Chanel in italy

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#392
jennywellington said:
Hi everyone! I just purchased my first classic Chanel bag today, jumbo in Caviar with gold hardware from the Florence store and wanted to share a few tips in case others were struggling to find one. I went to the one in Rome and also Florence a couple of times before they would finally sell one to me and I learned a few things along the way.

In case you didn't know (I just learned this), if you walk in to most Chanel stores in western Europe asking for a classic bag, especially in Caviar with gold hardware, they will most likely tell you they don't have one. I believe it's part of a recent process to be more exclusive and give the impression of scarcity for the classic flap bag. Of course you can easily buy one in the US, but the pricing is not as good.

For me, I walked in the first time in both Florence and Rome, they told me they didn't have any. I asked if they would be getting any in soon, how often they get them in, and if I can put my name down to reserve one, the SA shook her head and refused to give any information. As it turns out, they have them in the back, but you have to do a long verbal game for them to even show you the bag. Here's what I learned:

1. Go inside well dressed, they basically refused to help me in both Rome and Florence because I was in casual clothes from traveling. It especially helps if you already own Chanel pieces, wear them, especially your Chanel handbag. You have to prove you already paid your dues with lesser rare pieces.

2. Don't instantly ask for the classic bag you want, especially if it's one of the "rare" ones in black. Instead, be a little more vague and look around a bit, try on other bags. For me, she told me there was no Caviar or classic bags, brought out the 2.55 reissue, then slowly over the course of 30 minutes, brought out more and more classic bags in all the wrong colors (blue, red, teal, etc).

It wasn't until 30-40 minutes later, after I slowly tried on each and every thing she brought out and kept saying things like: "it's just not as perfect as _____ (insert bag you actually want), that she started "checking" her computer after lot of niceties were exchanged. Finally, after half hour of slow story telling, agreeing with her it's so rare, blah blah blah but it's so beautiful, that she "checked" her computer again and voila! there was a classic jumbo in caviar with gold hardware that they had "set aside for another client" and she "couldn't sell it until she asked for approval just now."

3. It doesn't help to argue with them or catch them in a lie, they ARE lying to you when they say they don't have any most of the time. I know some have reported they showing a different inventory each day they go in with some SAs pretending the inventory you just saw yesterday is sold out today. I think they're required to be selective about who they sell it to. Niceties are necessary to keep this long process going so they don't reject you outright, you need to wear them down to the point where they'll show you the bag.

4. Calling to reserve one ahead of time doesn't help, they probably won't help you. A year ago when I went to Amsterdam the SA said to simply reserve one 6 weeks before I show up and they'll have it ready. I tried that this time, and I believe they took away this service. Plus they're busy pretending the purse is unattainable.

5. They took me to the back of the store to show me the bag, it's not locked in any of their front cases where the current collection is. It's all theatrics, but I think you gotta play the game if you want one (at least in Italy) for 14% off with the VAT refund. I was basically told no at all of their stores until I figured out it's a game.

6. Most things are in stock. Assume they're in stock. There's no point in checking if a classic piece is in stock because chances are they won't tell you. They have a huge stock and pretend things are out of stock depending on what you look like, how much they like you, and how the weather is that day.

Good luck ladies!
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I was thinking of buying my first Chanel while visiting Rome and Greece next year. After reading this, I'm not sure if I even want to be a part of their brand. I usually go for LV, but wanted to get something special while I can get the European savings. The brand seems kind of snobby if this is how they are treating customers. Isn't the sky rocketing prices enough for exclusivity? So they feel that lying to their customers and judging people should be their new mission? How is wasting people's time making them money?
 
#393
xaznstylegrlx said:
I was thinking of buying my first Chanel while visiting Rome and Greece next year. After reading this, I'm not sure if I even want to be a part of their brand. I usually go for LV, but wanted to get something special while I can get the European savings. The brand seems kind of snobby if this is how they are treating customers. Isn't the sky rocketing prices enough for exclusivity? So they feel that lying to their customers and judging people should be their new mission? How is wasting people's time making them money?
Click to expand...
If you look at my personal experience shared, things may be different. I walked right into the Rome to ask for the medium caviar and the GST straight away. I was told there could be a stock availability issue but was still shown the last medium caviar in store.

