Leather Surgeons ruined my bag?

[xkyonkichix]

Hi all, I’m writing to you today because I am devastated with the result of my “spa experience” with Leather Surgeons. I purchased a vintage Diana flap bag and was in love with the caramel beige color. The bag had some scuffs and very minor pen marks, so I looked into getting the bag cleaned up. Leather Surgeons had glowing reviews so I didn’t hesitate to send them my bag. Major mistake.

The bag I sent still had very puffy quilts and gorgeous shiny lambskin leather. I received a flat matte and “sandy” feeling bag. In a completely different color. I am devastated. I had to wait an entire month and pay for them to do this to my bag... I sent photos through e-mail but haven’t heard back. Any one have any advice? I don’t want my money back, I just want my bag back to original color/texture.

Before:


After:

 

[Christofle]

Pretty sure they dyed/painted it. Was this even mentioned to you as being part of their spa process.

poor bag

 

[xkyonkichix]

Pretty sure they dyed/painted it. Was this even mentioned to you as being part of their spa process.

poor bag

Absolutely not communicated to me at all. I also just noticed the vintage logo on the cc is backwards. You’d think they would notice, since they say they specialize in Chanel and vintage. I’m in disbelief this happened to the beautiful bag.

 

[Tuned83]

What have they done? It looks like a different bag. Sorry this happened. Not sure if can be fixed. Keep us updated X

 

[ItsPurseonal]

What did you ask for them to do when you sent it in? I've never worked with LS but I have also seen the glowing reviews so I'm shocked at this! Personally I think the new color is lovely but I can definitely see how it is very different from what you sent them.

 

[Christofle]

Absolutely not communicated to me at all. I also just noticed the vintage logo on the cc is backwards. You’d think they would notice, since they say they specialize in Chanel and vintage. I’m in disbelief this happened to the beautiful bag.

View attachment 4773152

I too read many glowing reviews here over the years but mixed-in were some horror stories like yours.

Honestly this won’t be an easy scenario to fix. The only option I can think of is to strip it and dye it another colour. But it’ll never be the same. Once dyed, lambskin loses the soft puffy characteristic.

The fact that they put the logo plates on wrong is the icing on the cake.

Honestly I’d be horrified and considering that you never asked for a dye job, I wouldn’t settle for less than a refund in replacement value of the bag. That might end up as a small claims court case and tons of hassle.

So sorry this happened to you.

 

[xkyonkichix]

What have they done? It looks like a different bag. Sorry this happened. Not sure if can be fixed. Keep us updated X

What did you ask for them to do when you sent it in? I've never worked with LS but I have also seen the glowing reviews so I'm shocked at this! Personally I think the new color is lovely but I can definitely see how it is very different from what you sent them.

I too read many glowing reviews here over the years but mixed-in were some horror stories like yours.

Honestly this won’t be an easy scenario to fix. The only option I can think of is to strip it and dye it another colour. But it’ll never be the same. Once dyed, lambskin loses the soft puffy characteristic.

The fact that they put the logo plates on wrong is the icing on the cake.

Honestly I’d be horrified and considering that you never asked for a dye job, I wouldn’t settle for less than a refund in replacement value of the bag. That might end up as a small claims court case and tons of hassle.

So sorry this happened to you.

Thank you ladies for your sympathy for the poor bag.

The bag had corner scuffs and a few small pen marks on the front flap, I thought they were just going to clean and correct the areas that had wear, but I guess they ended up dying the entire outside of the bag. The inside of the bag matches the new color but the texture is really off. I think they applied too thick of a layer of pigment so the texture is just that of a freshly painted wall: rough and grainy.

I just got off the phone with Gerry himself, he apologized that the end result isn't what I was expecting and explained why they had to dye the bag to have it look consistent throughout the bag. I explained that I am unhappy with the texture and lack of shine/luster to the bag and the backwards CC logo, so he promised he will take another look at the bag and address my concerns again. Should I? I'm very disheartened to trust them again...

 

[Christofle]

Thank you ladies for your sympathy for the poor bag.

