Hermes Return Policy (or: How to Curb Bad Behavior)

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#211
La Vanguardia said:
I really like this thread and I think it is a healthy discussion. I have not seen any bashing at all compared to other threads I've read over the years I've been a member. I would guess that maybe some people feel offended because they don't feel that their perspective is being heard or perhaps they are in the minority and need to continually reinforce their point of view.

Fortunately, I live in a place where returns (to any boutique) are not common practice. Basically, if you buy an item and you change your mind, very rarely would customers return them because it is basically their own "faulty" decision. Why should you let the boutique suffer, and, consequently other potential buyers purchase a used item because you cannot make up your mind. Customers here would only most likely return an item only if it was defective.
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Oh wow it took me a good one hour to read all these posts since I last posted here.

I totally agree with both points LaVan. I have seen nastier threads than this, this thread has been very polite imo.

I remember there was a thread where a member exchanged an evelyn after it has been brought out for dim sum and it caused quite a hoohaa. I was quite annoyed reading that even if it did not involve my store; as a customer as I don't want to be (potentially) sold a used bag. That really made me very careful and conscious.

880, np about the quote, I'm glad to hear of your experiences. I exaggerated when I said have never returned anything in my life. I bought a computer part when I was 19, which turned out to be defective. When I tried to return it, things got very ugly and I learned to shop smart from then on. (Oh, before that, I didn't have any money to buy anything so I had nothing to return, lol!) We also don't really have a culture of returns here in Singapore.

Anyway, from that nasty experience, I have learned to:

1) Check, check check the merchandise in the store before paying for it. Try it on. If unsure, don't buy it! Unfortunately we can't do this when buying online, but ask for more pictures if you can.

2) Have a like-minded shopping buddy who can give you honest opinions and stop you from making mistakes, although this may not really be a good thing for your pockets as some of us have learned. :graucho:

3) Do my research. Whether for electronics or bags, I will pore over a few reviews and opinions on the net. I spent 6 months lurking here and trying to memorise the reference threads before narrowing down what bag I would like to buy. I am STILL in the process of refining my wishlist. That's why I'm on the forums a lot, lol.

This is really important especially when such a high priced product is involved. It also stops me from buying on impulse. It helps to avoid situations where I buy something, then see something else better, and then subsequently regret my purchase.

Hope these points can help people make more informed decisions in their purchases. :flowers:
 
#212
Lyanna Stark said:
Oh wow it took me a good one hour to read all these posts since I last posted here.

I totally agree with both points LaVan. I have seen nastier threads than this, this thread has been very polite imo.

I remember there was a thread where a member exchanged an evelyn after it has been brought out for dim sum and it caused quite a hoohaa. I was quite annoyed reading that even if it did not involve my store; as a customer as I don't want to be (potentially) sold a used bag. That really made me very careful and conscious.

I have learned to:

1) Check, check check the merchandise in the store before paying for it. Try it on. If unsure, don't buy it! Unfortunately we can't do this when buying online, but ask for more pictures if you can.

2) Have a like-minded shopping buddy who can give you honest opinions and stop you from making mistakes, although this may not really be a good thing for your pockets as some of us have learned. :graucho:

3) Do my research. Whether for electronics or bags, I will pore over a few reviews and opinions on the net. I spent 6 months lurking here and trying to memorise the reference threads before narrowing down what bag I would like to buy. I am STILL in the process of refining my wishlist. That's why I'm on the forums a lot, lol.

This is really important especially when such a high priced product is involved. It also stops me from buying on impulse. It helps to avoid situations where I buy something, then see something else better, and then subsequently regret my purchase.

Hope these points can help people make more informed decisions in their purchases. :flowers:
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Returning an Evelyn having taken it out for a Dim Sum:wtf::faint: no wonder it caused hooooohaaaaa, that is just unbelievable!!!!!!
 
#214
star3777 said:
My issue is not with you discovering the behavioral patterns of a shopaholic. It is with the tone of whom these shopaholics could have been in the TPF in prior posts leading up to your input and it sounded like those who can afford to do reveals were being judged as the "shopaholics" beforehand. The negative association is what bothers me.
"The greater the price tag, the greater the effect?" - that does actually have to do with what one can afford and someone who can afford alot, may be judged as a "shopoholic" - with it's negative associations that you have posted.
Considering I have 4 exotics to reveal, I find it offensive to feel ashamed suddenly to post them, lest I be deamed a "shopaholic".
As you said if I feel any shame, one should not post. Fact is the shame is what you "could" think of me, not what I damn well know.
Whateva...life goes on...
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Star please reveal your bags!:heart:

On a separate note: Overshopping has nothing to do with the value of the item purchased. I googled and found this website by April Benson, a Ph.D., who treats overshoppers. I'm sure there is a proportion who are compulsive returners and there are a cohort of those who just hid their purchases from everyone around them in the back of their respective closets with tags still on. From reading Benson's site this compulsion can't be simplified and Hermes can't be the reason for someone to shop, no more than Wal-Mart -- to the extent of advertising. Yes, there seems to be some "personal, internal" issues that are at play that can stem from events at any point in life, not necessarily childhood. Can I see a forum such as tPF (sorry, I would say this would apply to a shoe forum, lipstick forum, car forum, you name as there are many forums out there that deal with ever interest under the sun.) with all the reveals and discussion about new products being an issue for a shopaholic? Yes, it doesn't help them as there is a sense of excitement with the reveals. Perhaps someone could get caught up in it? Sure and this person would see the attention the reveal is receiving. Some people like the thrill of the chase.

I know I posted before about returns and how they are necessary in business. Getting something new out of the box, in any store, does not equate to receiving an undamaged product. People try things on, that is to be expected. It is up to the sales rep to make sure the customer respects the items that are for sale in the store. But I do draw a line too... dim sum and cookie crumbs are a little too much!

