Wow, I've never heard such a thing about B. Makowsky bags. The Marshalls by me is always chock full of his bags (I've always wanted one cause the leather feels yummy) I bought one of his bags brand new on craigslist for only 60 bucks. The bag was a light camel color, I only used the bag about...3 or 4 times and the front of the bag is already darkening up. Maybe using a leather protector will prevent that from happening? I don't think you should throw it out, there are places to have your handbag repaired and cleaned.
B. Makowsky bags are not a wise choice
- Thread starter tess1956
- Start date
Missxglamour, I don't think you will have much luck with it, sorry to say. I got another letter from B Makowsky today indicating they may be willing to help me, but it's a bit late for that after the way they blew me off. I sent them one last letter to close the matter:
"Dear B Makowsky, Unfortunately, your offer to help me comes too little too late. After receiving your company's laughable email in which you basically blew me off by suggesting that I return the defective handbag to a discount store that has a 30 day return policy, and for which I would also need the receipt, I threw the bag in the garbage, and that garbage was picked up this morning.
We are talking about a handbag that lasted not quite 3 months before the leather handles became badly discolored and started peeling and fraying. I paid $162 for that bag! A price like that suggests quality workmanship, however, my experience with the B Makowsky brand is that it is no better than the $30 bags at Walmart. I own many beautiful handbags from Dooney & Bourke, Coach, Prada and Michael Kors. These are companies that pride themselves on providing quality products and excellent customer service. As a matter of fact, my Doonies have a lifetime warranty, and I paid about the same for them as I paid for your inferior product.
Since the B Makowsky bag I purchased now has a new home at the bottom of a landfill, I consider this matter closed. It was a very expensive lesson learned for me, a lesson that I am sharing with others who buy designer handbags. As I told you yesterday, I have described the situation to the thousands of people who read The Purse Forum, where many people have now stated that they will no longer consider purchasing a B Makowsky because of the extreme lack of quality of your products and the lack of satisfactory customer service. B Makowsky may believe that the retailers are the only ones who need to be satisfied, but that thinking will soon find your company without retailers once the actual customers are gone.
The irony of this whole thing is that when I first contacted you, I would have been willing to pay to have my bag fixed. Now that I have seen how little regard your company has for its customers, I would sooner take a flying leap off the Sears Tower than donate one more dime to your bottom line! Sincerely..."
"Dear B Makowsky, Unfortunately, your offer to help me comes too little too late. After receiving your company's laughable email in which you basically blew me off by suggesting that I return the defective handbag to a discount store that has a 30 day return policy, and for which I would also need the receipt, I threw the bag in the garbage, and that garbage was picked up this morning.
We are talking about a handbag that lasted not quite 3 months before the leather handles became badly discolored and started peeling and fraying. I paid $162 for that bag! A price like that suggests quality workmanship, however, my experience with the B Makowsky brand is that it is no better than the $30 bags at Walmart. I own many beautiful handbags from Dooney & Bourke, Coach, Prada and Michael Kors. These are companies that pride themselves on providing quality products and excellent customer service. As a matter of fact, my Doonies have a lifetime warranty, and I paid about the same for them as I paid for your inferior product.
Since the B Makowsky bag I purchased now has a new home at the bottom of a landfill, I consider this matter closed. It was a very expensive lesson learned for me, a lesson that I am sharing with others who buy designer handbags. As I told you yesterday, I have described the situation to the thousands of people who read The Purse Forum, where many people have now stated that they will no longer consider purchasing a B Makowsky because of the extreme lack of quality of your products and the lack of satisfactory customer service. B Makowsky may believe that the retailers are the only ones who need to be satisfied, but that thinking will soon find your company without retailers once the actual customers are gone.
The irony of this whole thing is that when I first contacted you, I would have been willing to pay to have my bag fixed. Now that I have seen how little regard your company has for its customers, I would sooner take a flying leap off the Sears Tower than donate one more dime to your bottom line! Sincerely..."
Well a letter like that would of made me want to replace the bag-free of charge. I'm sorry you had to go through that, and I understand your frustration but throwing it out would of been my last resolution as $162 is a lot to throw away. I guess now I know why the young lady on craigslist only wanted 60 for it...
I was mad when I threw it away. You should have seen the letter they sent me when I first emailed them to get my bag fixed. They said I had to go back to the retailer, that they had a special relationship with their retailers, and that I should ask for the manager. None of that was possible for me since I bought the bag at a Marshalls last summer when we were on vacation on another state.
So another lesson I learned from this is not to buy a handbag when I'm far from home unless it's from a reputable company that stands behind its products.
