So Saks lost half of my suit....

[CaesarSTL]

Hi all,

Ok, after the initial shock of the matter I've decided I want some more opinions as to how this situation should be handled. I started a new job this summer and some time around the end of July I went suit shopping at the sales at Saks. I was looking extra hard as I was told to pick one out for myself as a present for the new job. Well I found a great deal on a charcoal Givenchy (around $350 or so) that I tried on and it fit perfectly, no problems. So, since it was a present, I had them hold the suit for me and I reported back that I found something. The suit was then picked up for me and nothing was done till last week as I was in France for over a month.

So last week I took the suit in to get tailored with a few others, back at Saks because I have a good relationship with my sales rep and the tailor, and when I went to put on the Givenchy I immediately noticed that the pants were different! Instead of the Givenchy pants were a pair of Hugo Boss pants! Stunned I told my sales rep and he was equally confused. He went and got the manager, who also recognized me as a frequent customer, and after about an hour they were very confident it was not in the store. They no longer carry the suit and were not very optimistic with ordering from another store. They're currently hanging onto the "suit" and I'm waiting to hear back from them, so far, nothing.

So what options do you think I have? I mean sure a refund is great but I wanted a suit. The sales are over, so it's not like I'm going to be able to buy another suit there for just $350ish. There were even a few other suits I had my eye on while the sale was going... Any ideas? I really can't believe the only time I don't buy a suit myself it's mismatched

Thanks for any advice, other than the obvious always pick it up yourself and always check.

Jared,

 

[intent]

Can they check another store?

 

[CaesarSTL]

Originally Posted by intent

Can they check another store?

They said they were going to try and see if another store had anything, but most of their stores apparently don't stock Givenchy suits and it's from the spring so they aren't very optimistic...

 

[teddieriley]

Ask for a replacement suit (to your satisfication), of similar quality and retail price point, even if it is not on sale, regardless of the brand. Sak's should eat this one.

 

[JohnShaft]

Originally Posted by teddieriley

Ask for a replacement suit (to your satisfication), of similar quality and retail price point, even if it is not on sale, regardless of the brand. Sak's should eat this one.


I agree. In the spirit of good customer service, they should provide you a comparable suit of your choice, sale or no.

 

[CaesarSTL]

Originally Posted by teddieriley

Ask for a replacement suit (to your satisfication), of similar quality and retail price point, even if it is not on sale, regardless of the brand. Sak's should eat this one.

This is definitely what I'm hoping the turn out to be, or get my original suit back but I think that's highly unlikely at this point. I have a feeling they might fight this idea though...

I'd have to look up the original retail value, I think it was around $1,200 but maybe as low as $895 or as high as $1400, not sure, too much suit buying lately

But, seeing how this was a solid charcoal, I was counting on it pretty heavily in my rotation. The selection at my local Saks isn't as high-end or as large as it use to be though... (damn economy) I'm not really interested in a Hugo Boss, C. Klein, or a H.S. Marx suit. H. Freeman maybe, unless they would consider me paying the retail difference on a Canali or something, but I find this even less likely.

Any more thoughts? I'll try to keep this updated.

Jared,

 

[CaesarSTL]

Originally Posted by JohnShaft

I agree. In the spirit of good customer service, they should provide you a comparable suit of your choice, sale or no.

Thanks both of you, I was hoping I wasn't out of line with how I was feeling about this. Didn't want to go in there and seem really over demanding or something.

Jared,

 

[Warren G.]

Haha I thought this thread was going be "AH Saks lost 5 of my suits

" thread.

On a serious note, they should at least give you a replacement. I hope you don't end up with a crappy Hugo Boss or some other random jank.
Good luck

 

[phillyesq]

I would think a fair solution is for them to offer you the same discount (on a percentage basis) on that suit on another suit of your choosing, within reason.

 

[CaesarSTL]

Originally Posted by Warren G.

Haha I thought this thread was going be "AH Saks lost 5 of my suits

" thread.

