Originally Posted by ahertz

OT: I wonder if some color sealants crack more than others or if it depends on the batch? Or maybe the climate each bag is in? I've had two St. Louis' and neither cracked like this. My white had some tiny hairline cracks but my green has absolutely nothing and I've carried it almost daily with a laptop etc. for two years. Back on topic: I think the price is steep for replacement straps, but if you plan to continue to use this bag on a regular basis, I would consider it.

I live in Continental Europe and have experienced cracks on my yellow PM St. Louis after only a couple of weeks of very moderate use (I definitely am no pack rat and hardly ever have more than a wallet, agenda and small cosmetic case with me. Okay, plus mobile but thats it).
I find this extremely disturbing and not okay for a $$ bag... The cs for sure is ne help...

Yes, my Saint Louis (black-caramel) started showing small cracks at the exact same spot shown in pictures here after a couple months I bought it. They haven't grown to be huge for the moment. I don't mind them really, I consider them as sort of a personnalisation, like signs of our spending time together hehehe

I guess this is a fact one should know/consider in advance when thinking about buying a Saint Louis bag, as it seems to be inevitably happening, sooner or later.

You guys just scared the pee out of me! I ran to check my St. Louis and *whew* I have no signs of cracking of either the resin or tearing/cracking of the leather. I use mine often, though not every day. and when I travel, it's loaded down with a fully-loaded 35 cm birkin, in addition to other travel stuff. AND I drape the handles over the handles of my wheeled carry-on, which stresses the handle with the full weight of the contents.

But I will certainly be keeping my eye on it now.

Sorry that happened to you and about the crappy CS.

o.m.g

i just purchased an orange st.louis pm and now i'm very worried about cracking and handle replacing...

so okay, to be honest i already know of the sealant cracking but i thought (or was hoping) it was on the older bags and that goyard already solved this -- i guess not :(

my consolation is that i will be in paris this december, so if ever my handles do break i can have it fixed at the paris store....

but still, for the amount we pay for these bags, they should be able to stand usage! they're advertised as travel bags! not porcelain, should be handled with extreme care, bags!

This is disappointing. I have always had getting a Goyard bag in the back of my mind but now I am not so sure. And seeing that your bag is not the exception but actually the norm very sad.

no one should be treated badly, no matter what they choose to wear. Hello, Oprah x Hermes fiasco?

As for the bag, I am sorry to say that there are many fakes floating around, its just a matter of time before it become mainstream. Nothing logo-ago go is safe.

Oprah and H fiasco weren't related to the craftmanship of the bag, but rather because they wouldn't let her in the store after closing hours and didn't make prior arrangements.

Didn't she feel she was entitled to be asked in because she was Oprah, then turned it into a racial issue?

wow, I'm sorry for the lack of customer service, OP.
Your tale and those of others who have shared their issues with Goyard has sealed their fate with me, unfortunately. I came into Goyard because I was considering buying and to know the customer service is lacking and some of their products can begin to breakdown so quickly with (less than) normal/average use is troubling.

OP, hope you can find a cobbler or other merchant to help heal your baby before any damage worsens.

Good luck.

Originally Posted by Damier Dork

r15324 So sorry to hear about your experience with Goyard, I have had a similar experience with my Croisiere I scuffed the piping and sent photos to GSF but they said that it was normal wear and tear. I put the bag away for a year and a half then bought the shoulder strap and decided what the hell it couldn't get any worse than it already was. I've purchased many more Goyard bags since then including a St Louis GM which I've beat to death cracked handles and all; but now I know which ones to avoid, which ones can take a beating and which ones to use with kid gloves. At the end of the day, these are just bags and I would choose the exclusivity of Goyard in a sea of LV. PREACH IT AMEN!!! I know the heartbreak of the first ouchie still stings but you'll learn to love your St Louis more over time, you've been such a great cheerleader of the brand I'm sure I'm not the only one who would be sad to see you go.

