Your thoughts on this handbag etiquette!

ECBG · ‎01-08-2011

I enjoy people, so after thirty four years of teaching high school I am in retail in a large department store. Our counter is next to handbags so we get some of the over flow.

The day after Christmas a woman came up carrying an expensive designer bag given to her by her MIL. In her hands she had another bag by the same designer. She actually thought since it was the same style bag that we could "trade" because she liked our bag color better! She expected me to take the sensor off of our bag and she would take her things out of her bag and transfer them to our bag! I told her we couldn't put a "used" bag on the floor. I explained that she had carried the bag on her shoulder all day and it had, therefore, been used. Her argument was that she had gotten it the night before and it was NEW. I told her it was not new since her things were in it and it had been carried all day. I offered to sell our bag to her. She said she would take her things out of her bag and bring it back as "new"!

Your reaction and thoughts.....!

Tori3569 · ‎06-27-2010

As a regional manager for a large retail chain, I would say it depends on what your store's return policy is and whether or not she had a receipt if required by that policy. In my 30+ years in retail management, I have taken back myself or authorized someone to take back many items that were not perfectly "new". It's sometimes the price we choose to pay for customer loyalty.

tough_kitty · ‎04-22-2014

Well, this lady's logic is definitely off, based on what you described. But, depending on your store return policy, it might be possible for her to return the bag for a refund and purchase the other one.

Sister Golden Hair · ‎03-09-2010

Sounds crazy to me I would of called the manager to deal with this situation. Who knows she may of did this to another store.

Sister Golden Hair · ‎03-09-2010

If she wanted to exchange the handbag then why would she have all her things in the handbag? Sounds like a scam to me.

Breamy · ‎03-12-2010

She was probably going to trade in a ""knock off"" for an authorized real handbag! My sister is a buyer and she says the managers at the stores tell her about the clerks not calling the managers on handbag returns and then the person gets away with what amounts to theft.

Tori3569 · ‎06-27-2010

More likely she was in the store anyway, saw the bag in a different color and decided to ask about exchanging. Not likely a scam. Customers do this kind of stuff every single day. I definitely agree that a manager should have been consulted assuming the OP was not a manager.

BlingQueen022 · ‎09-23-2012

On 12/27/2014 tori said: More likely she was in the store anyway, saw the bag in a different color and decided to ask about exchanging. Not likely a scam. Customers do this kind of stuff every single day. I definitely agree that a manager should have been consulted assuming the OP was not a manager.

I agree with what you said, but if it was me, I surely wouldn't have suggested to the cashier what she suggested. I would have waited for another day and came back with an empty bag and my receipt to exchange it.