A woman on TikTok has called out The Fox Club, a vintage store in Chicago, for selling her a fake Coach purse.
The woman, known as Candace (@candyland44chi) on TikTok, shared a video recording of when she tried to return the purse to the store, and it refused to give her a refund. The TikToker had her husband record the incident to share with her large following of about 70,000.
“The Fox Club in Chicago sold me a fake Coach purse and refused to give me a refund. Is this really a vintage store?” the video’s on-screen text reads. As of Tuesday, that video received about 569,000 views on TikTok.
In the video, the store associate says, “I wish you would have asked me before purchasing. I would have told you that it’s not real Coach. We would have priced it way higher if it was.”
“But this is a vintage store,” Candace says before the associate cuts her off, saying, “We’re a vintage store, not a thrift store.”
Candace points out that the purse was “priced accordingly” to the value of a real Coach purse.
“I’m super sorry that you’re unstoked about the Poshmark prices, but we do a lot of research on our pricing,” the associate says.
At that point, the TikToker hands back a brown paper bag, which presumably holds the fake Coach purse. She says the purse is fake and “not worth anything,” which makes the store associate laugh.
“I was just supporting a local neighborhood store,” Candace says.
“And I appreciate it,” the associate replies before repeating that she wished Candace had asked if the purse was real.
“So should I ask about everything individually?” Candace asks, gesturing to the other items in the store. The store associate replies, “If you’re wondering if it’s a designer, then I would suggest doing that, yeah.”
“But Coach isn’t designer, Coach is contemporary,” Candace says. “That’s not a designer bag, it’s a contemporary bag, and it’s priced accordingly to the value of what that Coach bag would be priced at. So that’s all I’m just giving it back to you. That’s it. Have a great day.”
As the TikToker walks away, the associate says she hopes her day gets better.
“No, it’s wonderful,” Candace says. “I hope your items become vintage and real.”
Viewers widely supported the TikToker, saying the store was not only in the wrong but the store associate was also unnecessarily “condescending.”
“Not giving a refund is one thing. But her attitude and condescending tone? Unacceptable,” one viewer commented on the video.
“They’re trying to make YOU feel wrong even though they KNOW they’re wrong!” another viewer commented.
One viewer wrote, “She actually laughed at you!. Not how a business person should handle any customer concern. wow.”
Other users pointed out that vintage implies authenticity—meaning customers at a vintage store shouldn’t have to ask if an item is authentic.
“Vintage definitely implies authentic. Call the feds,” one TikTok user said.
“You shouldn’t have to ASK if it’s authentic,” another user wrote.
Someone else asked, “So they are admitting to knowingly selling counterfeit goods…?”
Multiple viewers commented that they left one-star reviews for the store, which seems to have prompted Yelp to pause reviews for the store on its website. As of Tuesday, The Fox Club’s Yelp page contained the note, “This business is being monitored by Yelp’s Support team for content related to media reports.”
The business’ Instagram account (@thefoxclubchicago) was private as of Tuesday, also seemingly in response to the negative backlash.
Update 7:53am CT, May 17: Candace updated viewers to let them know Coach sent her a brand-new purse. In a follow-up video, Candace thanks viewers for their “love and support” and unboxes the package Coach sent her.
“It’s real,” Candace says, laughing, before opening and reading aloud a note included with the package. “It says, ‘Candace, this is the real deal. Hope you enjoy your new swinger.”
She notes the letter came from the Coach social team.
“So cute,” Candace says, holding up and trying on her new purse, which is priced at $275 on the Coach website. “Thank you everyone for your love and support.”
@candyland44chi Thank you all for your love and support! #coach #realdeal #foxclubchicago #thankyou ♬ original sound – Candace
The Daily Dot reached out to TikTok user @candyland44chi via TikTok comment and to The Fox Club via its website contact form.
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