My sentiments wholeheartedly^
Just because you pay a house mortgage for a bag, doesn't mean it won't have issues. It's unfortunate but I see way too many problems with luxury brands and customer service not being there when you need them most. OP, you can't leave, we love you!!!! If it'll make you feel any better I just spilled grape juice all over mine and it stained the inside and mine is just a few weeks old. I am bummed but I'm going to enjoy the hell out of my bag!

From time to time, we do experience some problems with luxury brands. I'm glad though that Goyard offered to replace the handles, something other brands won't do. A few years ago, I encountered peeling handles with a Gucci I've only been using for a month and Gucci just told me that they could not replace the handle since the material they used for the handle turned out to be defective and they decided to just discontinue using the material. That was the last Gucci I ever purchased. I'd rather stay loyal to a brand that will offer to make repairs than buy from one who just won't care if you got a defective bag.

I agree with PinkSuadeSoho, you can't leave us OP, we love you!!!

r15324, So sorry to learn of this!!!! I hope it all works out for you! There is nothing worse then getting ripped off! Aaah!

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and input, I'll get to replying all of you- I just have stayed away from opening this thread again... Especially since it's reveal was bumped recently :-/

Originally Posted by pointe1134

I am VERY surprised to hear about this! Normally, I am always on the LV threads, but I sometimes pop over here to admire and gawk at the reveals It seems to me that they are messing with their #1 supporter and should straighten up ASAP! Is this the first time this has happened to you or this is just the first time that you have received such a horrid and rude response??? Also, if it makes you feel any better, no one else would ever notice that hole. I completely understand that this does NOT make you feel better, but I was hoping that maybe that would cheer you up a tad lol

Thanks for trying to cheer me up You're so right when you say that no one would notice. Especially since the loop for the pochette fits and covers it all. A couple Goyard fanatics have walked into my store since then and I've asked to see how their handles are holding up. Some are worse, but they all agree that four months is way too little time for it to start happening. I'm not worried about any compromised strength that could occur since they are very strong, it's just Goyard's complete lack of customer care and ridiculous after-sale care that is peeving me off completely.

Originally Posted by Blo0ondi

OMG you got me scared i think i'll use mine lesser btw, i had an experience with them for my sac vondome and for there response to me in the boutique i thought they live in there own little world where they are perfect and all the plame is on you >> thats what i got from the email sent to you maybe we should figure out a way to protect our St louis or repair it! but if you happen to go to paris you can take it to them << my aunt is going to take her siagon cause the handels are somewat crocked lets see there response!!

I believe that to be so true. The attitude from them I get is that they treat the client to be blessed to be able to experience Goyard, not that Goyard is blessed to have such a dedicated following... :-( Hope your aunt's Saigon gets sorted out favourably.

Originally Posted by micheletan

I too had that problem on my Fidji and guess what? I found a local shoe/bag repair guy in Singapore who did it for a song! OK, if i didn't remember wrongly, it cost me nothing more than S$50 to repair it. To be fair, i used the bag for a couple of years and I was definitely willing to take the chance with it... and i'm happy! I have got another few years with this Fidji. But my friend had less luck with hers. I got her the St Louis from Paris and after about 10 months' use, not only did the sealant on her handles wear off, the leather started tearing! So when i was last at Barneys in NY, i checked with the SA and she told me there is nothing they can do about it. Which really surprises me, because i would have expected the same level of service most designer brands offered, which is replace the handles at a cost. How difficult is that?! So my poor friend now has buried her bag six feet under... she wasnt prepared to go through the pains of communicating with HQ.

Their responses have so far been a load of rubbish and completely different at times. How did your craftsman in Singapore go about fixing the sealant?

Originally Posted by bextasy

Sorry R this stinks!!!

I know bex, I know :-(

Originally Posted by Mariana*

It's orange. And it's looking like this. Very sad. :( http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/707/dsc09087r.jpg/

Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry...

Originally Posted by ahertz

^^ WHOA. Maybe if a hoard of people all complain at once they'll listen.

I hope so. Since I actually purchased this bag blind through Amex's Centurion concierge service, I may have another angle in getting it sorted out, otherwise, they can expect a lengthy complaint from me (not that they care at all anyway...)

