Regulator, investor probe Cettire luxury marketplace

Cettire is an online marketplace that ships more than a million orders per year, spanning high-end brands such as Louis Vuitton, Prada and Valentino, and is led by secretive rich-lister Dean Mintz, inset, who founded the company in 2017.

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  By joyce moullakis

  and john stensholt

• 11:26AM May 27, 2024

Luxury goods marketplace Cettire is in the crosshairs of investors, with one instigating an investigation into the company’s complex supply network and customer service, while Australia’s competition regulator is probing complaints about its handling of disputes.

The Australian can reveal a global due diligence firm – which has conducted more than 100,000 investigations over 30 years, including a recent probe into Cettire – has uncovered a complex company operating structure, opaque supply and logistics network and lax complaints-handling processes.

The Cettire investigation included interviews with more than 100 sources including suppliers, luxury brand executives, former Cettire employees and consultants. The due diligence firm heard from sources who alleged that ASX-listed Cettire instructed some employees to draw out and deflect customer complaints made via email.The report also claimed staff were often told to disconnect calls from customers seeking assistance or product refunds, and managers would sometimes reprimand employees who provided a satisfactory outcome to a customer.

Separate inquiries by The Australian reveal how several customers have raised serious concerns about the quality and origin of luxury and designer products ordered from the Cettire website. Concerns have also been raised about the company’s complaints-handling processes.

The Australian understands a number of formal complaints to the competition regulator relate to Cettire’s handling of customer returns and complaints, and question whether the company is complying with its legal obligations. Responding to questions about Cettire, an Australian Competition & Consumer Commission spokeswoman said: “The ACCC does not generally comment on potential investigations or individual businesses.”

The Australian has, however, become aware of serious allegations against Cettire by two customers who have disputed transactions with their banks over what they claim is the supply of fake goods. A third customer believes the $1261 Valentino boots she received via the Cettire platform were either factory seconds or fake.

Daniel Berman, a customer based in San Carlos in the US, is among those that have had a run-in with Cettire. He ordered a Polo Ralph Lauren hooded jumper from the company, but had issues when the product arrived and didn’t look right compared to others by the same brand he’d bought elsewhere.

Mr Berman got in contact with Cettire, which denied the product was fake, prompting him to engage with Ralph Lauren via their customer care text message service. “They (Ralph Lauren) said check the QR code (attached to the jumper) – it will tell you if it’s real, and it didn’t come up as real,” Mr Berman said. “They (Ralph Lauren) said they don’t deal with sales like that … you have to buy it from an authorised seller in order for it to be real.”

The Australian sighted a video showing Mr Berman’s QR authentication code did not work when he scanned the jumper.

After contacting Ralph Lauren, Mr Berman then got in touch with Wells Fargo, his bank, to assess what could be done. “They told me I needed to get two places that say it’s fake, so one was Polo and one was my mom (who runs her own tailoring business).”

Besides the QR code not authenticating the product, Mr Berman’s mother recognised a different zipper, backing behind the logo and other subtle differences between the jumper sent from Cettire and his existing Polo jumper. Wells Fargo sided with Mr Berman on the matter and reversed the payment.

Separately, a Sydney-based Cettire customer who purchased a French designer handbag earlier this year recently provided her bank with material to support her claims questioning the authenticity of the bag. The transaction was eventually reversed by the bank – which sided with her – and the financial institution returned the bag’s purchase price.

Another Cettire customer in Brisbane was entangled in a long-running dispute with the company, which she documented on TikTok. Samantha Todd, an influencer and content creator, splashed out on a pair of designer Valentino boots only to be disappointed when the heel came loose after a few hours of wear.

“They (Cettire) are supposed to be Australian … so I picked them because they were cheaper but seemed legit,” she told The Australian. “They broke when I was on vacation, which was so annoying, then I had to carry around these broken boots.”

Ms Todd wanted a replacement pair of boots but found it extremely difficult to deal with Cettire. “I was emailing them daily trying to get a response for two weeks. It was always ‘we’ll get to it, or you have to email this person or email that person’. It was ridiculous. I honestly think if I didn’t post it on TikTok and it didn’t get a lot of traction, I don’t think they ever would have helped me.”

Ms Todd said Cettire eventually sent out a second pair of boots, but this time the shoes had a tag from Cettire’s rival platform Farfetch affixed to them and were scuffed. While another pair of shoes ordered via the platform were fine, the returns process then started over again for the boots.

“They just didn’t respond for ages and then when they finally did respond they wouldn’t accept, they wouldn’t explain anything or answer any of my questions or accept any responsibility,” she added. “They eventually said if I send them back, they would give me a refund and then did they process the refund? No! I had to harass them for weeks.”

Ms Todd got in touch with the ACCC and her bank ING about Cettire’s handling of her complaint, particularly given she had sent the second pair of boots back.While that was under way, Valentino saw her TikTok posts which had been viewed by millions of others. One of Ms Todd’s TikTok videos amassed more than 364 comments.

Valentino sent Ms Todd a new pair of boots free of charge after assessing her predicament.

Ms Todd remains of the view that both pairs of boots she received from Cettire were not as the product was advertised.

“They were a second or a fake, more likely a fake, because the leather was low quality. You could see it had marks on it when I unboxed it,” she said. “They felt different in weight to the real ones that I got from Valentino and when Valentino emailed me … they said they (the boots) definitely wouldn’t break after one wear.”

ING approved a chargeback for Ms Todd, which saw her transaction reversed by the bank and credit or debit card scheme, and the funds returned to her account. Cardholders can initiate a chargeback process with their bank to dispute a payment for reasons such as products being defective or not as described, duplicate transactions or if the goods were not received.

If companies incur higher than average levels of chargebacks by banks and credit card companies, that can impact the fees merchants have to pay to enable the processing of transactions.