Saint Paul, MN - December 16, 2011 - After a series of complaints filed in the last year against Peppermint Park, LLC -- a Minneapolis-based Internet shopping business -- questioning the authenticity of designer products sold by the company, the Better Business Bureau of Minnesota and North Dakota (BBB) launched a review of their advertising claims and complaint history. After the review, the BBB's Board of Directors met with the owners of Peppermint Park, and allowed the company a chance to fully address and provide a plan to correct the issues noted in the BBB’s review. Peppermint Park supplied additional information in support of their advertising claims, but the BBB deemed it inadequate.
Peppermint Park is a membership based organization that offers discount designer women's clothing and accessories, and has advertised and had products featured in Oprah's Winfrey's magazine O, as well as in a variety of other women's magazines and on The Today Show. Since the start of this year, the BBB has processed 39 consumer complaints against the company. In addition to concerns about the company's products, many consumers allege their membership and return policies are misleading and allege that they have difficulty terminating their memberships.
Based on a number of consumer complaints disputing the authenticity of the company’s merchandise -- which they advertise as "100% authentic, first-hand merchandise" -- the BBB conducted a "secret shopping" of Peppermint Park this August in an effort to verify the authenticity of their products, as well as examine its membership cancellation policy. A $310 handbag presented as authentic Gucci valued at over $900 was purchased via the company's website. After making the purchase, the BBB contacted the company and requested a receipt or receipts that would substantiate the bags were purchased either from the manufacturer or from authorized outlets or distributors of Gucci products. Because Peppermint Park also states on their website that it obtains "written documentation of authenticity for all merchandise" from its suppliers, it was the BBB's assumption that such documentation would be readily available.
Although Peppermint Park did provide receipts, the BBB feels they failed to show conclusively the handbags were purchased in Florence, Italy, as the company contends, or from any other Gucci outlet. Suspicions were further raised when the BBB discovered that Peppermint Park tendered the same receipt as proof of the authenticity of two other Gucci purses that two separate consumers filed complaints about this past summer. Some of the receipts the company provided bore no indication of the products' source whatsoever.
As a result of the company's failure to respond adequately to the ad challenge of "100% authenticity" of its designer handbags, and by virtue of the volume of complaints in relation to the company's size, the company's grade has been lowered to an F, making them ineligible for accreditation. In the course of the BBB investigation, the company resigned their accreditation.
"When enough consumers make the same allegation, particularly in a short timeframe, we take those concerns very seriously," said Dana Badgerow, BBB President and CEO. "In this case, we gave the company ample opportunity to validate the authenticity of the item we purchased. We feel they failed to do this."
The BBB cautions consumers purchasing handbags and other designer accessories online or from sources other than well-established retail stores, to be wary of the source of those products. If the price of the item is an extraordinary discount from retail, this is another indication of "buyer beware." Consumers should demand proof of authenticity before purchasing any merchandise represented as a designer original.
