Just ordered first Chloe bag - but now getting nervous!

[cece123]

Hi all! This is my first post here and I am very new to the designer bag world, so hoping you all might be able to assuage my now growing fears.

I recently ordered the Chloe Nile bag in black from Neiman Marcus. I've had my eye on this bag for the last couple of years since it came out, but I hesitated for various reasons. Last week I decided to finally take the plunge and purchase, only to find out it was discontinued/no longer on Chloe's website.

After much searching, I found it in black on Neiman Marcus where it was on sale, the last in stock, and "ships from a store". I quickly purchased it as it was the only link I could find for the black color and from a "reputable" store... or so I thought.

After purchasing, I got excited about the bag and started doing some research - including joining purseforum. I then started to see threads about Neiman Marcus selling fakes, bags coming damaged with scratches (likely bags from the sales floor), and bags arriving without an authenticity card/dust bag. I'm now nervous that I made a mistake purchasing and should have just let the bag go.

Has anyone had a positive experience ordering a Chloe bag from Neiman Marcus? Or did I mess up? Any advice would be appreciated, thank you!

 

[MooMooVT]

I totally get this fear! Hang in there though. You can always return the bag if there's any damage and you can have it authenticated on this forum. While it does seem to occasionally happen where fakes are sold at reputable stores - it is quite rare. The biggest risk is likely that it's a return - but it could still be in perfect/great shape.

Did you pay full price or did you get a deal? Someone posted on the Chloe sub that they found a Faye Backpack Small for just under $700 at Nordstrom. Even with a small flaw or two - that's a screaming deal! I paid full price ($1890) for the same bag from the Chloe boutique in 2017.

So hang in there and try not to sweat it just yet. The Nile is a great bag and fingers crossed yours is in perfect condition! Report back once it arrives

 

[mssmelanie]

Hey there! Yes, that was me that got the Chloe deal. I imagine that it had to be a return to the stores for both of our bags. Don't worry about your purchase. Neiman Marcus is a reputable company. I agree with MooMooVT that you can return it if there is any issue. The only problem I've had with the NM Website is that I tried to purchase 2 items and got order confirmations, only yet to find out a few days later, they could not fulfill the order. Can't wait til you get it!

 

[cece123]

I totally get this fear! Hang in there though. You can always return the bag if there's any damage and you can have it authenticated on this forum. While it does seem to occasionally happen where fakes are sold at reputable stores - it is quite rare. The biggest risk is likely that it's a return - but it could still be in perfect/great shape.

Did you pay full price or did you get a deal? Someone posted on the Chloe sub that they found a Faye Backpack Small for just under $700 at Nordstrom. Even with a small flaw or two - that's a screaming deal! I paid full price ($1890) for the same bag from the Chloe boutique in 2017.

So hang in there and try not to sweat it just yet. The Nile is a great bag and fingers crossed yours is in perfect condition! Report back once it arrives

Thank you so much for your helpful reply! You've definitely helped to quell some of my fears. It was on sale/a pretty good deal I think - about $950 before taxes! And yes, will definitely update this thread once the bag is in

 

[cece123]

Hey there! Yes, that was me that got the Chloe deal. I imagine that it had to be a return to the stores for both of our bags. Don't worry about your purchase. Neiman Marcus is a reputable company. I agree with MooMooVT that you can return it if there is any issue. The only problem I've had with the NM Website is that I tried to purchase 2 items and got order confirmations, only yet to find out a few days later, they could not fulfill the order. Can't wait til you get it!

Thank you!! Really appreciate your kind reply. And ahh - something kinda similar happened with this bag? My order was confirmed but then I got an email the next day saying there was an issue and I had to call customer service. It ended up being an issue with my billing address that got sorted pretty quickly and later my order was "updated" with an estimated delivery date. So hopefully it should be okay! Very excited for my first Chloe bag

 

[msgnoob]

I can totally relate to you. I just bought a Balenciaga small city bag over the weekend from NM. It was on sale. I paid less than $1.4k with tax which is a pretty sweet deal for the bag. These posts about receiving fakes is making me really worried. The bag is supposed to arrive tomorrow and I will be posting here to help with authentication.

 

[JenJBS]

For me, one of the main reasons to buy from a department store (none of them seem good at packaging or purses for shipment) is the easy returns. If there is any problem at all, return.

And, imo, the reason we hear the stories if a department store sells a fake is because it's so rare. If it happened all the time it wouldn't make the news.

