Kuala Lumpur – A video of a man cutting an LV bag in front of a salesperson is currently trending on social media, sparking many controversial issues from luxury shops judging walk-in customers based on their appearance to wasting a perfectly good (and expensive) product to prove a point.
Published on February 28, at the World of Buzz was a story of an angry man who cut his luxury bag in half at a KLCC store because the staff had preconceived judgements based on his clothes.
Netizen Ismail Ariffin shared on his Facebook page a video of his friend, Zainal Abidin’s, experience at a famous luxury boutique in one of Kuala Lumpur’s best shopping districts.
Mr. Zainal had allegedly bought the LV bag three days ago at the same shop and went back to request that his name be embossed on it. The staff denied the request as they feared they might damage the bag.
Apparently, the staff looked at Mr. Zainal as if he didn’t have the means even to enter the shop which angered and prompted the customer to say, “You can’t treat me and my friend like monkeys.”
He then asked for a pair of scissors and started cutting the bag in front of the salesperson. Mr. Zainal added, “They think their LV bags are greater than our dignity.”
According to Mr. Zainal, they were treated that way because their clothes were a bit too casual, as seen in the video, he was wearing a navy-blue shirt, shorts, and sandals.
????????“Hangpa nak tau apa yang sedang aku perhatikan?? Sebenaqnya aku tak sedaq pun, yang aku ni sedang di layani macam @#%@!!, tapi Sahabat aku ni tiba tiba ‘stand up’, last last aku sedaq, memang champions lah Sahabat aku ni, bila dia kata ‘ni bab maruah Pat!!’ Aku tak suka orang layan kita macam pelaq! Kita baik dengan depa, depa tetap jugak dok ukoq kita kot luaq!!!” ????????woOW!!????????????
Posted by Ismail Ariffin Lepat on Monday, 25 February 2019
Facebook pages All Singapore Stuff, Fabrications About the PAP, among others have shared the video which garnered a mix of reactions such as those who did not see the point of the cutting and in the end only made the salesperson happy because it was a sold item to begin with. Others pinpointed the waste of money.
Many also shared their experience of being judged based on appearance by retail shops, especially for luxury brands.
Even Mr. Zainal himself commented on his friend’s post and said:
It turns out, the bag he had on his shoulder was the limited-edition Louis Vuitton x Takashi Murakami Monogramouflage Duffle Bag which was sold at around $7,000 (S$9,400).
Maybe if the salesperson knew the more about the rare items the brand had, she would have seen the duffle bag which would possibly change her perspectives of the customer.
Either way, surely there were better ways to handle a situation which did not involve a pair of scissors.