Cettire draws 173 complaints to US watchdog

Complaints about online luxury retailer Cettire lodged with the US Federal Trade Commission are double that of two of its major competitors.

Cettire founder Dean Mintz. Illustration: Emilia Tortorella

Complaints about online luxury retailer Cettire lodged with the US Federal Trade Commission are twice that of two of its major competitors, information obtained from the American consumer protection agency reveals.

An itemised account of complaints made to the FTC about Cettire by consumers, contained in a Freedom of Information request obtained by The Australian, shows the ASX-listed company headed by rich-lister and Dean Mintz has been the subject of 173 complaints over four years.

By comparison, the FTC information shows global online retailer Farfetch has been the subject of 81 complaints in the past four years and Silicon Valley-founded Italist 91.

Several complaints about Cettire with the FTC claimed the customer received goods that were damaged, a couple raised allegations of counterfeit luxury goods being supplied, while others claimed they were dispatched empty boxes or had issues obtaining refunds.

Asked about the complaints, a Cettire spokesman said: “Cettire would not be notified of every complaint. In the US, Cettire has handled approximately 1.2 million orders in the past three years, suggesting a (FTC-related) complaint rate of 0.014 per cent.”

Earlier this week, when presented with allegations from two customers about the origin and authenticity of their purchases, Cettire said: “There is not a single confirmed case of a non-genuine item being sold on Cettire’s platform.” This week Cettire has batted off allegations it has weaknesses in its supply chain and lax customer service standards.

The Australian has published a series of articles detailing an investigation into Cettire’s complex supply network and questionable customer service and has revealed that Australia’s competition regulator is probing complaints about Cettire’s handling of customer disputes.

An itemised account of complaints made to the FTC about Cettire by consumers shows the ASX-listed company has been the subject of 173 complaints over four years.

Cettire, founded by Dean Mintz, also has copped criticism in online reviews by more than 50 customers on global review platform Trustpilot, with those alleging they received empty boxes after ordering luxury goods from the company.

The company’s accounts show Cettire had sales revenue of about $354.3m in the six months ended December 31, while Farfetch – which was acquired in January by South Korea’s Coupang – has annual revenue of about $US2.5bn.

A letter from the FTC said: “… in response to your Freedom of Information Act request … seeking access to complaints about Cettire … We have located 173 responsive complaints that consumers have made to the Federal Trade Commission. Additionally, we are withholding 52 complaints under FOIA Exemption 3,5 U.S.C 552(b) (3), because they are exempt from disclosure by another statute.”

The FTC said that related to a section of the FTC Act that stipulated the agency may not disclose material reflecting consumer complaints in a foreign jurisdiction if that party had requested confidentiality.

The FTC is a federal agency that “protects the public from ­deceptive or unfair business practices and from unfair methods of competition”, according to its website.

Cettire has said 54 per cent of its revenues emanate from consumers in the US, compared with just 6 per cent from those in Australia. Among the complaints to the FTC, one alleged the $US381 purchase of a Stella McCartney mini shoulder bag from Cettire as a gift “turned out to be fake”, and arrived unwrapped in a white bag.

Another complainant claimed two pairs of shoes bought for $US732 arrived with “pen markings all over each shoe”. The customer had no response when they contacted Cettire, having to instead raise the matter with their credit card company, Chase. Cettire eventually requested photos of the items, which were shipped back, although one item was lost in transit. It is unclear from the FTC logs if the complaints against Cettire were resolved.

Separately, the NSW Fair Trading unit on Wednesday confirmed it had received 18 complaints about Cettire in the past two years, spanning matters including the non or partial supply of goods or services, unsatisfactory goods and defective goods.

On that matter, Cettire’s spokesman said: “In Australia, Cettire has handled approximately 140,000 orders over two years, suggesting the same complaint rate of 0.014 per cent (with Fair Trading). Analysis of NSW Fair Trading complaints figures reveals other online retailers attract vastly more complaints.”

The Fair Trading complaints register showed, for example, online retailer Kogan had 14 complaints against it last month. But other online-only retailers such as ASX-listed Temple and Webster don’t raise a mention on the 2024 register.

Cettire shares closed down 5.8 per cent to $2.29 on Wednesday and have slumped 23 per cent in a month and almost 22 per cent since January 1.