The Saga Continues...

You can refer to the drama unfolding in the comments section of my posts about Indie Coterie and the owner, Letitia, but I will also reproduce segments of them here. I published them because I feel she deserves to voice her side of the story. However, I do not agree that my actions have been "cruel." That's very much an exaggeration on her part. I was upfront about the fact that I was a fashion journalist. One might expect that she would be more careful with how she treated me after finding that out, but she wasn't and that is not my fault. Throughout my correspondence with her and throughout Jessica's correspondence with her (Jessica is the designer of Knox Handbags. I have seen all of the emails Letitia sent her), she has fluctuated between being very nice and being very nasty. Furthermore, she is threatening me with legal action but I have already won my paypal dispute. This means an objective third party has ALREADY ruled that Letitia was in the wrong. A court would do the same. She has no legal standing whatsoever. There are not even grounds here for a cease-and-desist letter. My statements are pure opinion, and as such, are protected by the First Amendment. I am not guilty of libel or slander either since I made no claims and nothing I said was false or intentionally harmful. Nothing I said were private matters made public. Plus, she has already retaliated none too kindly to me on her own blog, but has since taken the post down.

Anyway, on to the drama, mama.

Letitia wrote:

you have comment moderation so this is for you privately..I dont know why you are posting negative things about my store? Why would you do something like that? Your incident does not judge my entire store. I asked the designer several time to call you back and explain that she was wrong for what she did to hold your bag hostage. You should know consignment works in certain ways, and although its not your business my policy with designers, desginers get paid each month if they are new to our store. So that is why she did not want to ship it, she thought by shipping and holding shipment I would pay her right away. She might have been desperate for money or something, but if I need to send you designer and buyer testimonials I will gladly. Please retract this comment about my store. it is very very inconsiderate when you dont even know me. I will have to take SERIOUS legal otherwise.

Thanks
Letitia

PS- feel free to put this on the site too

1st: she said it was for me privately, and then she said "feel free to put this on the site too," which I am. I am not doing it out of spite. I am merely providing a forum for discussion. Why am I posting negative things about the store? Well, because more people than just me have put up with underhanded dealings and have been burned by shopping at IndieCoterie. As a consumer and a journalist, it is perfectly within my right to give an account of what happened - an account thoroughly documented via email. Nothing I wrote moved beyond the realm of 1) What happened and 2) My reaction to what happened.

Letitia wrote:

wow, ok finally got around to reading this one too..anyway, dont know what else to say. i was just wondering if you could help me with something...you started off doing a really nice post about my store..did you ever think to contact any of the other designers like Amy Hemmens of Naik Fur, Diana from the So Fashon blog, Boaz, Doucette..I mean, you cant imagine how devastating this is for me to have you do something so cruel like this based on one designer who you dont know anything about..why is it that it was me that was not upfront? you havent realized yet that it was the designer who was doing soemthing wrong? i mean, i stole her images? are you serious, thats what she said? why would i even do that? if she didnt provide you proof, why are you assuming she is the holy saint here and i am the devil? i can assure you i have documented proof she was to be in my store and she even signed to it! when you own your own store and have one of your fave blogs do something like this maybe then you will see how i feel right now...do you even read the l report? do know how passionate i am about what i do? do know that i am a real person like anyone else? there are many things to consider before going around accusing people. im sorry if my emails were not the most professional, and my site doesnt look like netaporter, but i am not a broke as hell scam artist as you may think and i would like you to know the truth. why dont you speak to me and find out the truth and then post..well, the truth

thanks

I would love to see any proof Letitia has. Really. She has "threatened" me with proof this entire time, including during the paypal dispute procedure but has never once produced said proof. If I were about to lose my store because of poor customer testimonials on the internet you'd better believe I'd be trumpeting counter-proof all over the damn place. But, she hasn't. She keeps talking about proof but has never provided it.

