CLs sold on eBay, buyer says they're fake...
- Thread starter what_katy_does
- Start date
Hmm it doesn't seem like OP would get an authentication from Carol Diva since it's not her responsibility to verify. Or not? Either way, an authentication from Carol Diva would prove the shoes authentic or not. BTW, doesn't she only authenticate LV bags and such? I've never heard of anyone documenting shoes. Hope the best for you, OP.
Well, it seems we are close to a resolution (I hope). I've been keeping my final cards rather close my chest on all this and at present I'm waiting to see if my buyer makes contact again as I am now fully aware that she has been inconclusively advised that they are in fact completey authentic .....
I still have a few more things I want to finalise behind the scenes and I'm waiting to see whether she does indeed make contact and if so what she says but I've learnt a HUGE amount over the past few days about dealing with this sort of thing and I honestly wouldn't wish this on anyone.
That said - man it feels good to be vindicated.
I decided to make contact with Carol Diva and asked her whether she could provide her services for CLs and she agreed. Whilst I am aware that it's the buyers responsibility, not mine I had three main concerns.
The first being that I really don't want my reputation to be tarnished in any way as a seller, I'm a very open and genuine person so I wanted to do whatever I could in my power to provide my buyer with knowledge and peace of mind.
Second: the amazing members of this forum had provided their authentications and I trust those opinions. I certainly did not want one girl tarnishing the reputation of tPF in any way. Perhaps she may even come to realise that the members aren't in fact all scammers after all!
And third, I was slightly concerned by her accusatory, refund demanding attitude that there was an opportunity for her to take any pair of shoes in for authentication to provide her evidence of counterfeit goods - so I wanted to make absolutely certain that the pair that were "authenticated" to provide evidence were indeed the pair I sold to her.
However all's well (nearly) that ends well.
I'll post more as I'm able to in the hope that it may help others ......
I still have a few more things I want to finalise behind the scenes and I'm waiting to see whether she does indeed make contact and if so what she says but I've learnt a HUGE amount over the past few days about dealing with this sort of thing and I honestly wouldn't wish this on anyone.
That said - man it feels good to be vindicated.
I decided to make contact with Carol Diva and asked her whether she could provide her services for CLs and she agreed. Whilst I am aware that it's the buyers responsibility, not mine I had three main concerns.
The first being that I really don't want my reputation to be tarnished in any way as a seller, I'm a very open and genuine person so I wanted to do whatever I could in my power to provide my buyer with knowledge and peace of mind.
Second: the amazing members of this forum had provided their authentications and I trust those opinions. I certainly did not want one girl tarnishing the reputation of tPF in any way. Perhaps she may even come to realise that the members aren't in fact all scammers after all!
And third, I was slightly concerned by her accusatory, refund demanding attitude that there was an opportunity for her to take any pair of shoes in for authentication to provide her evidence of counterfeit goods - so I wanted to make absolutely certain that the pair that were "authenticated" to provide evidence were indeed the pair I sold to her.
However all's well (nearly) that ends well.
I'll post more as I'm able to in the hope that it may help others ......
K - want me to smack her silly ? good golly god ..shes dumber than a horse .. i wonder what B$#@%@$S%!#@#$%$# will she come up with next 
I mean seriously my 32154322423432 pictures of all my CL soles and shes still dumber than a horse..bahaha i ruffs it how she said to you " ALL CL SOLES ARE THE SAME " ahahahha...
IMHO i think its buyers remorse either its too big or she realised she cant walk in it and think she can pull a stunt on you
I mean seriously my 32154322423432 pictures of all my CL soles and shes still dumber than a horse..bahaha i ruffs it how she said to you " ALL CL SOLES ARE THE SAME " ahahahha... IMHO i think its buyers remorse either its too big or she realised she cant walk in it and think she can pull a stunt on you
Well, feedback has been left and an apology has been made to me so it seems to be all good....
I had direct communication with CL head office in London from Monday, they agreed to take a look over my photos but asked whether they could see the shoes in the flesh. Fortunately buyer told me on Tuesday that she was taking them to Mount St to get a letter proving they were fake so I'd refund her. Without her knowledge I intervened and made sure that head office step in and take them from Mount St to a. re-check their authenticity and b. check that the shoes she presented them with matched the pics (to prevent substitution for any kind of scam).
