Although Chinese consumers are among the world's biggest spenders on luxury goods, they do not always get the treatment they deserve from top brands, an industry expert says.
Ouyang Kun, the head of the Beijing office of the World Luxury Association, an independent market research group, said Chinese consumers often paid 'a luxury price' for international big brands but did not get 'the luxury services' that the brands would offer in other markets.
Ouyang said many luxury brand stores in China often lacked the variety of their counterparts in Europe or the United States, and Chinese consumers had to go overseas to buy the latest collections. In addition, many sales staff lacked proper training in serving customers.
Chinese customers often had to wait as long as three to six months for repairs to luxury goods because they were sent back to factories in Europe, he said.
In extreme cases, stores would tell customers their goods were being shipped to Europe for repair although they were actually being fixed in a factory in Guangdong or Southeast Asia.
'Some luxury goods sellers see China as a place to make easy money. They bring in the goods but fail to deliver in terms of delivering value for money on the brand,' Ouyang said.
