A woman went to return a Chanel mini Kelly that she ended up impulse-buying. Then she noticed that the sales associate who was all smiles the day before was less than pleased with her bringing the bag back.
TikToker Jackie Napolitano (@jackienap) had no intentions of buying a Chanel bag when she walked into the store with her mother. So, when she ended up leaving with a mini Kelly, she felt a sense of doubt that ended up haunting her throughout the night. By the time the next day rolled around, she decided that she didn’t want to keep the bag. But, she felt pressured by the sales associate who helped her to keep it, despite that not being in her best interest.
Napolitano described the situation in a video with over 2.5 million views, saying, “ I feel like it’s the biggest designer fashion. No-no, but sometimes you just have to do it.”
Napolitano walks into Chanel and ends up with a Mini Kelly
When Napolitano went into Chanel with her mother, she had no intentions of making a bag purchase. Her mother was looking for a tote bag for her birthday, which was in a week. So, Napolitano was simply assisting her with the process.
She noticed a Chanel mini Kelly that she loved at first while her mother was shopping. It had a classic look that paired extremely well with her outfit—a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and a black sweater. The sales associate, too, was doing a great job of selling it, adding that there was a ton of room in the bag and that it had a great price point for a Chanel bag.
But Napolitano started to feel unsure about the idea of purchasing it. For one, the mini Kelly wasn’t on her wishlist and wasn’t something she felt particularly drawn to. Despite it looking amazing with her outfit, she wasn’t sure whether she loved it enough to take it home. She simply didn’t feel like jumping for joy over the bag.
So, despite her purchasing the bag in-store that day, she ended up wanting to return it almost immediately.
Napolitano tries to return the Chanel mini kelly
The very next day, Napolitano brought the Chanel mini Kelly right back to the same store for a return. The same sales associate was there, who ended up asking why she was returning the bag. She emphasized that she wasn’t sold on the bag and felt it didn’t fit where she wanted to push her wardrobe.
Despite her making her point about why the bag just wouldn’t fit her style, the Chanel sales associate tried to push for her not to return it. When she insisted that she needed to, he asked whether or not there was anything else he could show her.
That’s when she asked about a vanity bag with a specific top handle. The man immediately said that Chanel’s vanity bags weren’t really “bags” and that she was downgrading by showing interest in one. When he brought two vanity bags out for her to see, she noticed that they didn’t have the top handle she was asking for, so she asked if they had any in stock.
That’s when she noticed that the man had little to no interest in helping her pick something out anymore. When she realized that, she decided to just make the return. That’s when the Chanel sales associate said something that rubbed her the wrong way.
He added that “there’s nothing else that I could even show you because this [mini kelly] is as classic as it gets, and if you don’t want this, then like you probably don’t want anything.”
Napolitano feels awkward and tense
The man took the mini Kelly she had just purchased to the back of the store to process the return, leaving Napolitano to an awkward wait in the lobby. For an awkward seven minutes, she ended up waiting for him alone in the Chanel store.
After that point, he came out with everything he needed to process the return. Napolitano noticed that his vibe was immediately different. The excitement and enthusiasm he had while helping her were entirely gone, and she felt “the hat of shame” metaphorically landed on her for even making the return in the first place.
Napolitano took the latter half of her video to advise herself and others not to make purchases without really wanting them, as she never wants to make a return like that in her life.
“ I understand now why people are always like saying the designer like bad experiences. ‘Cause I’ve never really had one, but now that I return something, I was like, ‘oh my God, that was really scary and now I’m gonna be way more particular about what I’m actually getting because even though they have a return policy, I honestly would never wanna return a bag ever again.’”
Why was the sales associate rude?
When Napolitano made her return, she noticed that her sales associate didn’t have any enthusiasm for her. The coldness was striking and left her not wanting to make future returns.
Often, sales associates at luxury retailers rely on commissions. A sale on a mini Kelly bag, for instance, can significantly impact the amount of free money that a sales associate has at any given time.
For that reason, returns can be especially disappointing, especially if they place the sales associate in a disadvantage.
Former sales associates emphasized this in the comments, saying, “I understand his disappointment (when things like this get returned you can end up in the negative and owing your work money) but I don’t understand him being rude. I think people don’t realize that a lot of sales people make their monthly nut on commission similar to servers with tip. I’d just think a bit more thoroughly next time since he likely left that shift thinking omg I can pay my bills this month yay! And then the next morning, he’s in the red.”
@jackienap The Chanel return ?? #designershopping #chanel ♬ original sound – Jackie Napolitano
The Mary Sue reached out to Chanel’s press email and Napolitano’s email for more information.
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