My friend tried looking for a medium during her 3 weeks long Europe Summer trip. She had some challenges but eventually one store in Paris shared that she was lucky as the stock just arrived in the morning and Paris had been out of stock for the past month.

Previously I did have my share of difficulties too but that was because I was looking for popular seasonal items that may not even be available for the season, e.g. black caviar half moon and black caviar mini. Some SAs were nice enough to suggest alternatives which they have stocks in store.

If there is something that interests you, I guess no harm trying before you decide it is not the brand you are interested in.
 
#394
Mumof2mOnstErs said:
If you look at my personal experience shared, things may be different. I walked right into the Rome to ask for the medium caviar and the GST straight away. I was told there could be a stock availability issue but was still shown the last medium caviar in store.

My friend tried looking for a medium during her 3 weeks long Europe Summer trip. She had some challenges but eventually one store in Paris shared that she was lucky as the stock just arrived in the morning and Paris had been out of stock for the past month.

Previously I did have my share of difficulties too but that was because I was looking for popular seasonal items that may not even be available for the season, e.g. black caviar half moon and black caviar mini. Some SAs were nice enough to suggest alternatives which they have stocks in store.

If there is something that interests you, I guess no harm trying before you decide it is not the brand you are interested in.
Click to expand...

Hi, thank you for sharing your experience. I guess I'll try to pop in to see if they have anything I like. I'll only be in Europe for 7 days. I guess if it's meant to be, they'll have something that I like. I'm really just looking for a black small boy bag or flap bag. Or maybe even a classic black or red wallet on chain. I'm hoping the classic look makes the search much easier. LV gets pretty busy in France, but they are straight forward with what they have and will let you know when another store has it and ships it to you by phone purchase. Buying a Chanel item will definitely be a different experience.
 
#395
xaznstylegrlx said:
Hi, thank you for sharing your experience. I guess I'll try to pop in to see if they have anything I like. I'll only be in Europe for 7 days. I guess if it's meant to be, they'll have something that I like. I'm really just looking for a black small boy bag or flap bag. Or maybe even a classic black or red wallet on chain. I'm hoping the classic look makes the search much easier. LV gets pretty busy in France, but they are straight forward with what they have and will let you know when another store has it and ships it to you by phone purchase. Buying a Chanel item will definitely be a different experience.
Click to expand...
It is hard to talk about the stock level even for classic since there is always a demand and supply issue. No harm trying though. My hubby always laugh that I got the medium flap due to demand pressure at the store.

LV in Italy has a higher tax rebate at 12.5% vs 12% by cc and 10.8% by cash in France. You can consider buying LV in Italy. I personally hate the service at Champs-Elysees though. It lacks the personal touch and I was once by a staff who refused to help me in the first instance. I was referred to her by her colleague as she was the only one standing around. She was a french who discriminates Chinese tourists. She only toned down when she realised I was from another country when doing tax refund. I didn't check carefully and the strap of the bag I got was uneven with folded marks. I was refused an exchange in my home country. LV may not be the best service after all.
 
#396
Maybe when all the Chinese boycott these stores then they may wise up and change their attitude towards Chinese customers. Surely it does feel horrible if the Lv staff treats a customer this way. It makes me reconsider getting anything from that store or that staff. I would demand a change of staff who attends to me. If I am still unhappy with the way the staff in the store attends to me, I would re-think the purchase altogether. I'm not talking about being treated like a VIP but basically they should treat people who walk into their store with basic respect. If they can't treat their customer with some basic respect or manners and yet we still purchase the item/s despite the treatment, then it makes me feel less of a person. It will just reinforce their thinking that we want the item so badly that despite the rough treatment, we would still put up with them.
 
#397
hermesvuitton said:
Maybe when all the Chinese boycott these stores then they may wise up and change their attitude towards Chinese customers. Surely it does feel horrible if the Lv staff treats a customer this way. It makes me reconsider getting anything from that store or that staff. I would demand a change of staff who attends to me. If I am still unhappy with the way the staff in the store attends to me, I would re-think the purchase altogether. I'm not talking about being treated like a VIP but basically they should treat people who walk into their store with basic respect. If they can't treat their customer with some basic respect or manners and yet we still purchase the item/s despite the treatment, then it makes me feel less of a person. It will just reinforce their thinking that we want the item so badly that despite the rough treatment, we would still put up with them.
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I agree with you on this. If my hubby wasn't with me (he is the typical type who thinks that if you want something just buy and go), I would have done that.