I have gotten purses shipped from a store that were in perfect condition. (And a couple from Saks that I had to return due to damage fro being the display bag.) But the couple items I've gotten from NM have been perfect. I think sometimes the sales people in the store care more about proper packing, and the details like dust bags, than the guys in the warehouse trying to get a few hundred things shipped out.

 

[cece123]

I can totally relate to you. I just bought a Balenciaga small city bag over the weekend from NM. It was on sale. I paid less than $1.4k with tax which is a pretty sweet deal for the bag. These posts about receiving fakes is making me really worried. The bag is supposed to arrive tomorrow and I will be posting here to help with authentication.

Wow, that is a good deal! And let me know how it goes! I'm curious to hear about the condition it arrives in, but fingers crossed it's perfect

 

[cece123]

For me, one of the main reasons to buy from a department store (none of them seem good at packaging or purses for shipment) is the easy returns. If there is any problem at all, return.

And, imo, the reason we hear the stories if a department store sells a fake is because it's so rare. If it happened all the time it wouldn't make the news.

I have gotten purses shipped from a store that were in perfect condition. (And a couple from Saks that I had to return due to damage fro being the display bag.) But the couple items I've gotten from NM have been perfect. I think sometimes the sales people in the store care more about proper packing, and the details like dust bags, than the guys in the warehouse trying to get a few hundred things shipped out.

That's a good point! A little more reassuring to think about a sales person packaging the bag up. And that's good to know the perfect items you got were from NM - the horror stories that I came across definitely got me wondering if I made a mistake ordering from there. Fingers crossed that I don't get the display item shipped to me/if it is the display item, there isn't too much wear and tear!

 

[msgnoob]

Wow, that is a good deal! And let me know how it goes! I'm curious to hear about the condition it arrives in, but fingers crossed it's perfect

The bag arrived today. Posted photos in the Balenciaga authenticate thread and got confirmation it is authentic and is from the 2019 season. Anyway, my only complaint is the packaging. They placed it in a small box and placed the dust bag inside the bag, so the dust bag is very crumpled. The bag was even folded in some areas for it to fit in the box. No damage at all but Amazon does a better job with their packaging. How was your experience?

 

[Cloudburst2000]

Hi all! This is my first post here and I am very new to the designer bag world, so hoping you all might be able to assuage my now growing fears.

I recently ordered the Chloe Nile bag in black from Neiman Marcus. I've had my eye on this bag for the last couple of years since it came out, but I hesitated for various reasons. Last week I decided to finally take the plunge and purchase, only to find out it was discontinued/no longer on Chloe's website.

After much searching, I found it in black on Neiman Marcus where it was on sale, the last in stock, and "ships from a store". I quickly purchased it as it was the only link I could find for the black color and from a "reputable" store... or so I thought.

After purchasing, I got excited about the bag and started doing some research - including joining purseforum. I then started to see threads about Neiman Marcus selling fakes, bags coming damaged with scratches (likely bags from the sales floor), and bags arriving without an authenticity card/dust bag. I'm now nervous that I made a mistake purchasing and should have just let the bag go.

Has anyone had a positive experience ordering a Chloe bag from Neiman Marcus? Or did I mess up? Any advice would be appreciated, thank you!

I wouldn't worry too much about getting a fake bag. It is a very very rare occurrence when someone has bought the real bag and returned a very excellent fake in it's place. This has also rarely happened at other high end department stores and very rarely it has even occurred at some of the brand boutiques. Some fakes are so good that they are very very hard to tell apart from the real thing, but this is not a common occurrence at all.

And I wouldn't worry about bag damage. If it is damaged, they will replace with no problem. I had a Chloe that was damaged during shipping about three years ago. I contacted NM and they immediately had me pack it back up after taking some photos of the damage and the box (suede was scratched...the box looked like it had been thrown around and was pretty crushed). I was going to drop it off at the shipper's the next day. To my surprise, NM sent out a new bag that same day for overnight shipping. I didn't get to the shipper's until the next afternoon so for a couple hours, I had two of the same bag. NM had excellent customer service and CSR were extremely kind and helpful. I have had much worse luck with Saks than with NM. Saks sent me a bag that was obviously damaged PRIOR to shipping. I believe it was the floor model. It was scratched all over (likely from the chain). However, the chain was stored inside the bag during shipping and there was no damage to the box so it wasn't a shipping mishap like it was with NM. The CSR at Saks was rude and finally after seeing photos agreed to a return. I returned the bag and it took forever for them to process the return and return the credit to my card. I have also had much more luck in person at NM than at Saks....much friendlier SAs. I am now jaded against shopping at Saks. I have been burned more than once so I would rather spend my money elsewhere (unless there is a deal I can't pass up).

