The drama is nearly over: ELux says my Mandarin Jasmin has shipped and I have a FedEx tracking number. Yay! I also called Jaleh at the REAL Chevy Chase LV to let her know and to thank her again for all her help. I also told her I was going to write LV to let them know how great she is and what a great manager they have in her.
Here's what I sent them via the "Contact Us" e-letter feature on vuitton.com:
I am writing you to let you know about the wonderful service that was provided to me recently by Jaleh Naz Behzadi, the Leather Goods manager of your Chevy Chase Louis Vuitton store (the free-standing store which opened last fall).
She is efficient, professional and has gone well out of her way to try to fix a bad situation that was none of her fault to begin with.
Last week I had contacted the 866 VUITTON number about how to return my recently purchased Mandarin Epi Speedy 25, since it had developed a terrible smell. The associate on the phone said that I could return the bag to any store for a full refund. So since I had already planned a trip to the Chevy Chase area on Saturday, my goal was to return the defective bag and purchase a different one to replace it. So I called back the 866 VUITTON number to be connected to the free-standing Chevy Chase LV store. However, for some unknown reason, the 866 operator connected me to the Saks Chevy Chase LV counter, so the hold was placed by me with them instead of the free-standing store. At no time during this conversation did the person on the phone acknowledge that they were at Saks and not the free-standing store.
When I arrived at Jaleh's store on Saturday with my defective bag to exchange, she was gracious, helpful and always trying to make things right for me. She was the one who discovered that the bag I had been led to believe was on hold with her store was actually on hold at Saks. She offered to call Saks to let them know I was on my way with a defective bag to exchange and to pick up the bag on hold. And when Saks refused to give the bag to me and claimed it was on hold for someone else who they would not name, she made several phone calls to try to find out just what was going on.
The Mandarin Jasmin bag had actually been at her store, and was requested for transfer to the Saks only moments after I had asked them (not knowing they were the Saks counter) to hold it for me.
When it became clear that the Saks counter was stonewalling her and would not release the held bag to either of us, she gave me a full refund on my defective bag. She also promised to try to find me another Mandarin Jasmin bag somewhere else in the country; this particular one was the last one in the entire DC/MD/VA area (which adds more suspicion to the motives of the Saks counter's bizarre behavior).
Throughout the entire drama, Jaleh was the perfect model of a LV representative. She did everything she could to help me out, and I appreciate all her help.
I was able to find one last Mandarin Jasmin on the ELuxury site, so all's well that ends well, at least in this instance. But I wanted you to know how great Jaleh is, and how awful the Saks Chevy Chase LV counter was. It was wrong of them to pretend to be the free-standing store, pretend to put a bag on hold that they didn't have, and then refuse to give it to me when I showed up to claim it. It's obvious that they don't need to continue to exist in Chevy Chase, now that you have such a great new free-standing store, and such a wonderful Leather Goods manager in Jaleh Naz Behzadi.
Thanks for listening,
Michele Harvey
Centreville, VA
Here's what I sent them via the "Contact Us" e-letter feature on vuitton.com:
I am writing you to let you know about the wonderful service that was provided to me recently by Jaleh Naz Behzadi, the Leather Goods manager of your Chevy Chase Louis Vuitton store (the free-standing store which opened last fall).
She is efficient, professional and has gone well out of her way to try to fix a bad situation that was none of her fault to begin with.
Last week I had contacted the 866 VUITTON number about how to return my recently purchased Mandarin Epi Speedy 25, since it had developed a terrible smell. The associate on the phone said that I could return the bag to any store for a full refund. So since I had already planned a trip to the Chevy Chase area on Saturday, my goal was to return the defective bag and purchase a different one to replace it. So I called back the 866 VUITTON number to be connected to the free-standing Chevy Chase LV store. However, for some unknown reason, the 866 operator connected me to the Saks Chevy Chase LV counter, so the hold was placed by me with them instead of the free-standing store. At no time during this conversation did the person on the phone acknowledge that they were at Saks and not the free-standing store.
When I arrived at Jaleh's store on Saturday with my defective bag to exchange, she was gracious, helpful and always trying to make things right for me. She was the one who discovered that the bag I had been led to believe was on hold with her store was actually on hold at Saks. She offered to call Saks to let them know I was on my way with a defective bag to exchange and to pick up the bag on hold. And when Saks refused to give the bag to me and claimed it was on hold for someone else who they would not name, she made several phone calls to try to find out just what was going on.
The Mandarin Jasmin bag had actually been at her store, and was requested for transfer to the Saks only moments after I had asked them (not knowing they were the Saks counter) to hold it for me.
When it became clear that the Saks counter was stonewalling her and would not release the held bag to either of us, she gave me a full refund on my defective bag. She also promised to try to find me another Mandarin Jasmin bag somewhere else in the country; this particular one was the last one in the entire DC/MD/VA area (which adds more suspicion to the motives of the Saks counter's bizarre behavior).
Throughout the entire drama, Jaleh was the perfect model of a LV representative. She did everything she could to help me out, and I appreciate all her help.
I was able to find one last Mandarin Jasmin on the ELuxury site, so all's well that ends well, at least in this instance. But I wanted you to know how great Jaleh is, and how awful the Saks Chevy Chase LV counter was. It was wrong of them to pretend to be the free-standing store, pretend to put a bag on hold that they didn't have, and then refuse to give it to me when I showed up to claim it. It's obvious that they don't need to continue to exist in Chevy Chase, now that you have such a great new free-standing store, and such a wonderful Leather Goods manager in Jaleh Naz Behzadi.
Thanks for listening,
Michele Harvey
Centreville, VA