Now my way of settling it is to say that I am not interested and walked off.

Frankly, these sales staff have forgotten that the ones spending the money in their countries are helping them to boost the economies. The silliest thing is that they assume all Chinese by race to be Chinese by nationality.
 
#398
Mumof2mOnstErs said:
It is hard to talk about the stock level even for classic since there is always a demand and supply issue. No harm trying though. My hubby always laugh that I got the medium flap due to demand pressure at the store.

LV in Italy has a higher tax rebate at 12.5% vs 12% by cc and 10.8% by cash in France. You can consider buying LV in Italy. I personally hate the service at Champs-Elysees though. It lacks the personal touch and I was once by a staff who refused to help me in the first instance. I was referred to her by her colleague as she was the only one standing around. She was a french who discriminates Chinese tourists. She only toned down when she realised I was from another country when doing tax refund. I didn't check carefully and the strap of the bag I got was uneven with folded marks. I was refused an exchange in my home country. LV may not be the best service after all.
Click to expand...

Hm.. that's interesting. When I went, they had several staff members who spoke several languages. Some of them spoke Chinese to the Chinese customers. (I'm Vietnamese.) Getting an associate to speak English is much easier. But I did see a person cry after waiting for 30 mins to get serviced (not Asian). It is sad that they discriminate because money is money. But I can see what you mean by "no personal touch". I had to wait a long time until I got service, but the associate was very nice to me. She was new so maybe she wasn't as jaded as the other associates.

I didn't know the VAT refund in Italy is higher. That's good to know as I usually visit several countries when going to Europe.
 
#399
xaznstylegrlx said:
Hm.. that's interesting. When I went, they had several staff members who spoke several languages. Some of them spoke Chinese to the Chinese customers. (I'm Vietnamese.) Getting an associate to speak English is much easier. But I did see a person cry after waiting for 30 mins to get serviced (not Asian). It is sad that they discriminate because money is money. But I can see what you mean by "no personal touch". I had to wait a long time until I got service, but the associate was very nice to me. She was new so maybe she wasn't as jaded as the other associates.

I didn't know the VAT refund in Italy is higher. That's good to know as I usually visit several countries when going to Europe.
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There are quite a number of Chinese LV staff. A couple of them work as the staff helping to redirect guests to an available SA. I guess this is to cater to the growing Chinese tourists crowd.

Even when I went there early last year for a 2nd visit, I feel the service is pretty much like decide on what you want, buy and go kind. Compare to a visit to Rome's LV during the same period, I feel that the SA in Rome is better in trying to build a relationship for me with the brand, the SA gave me a LV catalogue even though the purchase was just a wallet.

In terms of VAT refund, France is not the best locations especially if you are looking at cash refund. Spain has a tier VAT refund scheme. If you are looking at more expensive stuff, Spain has a better refund rate than Italy if I do not recall wrongly from this thread. Someone shared the table of Spain's refund here before.
 
#400
Mumof2mOnstErs said:
There are quite a number of Chinese LV staff. A couple of them work as the staff helping to redirect guests to an available SA. I guess this is to cater to the growing Chinese tourists crowd.

Even when I went there early last year for a 2nd visit, I feel the service is pretty much like decide on what you want, buy and go kind. Compare to a visit to Rome's LV during the same period, I feel that the SA in Rome is better in trying to build a relationship for me with the brand, the SA gave me a LV catalogue even though the purchase was just a wallet.

In terms of VAT refund, France is not the best locations especially if you are looking at cash refund. Spain has a tier VAT refund scheme. If you are looking at more expensive stuff, Spain has a better refund rate than Italy if I do not recall wrongly from this thread. Someone shared the table of Spain's refund here before.
Click to expand...

Thank you for all this great info!
 
#402
jennywellington said:
Hi everyone! I just purchased my first classic Chanel bag today, jumbo in Caviar with gold hardware from the Florence store and wanted to share a few tips in case others were struggling to find one. I went to the one in Rome and also Florence a couple of times before they would finally sell one to me and I learned a few things along the way.

In case you didn't know (I just learned this), if you walk in to most Chanel stores in western Europe asking for a classic bag, especially in Caviar with gold hardware, they will most likely tell you they don't have one. I believe it's part of a recent process to be more exclusive and give the impression of scarcity for the classic flap bag. Of course you can easily buy one in the US, but the pricing is not as good.

