Luxury prices for a poor experience
I bought a pair of Roger Vivier Belle Vivier 45 slingback shoes at over €800 just under a year ago through Net-A-Porter, which had them as an exclusive. When the small strap holding the main slingback strap broke yesterday, I contacted RV by WhatsApp with photos of the shoe, the problem, and my NaP order confirmation. RV's response was that I need to make my claim with NaP because RV has no record of my purchase, despite my sharing a photo of my order confirmation and it being impossible to buy the shoes through RV directly because they were an exclusive to NaP
It is true that my contract is with NaP and not RV, but it is also true that the poor workmanship of the shoes is the fault of RV, not NaP. Any decent company will stand by its product, regardless of whether it was purchased directly or via an authorised seller, because it is that company's name on the line when something goes wrong
There are quite a few other Belle Vivier 45 models that RV do not sell on their website nor in their Paris flagship store and are instead sold only through RV's authorised retailers. So buy any of these RV shoes from NaP, MyTheresa, Harrods etc., have them develop a fault, and then be told that you have to return them to the seller because your receipt and the faulty shoes aren't enough for RV to fix the problem directly
So-called luxury brands like these have only themselves to blame for their inevitable demise. I have bought five pairs of RV shoes in the past 18 months but I don't see that trend continuing
September 12, 2025
Unprompted review