In a viral TikTok video, an Asian American customer accused discount department store Saks Off 5th of racism for refusing to process her refund as the item “smelled like soy sauce.”
In the video posted on Sunday, Tiffany Chen, 26, recalls the incident that took place at the Saks Off 5th Avenue store at the Beverly Connection in Los Angeles.
She notes receiving her purchased item in the mail on Feb. 24. However, the item — a black dress — did not fit Chen so she decided to return it to the store the next day.
I brought it in and immediately the woman scanned my receipt and then she picked it up to smell it and walked over to her manager and basically was like, “I can’t accept this return.” The kicker was she smelled the dress and said the dress smelled like soy sauce. She looked at me and said, “Yes, it smells like soy sauce. You can’t return this. This is a damaged item.”
Chen says she felt that the response was racially charged, adding that her boyfriend Kevin defended her in the situation. When Kevin confronted the employee, theh employee allegedly said that “she could say whatever she wants.”
@tiffanycheen @saksoff5th is this how your company is?? Telling an asian customer a dress smells like soy sauce?? Blow this up #fyp #viral #racist #saksoff5th #westhollywood #beverlyconnection ♬ original sound – Tiffanycheen
In an interview with NextShark, Chen says she wanted to share her experience and record her reaction so similar incidents can be prevented in the future.
The 26-year-old, who is of Taiwanese descent, shares that she used to be bullied in school for the way her food smelled.
“I used to wish to ‘fit in’ and not have ‘weird-smelling food,’” Chen says, adding that she would ask her parents to pack her Lunchables instead.
I wanted to film my reaction because this is definitely something that hits home for me, as I am sure other Asian American kids can relate to it. I just felt so shocked that someone…
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