jeh3v and I were at the outlet this last week and we were discussing evilbay sellers, etc. with the mgr. The mgr said a person can only buy 3 of an exact item at a time. But, then, they can return the next day and buy 3 more, etc. This was regarding ebay sellers and how hard it is to stop them. First, why did your SA let you buy that many items of the same thing? It could have been that no SA caused "the letter"...it could be the number of items purchased got flagged at corporate. (Our outlet mgr has said Coach is really trying to stop the ebay sellers.) At my outlet, no SA will sell more than 3 identical items even if they know it is Christmas gifts. I consider that for my protection. I, personally, would want to have a talk with your "favorite SA" and ask her the rules and if her letting you buy that many of one item caused "the letter." It sounds like she did act funny when you talked to her on the phone. Then, I would call corporate and discuss this with them. And, why did they include your husband AND your daughter???? That really seems strange. Also, have you sold very many things on ebay? I'm sure your know alot of us here on tPF get all upset when someone says they've gotten "the letter." I actually turned down a bag the other night that I've been wanting because I felt I might possibly end up returning it. I hate feeling this way. I hope you get this resolved. BTW...I, and a couple of my friends, got "a letter" from Macy's about six months ago that said "if we didn't start buying more with our Macy's Credit Card they were going to cancel it." I laugh as I type this! So many "letters" out there!
My Experience with the "Letter"
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ITA. With this economy and Coach's stock prices; they should encourage any and all sales. It is absoulutely crazy to ban a paying customer from a retail store. After all: buying at a stated price is in no way similar to shoplifting; yet the "banned" customer feels like they are wearing a Scarlet Letter and are afraid to make a purchase. How insane is this???
I find this response to be glib. First, I don't know what the "rules' are -- is it that you can't buy more than 3 of an item at the outlets? I've never been told this; this is a TPF-exposed "rule", so anyone who shops at outlets and doesn't get that infor from TPF has no way of knowing it unless Coach tells them at the point of sale. And if Coach allows you to buy 6 keychains at once, how can this be the "rule"? I know that I also made a lot of purchases at Christmastime for the sole purpose of gifting. I had no idea of any maximum quantity "rule". In fact, the SAs encouraged me to buy a couple extra of the same item as gift backups, and then return them if I didn't need them so as not to miss out on a deal. That kind of message, followed by a ban letter, is so inconsistent that I can't believe there is any hard and fast "rule".
That being said, every person who gets the letter mentions in passing that they do some ebay sales. I don't know what some is, and it's entirely possible that it's the sales, and not the purchases themselves, that trigger the letter. But it's also possible that it is an SA that flags you in the system.
I would certainly contact Coach corporate, but i would probably go further than that if corporate does not satisfy you -- if your purchases truly were for gifts and personal use, and you have nothing to hide, I'd contact the Better Business Bureau and your local paper. This is what I would do if it happened to me which, luckily, it has not. Various states also have consumer protection acts (that vary from state to state) and you may find relief with the state division that governs consumer protection.
I also think Coach needs to let people know they can't resell, either by modifying the language on the back of their receipts, by having a stricter return policy (if they make it 7 days, people won't be able to return before their auctions end), or by posting signs at the outlets. It's unclear to me that Coach can, post-sale, impose resale limits on its customers. If it could, it would close down every consignment shop, ebay, and other resale avenue that sells Coach. But they don't. So I really would question this letter.
That's why she said tpf-exposed, meaning that she wouldn't have known about it if it was not for tpf. Frankly, I wouldn't know about it either as I've never been told anything about the 3 item limit. I knew that outlets did have limits but I've purchased 4 of the same skinny before (for gifts) and was never told anything about a limit by any SA.
Coach should really spend a few dollars and post signage with the rules in the stores. Could it be that simple?
