I'm in need of advice..my authenticated K28 is deemed fake by Paris HQ

[PJW5813]

. . . But I can see a young craft person, regardless of their passion or what not, who have never seen this particular, older, special edition bag can deem it to be fake. Don’t get me wrong, I am sure a lot of them are very professional. All I’m saying is while I don’t know the craft person, or his or her background, . . .

Please . . . even OP has explained that the Hermes position is not the opinion of ONE person.
So this supposition of lack of experience in making the call is not well founded.

 

[papertiger]

I don’t think what I said was uncivilized. I am seriously confused. I apologize if it read rudely.

I mentioned no names, it was a general reminder for all....

 

[chkpfbeliever]

I may only have nine posts but I have been reading the posts here for a long time. I did not know that if you only had nine posts you can not have a lot of opinions. I believe it is a great forum. I am speaking in general and not attacking anyone. I of course hope that the third round of inspection by the craftsperson in the Paris HQ rules in the OP's favor and that the authentication service she got is infallible. After all, it is a beautiful purse.

What is your point after all this? to tell everyone that they should just buy directly from H and not blame anyone for buying preloved bags? Majority of members here buy and trade beloved bags and have no issues. I don't see your point here.

 

[chkpfbeliever]

I really hope that your Kelly is real. But I don’t understand how so many people can suggest that the men and women working in Hermes making handbags, aren’t as reliable as an authenticator? I mean really? You think such a reputable luxury brand (one of a very small few) would hire someone who is not extremely well versed and obsessed with their job? And an expert in the brand? Or extremely passionate and proud of the work they do? They consider themselves artists and I doubt for the most part that they don’t take it very seriously and know the ins and outs of the work they do. Unfortunately, if Hermes says the purse is not authentic, I wouldn’t second guess it.

Who knows what craftsman the bag was handed over to for cross examination? There are lots of people that have been there for less than 5 years.

I hope the OP gets a decent reply from H.

 

[MAGJES]

Care to share which sellers out there have colluded with authenticators to pass off fakes? I have not see any reputable recommended authenticators that have done that.

Exactly. I do not understand when @Gigllee stated:
‘some are just outright out to scam other.”
To what purpose would an authenticator try to scam?

 

[xiaoxiao]

Please . . . even OP has explained that the Hermes position is not the opinion of ONE person.
So this supposition of lack of experience in making the call is not well founded.

Perhaps my English is not so good, what did you mean by please? I hope you are not taking my comment as an offense. Def not intended.

In any case, I really don’t know who is making the call (young as in experience, not necessarily the age). But I agree it would be good to have someone who has worked on a mou before to make the call as well.

Or like I mentioned previously, if they have a database of all the serial numbers of all the mou being made and this particular one is not on it (ie proprietary information), then this debate whether the Craftman is qualified or not to make the call would not be necessary...

 

[sand]

Let me start out by saying how awful I feel for the OP and her situation. As a secondary market purchaser, she did her due diligence and even went as far as hiring an authenticator for an opinion. She has taken more steps than most to alleviate any concerns of authenticity. Unfortunately, however, I think it is still a situation of buyer beware (caveat emptor).

In the end, who ends up taking the financial loss? Definitely not the authenticator. She is only providing an opinion (albeit a very educated and experienced opinion); she cannot assume any liability for the situation which is clearly stated on her website. Does the seller take the loss? Maybe/maybe not. Seller has already advised that they would provide a refund if the bag was returned to them. Problem with this is that Hermes is not about to return a bag it deems fake. Should Seller still refund the money, even without the bag? If I were them, I wouldn't. It sets up a horrible precedent that con artists could take advantage in the future. How can the seller be certain that the bag wasn't switched out from the time they sent it to a purchaser and the time it was sent to Hermes? (Please, please note that I am in no way directing this to the OP and her situation, just raising a hypothetical situation).

In the end, it's a horrible situation and I completely empathize with the OP. I too have purchased from the secondary market but, after what has happened to OP, I will never be sending a pre-loved bag to Hermes for a spa treatment as one clearly can never be 100% sure of authenticity unless purchased from the boutique.

 

[tonkamama]

Thanks @doni for the informative post. I learnt a couple of things from simply reading it.

@PJW5813 To clarify, I commissioned bababebi for her service prior to my purchase. The seller took the photos and provided them to me (as the bag then was with the seller).