Originally Posted by purseconvert

i just looked at mine and saw that it is starting to crack, too, but i blame myself because I carry entirely too much stuff in it. agree that goyard should be taking care of its customers, though!

How long have you had yours for? I don't even carry so much in mine... Maybe 5/6 pounds the maximum at any time. May have to retire him for a while.

Originally Posted by ERR

I bought my St. Louis from Barneys NY last year. Long story short, about a month ago my husband, not thinking, let one of our dogs get on the bed in our guest bedroom where my bag lay in the dust cover as it had recently been used. Of course loving only the finer things in life and anything leather, the dog chewed right through the top of one of the handles (as you can imagine this was very disturbing at the time but I have pretty much recovered since then; luckily, I love my dogs). Anyway, the bag was relatively new and had not been used very much so I thought I could get away with just having the one handle replaced. I contacted Barneys and shipped them the bag. They said it would have to be sent to Paris for repairs and they have to replace both handles, can't do just one. They quoted me USD $110 for the repairs which I thought was very reasonable considering this wasn't a Goyard defect. The down side is that they said it would likely take up to 6 months for the repairs. Just wanted to share my experience with Goyard repairs via Barneys...I am just happy I don't have to replace the bag!

Glad yours worked out. How old was your bag though at the time this incident happened?

Originally Posted by bagolicious

The problems don't surprise me. I met a woman with a relatively new Goyard bag that her husband had bought for her as a gift. She was having problems with the handles and something with the coloring. I've been into Goyard, Paris many times, over the decades out of curiosity and personally haven't been that impressed. I had once briefly thought of the carry-on suitcase on wheels, but the pull-up handle was so short that I would have to nearly bend over to pull it. I'm a bit shorter than 5'6" tall. Then about a year later, I went into Goyard, Paris and asked if the suitcase had been redesigned. A salesperson at Barneys had commented that a lot of customers had complained about the same thing. At the Paris Goyard, I was told that it had been redesigned, but I didn't see any difference. The pull-up handle was still too short. I then jokingly commented that Goyard's wheeled, carry-on suitcase designers need to get some tips from Kipling on how to design a perfect, wheeled, suitcase. I have a lot of Kipling suitcases. I'll stick with both my Kiplings and my Louis Vuitton, Bisten, hard-sided, non-wheeled suitcases. LOL!

Although I've been resenting Louis Vuitton's products for a while now, I will admit, the larger pieces hold up very well and very sturdily. But while I do not like them per se, all my experiences with them (repairs, special orders etc.) have always been a breeze. I am just so happy that they stick by their products and take full responsibility when needed. :-(

Originally Posted by nadiamo

I just noticed the same problem with my white st louis few days ago..I've had it for about 2,3 months. I was considering going to Barneys to see if anything they can do about it. But I guess they really won't do anything. I really love the bag but I'm now getting worried..just hope it won't get too much worse. if it could be like this for next 2 years, I won't mind to replace the handle for a cost. good luck on all the goyard owners..

Even though it's become aesthetically appalling, from other people's experience, the bag's strength is not compromised. But I hate how it makes it look abused and beat up especially when I am so good to my bags... Hope ours can stay strong :-)

Originally Posted by Layn

this thread is so worrying. I checked my new yellow fidji and St. Lousi to make sure they are fine and now I fear that the straps may start to crack.. Which will be a shame because I always thought they can hold up pretty well. to use our Goyards or not? So worrying! Does anyone know, if we were to bring the Goyards to Paris / London shops, how long do they take to change the strap?

Use them, don't worry, just be aware and keep an eye out for your sealant

Originally Posted by weezer

Today I was waiting in line at starbucks behind a lady carrying a St Louis so I surreptitiously looked at the handles of her bag and saw that the sealant was badly cracked by the area where the handle meets the bag I was thinking of buying this bag in the future as an alternative to LV but this quality issue is making me rethink.

Originally Posted by kat99

What...I had no idea! I was also considering a St. Louis over a Neverfull type bag but this really worries me...thank you for posting and I hope you get things resolved favorably OP

Please do learn from my experience, at the end of the day, Goyard will always be in my heart, but I don't see myself purchasing the rainbow of bags that I had previously set out to for....