Also, Letitia, look into Ockham's Razor. The simplest explanation is the best explanation. The fact is Jessica's story lined up with reality. Yours did not. You were not upfront with me. That is why I chose to believe Jessica. She has been calling me and corresponding with me personally. She has been nothing but sweet and professional throughout this entire ordeal - and yes, it has been an ORDEAL for her. You, however, have been glib and sarcastic with me. You have not been truthful either.

I do consider this from the human angle. Letitia, you are obviously passionate about what you do, but you have very poor customer relation skills and you have lied numerous times. You acted as if the bag would be sent only after I had ponied up the extra 10% that had been taken off when I used a coupon - then told me the bag was shipped the day I ordered it. You told me, knowing full well that the shipment had been cancelled in transit and returned to its place of origin, that the bag had been sent and I had gotten to keep my discount. You knew that the bag had never gotten to me, and you also completely ignored the principle at stake here. You would tell me one thing, like that the designer was going to call me and apologize, only to find out that that was not true at all. The proof is in the email correspondences that I have. Have you considered that Jessica and I are humans too? With passions of our own? And that we don't like to be lied to or harassed?

I feel that I am within my right to keep my posts up. I have freedom of speech and a personal blog with a personal testimony. There is nothing illegal about that. It has also helped to have the post up because I was able to find out about another customer who has had problems with you and your store.

Observation: Throughout all of Letitia's comments, she never offered an explanation as to why she lied to me or why the other person who commented on my blog suffered a similar fate because she too shopped at Indie Coterie. There are NO answers in her comments. No real apologies. She pleads with me to take down my posts and perhaps I will, once what I said is sufficiently refuted or proved to be wrong. So far, it hasn't been so it stays up.

Cruelty is mistreating customers and designers who wanted to buy from you and work with you. If you want to equivocate, go right ahead. The truth is, well the truth. And it stands for anyone to see.

Edit: I am so confused. I decided to investigate the comment left by "Me Too" in this post. If you click on the link and read the comments you will find a story by another person who went through something similar to me. Sure enough, I went to Indie Coterie and on their Customer Service page (I saved a screenshot) it says, "Indie Coterie offers FREE shipping on all U.S. orders by USPS 2-3 Day Priority. " So why was I charged $25 for shipping? I mean, if Letitia going to adhere SO strictly to site policy that I can't get a refund (outside of a paypal dispute where paypal is making her pay me back) then why was I charged $25 for shipping? Also, the "me too" girl is right about IndieCoterie's refund policy. If you follow the link on the IndieCoterie website, it takes you to a retail website in the Netherlands. A further point of interest: the Netherland website, mytheresa.com, looks exactly like IndieCoterie. Check the font and the placement of the links and photos. Did Letitia steal the template? Is she affiliated with these people, and if so, how? What the heck is going on here?!

Revamped Ravinstyle

Ravinstyle was the rival of Girlshop before Girlshop closed its doors (so sad!). But, lucky for us, Ravinstyle is still around and now it's better than ever. With a revamped look and brand new spring/resort lines out, Ravinstyle is a one-stop shopping experience for any fashionista.

Check out their great new look:



Plus, right now, get an extra 25% regularly priced items with the code DCDEALS.

Where can you get

$1,000 worth of bags for $260? At the Otte NY Sale. You'd better hurry, the items are FLYING off the virtual shelves. I got the Olivia Harris Flap Hobo in Charcoal ($110!!) and the Boyy Frank Leather Bag in Brown ($161!!). That's over $1000 worth of bags for $260. Amazing.

Reasons to Move to NYC:

1) NY Fashion Week!

2) I got invited to a Project Runway event in NYC and couldn't go!

3) I got invited to a kick-ass Fashion Week After-Party and couldn't go!

4) I have friends there!

5) Coutorture gals

6) Filene's Basement, H&M, TOPSHOP (new!!!!), Century 21, etc...

7) Bars that are open past 2am.