Head office forwarded the email they sent to the buyer on Friday both confirming their authenticity and apologising for the confusion caused by the SA in Mount Street (who it turns out did indeed send the earlier emails based on viewing my listing, and who it also turns out is not an SA at all but rather the store manager....)
Interestingly Carol Diva thought they were fake; so whilst she may be brilliant with LV, I wouldn't advise her services for CLs I'm afraid.
Anyway, because buyer know nothing of my head office intervention, I didn't send her a message - figured I'd wait it out and see what she said. A day later I get the email saying that they were authentic, that she was sorry for doubting, and that she'd be leaving +ve feedback. No apology for threatening to send the feds round mind you.......
So - it seems she was genuine after all. The reason for the two week wait - I still don't know. I do know that she had them sent to her from Melb to London so that would explain the 2 weeks - but she got the email from Mount St on the 26th and must have chosen to sit on it while they were in transit.
I was cautious throughout all of this, didn't make her aware of anything I was doing to prevent potential scams and I remained friendly and professional throughout, even when she was hurling abuse (not easy, one of my messages was angrily drafted three times before I got DH to edit it in a more reasonable manner
)
I had direct communication with CL head office in London from Monday, they agreed to take a look over my photos but asked whether they could see the shoes in the flesh. Fortunately buyer told me on Tuesday that she was taking them to Mount St to get a letter proving they were fake so I'd refund her. Without her knowledge I intervened and made sure that head office step in and take them from Mount St to a. re-check their authenticity and b. check that the shoes she presented them with matched the pics (to prevent substitution for any kind of scam).
Head office forwarded the email they sent to the buyer on Friday both confirming their authenticity and apologising for the confusion caused by the SA in Mount Street (who it turns out did indeed send the earlier emails based on viewing my listing, and who it also turns out is not an SA at all but rather the store manager....)
Interestingly Carol Diva thought they were fake; so whilst she may be brilliant with LV, I wouldn't advise her services for CLs I'm afraid.
Anyway, because buyer know nothing of my head office intervention, I didn't send her a message - figured I'd wait it out and see what she said. A day later I get the email saying that they were authentic, that she was sorry for doubting, and that she'd be leaving +ve feedback. No apology for threatening to send the feds round mind you.......
So - it seems she was genuine after all. The reason for the two week wait - I still don't know. I do know that she had them sent to her from Melb to London so that would explain the 2 weeks - but she got the email from Mount St on the 26th and must have chosen to sit on it while they were in transit.
I was cautious throughout all of this, didn't make her aware of anything I was doing to prevent potential scams and I remained friendly and professional throughout, even when she was hurling abuse (not easy, one of my messages was angrily drafted three times before I got DH to edit it in a more reasonable manner
)
I'm so glad you were so proactive and that this all worked out for you. Interesting to hear of yet another time when Carol Diva was not accurate in her authentication services. I think it is very important to only use her for those things in which she specializes (like LV). So glad this is all okay now!!
And this is exactly why employees/ store SAs should not be allowed to authenticate items. Almost all brands do not allow this and neither should CL.
Congrats to you OP! I love a happy ending.
Congrats to you OP! I love a happy ending.
^^ Someone who specializes in the brand and has studied the brand and its history, craftsmanship and lines extensively. Knowledge your average SA/SM won't have. Most only become familiar with the bags that come through during their employment, and even then not usually in an intimate manner (where they'd notice tiny details such as stitching styles, font sizing, color gradation, ect.)
Thats like expecting someone who works as a tour guide in the museum to have prolific knowledge of the museum's materials outside of what they are paid to say in the guided tour. Just because they may work for the museum, doesn't mean they are an authority on its contents.
Thats like expecting someone who works as a tour guide in the museum to have prolific knowledge of the museum's materials outside of what they are paid to say in the guided tour. Just because they may work for the museum, doesn't mean they are an authority on its contents.
I never thought about it that way but you're right. If only a curator or art historian can authenticate paintings and sculpture, then why should your average sales person be allowed to authenticate design pieces, which are arguably a valuable art form in their own right?