I have a very similar experience! Been too nervous to order from Fashionphile again.I am so happy to see your post because that's exactly what happened to me. I just hung up with one of the Fashionphile customer service representative telling her that I was returning the Chanel bag because it was fake. I previously owned the same bag that I ordered from them but in a different color so I know what the real thing looks like and I compared it to their bag and there were many inconsistencies. To top it all off she's telling me that I will be charged a 10% Reserve in other words $140 and I said that I would be disputing the charge because I was not going to be penalized for returning a fake bag. So they are aware that I'm going to fight the charge which is completely absurd. I will definitely will not buy anything from them again. Thanks for your post.
In the past 2 years, I've ordered several times from Fashionphile but had to return each time due to undisclosed damage or differences from the descriptions. The Chanel mini I ordered had a LOT more corner wear than the pictures shown, and the shade of green was significantly different than the pictures. The vintage Chanel backpack I ordered was hard and crunchy, seemed like it needed a deep conditioning and might possibly have been repainted, and was not described. Not to mention the strap length described was 3 inches off. The Diorama bag I ordered had a lot of discoloration, not described nor photographed, and very obvious because it was black. I had to return each time because I wasn't happy with the bags that didn't show up in the condition I'd expected.
I've been keeping my eye on a few bags but given past experiences of orders not being as described, I emailed Customer Service in March to let them know that I wanted to order but was nervous to because the bag conditions were not described well, causing my returns, asking whether they could do anything about clarifying the condition of a specific bag before I ordered... and I received a response saying that "We definitely want you to be happy with your purchase and will accept returns for any reason. Our returns are monitored and can evaluated for every six months of purchase. In the case that your return rate reaches 70% or more in a six month period, you could receive a warning email from our general manager. This email just clarifies that your next return will be charged a 10% restocking fee."
It's understandable that with a few returns, stores will be concerned that I'm not a serious buyer, but it feels to me in this case like I'm being charged with a restocking fee BECAUSE I reached out to them first to let them know of my concern. I didn't even get the warning email. I didn't get a response about the bag I wanted to order. I've only ordered once in the last 6 months, doesn't that mean that my return rate is currently 100%? Now I'm nervous to order from them again since I'll be charged a restocking fee even if the item doesn't show up as described, and they didn't clarify on the item I was interested in.