Duty Free Sunglasses

To CC,

First off, let me say that you have an awesome blog! I have been following it for some time now and really appreciate your honesty.

Now for my question, about a year ago I bought a pair of Dior sunglasses at the Duty Free at the Munich Airport. I love them, but I broke one of the arms. I went into a store to ask them if it could be repaired but they said that the part had to be replaced. The only problem is, that they can't order the part in L.A. because they said it isn't available to them. What's the story? Can't they just send it from Europe? Thanks!

Amy C.
L.A., California

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To Amy,

I know the frustration you must be feeling. There are several reasons why they may not be able to order you the part.

1. Dior is distributed by the a global organization. Each countries division will carry different frames. So the frame that they carry in the country of purchase might not be carried in North America.

2. Duty-Free generally carry discontinued models, so parts may not even be possible in the country of purchase or anywhere for that matter. This may disappoint you, but I will let you in on a secret, Duty-Free does NOT check for authenticity of the products that they sell. I have called in to check for part availability but they usually tell me that the model number doesn't exist at all. I have seen the quality of pieces and compared them to my products (which I know are authentic) and you can tell the difference. It is unfortunate, but some products in the Duty-Free are not authentic. You must keep in mind that they are a business too and they don't ask where you got the merchandise when they buy at wholesale.

A word of advice from me would be to stay away from Duty-Free products all together. Personally, I have seen WAY TOO MANY variations in quality that people have brought from the Duty-Free.

In any case, I don't know about your particular pair for sure, but I would say that they may be "fakes" OR "manufacture defects". Sorry to be the one to break it to you.