My Love of COACH

I started falling head over heels with Coach back when I was in college. I was with a guy for a few years and since I was in college, I was working part-time to earn gas money and spending money. One of my boyfriend's close friends was a guy he worked with. We would hang out a lot with this guy and his fiancee, she was equally as nice. One day, we all went over to the friends house to meet up with some of the fiancee's friends to head to some haunted hay ride type thing and dinner. I was so excited as I LOVE meeting new people. But I wasn't prepared for what happened at their apartment.

I knew that the finacee came from a family with a ton of money and they were paying for their elegant wedding. However, all her friends that were there ALL had Coach bags. Looking at that, I felt so ashamed to have some $10 purse from Mandee or Joyce Leslie. The one girl had a pen with the pushy thing to write, and it must have hit against something in her purse and the pen's ink went EVERYWHERE in her purse. She was like 'Oh, well I was due for a new one anyways'. I was shocked inside, but hid it well. I was thinking 'Oh my goodness, $400 for a purse and you put an uncapped pen in it!!!!???'. This is a time in my life when I wanted to fit in, so later then year when my mom asked me what I wanted when I graduated from college it was a Coach bag, hands down. And my mom obliged.

I was so excited when I got my VERY own Coach bag! I treated that thing like gold. I never put candy or food or pens in there, nothing. And I loved it to no end. One day, I was with my then boyfriend (different from the boyfriend above, now husband) and a good friend of mine and the strap just broke right off. I was crushed! It was a very expensive purse and I took such great care of it. That weekend, I went to the Coach store with my mom's receipt (she doesn't throw anything away either!) and I showed the cashier. She looked at the purse, then looked at the receipt, dated from about 2 years prior. She asked if I ever used the purse. I responded yes, for about 2 years. It was so clean and pristine she couldn't believe that it was used! She said the policy is to send it back to the Coach warehouse or whatever for repair, along with $20 for them to ship it back to me. I obliged, gave $20 to her and left. I figured I would get the same one back, but when I did, it was a BRAND new one! They couldn't fix the strap so they just sent me a BRAND new one! SAWEET! Love the lifetime warranty!

So last year, my husband got me a Coach bag and matching wristlet for my 30th bday. I loved it and immediately switched over my purses from what I had to this new one...and I've used it all year. I went to the Coach outlet on my bday weekend with my best friend and got the smaller demi purse version of my purse and a wallet for $100 bucks. While there, I looked at the warranty sign on the checkout counter. I made a mental note to save the receipt in my drawer. We then went to the shoe store as my friend needed new shoes...as we were there I noticed a wear mark on my purse. So I said, "Let's go back and see what they say" Figuring I would be back the next week on vacation, I figured I would just get some info, then have DH search for the receipt to get it repaired. The manager said it's wear and tear and that if they send it out, they will return it as normal wear and tear. There was actually a second mark my best friend saw while we were at the counter. I asked the lady what I could do, she said I should look into the leather purses as they don't wear as much as the signature ones do, but I'm not a fan of the leather stuff. She said they couldn't exchange the bad one for a brand new one. I figured I'd need the receipt, so I told her the story and she said, no receipt needed, we can do it right here....or I could get store credit for the lowest value of the purse then use that credit to buy another one. So I immediately exchanged it. The ladies were so helpful and not snotty at all!

See, you may spend a lot on a Coach purse (but not as much at the outlet store, where I always get mine anyways) but you have it, or it's cash equivalent for LIFE. You may be a cheapy one for $20 and it can last a few years, then you have to spend more on it....and with me with my love for shoes and purses, I don't need that many. I don't have the room for it anyways, but I know I will always have my Coach purse!