Experience at LV today...

[PurseHappiness]

Today I went to my local LV (45 minutes away) to look at exchanging my logo mania bracelet. Smooth process with a pleasant SA who helped me find a more secure bracelet and I only ended up paying $60 difference. BUY while I was there, it turned into an interesting experience!

First as I walk in to the store, 2 SA's are helping a woman who is trying to exchange her Sarah wallet. This was apparently not her first time exchanging it so the SA's were trying to find a better match for her since the button seemed to be the customer's concern and reason for exchange. They finally settle on a zippered wallet and the lady pays the difference. Well here's where my interest (or nosey-ness) is peaked! The customer leaves and the SA is finishing up the details on the exchange. She gets a flashlight out and is looking all around the Sarah wallet. She then says I hope that woman didn't give me a fake cause I can't find the tag. This was not resolved before I left so I don't know how it ended. But the wallet she was exchanging showed up on her account and the customer paid the difference so it didn't seem like she was trying to get away with returning a fake. Nonetheless, it was interesting.

Then as I was looking around while waiting for my bracelet to be boxed up, a man came in to pick up a wallet he ordered and had hot stamped. When the SA showed him the wallet I heard him say the stamp was not centered. And the SA agrwed and said that she would get him a new wallet and have it stamped again.

All of this happened upon the first 20 minutes of the store opening! My experience was delightfully smooth but I sure hope those SA's day goes better than it had started. Just thought I'd share! Have a wonderful week all!

 

[mrsinsyder]

SAs are saints.

 

[LemonDrop]

I think it's a thing to buy a real wallet then bring back a fake for an exchange or refund. You end up with two wallets for the price of one. someone would have to be very bold to bring a fake into a boutique. I would think those SAs would be so familiar with product they could feel the difference alone.

 

[Dooneysta]

Scammers that have been at it awhile get brass stones. They try to use the SA they know is the newest.
Coupon scammers do that too; pick the newbie cashier and roll them hard.
If she’s done this more than once (you said she had exchanged it at least once already) she’s got at minimum THREE wallets for the price of the first Sarah plus the difference between a Sarah and whatever zip wallet she bought.
Let’s say she’s not scamming for a living but just to expand her own collection. She’ll sell two of those wallets, or all three, online for close to retail and use the proceeds towards a bag she wants, which she will then have for the investment of one Sarah and the ‘upgrade’ differences. It’s no big deal for scammers to invest in one real piece, to wind up with three, so the fact that a real one is on her purchase history doesn’t necessarily mean she wasn’t scamming.

Considering how long I’ve seen them taking to examine people’s returns, I’m surprised they let her leave before they were done with the whole process. what’s the point of making sure it’s in new condition and authentic if you’re going to cash them out and let them leave before you’re sure it’s good?Ugh, scammers.

Or she just pulled the tag out for some reason, and the wallet is perfectly real, but in which case they STILL shouldn’t let her exchange it, assuming there was nothing actually wrong yet with the button and they plan to resell it.
Poor SAs!

 

[mrsinsyder]

I think it's a thing to buy a real wallet then bring back a fake for an exchange or refund. You end up with two wallets for the price of one. someone would have to be very bold to bring a fake into a boutique. I would think those SAs would be so familiar with product they could feel the difference alone.

(Changing insignificant details to protect identities but)
I was in the store recently when someone came in to have a fake item repaired. It was interesting because the SA could tell that the item had previously been repaired by LV (a piece of the item had been replaced and was authentic), however, it was definitely a fake. So apparently they do sneak through occasionally.

 

[babyloove]

Bringing in a fake is possible, it happened to me (I was not aware my bag was a fake).

I was gifted a DE Neverfull in October with the box / dustbag / receipt. I felt that the handles were really stiff so I took it in to get it examined and to exchange to something else. The SA told me she couldn't do anything because it was a fake, a good one but still a fake. I was so chocked and ashamed. I think she saw on my face that I didn't know because she was very Nice ....

She said that receipt were copied all the time. I store the bag in a closet (obviously, I'm not going to wear a fake). My friends said it comes from the boutique but I guess they bought it preloved and got scammed....

 

[PurseHappiness]

Wow, the responses have been eye opening to me. I guess I give people too much credit! I was suprised they let her leave without thoroughly inspecting it either for authenticity or use. But this was my first time exchanging an item so I wasn't sure what typical protocol was. But I will now be more aware when I am making my future purchases. Thanks for responses and insights!

 

[LemonDrop]

I used to work in a bank. I'd sit there all day every day counting cash. thousands of bills through my fingers. then one day out of nowhere, I was like "What the heck"?? I caught my one and only fake by feel. I bet those seasoned SAs know as soon as they touch a fake one.

 

[Dooneysta]

Wow, the responses have been eye opening to me. I guess I give people too much credit! I was suprised they let her leave without thoroughly inspecting it either for authenticity or use. But this was my first time exchanging an item so I wasn't sure what typical protocol was. But I will now be more aware when I am making my future purchases. Thanks for responses and insights!

Typical protocol is they go over that shizzz with a telescope and night vision goggles, practically.
They want their stuff back as perfect as if Jesus sewed it.
(Which is fine since they’re planning to resell it most of the time: I sure don’t want to find a cat hair and a hangnail in MY purchase...)
‘If’ she was scamming, she probably picked an SA she felt reasonably certain to be able to roll. Whether that’s because they’re new, not new but lazy/inattentive, have bought from them before so the SA is unfortunately more trusting, etc.

Scammers are like abusive men. They KNOW from experience and some kind of friggin’ radar they have which women will fall for their false face and they can pick out women that won’t fight back. Retail scammers make this stuff an art.

There’s a website for Target employees I lurk in (never worked there, I JUST LOVE TARGEÉ) and their threads about coupon scammers and theft/return scammers are like and at the same time!

A cat’s curse upon all scammy tossers!

 

[Dooneysta]

However, I would like to amend this by saying that although it’s statistically probably a certainty that they occasionally take back a fake, because although they GENERALLY take it to the back and inspect the bejeezus out of it before taking it, they don’t EVERY time, which has been well documented on other threads here.

So once in a rare while they’ll get rolled for that reason.
However. In these few cases where they initially exchange/return without thoroughly inspecting, they AT SOME point before restocking it would conduct the thorough inspection and find out.
They would then destroy the offending item and take a small loss. (Very small against the total profit margin of LVMH). Probably coach the SA and notate the account. But the odds of it making it back out for resale are tiny, so the possibility of buying fake stuff at a full LV-only store is almost nonexistent. You’d stand better odds of getting hit by lightning on the way there after recovering from a shark bite you sustained in a terrorist attack the week prior.