8) Restaurants that are open past 10pm.

I mean, really. Sometimes, I'm sitting around my (awesome) apartment watching Planet Earth BBC and thinking, "I could be at a hot fashion week after-party, but instead I am here petting my cat Bucket, watching Planet Earth BBC, while my boyfriend sits next to me sipping a cup o' tea." Would I trade this for a version of my self as a glamorous Grace-as-Carrie-Bradshaw-Gal-About-Town? I think so.

Then again, the cost of living in NYC is hell of high. I doubt I could have an awesomely cheap apartment in NYC and afford all of the clothes/partying/haircuts and stuff that I spend my (closely budgeted, haha) money on.

After consideration, (and after reading copious amounts of Overheard in New York), I think I'm gonna stay put and use NYC as that much-needed, occasional weekend getaway where I go and stock up on H&M and Topshop. :) It's called "Living the Dream."

Tax refund = New Clothes

I'm a responsible American. Instead of putting my tax refund into savings, I shopped! I have stimulated the economy out of recession! I feel like a superhero.



I got this in ivory. Why, oh why, didn't I get this in camel? I am too pale for the shade. But, it is a lovely coat and it is covered in over-sized buttons (my weakness).




This was a replacement for Cthulu, my old octopus necklace that has been lost somewhere amongst friends. I left him at my friend's cabin in Colorado. I don't know where he is now, but I hope he is happy. He has been REPLACED.




Amazing. Etsy is the best place on earth.





Originally $101, got them for $28. :)





Originally $165, got them for $37.60.




Something floral for spring!




Need mo' buttons!




Classic turtleneck sweater dress:




I cut down trees. I skip and jump. I like to press wild flowers. I put on women's clothing and hang around in bars!



I had 5 trenches. Now I have 6. Out of those original 5, I did not own a black trench. Tragic!



I also got a couple of pashminas, a sewing machine, new business cards and a titanium case for my Samsung Black Jack (best phone evvvvveeeerrrr!). See, even when you're sick with acute bronchitis and a 102 degree fever, you can be a greedy consumer! Like me! (Thanks INTERNET!).

The tackiest look of them all...

being an unprofessional online boutique owner.

Don't you love it when you catch someone out and then they react like a caged animal - lashing out at you and everyone in sight? Later, they twist the case around and suddenly YOU become the crazy one. This is what happened between me and Letitia, owner of IndieCoterie (the worst online boutique ever). Her crazy is clearly documented, but she insists that *I'm* the crazy one? Why? Because I want back the $250 she stole from me? Yes, that clearly makes me insane.

Anyway, let's commence the story.

On Jan 18th (almost one month ago), I was on MUA and someone posted a link to IndieCoterie with a note that the Knox handbags were 40% off. I was elated because I just managed to get a small amount of money saved to splurge on a quality bag and I have wanted a Knox bag for close to a year now. At 40% off I could afford it, and even better I found a coupon for an extra 10% off that covered the super-high $24 cost of shipping.

The following day (Jan 19th) the owner of IndieCoterie, Letitia, contacted me saying that I cannot use a discount code with a sale and was asked to provide my paypal information so I can be charged the difference that was taken off when I applied the code.

I wanted to honor her policy and stay within budget so I thought the best thing to do would be to cancel my order. I wrote her back the same day, asking for my order to be canceled. I never heard back from her. I wrote her again on the 22nd and asked if the order had been canceled. I didn't hear back from her until the 25th and was notified then that my order had already been shipped, but that she could compensate for the inconvenience by letting me keep the discount.

Now, this is where things get crazy. I was confused because she blatantly refused to honor my request, a request that I found to be reasonable and delivered in a timely manner. I sent her all of the emails showing where I had requested the cancellation and refund as proof that I had sent them in a timely manner. My reasoning was: not thinking the item had been shipped, because she had mislead me in making me believe that the item would ship after I ponied up the extra $25 that the discount code had knocked off the purchase, that I had requested a cancellation BEFORE it had shipped and was thus qualified for a refund!