On a serious note, they should at least give you a replacement. I hope you don't end up with a crappy Hugo Boss or some other random jank.
Good luck

They still have the other suits that are getting tailored, don't jinx me now!

Thanks though, and yeah the H. Boss would not make me happy...and I'm not all "pro-hate" Boss exactly (some...), but every one I've tried on didn't fit me right in the shoulders.

Originally Posted by phillyesq

I would think a fair solution is for them to offer you the same discount (on a percentage basis) on that suit on another suit of your choosing, within reason.

I think this sounds like a pretty solid gesture, thank you. What would you consider within reason? I'm not going to be trying to get a Brioni or something exploitive like that, but a Canali is a thought (Canali and H. Freeman are the only 2 lines really there that fit in the "upper mid-level" quality in my opinion)

Jared,

 

[Agnacious]

Are you sure the suit had the correct pants when you purchased it? It sounds to me that it was a mistake made at some point before you arrived and you purchased a mismatched suit.

Unless you can prove to some degree that you purchases a matching suit, e.g. tried it on with the the salesperson or tailor present, then I think the best you can hope for is a refund.

Otherwise the next sale, someone might switch the jacket and pants on another suit and when they no longer have any demand a replacement suit that they really wanted which wasn't on sale.

 

[meauounji]

Wow, I can honestly say that I've never heard of anything like that happening before. I just plain wonder what happened to the pants between when you said "please hold this for me" and the suit getting picked up. It's kind of water under the bridge now, but still curious, ya know?

 

[CaesarSTL]

Originally Posted by Agnacious

Are you sure the suit had the correct pants when you purchased it? It sounds to me that it was a mistake made at some point before you arrived and you purchased a mismatched suit.

Unless you can prove to some degree that you purchases a matching suit, e.g. tried it on with the the salesperson or tailor present, then I think the best you can hope for is a refund.

Otherwise the next sale, someone might switch the jacket and pants on another suit and when they no longer have any demand a replacement suit that they really wanted which wasn't on sale.

I wasn't there when it was purchased (it was a present for my new job), but I tried the suit on when I was there and I don't see how I could have possibly missed the pants. The fabric is a different shade and texture entirely, and it says Hugo Boss all around the inside of the waist. They said they would hold it for me along with some other stuff I picked out. I came back from France after a month and everything seemed fine (all my other stuff was there). Then I took it up to get tailored and....

I usually get my sales rep's opinion on everything because I've bought from him many times, so I'm sure he probably saw them also. I also have the feeling Saks is going to take a tough stance on this, and I see what you mean how someone could use this as a scam. I hope the fact that my sales rep knows me and the manager recognized me right away at least means something.

 

[CaesarSTL]

Originally Posted by meauounji

Wow, I can honestly say that I've never heard of anything like that happening before. I just plain wonder what happened to the pants between when you said "please hold this for me" and the suit getting picked up. It's kind of water under the bridge now, but still curious, ya know?

Yeah, I'm really really curious as well! The only things I can think of are 1. They found an odd pair of pants in their storage room and couldn't find what they went with so they sent them back thinking it was an error (maybe there's some kind of log they wanted to check before contacting me?) or 2. They went with someone else's jacket, but this person would really have to not wear suits a lot or something.... maybe if their jacket fit great and they took the pants by themselves to get hemmed? I dunno, I don't see this one being very likely unless it's just sitting brand new in a closet some where.

 

[JohnShaft]

I'm quite confident that there is some poor fellow, somewhere, with a HB jacket and mismatched pants. It's always possible the suit was to go with him on a trip and he discovered the mistake somewhere in BFE and there is little he can do until he returns. Or possibly he bought it while on a trip to your area and headed back without double checking it.

Stories like this make me glad my ocd won't allow me not to check other people's work. lol

As for Saks taking a hard line, they might. But I can't help but feel that since you have a relationship with them at the local level that they will want to take care of you and not lose your business; as long as your demands are reasonable.