The bag had corner scuffs and a few small pen marks on the front flap, I thought they were just going to clean and correct the areas that had wear, but I guess they ended up dying the entire outside of the bag. The inside of the bag matches the new color but the texture is really off. I think they applied too thick of a layer of pigment so the texture is just that of a freshly painted wall: rough and grainy.

I just got off the phone with Gerry himself, he apologized that the end result isn't what I was expecting and explained why they had to dye the bag to have it look consistent throughout the bag. I explained that I am unhappy with the texture and lack of shine/luster to the bag and the backwards CC logo, so he promised he will take another look at the bag and address my concerns again. Should I? I'm very disheartened to trust them again...

The fact that they never called to confirm if you wanted to have a dye job done is ridiculous, especially that it is increasing the cost of the repair therefore padding their profit margin.

It seems to me though that they can’t really make it much worse so it might be worth seeing if they can somehow minimize the grainy texture.

 

[xkyonkichix]

The fact that they never called to confirm if you wanted to have a dye job done is ridiculous, especially that it is increasing the cost of the repair therefore padding their profit margin.

It seems to me though that they can’t really make it much worse so it might be worth seeing if they can somehow minimize the grainy texture.

Agreed, even he said wished we had discussed a bit more to confirm prior to the actual work being done. I do appreciate him taking the time to call me now and try to resolve the issue to a result that I feel happier with though.

Thank you for your advice dear!

I will send them the bag to see if they can work on the texture of the bag again and flip the CC logo back to the original position.

 

[pinkrose398]

Wow that sucks, I am so sorry this happened to you! It shouldn't be harder to fix up the scuffing in the corner than it would be to redye the whole bag, so I'm surprised they went the redye route rather than just touch up the corners.

My vintage Diana has been repainted by a previous owner so I know what you mean by the dry leather. I hope you can get this fixed!

 

[Anesthestia]

I was very pleased with Leather Surgeons when I used their services, my thread is here.
The bag I sent in was in need of quite a bit of touching up, but I made it clear in my emails from the start that I did NOT want them to redye the entire bag, only touch up, and they agreed. My bag did come out a slightly more matte-looking afterwards (although no dye) and I communicated to them to inquire about the matte texture difference, and they said that if I sent the bag back, they would be happy to add more shine to it like it was before, since part of the spa process had taken away some of the shiny lambskin luster. Perhaps they could do the same for you.

I have always been pleased with the level of communication that Leather Surgeons gives me, and I wonder if perhaps you didn't specifically mention that you didn't want the bag to be re-dyed? For light-colored bags especially, my understanding is that often times, they do get completely re-dyed during spa process.

 

[onlyk]

The leather can't take another "hit", this is the best it will be unless spray paint black over it again which may comes out look beautiful from afar but worse when inspect close, you probably will get more money for the current state Chanel if you resell it on your own, some consignments may not take it since it's been dyed. The logo upside down is another indication he took hardware off before spray painted it.

 

[ItsPurseonal]

Hi all, I’m writing to you today because I am devastated with the result of my “spa experience” with Leather Surgeons. I purchased a vintage Diana flap bag and was in love with the caramel beige color. The bag had some scuffs and very minor pen marks, so I looked into getting the bag cleaned up. Leather Surgeons had glowing reviews so I didn’t hesitate to send them my bag. Major mistake.

The bag I sent still had very puffy quilts and gorgeous shiny lambskin leather. I received a flat matte and “sandy” feeling bag. In a completely different color. I am devastated. I had to wait an entire month and pay for them to do this to my bag... I sent photos through e-mail but haven’t heard back. Any one have any advice? I don’t want my money back, I just want my bag back to original color/texture.

Before:
View attachment 4773136

After:
View attachment 4773137

You might have some luck conditioning the bag - another TPFer had a similar situation where her bag came back with a weird texture after being dyed. Thread here if it helps!

 

[jess236]

Shockingly poor job!

 

[snowbubble]

YIKES! So they took your bag in for a "spa service" and dyed/messed with your bag without asking you first?
My interpretation of spa service is just cleaning/conditioning the bag not completely destroying it.

I'm terrified and will think twice before using leather surgeons.

I'm so sorry this happened to you, I hope they pay for the damage done.