My outlet mgr said 3 identical items at one time...but a person could return the next day and buy 3 more. (Which is what ebay sellers do...unless they personally know an SA and can get around it...then that SA might not be working for long!) This is the RULE for Coach outlet stores. Coach is trying to crack down on ebay sellers...the reason being...each of us tPFers would just like a crack at (say) ONE bag. If they let ebay sellers buy all the goodies up...why go there and try to get the ONE that we all want. EBAY SELLERS ARE RUNNING A BUSINESS! I think Coach is right to crack down on them. I did question the tPFer that started this thread as to how many things she has sold on ebay? Between the large number purchased of one item and ebay selling...that could have caused "the letter."
I see people at my outlet all the time buying 15-20 bags at a time and they shop in couples. Now you know they aren't for personal use. Why don't they crack down on them instead of poor innocent Coach lovers? If I were the OP, I would contact corporate and explain as you did here. If they don't bend then I say goodbye to Coach. Spend your money someplace else where it will be appreciated. Coach needs to get over themselves.
Wow, I'm floored by this story. 
I definitely think you should write to Corporate. Putting your story in writing is almost always more effective than simply calling. And I'd enclose a picture of your closet as well just to drive your point home.
While I understand that Coach is working to eliminate re-sellers, they need to be looking at long-term buying habits. The holidays are not a time to judge anyone's typical buying habits.
I'm doubly stunned that they would be turning away customers so easily in this economy when every sale counts.
I understand your wanting to continue collecting Coach, but, honestly, if you write them to protest the letter and do not get an adequate, thoughtful response in return, I know in your place, I would not want to continue spending my hard earned money with a company who does not appreciate, nor appear to want my business.
I definitely think you should write to Corporate. Putting your story in writing is almost always more effective than simply calling. And I'd enclose a picture of your closet as well just to drive your point home.
While I understand that Coach is working to eliminate re-sellers, they need to be looking at long-term buying habits. The holidays are not a time to judge anyone's typical buying habits.
I'm doubly stunned that they would be turning away customers so easily in this economy when every sale counts.
I understand your wanting to continue collecting Coach, but, honestly, if you write them to protest the letter and do not get an adequate, thoughtful response in return, I know in your place, I would not want to continue spending my hard earned money with a company who does not appreciate, nor appear to want my business.
i can honestly say that i have spent over $2000 in the past three months on items for my own personal use...that being said,,if coach ever did decide to give me the letter i probably would sell all my bags and go on to a diffrent designer..it is just too insulting and humiliating
Dont be nervous. If they have "Rules" then they need to be posting them at the store and on the back of our reciepts!!
Theres always bus loads of tourists at the outlet here in vegas with the brown shopping bags FULL of bags etc..(no offense to tourists that visit this awsome city)Im just saying I never see them gettin crap for grabbing all the bags!!
Agreed on both points
Our local outlet gets Asian tourists by the busload all day, every day. I've seen them buying up more than 3 of each style, leaving with 3-4 huge bags each, easily dropping $10,000 +, definitely way more than for personal use. It's not unusual to see 4 men shopping together each holding 2 full brown shopping bags, obviously not buying for themselves. The mark-up in Asia is so high, it's probably like buying things at Walmart prices lol.
What bothers me is that as others have said, there is no written policy that customers can read to be informed. It should be posted in stores and/or on the back of receipts. It's also wrong that tourists and certain customers seem to be excluded from this.
I definitely think you should write to Corporate. Putting your story in writing is almost always more effective than simply calling. And I'd enclose a picture of your closet as well just to drive your point home.
While I agree that writing is often more effective, at least when you call you know that someone is actually listening. Even if they do read it, if they don't want to give a response, they don't have to admit to even receiving it. You never know if they will actually open a letter/e-mail and read it. If you do write, I would suggest that you also call in so that you can be sure that they are aware that you are challenging it.
ITA... great post
I personally would shop way more at the boutique than the outlet if they had sales or lowered their price points. I won't pay full price, when I know I can find things 75% off in a couple of months. Coach has created this monster & instead of doing something about it, they are just banning people and lowering their sales even more. Doesn't make much sense