Atelier New York Men Store — Local services in New York

I purchased a Maison Michel straw hat from ATELIER New York (a boutique) through the website FARFETCH about a week ago for a trip to Mexico. I paid for express shipping because I wanted to receive it before I departed for my vacation. Well, I received the hat the day before I was schedule to travel and I was extremely excited about the idea of having obtained an item that I searched high and low for! Instead of receiving the perfect fedora to compliment my wardrobe all I was left with was utter disappointment! The hat that I received was NOT what was portrayed on the website! Upon opening my packaged I realized that the ribbon was falling off of the hat and that the metal 'M' logo that was supposed to be stitched onto the ribbon was missing. At first I thought that maybe it was provided separately but there was nothing else enclosed in the box and no indication that the metal 'M' logo ever been stitched onto the ribbon, I am a Fashion Design student and I purchase luxury items on a regular basis so I have acquired sufficient knowledge of the detail this item must possess. BUT anyways! The package was received on a Wednesday at 1:49p EST and immediately processed for a return online and delivered to a UPS center for processing, the item was shipped back to the retailer at 5:07p EST. I left for my trip to Mexico immediately the next morning but I proactively followed up with the tracking of the items delivery! When I noticed that quite a few days had passed and I had not even received an email acknowledging that my returned item was received I decided to contact FARFETCH directly. During my initial interaction I was told that they could not locate my return order and needed to investigate the matter. The associate that I spoke with reassured me that he would either return my phone call or send me an email with an update. I did not receive either during the timeframe that was communicated so I opted to call back to follow up on my previous interaction. I was placed on a number of lengthy holds while another agent followed up on my claim, she then informed me that after their investigation they were told by the boutique (ATELIER New York) that the item returned was not received in the same condition that it had been sent and mentioned them having an issue with the box that it was sent in. I sent the item in the exact condition that it was received which again was NOT what was portrayed on the online website (after all that is the very reason why I am returning the item!) I also returned the hat in the same exact packaging that it was received in. The agent then proceeded to inform me that ATELIER New York was refusing to accept my return and would be shipping the item back! I asked for my dispute to be escalated and I was then asked to hold off from doing so until they could find some type of resolution that would benefit both parties. I have never been so insulted! I have since read a number of reviews from other customers with similar issues and it is now very clear that FARFETCH does not vet boutiques like ATELIER New York! Retailers such as them are using false and deceptive means to sell their products and are being protected by FARFETCH! How are the customers protected! These boutiques can essentially sell us items in conditions that are not made clear on the website for a great deal of money and we have no way of fighting back! How are they even able to do business in this manner! I am now on a quest to enter formal complaints and make everyone aware of my experience because I would not want anyone to have to go through what I have recently...

TERRIBLE customer service. I have never been to a fashion clothing store where the employee had such an unwelcoming attitude; and this is a bloody high-end avant-garde fashion store. I don't ever write reviews, but the treatment was so bad, I needed to let other people know.

The main female employee (I believe she was the manager), kept giving me that judgment glare when I wanted to try multiple pieces I was interested in. I did not feel welcome there at all. She was definitely judging me that I was just here to try and not buy, well she gave off that vibe anyways.

She and her other colleague had no interaction with me at all when I was browsing for pieces or trying them on. I was the only person in the store for the majority of the time, and they just sat at their desks. There was just the one guy who got me the sizes I wanted to try on, but he had no interaction with me outside of that. I even asked for help trying on this Junya's wrap pants, as there were so many belts, but nope, was completely ignored. (I still bought it though, so I guess it was efficient for them). They can really learn from the IF Boutique in Soho on how to treat a customer, especially when you position yourself to be a store selling high-end niche fashion brands.

Also, the manager was actually busy doing some inventory stuff on her computer with someone who was not a regular employee (maybe a vendor?) the whole time. The only interaction she had with me was when I went off the carpet in a Rick Owens Denim Sneakers to try and check if there was a size 41 in another model to try on to compare to the 42s I had. She told me to please not get off the carpet. Well, if you guys were attentive enough, you would have been able to offer help without me having to check out the other shoes myself while wearing the Denim Sneakers, which are not that easy to take on and off.

If the service was even just average (the pieces were that good) I would have bought 4 pieces instead of the 2. I couldn't bring myself to purchase them with the way I have been treated. I guess they did pretty well for me to spend 1K without providing any service at all. (I only tried on around 8 pieces as well. So many other people come in without even buying. And for the record I've never come out of these avante garde fashion store without buying because I will always find something I like). Also, see below for the complete opposite treatment i received from the IF Boutique in Soho.

To top it off the manager totally ignored me when I left the store with the stuff I bought. No thank yous, anything, she just continue doing some stuff on her computer with this non-customer/non-employee person (i guess a vendor?).

Never coming back here again. (Date visited was 4/18/22 at around 4pm)

Tip: If you like your junyas, yohjis, isseys, ricks, etc I would recommend people go to the IF Boutique in Soho instead. I shopped there last week and had a far more pleasant experience. They were far more helpful and thoughtful, recommending pieces to me and giving me ideas on how to wear certain pieces differently. I was able to try all the pieces I was interested in without being judged or feeling pressure to buy them. (I ending up buying 4 pieces from the 15 i tried there which i think was totally reasonable).

The only reason this review is getting two stars is because the selection of clothing was really really good. Or else it...

Do not purchase items from this store. Customer service is non-existent and they fail to follow through with delivery issues or address customer concerns or complaints. I recently made my first purchase --- Aesop soaps of all things ---- which cost over $350. Their policy required that I sign for the package when the FedEx delivery person dropped it off. I signed it but when I took the box inside, I noticed that the box was actually poorly sealed not using traditional packaging tape but an 'Atelier' branded tape which was unable to seal the box appropriately especially with these heavy items. Because of this, only one item was delivered. I immediately contacted Atelier --- instead of refunding me or sending me replacement items while they investigated or dealt with FedEx on this issue (clearly it was either Atelier's fault or FedEx's fault), they made me (the customer) be in the middle of the issue --- Fortunately, I had a Nest Cam still shots showing that the box was unsealed upon delivery and I also provided them photos of the poor packing job their staff had. For 1.5 months, I was strung along --- I filed a BBB complaint and no response. Ultimately, I had to file a chargeback through Amex who took care of this issue and advocated...