No QA check from Hermes web sale?

[jhd26]

This is my first post here. But I have been lurking here for a long time. Thanks for the helpful information from everyone.
I ordered a Roulis 23 from the US Hermes website on February 19 for my wife as our 25th anniversary gift. She did not unbox it till our anniversary night - last Saturday night .

Then we noticed this shiny spot on the front of the bag. I talked with customer service reps, they kind of questioned why we did not open and check soon enough. I explained to them why. It was funny I asked my wife a few times when the bag first came in to open and check. She felt a company like Hermes and for a $8000 bag, there should be no worries. She wanted to open all gifts on the anniversary day. Customer service reps ask me to send photos and I did.

By now I just wanted to return this bag. But they said the distribution people need to review the photos and let me know my next step. Does that mean they will not even accept the return?

The bag has been untouched since it arrived. We are very disappointed. A quick QA check before shipping would have prevented all this. The shipment came in with the best packaging I have ever seen. So I would not believe it could have happened during the shipment.

What should I do if they deny my return? I hate to have my wife keep this bag and not feel happy.

From the pictures, you can see this spot only shows from certain angles. What do you guys think caused this?

 

[ouija board]

I just went through the same process for a damaged scarf, and it does not necessarily mean they won’t do a return...they just insist on going through the inspection process first. It was NOT a quick process, and I had to call several times over three weeks (including a three day holiday weekend) to get updates. However, once the manager determined that there was damage, she quickly made things right for me. A new and undamaged scarf was located and arrived to me in less than 24 hours. One rep did offer to just process a return at one point because I was frustrated with the wait, but the price increase had just occurred. I didn’t want to repurchase the scarf at a boutique with the higher price. As with anything Hermes, patience is required, but they’ve always done right by me...so far anyways.

Regarding QA, I’m always hesitant to buy big ticket Hermes items online because it’s the only place Hermes allows returns for a refund, even for a bag with a five figure price tag. While people might be less inclined to do the “buy, wear, and return” scam with an item that can only be returned for credit, I imagine it happens quite a lot with H.com where they can get a full refund. Either way, I assume anything I buy online has been through another customer’s hands, even if it hasn’t been worn, and the opportunity for damage or mishandling is high. Since these are distribution center employees filling orders, I doubt if there is any serious QA on the outgoing end and quite possibly none when items go through a simple return (no issues, customer just didn’t want it). Even when I buy from the stores, I prefer the item to go through my SA’s hands first because I know she’ll give it a good once over before she ships it to me.

Good luck with your return, and hopefully they move faster for you since it’s a more expensive item!

 

[jhd26]

I just went through the same process for a damaged scarf, and it does not necessarily mean they won’t do a return...they just insist on going through the inspection process first. It was NOT a quick process, and I had to call several times over three weeks (including a three day holiday weekend) to get updates. However, once the manager determined that there was damage, she quickly made things right for me. A new and undamaged scarf was located and arrived to me in less than 24 hours. One rep did offer to just process a return at one point because I was frustrated with the wait, but the price increase had just occurred. I didn’t want to repurchase the scarf at a boutique with the higher price. As with anything Hermes, patience is required, but they’ve always done right by me...so far anyways.

Regarding QA, I’m always hesitant to buy big ticket Hermes items online because it’s the only place Hermes allows returns for a refund, even for a bag with a five figure price tag. While people might be less inclined to do the “buy, wear, and return” scam with an item that can only be returned for credit, I imagine it happens quite a lot with H.com where they can get a full refund. Either way, I assume anything I buy online has been through another customer’s hands, even if it hasn’t been worn, and the opportunity for damage or mishandling is high. Since these are distribution center employees filling orders, I doubt if there is any serious QA on the outgoing end and quite possibly none when items go through a simple return (no issues, customer just didn’t want it). Even when I buy from the stores, I prefer the item to go through my SA’s hands first because I know she’ll give it a good once over before she ships it to me.

Good luck with your return, and hopefully they move faster for you since it’s a more expensive item!

Thanks for sharing your experience. I have already requested a full refund. But I wanted to talk with them to let them know about the issue before shipping so they would not think we did something to the bag. I already printed out the shipping label and packed ready to ship. Now I was told to wait for their 'further review'.

 

[jhd26]

Regarding QA, I’m always hesitant to buy big ticket Hermes items online because it’s the only place Hermes allows returns for a refund, even for a bag with a five figure price tag. While people might be less inclined to do the “buy, wear, and return” scam with an item that can only be returned for credit, I imagine it happens quite a lot with H.com where they can get a full refund.

There is only one small Hermes boutique 3 hours away from us. We visited them last Saturday and really liked the people there. So from now on we will only order from them and not from Hermes online store.

 

[JA_UK]

There is only one small Hermes boutique 3 hours away from us. We visited them last Saturday and really liked the people there. So from now on we will only order from them and not from Hermes online store.

Another option worth considering is to order online and have it sent to the store for collection as you are prepared to travel to the boutique anyway. Your item will arrive and you will have the chance to inspect it before you sign for receipt, the SA will box and wrap it up with ribbon etc. This is what I do when I order more expensive items from the website.

 

[Rouge H]

I too went through the same experience last summer with a pair of Rosa sneakers that arrived with sole damage as in splitting from the canvas. I returned them and it took about two weeks for the process. I was then contacted for a full refund/credit or replacement. I opted for the Polo Sneaker (better choice).
Be patient Hermes will do the right thing.

