I normally don’t like leaving negative…
I normally don’t like leaving negative reviews, and I always try to give sellers the benefit of the doubt. That’s why I also want to mention the positive aspects first: the shipping was very fast, and the bag arrived much sooner than expected, which I really appreciated.
Unfortunately, I was very disappointed with the condition of the bag itself. I fully understand that this is a vintage item, and I expect signs of wear. However, it was described as being in excellent condition, which was simply not the case.
As soon as I opened the package, I was hit by a very strong musty, mold-like smell. The odor was so intense that the bag is completely unusable for me. In addition, the leather parts were in poor condition and had stains that may even have been mold. Overall, the condition was far from what I would consider “excellent.”
I contacted the seller on the same day the bag arrived to request a return. I sent my email on Friday but did not receive any response until Wednesday. Only after I opened a PayPal case did I receive a prompt reply allowing me to return the bag—but only at my own expense. Since I have to ship it back from Germany to France, this will cost me around €18.
I find this especially disappointing because I am not returning the bag due to a change of mind, but because it was not as described. I will return it at my own expense and sincerely hope that the refund process will at least be smooth.
As constructive feedback, I would encourage the seller to describe items as accurately as possible. Vintage bags will naturally show signs of age, and that’s perfectly understandable. However, accurate descriptions help customers know what to expect and prevent situations like this.
Reply from LaTanière
Hello,
First of all, we would like to thank you for taking the time to share your feedback and for highlighting the positive aspects of your experience, especially the fast shipping.
However, we are sincerely surprised by your review regarding the condition of the bag. The bag we sent was truly in excellent condition. After reviewing your feedback, we genuinely have difficulty understanding how its condition could have been perceived as so far from the description provided. It was a vintage bag in very beautiful condition, fully consistent with the photos and description available on our website.
We would also like to clarify that all photos of the bag were available on our website, with detailed views from multiple angles, allowing our customers to have the most accurate possible representation of the item before purchase. The bag was absolutely not used between the time the photos were taken and the shipment: it was sent in exactly the same condition as shown in the photos.
Regarding the smell mentioned, we carefully re-examined the bag as soon as we received it back after your return, in order to check whether any issue could have been missed during our initial inspection. We specifically looked for any signs of mold or abnormal odors. After inspection, we found no trace of mold. We only noticed a slight smell related to long-term storage and the natural leather of the bag, which can occur with vintage second-hand items.
We would also like to clarify that your first email was unfortunately not seen immediately, as it was automatically filtered into our spam folder. We only became aware of it three days later. As soon as we saw your message, we responded in order to find a solution with you and accepted the return of the bag.
Upon receiving the returned package, we inspected the bag and then issued the refund in accordance with our procedure.
We are sorry that this experience did not meet your expectations, but we remain convinced that the bag sent matched the information provided on our website and was indeed in the condition described.
The LaTanière Team