Luxury brands Louis Vuitton and Gucci are among the latest international brands found to be using different product exchange and return policies for consumers in the Chinese mainland compared with other markets, sparking a fresh backlash from Chinese consumers after the case of Canadian luxury parka maker Canada Goose. On its official websites in the U.S. and Canada, Louis Vuitton says that returns will be accepted for exchange in any freestanding Louis Vuitton store around the world, excluding Brazil, China, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, India, Jordan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Lebanon, Mexico, and Russia, among others. Louis Vuitton staff in a high-end shopping mall in Beijing told the Global Times that items can be returned for exchange within 30 days of purchase but the store does not provide refunds. As for online sales, mainland consumers can return items within seven days after receiving the product, but in the U.S., Canada and other countries, the period is 30 days.
The brand's different policies triggered fresh anger among Chinese consumers on social media. "You contribute greatly to its market revenue, while it takes discriminatory policy against you. What's the problem with you?" a Chinese netizen wrote on Weibo, hinting that Chinese consumers should shun the brand. Some netizens are also calling for the revision of market regulations in China to better protect the rights and interests of Chinese consumers. Similarly, refunds for purchased items in a Gucci physical store in the Chinese mainland are not provided, an official hotline services person and a sales representative in a store told the Global Times. In contrast, “Gucci will accept exchanges or returns of eligible merchandise within 14 days of purchase" in a physical store in the U.S. A number of other international brands also have different after-sale policies in and outside the Chinese mainland. “If consumers can prove that the product they bought has quality problems after the purchase, the merchant committed a breach of contract. Even if the merchant said that the product cannot be returned and can only be exchanged, there is no legal basis for this statement," Zhao Zhanling, Legal Counsel at the Internet Society of China told the Global Times.
