Story Time | I bought a tote bag from a Korean fashion house Romantic Crown
Romantic Crown Logo Signature Shopper Bag
Romantic Crown is a Korean company that many of us in the US did not know about. I learned about this fashion brand while watching all the tote videos on YouTube. I would link back to the video, but somehow I could no longer find it. The first time I saw the bag in the video, I immediately fell in love. The tote reminded me of British/American college fashion style, but more elevated. I also see the reminiscence of some vintage Ralph Lauren pieces. It is simple, elegant, yet highly functional!
When I first looked it up, they had sold out the tote. Then I went back to check after a week when I saw Romantic Crown posted on their Instagram. I haven't been making many impulse purchases on brands that I am not familiar with. Learning the lesson from my order with Doughnut Macaroon, I can't tolerate lousy craftsmanship regardless of how cute the design is. Looking at Romantic Crown's website, there was not much information. All the description for the bag was in Korean, and they were made into images, so I couldn't just translate the page either. All I could see was the Polyester material, and they used Cordura fabric, a durable synthetic fabric that you see on some backpacks. Since the tote is in this light oatmeal color, it would be great to know they use Cordura fabric, less likely for the bag to get stains.
Without further consideration, I went for it, and I ordered the tote! It wasn't a pricey tote compared to other bags I purchased recently, but it cost me about $30 on shipping. I hate paying for shipping, especially when it is as high as $30, and I have bought bags that cost less. I received the order confirmation email and a shipping notification email after a few days. Unfortunately, even all the emails they sent were in Korean, and I had no idea what they said in the email other than patiently waiting for my bag to arrive.
That was the waiting that I wasn't expecting. I thought the tote would arrive within a week like my Cravar purchase once Romantic Crown shipped it out. But, instead, the wait lasted three weeks! It was a little tricky with the tracking. At one point, the tracking stopped when the item arrived in Chicago. I called around, and nobody had the bag. Not the Korean shipping company, not USPS (the shipping company transferred it to USPS once it hit the US). I was just about to call my credit card company and the tracking on my order started to move!
I finally received the package after waiting for three weeks! The box came in the evening, and at first glance, it looked exactly like what they showed on the website and how I imagined it. However, not long afterward, when I took a closer look while getting ready to use it, I noticed some sticky glue-like stuff on the body of the bag. I tried to clean it with a fabric cleaner, but that didn't work.
So I contacted them on Instagram and showed them the pictures. To my surprise, they were very responsive on IG. They got back to me quickly and promised to look into it. It didn't take long to get a response from them. They didn't explain the sticky things on the bag, they simply told me they would send me a replacement. Although they said they would send me the tracking once it was shipped, they didn't. A few thoughts went through my mind. Was I going to wait another three weeks before seeing the package? Should I have contacted them again after a few days since no tracking was provided? After a week, I decided to ask them about the tracking. The crazy thing was before I heard back from them, the package arrived!
The good news is, the tote came perfectly this time! No weird sticky residue on the bag! I suspect it was the glue that they used in the process of making the bag. I don't know how frequently this kind of mishap happens, but I am glad to tell you they care about their products and customers. They made it right without making it complicated. This experience did encourage me to want to buy from them again. I just hope it doesn't take three weeks to arrive next time!
