C’est La Vie, a purported jewellery shop claiming to be based in Colmore Row, Birmingham, has drawn attention for its questionable business practices. Owned and operated by a husband-and-wife team, Eileen and Patrick, the shop has 29 years of industry experience. There’s growing evidence to show that C’est La Vie is not all it’s cracked up to be. The way she’s been running the store has raised some eyebrows. They are creating AI generated images and have a shady Chinese business address.
Tucked away in Birmingham’s historic Jewellery Quarter, C’est La Vie sounds like a family friendly restaurant. Its website includes photos of Eileen and Patrick in matching branded shirts, beaming at prospective customers. The Poor Mouth site still asserts that Eileen’s “cherished husband” Patrick is very much deceased. This unexpected and damaging disclosure only increases the concerns about the legitimacy of this sham business.
It was stunning news that Eileen chose to share first on the website. So, she’s closing up shop for good and throwing an 80%-off going-out-of-business clearance sale! This tactic, with its promise of deep discounts on every single product storewide, has lured millions of shoppers. As thousands have with several hundred scathing Trustpilot one-star reviews, it’s hard to understand yet almost possible. Customers complained that they were paying for junk and getting charged ridiculous return fees on top of it.
Professor Mark Lee, an expert in artificial intelligence, noted that C’est La Vie employs AI-generated images to present a polished facade. He noted that even though past AI-generated visuals tended to have noticeable defects, like creepy hands, this example is a step up. Most importantly, Lee warned that the hyper-sanitized and staged photos should tip you off to something being amiss.
“This seems well done but the images look a little bit too perfect and staged to be real.” – Professor Mark Lee
Sunny Pal, who operates Astella Jewellery in Birmingham, emphasized that scams like C’est La Vie tarnish the reputation of the city’s Jewellery Quarter. He noted how damaging these scams are to real mom-and-pop businesses.
“The lying ruins the distinguishing factor between different businesses. It takes the credibility away from family-run businesses that have been here for so long.” – Sunny Pal
As AI-generated scams proliferate, consumers face increasing difficulty telling for-profits from fakes. Emma, a customer who fell victim to C’est La Vie, shared her experience:
“There was no way I wanted to give them any more money – I realised it wasn’t based in Bristol when a load of Chinese symbols popped up when my initial transaction went through.” – Emma
After receiving BBC inquiries about their business operations, within hours of speaking with the BBC, C’est La Vie’s website posted a notice that all of their products were sold out. In light of this, the business has since shuttered.
Sue Davies, a Food Standard’s consumer expert, stressed the burden placed on consumers to see through these misleading practices. Despite all of that, she maintained that consumers should not be 100 percent responsible for getting scammed.
“Although the onus should not fall on consumers, there are steps they can take to limit the risk of ending up with poor-quality tat.” – Sue Davies
C’est La Vie sheds light on a disturbing trend. Scammers have doubled down on their use of sophisticated technology to craft fraudulent online storefronts. Given the rapid popularity and accessibility of AI tools, illegitimate companies can quickly create compelling images and stories to entice unwitting shoppers.
As the Birmingham community grapples with these developments, local authorities may need to step up measures to protect consumers against such fraudulent operations. AI-generated scams run rampant today, for it is a serious risk to personal consumers. These deceptive practices threaten the trustworthiness of local operators who have invested decades establishing their good names.