The fact that they said they have a special relationship with retailers tells me they know their products are going to have problems. In my opinion, they would be better off making special relationships with customers. I accidentally damaged one of my Doonies year before last, and Dooney & Bourke were so great to work with. I sent the bag to them and they fixed it. While I thought I would have to pay for the repair since it was my fault, they didn't charge me a dime! That is the kind of customer service that will keep me coming back over and over. B Makowsky should learn some of that.
So another lesson I learned from this is not to buy a handbag when I'm far from home unless it's from a reputable company that stands behind its products.
The fact that they said they have a special relationship with retailers tells me they know their products are going to have problems. In my opinion, they would be better off making special relationships with customers. I accidentally damaged one of my Doonies year before last, and Dooney & Bourke were so great to work with. I sent the bag to them and they fixed it. While I thought I would have to pay for the repair since it was my fault, they didn't charge me a dime! That is the kind of customer service that will keep me coming back over and over. B Makowsky should learn some of that.
You know what I did today? I called the Marshalls where I bought the B Makowsky and spoke to one of the managers. She has no knowledge of any "special relationship" that B Makowsky has with retailers as B Makowsky represented in their email to me, but she suggested they develop a special relationship with customers! She gave me the phone number for their District Manager so the DM can pass the info about my experience to their Buyers. She was concerned that selling inferior products may give Marshall's a bad name and thought the Buyers or Corporate should know how B Makowsky responded to my repair request.
Newsflash!! The District Manager of the Marshalls where I bought the bag last summer called me this morning. She agreed that a handbag in that price range should last longer than 2 to 3 months. She told me she is going to call the Marshalls in our area and speak with the manager. I'm supposed to go over there Friday morning and see the manager, and they will do something for me. It won't be a full refund, but it should be a good discount. I'm excited because I have my eye on a purple Michael Kors Astor Satchel over there!!!! I will let you know what they end up doing about this. It's really exciting because I didn't call Marshalls to get them to do something for me. Rather I just wanted them to know about the low quality of those bags. So I'm pretty impressed with Marshalls at this point. They obviously have way more integrity than the B Makowsky company.
Wow, that is great customer service! I agree much much better than the B Makowsky company. I have emailed them asking about pre-treatment etc and I agree they are not helpful! Let us all know what Marshall's does for you. Good luck!
I can't believe nordstrom carries them... well, in my opinion.. they seem a bit too typical and most of them I've seen identical ones at shopko. Sorry.
However, not many people probably want to pay that much for a bag like that.. so maybe going to tj maxx is a good idea and when it falls apart, it falls apart. At least you would know your paying a fraction of full retail.
However, not many people probably want to pay that much for a bag like that.. so maybe going to tj maxx is a good idea and when it falls apart, it falls apart. At least you would know your paying a fraction of full retail.
yeah im surprised Nordstrom would carry it too. it is kind of weird that there are so many of these bags at tjmax and marshalls. I bought a white b makowsky bag last year because i didnt want to pay too much for a white leather bag and worry about it getting dirty. The hardware on the handles bothered me too much though because it kept getting "caught" if that makes sense so I prob only wore it several times. The leather didn't seem that bag though. I didn't like the cheap feeling of the liner.
I have 2 Makowsky Jakarta bags (brandy & grey) and I have not had any issues at all. My SIL has the same grey one that I did and made the mistake of wearing new blue jeans and sitting her makowsky bag on her lap for a 4 hr flight and she did end up getting dye transfer on the corners of her bag. Luckily I helped her get most of it off with a magic eraser.
That said, I don't think their leather feels cheap. It is drum leather, very soft and almost like nubuck. You have to put a protector on it when you buy it. If you like to throw your bags on restaraunt floors -- this type of leather is not for you.
Where I do fault the bags:
1) many styles are ridiculously heavy. Since I'm a chiropractor, I pay particular attention to how a bag stresses the shoulder, and I've not bought many of their bags because they are so freaking heavy.
2) customer service is non-existant. They have a strict hands-off, you're on your own policy after you've bought the bag.
3) price is expensive given no warranty or customer service
4) For whatever reason, their hardware is beautiful, but poorly made. And by this I mean it is prone to breaking. YOu see a lot of makowsky bags on ebay and in stores that have broken hardware.
That said, I don't think their leather feels cheap. It is drum leather, very soft and almost like nubuck. You have to put a protector on it when you buy it. If you like to throw your bags on restaraunt floors -- this type of leather is not for you.
Where I do fault the bags:
1) many styles are ridiculously heavy. Since I'm a chiropractor, I pay particular attention to how a bag stresses the shoulder, and I've not bought many of their bags because they are so freaking heavy.
2) customer service is non-existant. They have a strict hands-off, you're on your own policy after you've bought the bag.
3) price is expensive given no warranty or customer service
4) For whatever reason, their hardware is beautiful, but poorly made. And by this I mean it is prone to breaking. YOu see a lot of makowsky bags on ebay and in stores that have broken hardware.