What a bad turn of events (Resolution)!

Okay...today is the day...

A follow up on my Gucci bag incident.

After returning the bag to the store on Sunday, I waited patiently today for the SA to give me a call. Around lunchtime, the SA called and he happily told me the good news that a new bag will be exchanged. He had already reserve a new piece for me and just waiting for me to decide to either have it delivered to my place or self collect. Having completed my deadline smoothly for Monday, I gladly chose the latter to self collect. I feel it is much easier as I can inspect the new bag and if it is not up to satisfactory conditions, I dun have to accept it and will avoid further inconvenience to both parties.:-)

So I drop by the store after work. The SA very promptly took the new bag out for me to inspect. To be honest, I was not very convinced the bag was good enough as it was stored in an inappropriate way with insufficient stuffing and one of the bottom corners of the bag was kinda 'crushed'. My original bag was in a much better condition than this bag. Although there were no other faults to be detected, the 'rumpled' condition of the bag left me skeptical and I asked to have another bag for me to make a comparison and choose. I know I sound kinda picky but sorry, I just cannot accept a bag with the condition less perfect than my original one especially during exchange. After a few moments of checking, they found out there are none in the store (they even sold the display piece yesterday). They reassured me that this was a new piece and they did not keep the display piece for me. They wanted me to have the best bag they could find. Although there were three in the warehouse, they were unsure if the stock was for Malaysia's boutiques and hence it may be unavailable for me. Upon seeing I was not very comfortable with the bag that was presented to me, they must have felt bad so they decided to bring out a bag that was originally reserved for another customer for me to choose. To my disappointment, that bag is in an even worse shape than mine. Hahaha. Oh gosh, what on earth are they doing with the new bags....they did not put enough stuffing to store and retain the shape of the soft bag properly. It's such a pity. First impressions count a lot. When I first bought my original bag, I had 2 to choose from and both were in very good condition with proper amounts of stuffing to hold the bag's shape. Maybe this batch of bags, they run out of storage area and they took out the stuffing to allow for more space to keep more bags in the shop.

These 2 bags that were presented to me seriously lack good storage techniques. After close inspection, I decided the first bag was still better. I have to be very careful to check for any cracks, markings or scratches. I dun want to have the same incident repeated. Creases can still be taken care of by proper storage and thru usage, weight of your belongings will in time stretch the leather and give it back its shape. As this new Guccissima leather is distressed with inherent creasing, a bit of creasing is still acceptable and unavoidable. The crushed part is on the base corner, so that area is not a visible area. I have confidence with proper stuffing, I can ease up the creasing. So I accepted the bag. Perhaps not as pristine as the one I just returned, it was still reasonably good condition.

And I know this bag was not a display piece as the sticker used to protect the metal zipper ends are still well intact. And if that is being tampered with, you get finger prints on the sticker, which was not the case here. And I know display pieces always had the sticker removed to have better aesthetic appeal.

Today, I have to commend on the professionalism and good service that was rendered to me the entire duration I was in the store. All the SAs attending to me were very friendly, patient and tried their best to help. Although sometimes they might not have an immediate solution to my requests(such as other new bags for me to choose), they still go all the way to help. And while checking the bag, the very nice store manager even walk up to me and told me not to feel obliged to accept the exchange if I am not pleased or sure of the bag. And if I feel I still want the bag, I can use it for 2 weeks to a month to test the bag. Afterwards, if I am still worried about the bag cracking or somehow uncomfortable about the whole experience, I can bring the bag back to the store again and she will gladly give me a refund:-)

WOW...that was probably the most reassuring thing you can offer to a customer. The store manager's words really sets the whole Gucci service standards to new levels. That is what I absolutely defined as excellent, commendable after-sales service. I accepted the bag exchange on her reassurance. But I request more paper stuffing to prep the bag back to shape. The SA gladly puff up the bag...and when he came out of the storeroom...hahaha..the bag seems to have been given new life! It looked great! First impressions do count. When you buy something new, you need to make sure it appears in the best condition. It will be much easier to convince anymore as the eyes are the first to react and form an opinion in your mind.

So with the new bag all prep up, the SA gave me 2 email addresses to feedback on the way this whole situation is being handled and how it can be improved. This is also a nice gesture as it signifies they are confident they have done a good job and customer feedback and suggestions are important.

So kudos and thumbs up to Gucci! I left the shop a happy customer and garnered a new found respect for the brand and the service standards they instill in their staff:-)

Well done Gucci Singapore!