I have an interesting story for you. Hubby bought me the Denim Baggy PM a few weeks before Christmas. The SA wrapped it for him and he kept it hidden in the basement. When I opened it on Christmas Day, I noticed right away that the strap was on and there were lighter areas on the leather where the buckle met the strap. I was not happy as I wanted to wear the strap in a different location and you could see the whitish leather marks. The leather had already started to oxidize which left me with a "new" bag that was not usuable right away. So hubby went back to the store and tried to exchange the bag for a new one without the handles on. The store manager totally refused even though it was within the 2 week exchange period. Hubby was fuming as he is a regular customer there. The SM offered to give him a new handle but of course it was a different color than the rest of the leather on the bag. I suspect that it was a display model that he bought. Anyways, the SM told him to leave the bag out and the leather would eventually match up. Hubby was almost livid, "You mean that my wife will be unable to carry her new bag for at least a month?!" I diligently "sunned" my bag and strap for about a month and the leather eventually matched up. Then I conditioned and sprayed a la Appleguard and it looks fab! Oh yeah, the SM insisted that she couldn't take it back as it was "used" even thought one of her own SAs attached the strap. How could have it been used when I never used it?
Moral of the story.... make sure you get a new unwrapped LV item, check it first, then get it wrapped (if it's a gift). Hubby definately will next time. Unfortunately, he couldn't threaten them with never going back as it is the only LV boutique in our city!