BAG BATTLE: Lane Crawford in Hong Kong is facing off with a disgruntled customer, who is seeking compensation of 50,000 Hong Kong dollars, or $6,441, plus two Chanel handbags for “depression” and “anxiety” after being allegedly locked into the VIP room. Local papers report that a 32-year-old woman, Dion Leung Wai-yin, has accused the luxury department store of keeping her in the VIP room for more than 90 minutes after she requested the store to authenticate a Chanel bag that she bought there.
“I was locked in a VIP room, [an employee] served me hot chocolate and he started to chit-chat with me. When I asked him when were we going to discuss the bag, he tried to [talk] about his divorce, the size of his feet and where he came from,” Leung reportedly told the South China Morning Post.
Leung reportedly bought the bag at the Lane Crawford store in Causeway Bay but found some defects and took it to the Chanel shop for repairs. Chanel reportedly refused to repair the bag so she took it back to Lane Crawford for authentication and a refund. She claims shop staff would not allow her sister to go with her into the VIP room.
Lane Crawford has put out a statement saying that the customer purchased a vintage Chanel patent leather handbag from the mid-Eighties that was sourced from a New York-based vintage specialist, What Goes Around Comes Around.
“Lane Crawford prides itself on the integrity of its service, the authenticity of the merchandise it sells and the partners it works with. … The customer returned the bag because it was damaged. Our Customer Service staff worked quickly to resolve the matter, and as is our policy, immediately issued a full refund for the damaged bag and apologized for any inconvenience caused.”