A woman who was visiting Bangkok reportedly bought an “Hermès bag” from a local second-hand store after seeing an online post.
The bag was later found to be fake.
Source: Saichon Chounchou on Facebook
When she confronted the store, they allegedly refused to refund her the full amount, offering to buy the bag back at only 70% of the price she paid.
The tourist, named only as Ms Deng, is a 27-year-old Chinese national, reported Thailand’s Khaosod News.
She’s reportedly also the wife of a Chinese businessman. The couple lives in Singapore.
Last year, she saw the bag in an Instagram story and contacted the seller.
She then bought it at a second-hand store in Ratchaprasong, a famous shopping district in Bangkok, on 1 Oct 2023.
Source: Saichon Chounchou on Facebook
She had gotten the bag for the price of 1.4 million baht (S$53,460.75).
A day after the purchase, Ms Deng decided to have the bag authenticated.
She sent it to The Catch Fake Brandname (TCR), a Thai institute that certifies luxury goods.
Source: Saichon Chounchou on Facebook
Unfortunately, they asserted that the bag was counterfeit.
Source: Saichon Chounchou on Facebook
According to the opinion of a TCR expert released on 24 Oct, the bag doesn’t conform to the characteristics of an Hermès Kelly Pochette Black Shiny Niloticus with gold hardware, which it was supposed to be.
According to luxury auction site Sotheby’s, they sold an Hermès Kelly Pochette Black Shiny Niloticus, albeit with palladium hardware, for 44,450 Swiss Francs (S$69, 435) in November 2023.
Following the disappointing certification, Ms Deng requested to return the bag to the seller.
The seller declined, saying the bag had already “lost its value”.
Before returning to Singapore, she hired a law firm to file a complaint with the local police on 6 Oct.
The law firm’s representative made another complaint to the police on 1 Nov.
When the representative subsequently turned up at the store with the police, the seller relented.
However, they didn’t offer a full refund — they said they could take the bag back in return for just 980,000 baht (S$37,300).
This was due to “depreciation”, they reportedly added.
That sum was exactly 70% of the amount Ms Deng paid for the fake bag.
Unable to stomach this, she went to the media with her story on 10 Jan.
Appealing to the Thai authorities, she claimed it was tough to find a government agency that could protect the rights of tourists.
She questioned how tourists who bought counterfeit goods could get reparation if they were only in the country for a short time.
She was also worried that other tourists who had the same experience would be scared to return to Thailand, she said.
Also read: Textile Centre Shop Allegedly Sells Fake Luxury Goods On Facebook, Raided By Police
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Featured image adapted from Saichon Chounchou on Facebook.
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