Say hello to your new favorite handbag. Do you love the look and feel of high end hand bags like Louie Vuitton and Dior, but hate the environmental repercussions and inhumane practices associated with them? Well so was Evelina, the founder of Vegan Queen who after working closely with top fashion designers decided to venture off into her own line of eco-friendly, recyclable, non-toxic, organic, sustainable, cruelty-free bags that are also made in the USA. And did I mention they are totally chic? Check out the Vegan Queen site here.
I purchased two bags from Vegan Queen. One bag has been great and there have been no problems. The other bag, the Imperial Bag, costing $896 fell apart after one use. I used the bag one time–inside was my wallet. The next time I used it I notice one of the straps had popped off and that there was a hole along a seam on the other side. I called Evelina (Vegan Queen) to ask about a replacement. She was unapologetic and told me to send her pictures which I did. She then told me to send the bag back. I asked if, since the item was defective, if I could be reimbursed for shipping and she replied, “not really…” I then expressed concern over her customer service and heard nothing from her. I then asked for a refund due to lack of communication. Over the next two weeks I was unable to get Vegan Queen to communicate effectively.
I contacted VQ after the bag had been returned (I had tracking through UPS) and asked when my paypal account would be refunded, to which she replied, “at the end of the week.” When that came and went I wrote again, saying I hadn’t received the refund. I then got an email saying, “you are eligible for a full refund minus any shipping costs for VQ bag in perfect condition …it must be unworn…otherwise VQ will have to charge you a fee! …$150″ This–two weeks after I first contacted her–was the first I had heard of this. It also is not listed on her website. Not only did she do this–refund my money minus $150–but she processed the refund as a payment through PayPal, which means that I was charged seller’s fees. I contacted her about this problem, but of course, have heard nothing from her. I filed a dispute through PayPal to which she did not respond, then escalated to a claim. I have not got my money back.
I have also been in contact with one of her distributors who has since decided to stop carrying her line, due in large part to my experience. I wrote to the PR people listed on her website and they contacted me immediately and apologized for my difficult experience but told me that they no longer work with Vegan Queen. I went to her website and clicked on “contact” then called the number listed under “sales inquiries” but they didn’t seem to know much about the brand. So basically the contact info listed on her site is not valid.
I really wanted to support this company, and throughout this extremely stressful process, I kept hoping Evelina would do the right thing. The idea behind the line is wonderful and the bags are beautiful. I’m not necessarily calling the quality of the bags into question, but exercise extreme caution if you decide to purchase a VQ bag. Do it through a distributor with a good reputation and good customer service. Make sure they will stand behind the quality of the bag, because Evelina will not. I urge you not to purchase a bag through the Vegan Queen website as I did. If you happen to have any problems, you will likely be treated the way I was treated. There is nothing luxurious about being treated disrespectfully and having your hard-earned money stolen!
I had the same experience as the person above. The bag was in it’s dust bag for a while and then I took it out to use it and it had literally disintegrated, huge parts of it just crumbled. I spent over $700 on a bag that literally fell to dust. No response to emails. from What a sham.
Sorry to hear about your bad experience. We’re not associated with the company at all. The post is actually several years old and I wasn’t with Chic Vegan at the time it was written, so I don’t have any contacts there.