This is a direct quote from April Benson's site. She brings forth a good point:
"Shopping can be an important source of self-definition, self-expression, creativity, even healing. Done to excess, however, it can spin out of control and lead to serious problems, eroding rather than enhancing your quality of life. The more you use shopping as an attempt to fill an inner void, manage your feelings, repair your mood, or pursue a "perfect" image, the more likely it is that you need to take a closer look at what this behavior is costing you."
 
#215
Lililu and LS, you have hit the nail on the head. Returning a bag after taking it out for dim sum, or putting a bag on the lawn while considering returning it - this is inappropriate if not unethical. I cant imagine there is much disagreement about that. On a related point, not all bad returners are serial returners, or vice versa, but the subtheme of the thead - dysfunctional shopping, for lack of a better word, since some people either recoil or make jokes about the addiction part ("oh gee, I am addict, hehe") obviously hit some nerves. I dont think anyone meant the discussion of oniomania to be "judgmental", but its not, as some have suggested, irrelevant either. Whether someone buys a bag every week or two, whether they return everything unused, sell everything on ebay, or hoard everything in their closet (or throw things away, for that matter), there is one behavior that links all those things - the excessive buying. The written material on this (referenced in wikipedia) would suggest that all of these behaviors come from the same place. Some of this fuels the secondary market, and that may be a good thing or not, depending on how you look at it. This is an observation, not a judgment (unless you took the bag I am buying out for dim sum or put it on the grass). This is not an off limits topic simply because it may hit close to home for some people - if anything, thats more of a reason to talk about it.
 
#216
this is really difficult.. i'm not much of a returner, if i'm not sure about something but buy it anyway (almost never, but i have done it just before a price increase for example, or in the duty free to get the better price) it certainly stays in its box until i'm sure either way, except maybe to try it on by a mirror but that's nothing you couldn't do in the store. almost always i end up keeping the item, but i like knowing that i could return something if i really wanted to. the last thing i exchanged was a perfume and they did inspect it very thoroughly, and of course i hadn't sprayed it or anything (it was an hermessence so it wasn't in a sealed box) so it was fine.

i really don't think a gift receipt would do any good, if i knew that was the only way i could get an exchange then i'd probably get one even if i was buying for myself and was sure i wanted to keep the item just as an insurance policy of sorts (and again, i hardly ever return anything, i've returned to H twice in total, ever, and one of those was the perfume exchange, another was a twilly that looked totally different in daylight than under flourescent airport lighting), and if you were a serial returner there's no way you wouldn't get one. and if i received a gift and wanted to exchange it and the person who gave it to me didn't give me the gift receipt or didn't get one from the store then i'd be stuck, and that would be a terrible shame. sure, some things fetch above retail on *bay but most things don't so you can't always sell one thing to buy another (plus i'd hate to sell a gift, but for some reason exchanging for a different colour or something doesn't seem as bad to me).
 
#218
Good discussion...especially here in the US where, part of their marketing ploy is to say to the customer..."buy it, you can return it if you change your mind"...adds a sense that it's ok to do and that it's OK to act on impulse buying.

Personally, I'd feel goofy returning things because I changed by mind...product I like having a defect, now that's a different story.
 
#221
I think Asian countries are a lot more stringent in their return policies than the US. I remember jewelry shopping for my wedding and a SA refusing to bring out any pieces of jewelry to show me unless I promised I would buy one of their creations. Needless to say they never took returns, you weren't allowed to try anything on before purchase and you had to pay for repair of defective items out of pocket.

Being brought up in such an environment I feel very uncomfortable handling returns of any sort even though I currently live in the US. It makes me a very cautious shopper too.

Quite recently I stocked an aquarium for my DS. Unfortunately some of the fish died a few days after purchase. On one of my return trips to the pet store I mentioned this to a saleswoman, and she said "Oh gosh I'm so sorry, if you brought the dead fish back in a baggie we'd have refunded you!" You could have picked my jaw up off the floor!
 
#222
:wtf: they refund dead fish????

i just came to think of a recent thread in general discussion where there was shock expressed at the fact that neiman marcus had reduced the time you can get a full refund on your purchases to 60 days. i'd never even think that i could get anything after that long, i've never seen a longer policy than a month here so i found the whole idea quite amusing :laugh:
 
#223
n2chanel said:
Wow, I never thought about it on this level at all. I don't have a good feeling about buying used items for full price. At least when you buy a used car, you buy it knowing that there was a previous owner and you do not pay the original sticker price. With bags from the store, it should be NEW...Period, no ifs, ands or buts. The SA's should take every precaution to make sure that the bags are in new condition before they take them back or at the very least before they are shown to a customer. Finding cookie crumbs and human hair would gross me out and take all of the luster away for me. Just inexcusable!:tdown:
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n2Chanel - I must comment on your Avatar! And your note of your dear Mother being your style icon! This is heart warming! Oh yes, she is a beautiful woman.
:heart:
n2chanel
My Style Icon Mother

Oh - I agree with the above too. Buying a high end item especially and finding cookie crumbs!
 
#224
petpringles said:
Good discussion...especially here in the US where, part of their marketing ploy is to say to the customer..."buy it, you can return it if you change your mind"...adds a sense that it's ok to do and that it's OK to act on impulse buying.
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Right - and some salespeople can be too pushy, resulting sometimes inevitably in a return.
 
#225
beaumonde said:
Most definitely!

Btw, I do alumni interviewing for my college and have been seeing "Shopping" listed under "Hobbies" more and more often on applicants' resumes. Troubling. :sad:
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Oh my! Now where do these young ones get all that money to spend on their shopping hobby?
Seriously - and "troubling" is a good word to desribe one's reaction too!
 
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