Only THEN was I notified that it was policy not to issue refunds. I told her that I had requested a cancellation well before the item had been shipped. Only THEN did she inform me that the item was shipped on the day I ordered it. This was odd because when she told me this it was Jan 29th, a full 11 days after I had ordered the bag and still had not received it.

IF it had been shipped on the 18th, I should have gotten it by then. I felt like she was being less than up front with me and I told her so. She did not take well to this (mainly because she WAS being less than up front with me and I had totally called her on it!). Then she writes me this terse email:

Your tracking for USPS is: 1Z3716X90399892677
This is being sent by the designer's studio, so I apologize if you felt I wasn't being up front (which is a degrading assumption that gets annoying from over curious shoppers), but I go by what I am told. It was supposed to be shipped the day you ordered.

Well, if you track the shipping on UPS.com (not USPS as she claimed) it is clear that the bag was returned to its place of origin: Brooklyn, NYC.

Thankfully, this "over-curious shopper" got the answer to this baffling puzzle quickly. The DESIGNER of Knox Handbags, Jessica, called me. Apparently this is the real story:

Letitia just recently started IndieCoterie, and apparently uses guerrilla tactics to get all of the pictures of merchandise on her site. Basically, Letitia stole the pictures of the merchandise and placed them on her site acting as if these items were for sale! Jessica found out and contacted Letitia asking her to immediately remove the pictures from IndieCoterie. It was then that Letitia tried to work out a deal with her along the lines of: let me keep the pictures and I'll sell your stuff on consignment. I'll get 40% of the sale, you'll get 60% and you will ship the bag directly to the buyer yourself. Letitia basically strongarms Jessica into a consignment deal (she hijacked the pictures, what was she going to do when someone actually bought a bag?!).

Doesn't this seem insane? All of the products for sale on IndieCoterie are not actually in Letitia's possession. Letitia has tried to lecture me on how a consignment store is run, but I used to work at a boutique where 40% of the stock was on consignment by local artists. I know how it works. She, apparently, does not.

Okay, so Jessica tells me that after she agrees to the consignment deal that no bags sell. That is, until Letitia puts them up for 40% off (without the consent of the designer, obviously the designer wants full price for her items!). Two bags sell. I buy one, and a girl in London buys one. Jessica ships them both out, only to be informed by Letitia that she WILL NOT BE PAID FOR THEM. Jessica stops shipment on my bag.

Letitia failed to mention that whole thing to me in all of the email exchanges we had. She kept saying that my bag was shipped, knowing full well that the shipment had been stopped because she refused to pay the designer (apparently, Letitia is broke as hell, which explains her desperate-to-keep-the-money-even-though-it-is-mine behavior).

So, I respond to her via email:

I don't think I was wrong in assuming you were being less than up front with me about all of this because you were. I guess I will be getting my money back from you anyway. I just spoke to the designer of Knox Handbags and found out what was going on. I will be opening a dispute with paypal and she will be backing me in the dispute.

And I did. I opened a dispute with paypal and with my cc company. The best part is, Jessica has written a letter to my credit card company along with copies of all of the emails Letitia sent her to help with my dispute. She has been great throughout this thing. I feel really bad for her. I am sure she takes a lot of pride in the gorgeous bags she creates. It must be horrible to not get paid for your work and to have to deal with a crazy like Letitia. Apparently, Letitia has harassed the designer by saying, "Why are you acting this way. Are you on your period?" When Letitia responded to my paypal dispute where I accuse of her holding my money hostage (which she is), she responded, "What, are you 12?"

Real professional, Letitia.

The greatest thing is: email. Every exchange between me and Letitia and Jessica and Letitia is thoroughly documented! There is no way to get out of this one. My money is coming back to me and I couldn't be happier to put this whole thing behind me.