KB

Just a final point for everyone to mull over.

How much sympathy do you think you would get from a watch dealer if you returned a watch that was rusted out or smashed?

Ken

@pcardoza actually it is the point as Luke points out above these things do happen and when it did I stepped up and agreed to the swap.

However making that simple mistake does not mean I should totally fund the deal a second time, take a $300 item back to a store totally destroyed and tell them it was the wrong one and they are going to tell you they wont exchange, what you are saying is you expect more from your replica dealers that what Wal-Mart would offer.

Ken

@pcardoza if you bought the bag off him and it arrived in that condition would you still have mixed feelings?

@Imvfernades I gave the customer a link to this thread, if he wants to reply he can but you may notice I did not name him so he doesn't need to reveal himself either.

Ken

Ignore him Gentle he has had issues with me for a long time but he hasn't got the common decency to state what they are, instead he pops up every now and then to try and smear me.

Ken

@hooky are you aware of airline peanuts that carry a warning 'Caution package may contain traces of nuts'

Pretty stupid isn't it but they must do it to protect themselves from the people who will go to lengths to make themselves right.

Ok I do not have a responsibility to show the customer how to repack an item, in fact I do not have a company, this whole business/store/company thing is what kills our hobby. I deal in illegal goods, if you want to become a part of the trade you the customer needs to do your homework.

Lets say this customer chose not to return it to me but instead resold it in a basic M2M sale and the bag arrived at the buyers house in the same state, would you still be quick to defend him?

Ken

@GenTle yes I could do that but in 8 years it has never been necessary, common sense has always been enough for every customer before.

Imagine if this had been a M2M sale wouldn't you pack it with extreme care just to make sure it reached the other member in its best condition, it is totally unacceptable for a member to say 'Who cares it's only going back to the shop'

Ken

PS; A lot of items do carry leather care cards, not all but many.

@nightwatch the fact this happened in the post is the only reason I am offering to shoulder most of the cost.

However to assume that the customer needs to accept no responsibility is extreme, to wrap it correctly takes probably 30 seconds more than basically stuffing it in the bag, not one of my hundreds of customers has ever received a moldy leather item from me in 8 years, it's not hard to do.

Ask yourself this; You buy a $300 pair of leather shoes from a local store, then you take them back in the condition you see above. It really doesn't matter if they are the wrong style, colour or even size what chance do you think of them accepting them back?

The point about the pockets is moot because I agreed to the swap but both pockets were inside the bag.

Ken

@GenTle

Yes you understand correctly.

As to your questions...

Some questions from my side:

1) has the item been sent back in the original package (like you sent that to the customer)? If yes: not a lot could be said to the customer. If not: what do you think he should have done to avoid the problem? Is it something that an average person that don't deal with leather stuff everyday may know?

The item was returned in the original packaging but where we sent it wrapped airtight it has been returned very loosely packed and as the pic shows far from airtight.

2) why your employee has to pay directly? Here in EU it is correct to say that each employee is responsible of his actions and, if he repeatedly does mistakes, can be fired. But as like as the employee earns less money than the owner, equally his (her in our case) responsibility is less. I don't think it's correct to make Cathy to pay, even if the mistake was from her: we're human being and only who doesn't do anything, can't make mistakes.

Cathy started out as my sales rep and I still call her that today but in reality she is my business partner. We draw a certain amount from the business each and in fact based on what she was earning before working for me she actually does better than I. 

Ken

I am writing this post because the customer has just threatened (through my sales rep) to smear me on our forum if the issue is not settled in the way he wants.

The story...

Customer bought a Steve bag, this is a $300 bag and another item.

From the start I have him a hefty discount and when he paid I shipped the items.

The Steve bag was he received was perfect in every way and the correct size and colour, however the inside layout was different.

The bag he requested had an inside pocket at the back the one we sent had the pocket at the front.

Most would have been happy with such a small mistake but this customer was not and as it was a genuine mistake on our part I accepted that he return the bag for a swap.

Ok this is where the whole thing goes South, the customer (who lives in a Sub tropic Asian country) posted the bag back to China in the middle of Summer without taking the slightest care to wrap the bag well.

This is what we received back....

The customer through a total lack of care destroyed this $300 bag as surely as he would have if he had taken a box knife and cut it up!

My sales rep is responsible for sending wrong items so she replaces out of her own pocket, Cathy makes less in a Month than what most of you do in a week so it is essential that she has an item she can resell to recoup some loss, obviously that is not the case here.

The offer to this customer was that he pay $50 and he will get a new Steve bag, to do this I need to help Cathy out of my own pocket as she just doesn't have this kind of money to give away.

So there you have it that is the very best offer I intend to give, the other offer would be what your local store would say if you tried to return an item in that condition!

Ken

Yes I was going to mention that kuvarsit sells those lighters at quite a high price, I used to sell them for under $50

However as I said before not many dealers will sell them anymore so the high prices may reflect this.

Ken

Almost none now, there are many made in China but dealers do not want to face the serious charges of sending dangerous goods.

Ken

yes

Ken

It's over folks I am just sorting out the draw for the $150 voucher.

I will try and do this by video to show that it is all above board.

Ken

Ok it is 8.20am August the 31st here and I will run this until midnight or when I go to bed.

Any orders not paid by the end of today misses out on the goodies.

Tomorrow, or as soon as I can sort it, I will do the draw for the $150 voucher.

Ken

wasn't me 

Ken

No it's not free but it is usually a few thousand dollars cheaper.

It is a rep and if it is not a glaring fault, or one you can't rectify, why the agro?

Ken

I would just stick them in a watch case in your hand luggage, unless you are moving from China or trying to bring in crate loads no one is going to do you for importing replica's.

Ken

This is still running folks

Ken

Just some quick interesting facts; When he did Mork and Mindy Robin Williams would ad lib to such an extent that producers gave up trying to keep him on script and just wrote parts that said 'Mork can go off here'

When he did the voice of the Genie in Aladdin they had 16 hours of Ad lib to edit and it is the reason the movie could not be entered under the 'original screenplay' section at the Academy awards.

Truly a comic genius.

Ken

Sad indeed, such a wonderfully talented man.

Ken

It must be remembered that dealers on our forum are bound to look after their customers when things go wrong, no so off forum sellers.

Ken

After discussions with my sales rep we have decided to also add a free gift (Tiffany item) to each order over $300

Further more an order of over $1000 (does not include 1:1 bags) will receive a free gift of a suit or a pair of mens/ladies dress shoes.

Ken

It's the peak of Summer in the Northern Hemisphere, I know this because it was -3C here in Melbourne this morning.

So to celebrate your lazy days of Summer with your pool parties, your sun, sand and surf (cue Beach Boys 'Good Vibrations'), and most importantly your Summer shirt showing some watch porn clubbing, Bergies will for the rest of August offer a 10% discount for all orders over $150.

But wait there's more....

On the 1st of September all August customers names will go into a hat and one lucky winner will receive a $150 voucher to be spent of any Bergies items free.....*(not redeemable in cash)

If you win and you have had your eye on a Bergies suit or a couple of belts then they will be yours for the asking or alternatively you can use the voucher as a big discount on one of our bags or even to help with early Christmas shopping.

*If used on promotion goods the $180 normal purchase rule still applies*

Ken

You do realise that to get a jeweler to make one would cost a lot of money and that is only after you actually find (which you wont) a jeweler willing to make a replica.

Why not save time, money and frustration and simply buy one from a dealer?

Ken