A report in the National Business Daily cites an insider “familiar with Gucci’s operation mode”and claims the company repaired a bag that was returned by a customer and put it right back on the shelves. It’s precisely the thing that 99% of businesses would do, of course, but hey, this is Gucci.
The report was backed by supposed internal e-mails leaked by the insider detailing how the second-hand bag was to be sold as new:
According to the document, a female customer asked for a refund for her 10,000 yuan (US$1,576) Gucci bag as the handle color had faded. Staff at the Gucci store, outside of the city, took photographs and sent them to the headquarters in Shanghai for guidance.
According to the document, customer services in Shanghai replied by e-mail, asking: “What is the condition of the bag? Could it be sold after maintenance?” After confirming color fading was the only flaw, headquarters agreed to a refund.
It is alleged to have added: “If you refund the customer, we’ll book the component from Italy and repair the bag to be sold again.”
The bag would finally be put back in the display cases and sold as new, said the insider identified as Xu. Only customer services, repair staff, the shop manager, operations manager and operations director are aware of the practice, Xu said.
A spokesperson from Gucci China has denied the claims, saying the company would “never allow or tolerate such conduct in our stores”.
