Any time a white male wants to use force to solve his ego problems against a minority, it's a problem.
This was just luggage. Rimowa luggage. At Madison Avenue. In New York City.
This white male manager threatened to use his two store body guards to take me out of the store. He was showing me how well he could manipulate a situation. It was uncalled for, and he escalated what was suppose to be a manufacturing problem with their luggage in to a dangerous situation for me, being the lone Asian female customer, with no witnesses, no protection, against this Rimowa gang of unfulfilled employees and two large male bodyguards. I took out my video to record them in an efforts to protect myself, grabbed my bag, and left the store to prevent anything dangerous from happening.
It would be one thing if I was throwing stuff around the store, being violent, or even screaming at them. This is just luggage. Overpriced Rimowa luggage. I was so happy to buy my first piece, because Rimowa positions itself as such an elevated travel experience. But ever since I bought mine, the same wheel keeps falling off. This has gone on for 2.5 years. It's already been to their Rimowa warehouse, and still the same wheel keeps falling off. To glue it back on again would still mean it would fall off. And even tried to empathize how it's not a dramatic life issue comparative to all of life's issues... but for a luxury luggage Rimowa store, luxury luggage should probably be taken seriously.
But it was my kindness that was being taken advantage of. Rimowa offered to glue it back on again. Even offering to do it for free like they were doing me a favor... but they weren't because my luggage is still under warranty and repairs are still free and that this same damn wheel shouldn't constantly be falling off to begin with, let alone consistently for the past 2.5 years.
But what could I do? The blonde male manager gave me the solemn tight lip smile, looking at me like I was some spoiled rich consumer, and that he was taking care of it the stupidest way possible because he hated this perceived life he had of me. I tried to acknowledge that this luggage isn't my life, but it's a pain to deal with an expensive 3 wheel Rimowa while traveling with shitty customer service. That if he were just to glue the wheel again, I might as well sell the Rimowa because it's useless, I don't trust it anymore. But alas, he did not give a shit to actually help the situation, and was just going glue the damn wheel back on.
As another employee was intaking my warranty Rimowa, I started to feel like my kindness and understand didn't work in my favor.
"So you don't have history with the bag?" the employee accused me. My Rimowa luggage is registered, and has already been to the Rimowa warehouse to be fix for this same damn wheel, and there's over 30 emails to prove it. I definitely have history with this bag. My bag is in the system, she's making a mistake if she can't find my file. I've worked in customer service and know what it entails to find a customer file. Sometimes you do, and when you don't, you ask for more info to try to find that file. What she was really doing was accusing me of not being a real customer. She said it with such attitude, that was it.
"What are you accusing me of?"
"I'm not accusing. I'm just saying you don't have history with this bag." Gaslighting.
"You know what, I'm not satisfied with this solution. This luggage is obviously defective."
She brings in the manager, who gives me that same tight lip smile like he's better than me, and pities my problem with Rimowa without offering solution because that's how he gets even in life. Like he hates his customers so much, he stays in his position just to give Rimowa customers an awfully gaslight toxic time. And perhaps that's why he's the manager because he prevents Rimowa actually fixing their luggage and losing money. Which is an awful tactic to save money.
"If you keep talking like that, I'm going to have the guards take you out of the store," this white male so smoothly rolled off his tongue to a single minority Asian female who was alone. Instead of fixing the problem, he power tripped to show just what he could do to manipulate the situation. read more