For me, I walked in the first time in both Florence and Rome, they told me they didn't have any. I asked if they would be getting any in soon, how often they get them in, and if I can put my name down to reserve one, the SA shook her head and refused to give any information. As it turns out, they have them in the back, but you have to do a long verbal game for them to even show you the bag. Here's what I learned:

1. Go inside well dressed, they basically refused to help me in both Rome and Florence because I was in casual clothes from traveling. It especially helps if you already own Chanel pieces, wear them, especially your Chanel handbag. You have to prove you already paid your dues with lesser rare pieces.

2. Don't instantly ask for the classic bag you want, especially if it's one of the "rare" ones in black. Instead, be a little more vague and look around a bit, try on other bags. For me, she told me there was no Caviar or classic bags, brought out the 2.55 reissue, then slowly over the course of 30 minutes, brought out more and more classic bags in all the wrong colors (blue, red, teal, etc).

It wasn't until 30-40 minutes later, after I slowly tried on each and every thing she brought out and kept saying things like: "it's just not as perfect as _____ (insert bag you actually want), that she started "checking" her computer after lot of niceties were exchanged. Finally, after half hour of slow story telling, agreeing with her it's so rare, blah blah blah but it's so beautiful, that she "checked" her computer again and voila! there was a classic jumbo in caviar with gold hardware that they had "set aside for another client" and she "couldn't sell it until she asked for approval just now."

3. It doesn't help to argue with them or catch them in a lie, they ARE lying to you when they say they don't have any most of the time. I know some have reported they showing a different inventory each day they go in with some SAs pretending the inventory you just saw yesterday is sold out today. I think they're required to be selective about who they sell it to. Niceties are necessary to keep this long process going so they don't reject you outright, you need to wear them down to the point where they'll show you the bag.

4. Calling to reserve one ahead of time doesn't help, they probably won't help you. A year ago when I went to Amsterdam the SA said to simply reserve one 6 weeks before I show up and they'll have it ready. I tried that this time, and I believe they took away this service. Plus they're busy pretending the purse is unattainable.

5. They took me to the back of the store to show me the bag, it's not locked in any of their front cases where the current collection is. It's all theatrics, but I think you gotta play the game if you want one (at least in Italy) for 14% off with the VAT refund. I was basically told no at all of their stores until I figured out it's a game.

6. Most things are in stock. Assume they're in stock. There's no point in checking if a classic piece is in stock because chances are they won't tell you. They have a huge stock and pretend things are out of stock depending on what you look like, how much they like you, and how the weather is that day.

Good luck ladies!
Click to expand...
After reading this post I am so discouraged and disappointed. Do they not know never to judge someone from how they look. I am going to Italy for the first time in April and was looking forward to purchasing a black classic. I have a white one, so it sounds like I will need to carry that into the store to MAYBE get some respect and attention. Maybe I will just buy the black one in the U.S. If anyone has a nice SA they can recommend from Rome, please let me know.
 
#403
NYJEK said:
After reading this post I am so discouraged and disappointed. Do they not know never to judge someone from how they look. I am going to Italy for the first time in April and was looking forward to purchasing a black classic. I have a white one, so it sounds like I will need to carry that into the store to MAYBE get some respect and attention. Maybe I will just buy the black one in the U.S. If anyone has a nice SA they can recommend from Rome, please let me know.
Click to expand...


I went to the boutique in Rome last year trying to get a cf and I was really disappointed. I was wearing jeans and t-shirt on that day. They made me just sit in the store for 30 minutes. The only person that had ever been nice to me was the security guy. After I waited for a long time, the only classic piece I got to see was the all black reissue. They refused to bring out any cf and at the end I just left the store without purchasing anything.
 
#404
Hi, I will be heading to Rome, Florence and Milan next week and was hoping to get any contact sales associates that can help me. I am eyeing on le boy chanel in medium. Wondering how well stocked they are in Rome.
 
#405
I think it is a hit or miss in Rome from what I hear. I have spoken with strangers on social media who have gone to the boutique in Rome and some say they have everything in every color. However some people on this thread discussed how stock is very limited. I think your best bet is in Milan. Seems like people found the best luck in Milan, the worst in Florence and mixed in Rome.
 
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