Hello dear, may I ask ... have you ever took and resubmitted another set of photos after you received the bag from the reseller for 2nd round of authentication? Thank you.

 

[scarlet555]

I hope you get your lovely purse back!

 

[SupaUltra_J]

Hello dear, may I ask ... have you ever took and resubmitted another set of photos after you received the bag from the reseller for 2nd round of authentication? Thank you.

I only visually checked the bag after unboxing. I did not take another set of photos nor went for second round authentication. Unfortunate perhaps.

 

[EmileH]

I only visually checked the bag after unboxing. I did not take another set of photos nor went for second round authentication. Unfortunate perhaps.

It’s a great question but don’t feel badly. I do not know anyone who authenticates twice.

 

[Ceeyahd]

With the authenticator’s backing here, pray tell why the Seller would budge to issue a refund? From the look of things here, a tribe of Hermes artisans from every era could confirm the Bag is fake, however the court of TPf would insist they aren’t experienced as the authenticator. Lol

Obviously, and reasonably, should a final Hermes review deem the bag inauthentic, the OP should absolutely receive a refund from the seller. No matter any other party opinion. Hermes will have the final say.

 

[Hermes Nuttynut]

Really appreciate any input on this matter...

Long story short - I've been longing for a mou Kelly so a few months ago I purchased a mou Kelly28 from a reputable reseller. Prior to making the purchase I also had the bag authenticated by @bababebi and obtained a certificate.

I then sent her to the boutique for a spa treatment. Today after-sales in Paris got back with the news that the bag is not authentic. We all know what this means...

As for the next step, I'm not able to provide any original purchase document except bababebi's certificate. I know I should and have got in touch with my boutique asking for their advice regarding this matter. I kindly asked them for possibility of having the bag re-assessed by the artisan in Paris.

I know the best I could do now is to sit and wait to hear back from my boutique. But I really need a sounding board to help me survive through the wait....Thoughts are flowing in my mind...What is the chance of having Paris HQ re-assess my bag? Could it be that the artisan actually made a wrong judgement? Or could it be that our trusty @bababebi actually made a mistake here?

Did you send the bag to a boutique, or did you bring it into the boutique yourself? The people working at that boutique who were the first point of contact, should have let you know right then if they thought it was a fake. At that point they should have simply given it back to you and not forwarded it on. I’m not saying this is the procedure, but it should be. I truly hope you get the beautiful Kelly back. I’m not an authenticator, but the photos you show, IMO, leave no doubt to me about it’s authenticity.

 

[DaBish]

Did you send the bag to a boutique, or did you bring it into the boutique yourself? The people working at that boutique who were the first point of contact, should have let you know right then if they thought it was a fake. At that point they should have simply given it back to you and not forwarded it on. I’m not saying this is the procedure, but it should be. I truly hope you get the beautiful Kelly back. I’m not an authenticator, but the photos you show, IMO, leave no doubt to me about it’s authenticity.

This is what I don't understand either. Why didn't the SA that took the bag in for repair see that it was fake? ( I don't believe it is fake) SA must've examined it when filling out the paperwork for it to be sent off to H spa . Why didn't they notice it then if it was so fake?
I think there's a good chance that there's been a terrible mistake here.

 

[xincinsin]

I really hope that your Kelly is real. But I don’t understand how so many people can suggest that the men and women working in Hermes making handbags, aren’t as reliable as an authenticator? I mean really? You think such a reputable luxury brand (one of a very small few) would hire someone who is not extremely well versed and obsessed with their job? And an expert in the brand? Or extremely passionate and proud of the work they do? They consider themselves artists and I doubt for the most part that they don’t take it very seriously and know the ins and outs of the work they do. Unfortunately, if Hermes says the purse is not authentic, I wouldn’t second guess it.

Legacy knowledge is something that has to be built up over time. And since OP's bag was only produced for a short period, the H craftsmen and women who made it might not even still be at H or they might not be involved in the spa process. I work in a company that has been around for longer than I'm alive, and I'm considered fairly knowledgeable in my department, but I'm stumped when people ask me about ancient history that happened when I was a toddler (no, I don't have those files ) or about a project which my colleagues did and I was not involved in. If H still has craftsmen who made the Kelly Mou, that would be ideal.