Aibu to expect a refund for (suspected) unauthentic does get purse?

[Serialcatmum]

I bid on and won a mulberry purse on eBay item arrived- it was listed as used. This purse did not look used. It looked brand new! Not a single mark, smelled new and still had a piece of cardboard in one of the flaps.
Contacted seller, expressed my concern that it was not used and therefore the price did not reflect a genuine new item. Asked her to confirm is it was authentic. She did.

Took my new purse our shipping today- went into 2 shops and purchased items. I noticed some scuffing and wear and tear in the corners. This does not seem to be standard of the quality on mulberry. Messaged seller with pictures and said that this confirmed to me that item was not authentic and request I return purse for a refund.

Seller has refused and stated that I have not taken care of the purse and they will not be giving me a Refund. I’ve had the purse 2 days, been in 2 shops and stored it in my handbag. I’d hardly say that is not caring for the product.

Aibu?
Yes- you are BU and should not expect a refund for a purse you have used (for 2 days)
No- you are NBU the purse it clearly not authentic and seller should accept return/ refund.

I’ve attached pictures of the damage.

FYI I had the purse authenticated today- it IS authentic mulberry.

Shame on mulberry for selling purses where the leather elite rally drops off with very light use!

I have declined the partial refund and apologised to the seller.

Thanks for the update, Op.

Good on you OP for doing the right thing x

Wow, I didn't expect that as an outcome. What do we all know...and so expensive for something that isn't of quality.

I think I'm more shocked/disappointed for you that it is genuine and that you can't get your money back.
Instead you have a genuine, expensive (tho not so much because it is second hand) but poor quality item.

At least you didn't buy it for hundreds new!

Well if I'd known that Mulberry would let such shoddy work go I wouldn't have spent so much time training the quality team at the expense of other teams...unless the quality overseas isn't as strict. I'm shocked that was allowed to go.

I know very little about Mulberry but is it possible that they make lower quality goods for selling in outlet stores as apparently that’s true of some of the ‘designer ‘ goods that they sell in places like TKMaxx ( I saw a programme about it many years ago) . Anyhow good on you OP for doing the right thing and I hope the wear doesn’t get any worse too quickly and you get to enjoy your purchase .

I was just going to say what Floralnomad said. Probably cheaper and lower quality line for TK Maxx.

Mulberry don't do lines for TK Maxx. Anything not 100% will go to the factory shop in Somerset or an outlet village such as Bichester. But even then you'd have to look very closely to find the fault.

OP if it is authentic, you can take it in to Mylberry to see if they can offer some repairs/maintenance? This is usually the case for designer goods. Not sure if it applies for things purchased outside shops.

I had a wild experience with an eBay win. I won a LV speedy auction about 10 years ago. The price was the going rate for a second hand speedy at this time.

When it arrived, it was a clear fake. I was so disappointed. I contacted the seller, who denied it being inauthentic. I did a side by side with my friend's (bought new from LV) and sent the seller a bulletpoint list of the markers for it being a fake. I was apologetic and polite (she may not have known it was a fake, after all), and she went totally silent on me. For weeks.

I can't exactly remember the back and forth with eBay and PayPal, but after the seller ceased communication, and eBay said they couldn't help me, I decided to take things into my own hands.

I couldn't take it to LV as they would have seized and destroyed it and I'd lose my evidence (or so I feared).

So I turned detective.

The eBay account gave no contact details... so I turned to PayPal.

The PayPal account carried the email address of a man. First name last name and a number indicating his probably DOB. This guy had another item listed for collection from a particular area of the UK. The seller I had dealt with was definitely a female and had signed her first name on one of the two emails.

I ran the PayPal email through Facebook and found the man using the probably location and his probably age. I looked through his fb friend list and discovered one person of that name. I finally had her full name. I googled her name and the location from eBay and found her on LinkedIn.

After sending her multiple messages on eBay over the next few weeks and getting silence, I decided that I didn't want to lose hundreds of pounds on a fake handbag. I sent a polite email to her work email address expressing my disappointment with the fake handbag and requesting a full refund.

She then finally got back to me and gave me an address to post the bag back to, apologised for it not being genuine (she claimed that she had't known...) and gave me a full refund.

If I'd have had mumsnet at the time, it would have been an edge of your seat, live update event. My friends were thrilled with the drama of it all.

You'll either decide that I am a tenacious and resourceful person, or an astonishing psycho from that story!

What a surprise, OP

So much for the so called ex Mulberry employee here with her secret fake tells 🤣

@trappedsincesundaymorn really appreciate your input. It’s a few years old. Maybe the quality has for better since 😊

@applesauce1 ohhh is have loved to follow that on here!!! 🤣

@Aridane I know right!!! At least now I know!

I WAS going to eventually save up for a bag but think, when I’m ready, I’ll go to Fossil and get a few instead! 🤣