No wonder there are so many Ralph Lauren Polo fake shirts....

[Schweino]

I was browsing Ebay for some RL Polo oxford shirts when I noticed seller soft_rocks who was offering them for a competitive price. Being located in Taiwan I was weary about the authenticity of the offered goods, but I decided to order one shirt to sample. Upon receipt I noticed they were knock offs (very goods ones though) because of some stitching patterns that were different from my other RL shirts which I bought in a real life RL store.

The seller ofcourse denied it being a fake, which was to be expected. The odd thing is that this seller represents herself as being the sales manager of an official RL store in Taiwan...

The e-mails are being signed with:

Wendy Wu
Sales Manager, Ralph Lauren Taipei Breeze Center
1F, No. 39, Sec 1
Fuxing South Road
Taipei 105 Taiwan Republic of China
Tel: 886-02-82515834
Fax: 886-02-82547788

And the e-mail address ends with 163.com.


As I find it hard to believe for a RL store to sell goods for a very compettetive price on Ebay using a 3rd party e-mail provider I contacted RL by e-mail to ask them if this seller is a RL Taipei employee or a fraud. I also asked them if the shirt I bought is authentic, describing the stitching details.

This is the response I got:

Thank you for contacting RalphLauren.com customer assistance.
We apologize; however, due to the extensive variety of Ralph Lauren merchandise on the market, we are unable to verify the authenticity of specific merchandise. To ensure that you are purchasing authentic Ralph Lauren merchandise, we suggest shopping with an authorized retailer. Authorized retailers include Ralph Lauren stores, as well as select department and specialty stores.
Shopping in our Ralph Lauren Stores or on RalphLauren.com will ensure that you are always purchasing authentic Ralph Lauren merchandise. For your convenience, we have provided a link to our store locator below.
http://stores.ralphlauren.com/default.asp?ab=footer_stores

Funny thing is that the Ebay seller is clever and the address she provides in her signature matches the address provided by the RL store locator.... The phone number is different though.

I replied to RL custmer service that they didn't answer my question about the authenticity of the seller and if she really is a Taipei store employee selling goods through Ebay.

I got the following response:

Thank you for contacting RalphLauren.com customer assistance.
We sincerely apologize; however, RalphLauren.com does not have the resources to verify if this seller is an authentic Polo Ralph Lauren store. To ensure that you are purchasing authentic Ralph Lauren merchandise, we suggest shopping with an authorized retailer. Authorized retailers include Ralph Lauren stores, as well as select department and specialty stores.

The way I see it they just don't give a damn if someone claims to be a RL store sales manager selling counterfeit RL merchandise on Ebay or wherever on the internet. No wonder there are so many sellers like this around, they have nothing to fear.

 

[Sanguis Mortuum]

Sounds like a Fuxing nightmare.

 

[contactme_11]

Call the actual store's (in china) phone number from the website and ask to speak to that employee.
When they say "no such employee", tell them what happened. It is identity theft.

 

[contactme_11]

I bet they would handle it from there.

 

[Schweino]

Nah, I'm not going to put any more effort in this matter. I'm just amazed that a company who suffers from world wide counterfeiting issues isn't taking any measures at all when a clear case is being presented to them. I'm also amazed they claim to aim for "legendary service" as they say in all their e-mail responses but can't seem to be bothered to answer two simple customer concerns.

 

[JakeLA]

what's the difference?

 

[patrickBOOTH]

We could all just flash mob the address with letters of complaint.

 

[lostron]

there is not much you can do in this situation. Your are underestimating how hard it is more a company to go other fakes and the expenses required. Best option might be to return or buy elsewhere. Usually if deals sound too good to be true they probable are especially on the bay..

 

[chogall]

It might not be fake. It is fairly common for a big brand to make different products for different regions.

 

[acridsheep]

I'm assuming you got the shirt for cheap, seeing as how Polo RL oxfords are available very cheaply in almost every department store in the United States. I hope this isn't as big an issue for you as it appears to be.

Is the shirt nice?

 

[Charley]

What is the issue to "flash mob" about?
Ralph Lauren has not confirmed in any way that the merchandise is not authentic.
The original post did not describe shoddy merchandise, simply a different stitching pattern. Ralph Lauren confirms that stitching can be different from different suppliers. So is there a real quality issue?

 

[Klobber]

Polo Ralph Lauren, apart from a few select items (dress pants and suits), are really a very cheap brand. It could well be authentic. It is not uncommon for PRL shirts to be knocked down under $20 at outlets, and it is a good bet that they could be a great deal cheaper in some Asian markets. After all, the markup for United States and European markets must be astronomical.

 

[FlyingMonkey]

I'm not actually sure why the OP is so concerned. RL has done its cost-benefit analysis and decided that tracking down minor fakery is not worth it for them. Why is it anything to do with 'customer service' that they should behave differently? Caveat Emptor...

 

[cptjeff]



I'm not actually sure why the OP is so concerned. RL has done its cost-benefit analysis and decided that tracking down minor fakery is not worth it for them. Why is it anything to do with 'customer service' that they should behave differently? Caveat Emptor...

Especially when they're not at all convinced it is fakery? Sounds like a complete non issue to me. You got a decent shirt at a good price, regardless of the maker.

 

[Makoto Chan]

I'm sure RL cares about this problem, but not on your small scale.