Gucci denies selling second-hand bags as new

GUCCI China yesterday denied claims that goods returned by customers because of flaws are put back on its shelves again and sold as new.

The luxury goods company was responding to a report in the National Business Daily alleging that a returned bag was repaired and placed among new bags for sale.

It comes weeks after Gucci faced allegations of imposing a harsh regime on its sales assistants.

This week's report quoted an insider who claimed to be "familiar with Gucci's operation mode" and accused the company of fraud.

It was backed by what the insider claimed are internal e-mails detailing how a second-hand bag was to be sold as new.

Gucci China, based in Shanghai, insisted yesterday it would never put returned items back on sale.

"We will never allow or tolerate such conduct in our stores," said Ben Huang, director of marketing and communications of Gucci China.

Huang said the allegations are "unacceptable" and that Gucci will hold an investigation.

"We'll look into this case and if any customer has found imperfect products as reported, they should contact us directly."

Huang said he had not seen the alleged leaked document and could not comment on its specifics.

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.

"If this allegation is true, Gucci's behavior should be recognized as fraud," said Zhao Jiaoli, secretary general of Shanghai Commission of Consumers' Rights and Interests Protection.

"Gucci should apologize to customers, who could sue the company in any case," Zhao said.

It is also reported that while many customers believe imperfect products are sent to Italy for repair, much work is in fact done locally.

One repairer, surnamed Sun, told Shanghai Daily he did work for Gucci at his Tianjin Road shop.

Last month, former Gucci employees lodged a complaint alleging "inhuman working conditions."

They said they had to ask permission to get water or to go to the rest room and had to stand for hours.


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