will have a price increase again. At my state, they do not have any woc in stock. I am currently in Vegas if someone would give me an idea of what would you do? I understand the functionality of the bag is there but just having a classic woc with flat quilting makes me second guessing if I should go return this. Please help.
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It’s totally normal. They come from different skins and different artisans make the bags. Some people prefer flat quilting, or don’t have a preference, and some want puffy quilting. You should know that puffy lamb quilts are more prone to deflating over time because of the delicate leather.
 
#58
wendyh26 said:
is your woc lambskin too? I do like the puffy quilting more. My friend told me about the price increase may happen again but she didn't say when.
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No mine is in caviar.
Like @mpacia said above lambskin will deflate overtime. And when it does it might look uneven or dimpled, so maybe the flatter one will hold the look of it's quilts better?
 
#60
I just noticed the flap on the woc is uneven. Is yours the same? I’m very annoyed how these new bags are not up to par. Shouldn’t this be deemed defected if alignment is not even there?
 
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