Be careful about buying from Esther Tadjiev. 

She will not tell you that Chanel has a no return policy on watches and jewelry.

I'm putting this up to let everyone know that you need to be extremely careful when working with Esther Tadjiev.  She is a salesperson for Chanel at the 15 East 57^th Street location in New York. 

The reason I want everyone to be careful is, because I believe Esther is deliberately misleading about Chanel’s return policy so she can generate more sales for the store — and presumably more commissions for herself.

Chanel has a 14 day return policy for everything except watches and jewelry.  As it turns out, Esther sells jewelry, and readily admits that she does NOT disclose that the product cannot be return, unless she directly asked.

She told me that she is “absolutely clear” with clients if asked, but ‘if she told people about the policy they might not make the purchase’.

When I shopped with her I did ask “what would happen if my wife does not like the gift?” and she told me that “They would take care of it”.  I erroneously took that to mean I could return the necklace.  But I was wrong.

Despite multiple efforts to come to a compromise solution to Chanel’s no return policy, Esther and Chanel won’t budge. The return policy is a “strict” policy.

If the return policy is so strict, she should disclose it before the sale.  It is clear that this commission is worth more than my relationship as a client.

My wife’s birthday is in late September and she had mentioned that she had seen a Chanel necklace that she loved but provided no specifics.  It had been a tough year for her, so I decided to go above and beyond to get a great gift.

About a week before her birthday I went into the Chanel store on 57^th and Madison.  First, I looked at the costume jewelry – which is returnable, but it was all faux pearl, and I knew my wife does not like pearls.  So the salesperson, Ramone, escorted me over to fine jewelry where I was introduced to Esther Tadjiev.

I said to myself,  “you know what, just go for.  If she does not like, it you will take it back and get her something else.”  So took Citibike up to 15 E57th Street at lunch, met with Esther and bought the necklace.

As we were walking over to the check-out counter, I had a moment of hesitancy.  I asked “What happens if my wife does not like it?” and she responded and I quote, “We take care of it.”

I admit that I did not specifically ask whether the item was returnable, but what I later found out was that Esther was deliberately vague in her response because she knows people will not make the purchase if she reveals the truth.

My wife did like the necklace, but it did not seem to be right when she put it on.  She tried to see what clothing would work with it, but she could not find anything that made her comfortable.

After thinking about it for about a week, she asked me if she could return it.  I said sure.  She could get what she wanted.

We were visiting friends in the city, and we decided to return to the 15 E57th Street location.  The place was a zoo.  Apparently, Esther is the only person in the store who can show jewelry, so she tried to help us, but we were left standing multiple times for many minutes.

After waiting and waiting, Esther finally showed us some watches and other pieces, but by that point my wife just wanted to leave and so we tried to return the necklace.  It was then that Esther told us that it is not returnable and the store was closing.

Standing there Esther was clear.  I am paraphrasing – ‘Well of course I do not tell people about the no return policy when they come to the counter.  That’s not how you sell jewelry.’  I was shocked.  She just admitted that if she revealed the return policy people would not buy it.

I reached out to Esther Tadjiev again later that week. I explained I felt I was misled by her comments and we should try to come to a compromise.

On Tuesday, she did not call me back.

On Wednesday I called her. She told me that preliminary responses from management were that Chanel has a strict no return policy.  She said that if we committed to buy something it would be easier to speak with management, so I told her that I still wanted to buy my wife a gift there, but considering the miscommunication, I wanted to know where Chanel’s stood on the return before we came back.

BTW, my wife was furious and did not want me to go back to a store that treated me that way.

Esther Tadjiev, once again, described herself as “above board” on the return policy.  She would absolutely disclose it if she was directly asked.  So I said, “When people ask what happens if my wife does not like it, she does not think that is a time she should disclose the no return policy?”  She mentioned the no return policy is on the receipt.

The receipt is not clear at all.  In fact the language reads that there is a return policy and it is only 13 lines down that the watch and jewelry exclusion is mentioned.  That is bad form Esther Tadjiev.  If it is Chanel’s policy that the receipt is the notice, then the receipt should be a lot more clear.

See copies of my reciepts here, and a fuller description of my story at www.esthertadjiev.com and www.chanelsreturnpolicy.com

So please, be careful about buying from Esther Tadjiev at Chanel!  You might not be able to return that expensive product- no matter what they say!