Happy Anniversary to you/yours. Such a lovely gift.❤️

 

[jhd26]

I too went through the same experience last summer with a pair of Rosa sneakers that arrived with sole damage as in splitting from the canvas. I returned them and it took about two weeks for the process. I was then contacted for a full refund/credit or replacement. I opted for the Polo Sneaker (better choice).
Be patient Hermes will do the right thing.

Happy Anniversary to you/yours. Such a lovely gift.❤️

Thank you so much. I called customer service. I was told the distribution center wants me to ship it to them for a physical review. I kept asking her what is this for? I wanted to let her know we did nothing to cause this. It came like that and we just want to return it now. I asked her if they do this review to decide if they can accept a return? Because on the web site it is clearly stated that in 30 days I can return it. She avoided my question. So I will just ship it back to them. Incidentally I sent pictures to my new SA, she believes it can be just preservatives coming out although by photos she is not 100% certain. It is an easy fix by a hair drier as it will do damage to the bag. I am just not happy about the experience. I will return it and will only order from the store however far it is.

 

[jhd26]

Maybe they just want to make sure they handle this the right way and give me options to make us happy? But it sounds like service reps are trained to talk very carefully and would not give me straight answer. Time will tell.

 

[ouija board]

Maybe they just want to make sure they handle this the right way and give me options to make us happy? But it sounds like service reps are trained to talk very carefully and would not give me straight answer. Time will tell.

It sounded very much to me as though there was a process that they had to follow, and the reps don’t give you much more information beyond what the distribution center tells them. It might be helpful to ask for the same rep or the manager each time you call, just for consistency. I would not hesitate to ship the bag back, especially since you want to return it anyway. The way I see it, they probably wouldn’t ask you to ship it back (postage paid by them) if they thought they might have grounds to refuse the return...then have to ship it back to you. I would not expect a swift response, though. The inspection took nearly a week once they received my scarf, possibly because they sent it to the craftsman at Madison to look at it.

 

[lynne_ross]

I agree with other posters that this sounds promising and like they are likely to refund you if asking for the bag to be shipped back.

I am so sorry for this headache too. I ordered a bag from h.com and it was perfect when it arrived but I was worried it would be damaged given it is not the store. So I inspected right away. You shouldn’t have to do this at this price point!

I hope you are able to get the same bag from the store (after you get your refund) and I hope you had a wonderful anniversary regardless!

 

[Israeli_Flava]

You're within the 30 day window and the product is unused so I'm not sure why you called instead of sending it back straight away. Unfortunately this will only delay the return more. I have a regular boutique I shop with but I have also shopped on h.com for years and never had a return denied. But returning is NEVER a quick process. It typically takes 2 weeks to get through all the "hoops" they have to "approve" the return. I'm so sorry that your experience has been stressful and esp for a special occasion but I have actually never received a defective item from them in over 8 years. I recommend u send it back now.... . Something is off in the dying process. They need to see it with their eyes. They will give u a refund.

 

[etoile de mer]

Thank you so much. I called customer service. I was told the distribution center wants me to ship it to them for a physical review. I kept asking her what is this for? I wanted to let her know we did nothing to cause this. It came like that and we just want to return it now. I asked her if they do this review to decide if they can accept a return? Because on the web site it is clearly stated that in 30 days I can return it. She avoided my question. So I will just ship it back to them. Incidentally I sent pictures to my new SA, she believes it can be just preservatives coming out although by photos she is not 100% certain. It is an easy fix by a hair drier as it will do damage to the bag. I am just not happy about the experience. I will return it and will only order from the store however far it is.

Sending best wishes, so stressful, I hope this gets resolved easily for you!

 

[etoile de mer]

You're within the 30 day window and the product is unused so I'm not sure why you called instead of sending it back straight away. Unfortunately this will only delay the return more. I have a regular boutique I shop with but I have also shopped on h.com for years and never had a return denied. But returning is NEVER a quick process. It typically takes 2 weeks to get through all the "hoops" they have to "approve" the return. I'm so sorry that your experience has been stressful and esp for a special occasion but I have actually never received a defective item from them in over 8 years. I recommend u send it back now.... . Something is off in the dying process. They need to see it with their eyes. They will give u a refund.

I think it's important when receiving damaged items to notify them ASAP regarding the issue. Otherwise, if just returned without notification, they could assume you caused the damage. Also, there's the possible issue of them just re-shelving the item upon receipt of return, without thoroughly inspecting. Then the next buyer has to deal with this stressful situation of receiving a damaged item. I've had this happen several times (over years of purchasing online with them). All was easily resolved for me, but as you note, takes a while, and especially disappointing when you'd otherwise want to keep the item.

 

[Israeli_Flava]

I think it's important when receiving damaged items to notify them ASAP regarding the issue. Otherwise, if just returned without notification, they could assume you caused the damage. Also, there's the possible issue of them just re-shelving the item upon receipt of return, without thoroughly inspecting. Then the next buyer has to deal with this stressful situation of receiving a damaged item. I've had this happen several times (over years of purchasing online with them). All was easily resolved for me, but as you note, takes a while, and especially disappointing when you'd otherwise want to keep the item.

Oh, that's a good point (re-shelving the item), but I still wouldn't call. As with every return I have done I would annotate the reason (ie defective item) in the reason for the return (in the text box they provide) but not give them the option to keep me hanging until they "decide" anything.... once they are in possession of the item, I dare them to deny me a refund on my cc. I'll just depute the charge. It's that simple. For me anyway...

 

[KittyKat65]

I returned a pair of shoes (too big) and the process was sloooooow. They received the shoes, then they had to physically review them (at least 5 days) and then they took 10 business days to refund. They even told me that my money will be refunded on the 10th day.

I just think that is their process and you have nothing to worry about.