TikTokers have been exposing a common scam on unsuspecting retail employees: customers purchasing legitimate high end items and then finding their counterfeit counterparts to return instead of their original legitimate purchase. And now one TikToker is debating whether they accidentally purchased fake Christian Louboutin shoes from Nordstrom.
In a recent TikTok video, viewed more than 500,000 times, creator Chloe Victoria (@chloe_victoriaaaa) showed off a pair of shiny Louboutin shoes she had recently purchased so red. Upon purchasing the pair from a store sale, she was saddened to see that the bottom tip of one of the shows was peeling.
So she brought them back to the retailer to show them the problem, and they offered to replace her pair with an online order, Victoria said. However, the replacement pair had a few key difference from the original pair she bought.
@chloe_victoriaaaa I didnt end up posting the unboxing because im so mad. Can someone please tell me if I got fake louboutins from Nordstrom? @Nordstrom @Christian Louboutin #fakelouboutins @Bethenny Frankel #nordstromsale #fauxluxury #nordstromscam #scam #fraud ♬ original sound – Chloe Victoria
Victoria pointed out that the colors on the bottoms of the shoes looked different: the new shoes she received were more of a red-orange and not the “true” Louboutin red, she said. She also pointed out that the heel of the shoe was thicker, placing them side-by-side for a comparison, and that there was no rubber tip on the bottom of her shoe, like her original pair had.
She said she was “furious” to receive the fraudulent pair, pointing out a difference in the engraving on the bottom of the shoe.
“There is absolutely no way I am paying for fake shoes…These shoes are both going back to Nordstrom because you’ve gotta be joking me right now,” she said. “I just don’t understand like what is going on? Literally what is going on?”
In a follow-up video, Victoria went on to update her followers on the status of her fake Louboutin scandal, stating that the people at Nordstrom were extremely “kind” and “understanding” of the situation.
“They brought out their manager…she was the sweetest lady and she understood why I was so alarming but also was not 100% sure these were fake,” she said.
As it turns out, another store associate said that they thought the new red shoes she received were actually legit and the styles were different because the iconic “red bottom” was actually made out of rubber, which is why they didn’t have the rubber tips as the “older” style pair she had purchased in store.
@chloe_victoriaaaa #stitch with @Chloe Victoria UPDATE on fake Christian Louboutin’s from Nordstrom #nordstromsale #nordstrom @Christian Louboutin @Nordstrom ♬ original sound – Chloe Victoria
She said that she ultimately decided to keep the “newer model” pair because they would be more durable and wouldn’t have to be “repainted, re-soled” down the line, but added that it’s still unnerving to spend so much money on designer goods while worrying the entire time if you’re purchasing something that’s legitimate or not.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Louboutin and Nordstrom via email and Victoria via TikTok comment for further information. In her original video, Victoria highlighted a recent video from Real Housewives star Bethenny Frankel, who posted to Instagram that she mistakingly bought fake Manolo Blahnik shoes from a T.J. Maxx store.
People in the comments section of Victoria’s videos seemed to feel her frustration — who wants to constantly go back and forth into a store after dropping a wad of cash on some shoes?
“I’m sorry that happened to you but I refuse to buy designer unless I’m at the actual brand store,” one person wrote. Which is a plan of action that Victoria said she would follow moving forward: “Going forward I am only going to be buying from the actual brand,” Victoria wrote in the comments section.
Another person speculated that it could be fairly easy for folks to pull the old-switcheroo on Nordstrom if they wanted to, as the brand’s return policy is so forgiving: “Nordstroms return policy makes it super easy for people to get away with this. They are known to take anything back with no questions asked.”
