My 'DVF Wonder Woman Tote Bag' Experience
As you guys are aware, when I first saw this wonderful tote bag as bought by Nathaniel of www.fallapart84.blogspot.com, I instantly became a fan. I even blog about it. This was late October. I have been a huge admirer of all Wonder Woman related merchandise and hence this bag naturally becomes one bag that I would very much want to add to my collection. But as the DVF website only ships within USA, I know chances of getting this bag is very slim. That is until Nathaniel kindly offered his help to order the bag for me and bring it back with him from NYC when he comes back to Singapore in Dec. I was so grateful to him for his kind gesture.
However, little do I expect things would take a different turn. When I got the bag from Nathaniel before x'mas, I was kinda disappointed at the condition of the bag. The corners of the bag were worn. And the metal feet (on a brand new bag) has abrasions already. It showed signs of being used. I was not sure if I should be thinking what I am thinking. But I found a pile of receipts within the internal pocket of the bag. Amongst the pile of receipts is an order form for the DVF tote bag dated 14 Oct. 14 Oct was way before I got him to help me buy the bag since I only knew about this bag late Oct. I text Nathaniel and he explained he has placed the receipt into the pocket for me as proof of purchase but may have place in the wrong one. He assured me the bag was new and that the condition was less than perfect, inherent with the aforementioned flaws when he received them. So I accepted his explanation but I requested him for the new receipt dated in Nov as I would like to keep receipts as record of date of purchase. Nathaniel agreed to look for it and get back to me.
A few days passed, and I have not gotten a reply from him. So I text him today and ask him for an update. He explained he lost his Nov receipt and ask if I can use the Oct receipt instead as a record. That is when my doubts starts to surface again. I text him back about what I feel. There were too many 'coincidences' with this purchase. The bag did not come wrapped in plastic bag as when he would have gotten the bag from post. The corners of the bag were worn, metal feet with abrasions and now cannot locate the receipt. What am I suppose to think? Nathaniel agreed to return me the money which I thought was very gracious of him. A few hours passed and in the evening, he text back to tell me he changed his mind and I was wrong to doubt him.
I text back to tell him where I am coming from and that if the receipt cannot be found, then perhaps he can show me his bag to put my doubts to ease. I do think this is a simple request which is fair for both parties. He then text back to tell me he thinks I am accusing him for selling me his bag (which I have not said before) and that he has no time for this. He buys Hermes and why would he want to be not truthful with me with regards to a low-end bag. (To be honest, I never brought up other bags or anything beyond this DVF matter, he just said it himself...it kinda amuses me) I told him to just send me a pic of his DVF tote with a date stamp via email and I do not expect him to meet me in town just to show me his bag. He thinks I have ruined his experience with the bag and each time he uses the DVF tote, he will be reminded of this experience.
Well...that is the story. I am not distorting any facts here nor have I made any accusations. All the SMS conversation are saved. I have been very polite and diplomatic about this. I even apologise for me being very persistent in this kind of matter. But it seems the matter did not go the way I would have hoped for, the truth.:-)
I do not know exactly what happened.:-P So it's up to you readers to gather what your thoughts are. I rest my case. SGD $300 is not a big amount...but when it is money not well spent, it is still a huge disappointment.
Good conscience is the key to living a happy life:-) and I am happy I have been true to myself:-)
Update: I am posting some pics of the corners of the bag and the metal feet. Notice the rubs at the corners. All four corners are worn. One corner, corner 2 even has the plastic coating slightly peeling off. The metal feet is difficult to capture the abrasions as I use a auto camera. Cannot really zoom in and snap with flash. Flash flares out everything. Oh well, I have done my best to present the facts from my part:-) My mistake was not checking the bag before I pay for it as I was too trusting:-) My conscience is clear that I have been honest:-) Time to move on. I already have. I got a surprise tommorrow in the post. Hehe. On a final note, I will delete all comments on this post, since it is time for closure. and let this matter fade with time.
1) Corner 1 at bottom corners of bag
2) Corner 2 at bottom corners of bag
3) Corner 3 at bottom corners of bag
4) Corner 4 at bottom corners of bag
5) Notice the speck on the metal feet. It's hard to capture the tone on tone abrasion, but I tried my best:-)