 

[cece123]

Hi all - thank you SO much to everyone who replied! Unfortunately, my update is a bit sad - after a week of processing, I got the email this morning that NM cancelled my order. I'm not sure what happened as I did verify over the phone that the bag was in stock when I was ordering, but I suppose that's how things go sometimes.

The bright side is I called a Chloe boutique near me and they have one in stock! I won't be getting the 45ish% off I was supposed to get through NM, but regardless I'm excited to own my first Chloe bag I'll do a final update tomorrow after I pick up the bag, but again - thank you all who replied!! I'm so happy I joined purseforum and this community of bag lovers!

 

[cece123]

The bag arrived today. Posted photos in the Balenciaga authenticate thread and got confirmation it is authentic and is from the 2019 season. Anyway, my only complaint is the packaging. They placed it in a small box and placed the dust bag inside the bag, so the dust bag is very crumpled. The bag was even folded in some areas for it to fit in the box. No damage at all but Amazon does a better job with their packaging. How was your experience?

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Ugh - I'm so sorry they handled the packaging so poorly. I'm such a sucker for all the little details and honestly, the dust bag/box is one of my favorite things about getting a designer bag. I'm so happy to hear your bag is authentic though congrats on the great find!

Unfortunately, NM cancelled my order I'm sure I'll order from them again in the future though, so I'll have to remember this and see how the packaging is then!

 

[cece123]

I wouldn't worry too much about getting a fake bag. It is a very very rare occurrence when someone has bought the real bag and returned a very excellent fake in it's place. This has also rarely happened at other high end department stores and very rarely it has even occurred at some of the brand boutiques. Some fakes are so good that they are very very hard to tell apart from the real thing, but this is not a common occurrence at all.

And I wouldn't worry about bag damage. If it is damaged, they will replace with no problem. I had a Chloe that was damaged during shipping about three years ago. I contacted NM and they immediately had me pack it back up after taking some photos of the damage and the box (suede was scratched...the box looked like it had been thrown around and was pretty crushed). I was going to drop it off at the shipper's the next day. To my surprise, NM sent out a new bag that same day for overnight shipping. I didn't get to the shipper's until the next afternoon so for a couple hours, I had two of the same bag. NM had excellent customer service and CSR were extremely kind and helpful. I have had much worse luck with Saks than with NM. Saks sent me a bag that was obviously damaged PRIOR to shipping. I believe it was the floor model. It was scratched all over (likely from the chain). However, the chain was stored inside the bag during shipping and there was no damage to the box so it wasn't a shipping mishap like it was with NM. The CSR at Saks was rude and finally after seeing photos agreed to a return. I returned the bag and it took forever for them to process the return and return the credit to my card. I have also had much more luck in person at NM than at Saks....much friendlier SAs. I am now jaded against shopping at Saks. I have been burned more than once so I would rather spend my money elsewhere (unless there is a deal I can't pass up).

Good to know about the fakes! I think I'm a little over paranoid about this haha (ex. it's one of the main reasons I stay away from buying a preowned bag - I feel like I could very easily be duped!). Super happy I found this forum though! With authentication threads and advice, definitely helps to ease my worries if not buying directly from the brand.

Also wow! I'm shocked Saks treated you so poorly throughout the return process - makes me weary to order from them too! Unfortunately, NM did cancel my order, so that was a bit of a bummer, but I had a pretty good experience with their customer service while ordering the bag, so I'll probably order from them again in the future.

 

[Cloudburst2000]

Good to know about the fakes! I think I'm a little over paranoid about this haha (ex. it's one of the main reasons I stay away from buying a preowned bag - I feel like I could very easily be duped!). Super happy I found this forum though! With authentication threads and advice, definitely helps to ease my worries if not buying directly from the brand.

Also wow! I'm shocked Saks treated you so poorly throughout the return process - makes me weary to order from them too! Unfortunately, NM did cancel my order, so that was a bit of a bummer, but I had a pretty good experience with their customer service while ordering the bag, so I'll probably order from them again in the future.

There are tons of threads where Saks takes lots of time processing returns. Don't know if they are doing better now, but their return process used to be fairly slow (in terms of getting money back to you). Never had an issue with NM or Nordstroms in that aspect.