Bad Experience with Leather Surgeons
- Thread starter Chanel LVoer
- Start date
I hope that Leather Surgeons will step up to the plate & do what is right here. I'm sorry for your experience
Leather Surgeons has such a good reputation for bags
And if don't hear back, contact them til you do...
Leather Surgeons has such a good reputation for bags
And if don't hear back, contact them til you do...
Thank you for all of your replies, I really appreciate everyone’s input and opinions. After following up, I finally heard back from Leather Surgeons.
They apologized and said the peeling is not typical and said it can be fixed. They asked me to send the bag back to them for them to take a second look.
I also flagged the color issue, their response to the color change is as follows:
“In terms of the color, we always restore a bag as closely as possible to its original condition. As we said in our original email: “All of our pigments are hand matched to the original color of each bag, taken from an area where the leather hasn’t been discolored by wear, UV damage or oxidation. Because the outside of bags fade over time, we remove the hardware and match our pigments to the color the bag was manufactured to be. If you look deep inside the back pocket or in between the two flaps, I believe you will see our color is a close match to the original. We do not use any dyes.”
Here is a side by side comparison for reference. In my opinion, their “color matching” was way off and this shade doesn’t even look anything close to what the bag ever looked like, even with a bit of slight fading over time. It looks like a blue bag and nowhere near the same! Any advice is appreciated.
Original bag:
Current bag:
They apologized and said the peeling is not typical and said it can be fixed. They asked me to send the bag back to them for them to take a second look.
I also flagged the color issue, their response to the color change is as follows:
“In terms of the color, we always restore a bag as closely as possible to its original condition. As we said in our original email: “All of our pigments are hand matched to the original color of each bag, taken from an area where the leather hasn’t been discolored by wear, UV damage or oxidation. Because the outside of bags fade over time, we remove the hardware and match our pigments to the color the bag was manufactured to be. If you look deep inside the back pocket or in between the two flaps, I believe you will see our color is a close match to the original. We do not use any dyes.”
Here is a side by side comparison for reference. In my opinion, their “color matching” was way off and this shade doesn’t even look anything close to what the bag ever looked like, even with a bit of slight fading over time. It looks like a blue bag and nowhere near the same! Any advice is appreciated.
Original bag:
Current bag:
It looks like they either did it at night with bad light or assumed it was darker. I hope they resolve it for you. I had unpleasant experience with LS. They didn’t complete fully the job I paid for.
It almost looks ombre now, it seems darker towards the bottom than the top. I guess you send it back and see how it'll look? I wonder at what point they just compensate you, because I'd be pretty sad over this and feel the bag was ruined.
I'm so sorry to see this - I've sent them many bags and have had positive results.I hope it works out for you in the end.
I'm so sorry to see this - I've sent them many bags and have had positive results.I hope it works out for you in the end.What a nightmare.
At this point, I'd be escalating to the person in charge, outlining the issues, and reaching an agreement about what's going to happen before they touch your bag again. It seems clear the person that you're emailing with is trying to minimise the company's mistakes, and I do not think you'll get the resolution you want from them.
You actually have two separate issues here: the poor colour-matching and the fact that the colour is flaking. Although LS can probably fix the second one, it's questionable whether they can fix the first -- and they may well have ruined your bag's value by changing the colour so drastically.
So I would send the person in charge three photos: a photo of the bag when new (or a stock photo, if you don't have one), the photo of the bag before you sent it, and the photo of the bag now.
Then, work out what you want and ask for it. Do you want them to strip the colour (if that's even possible) and recolour it properly? Do you want them to keep the same colour and touch up the flakes? Or do you think they should be compensating you with cash? I have not used Leather Surgeons and do not know what, if any, agreement you have to sign with them, but I would be asking to be made whole, i.e. for them to pay you the difference between what you could've sold this bag for before they started working on vs. what you could sell the bag for now.
(You may like to pay an authentication service to evaluate how much the bag would be worth once the flakes are fixed. They may also be able to tell you how much the bag would've been worth before it had been recoloured; if not, you can always try to find bags of similar age and condition on sites like Fashionphile and The RealReal and note their prices.)
If you don't establish what you want up front, and get Leather Surgeons to agree to it in writing, I suspect they'll just fix the flakes and call the problem solved.
I wish you all the best with getting this resolved. Do let us know how it goes.
At this point, I'd be escalating to the person in charge, outlining the issues, and reaching an agreement about what's going to happen before they touch your bag again. It seems clear the person that you're emailing with is trying to minimise the company's mistakes, and I do not think you'll get the resolution you want from them.
You actually have two separate issues here: the poor colour-matching and the fact that the colour is flaking. Although LS can probably fix the second one, it's questionable whether they can fix the first -- and they may well have ruined your bag's value by changing the colour so drastically.
So I would send the person in charge three photos: a photo of the bag when new (or a stock photo, if you don't have one), the photo of the bag before you sent it, and the photo of the bag now.
Then, work out what you want and ask for it. Do you want them to strip the colour (if that's even possible) and recolour it properly? Do you want them to keep the same colour and touch up the flakes? Or do you think they should be compensating you with cash? I have not used Leather Surgeons and do not know what, if any, agreement you have to sign with them, but I would be asking to be made whole, i.e. for them to pay you the difference between what you could've sold this bag for before they started working on vs. what you could sell the bag for now.
(You may like to pay an authentication service to evaluate how much the bag would be worth once the flakes are fixed. They may also be able to tell you how much the bag would've been worth before it had been recoloured; if not, you can always try to find bags of similar age and condition on sites like Fashionphile and The RealReal and note their prices.)
If you don't establish what you want up front, and get Leather Surgeons to agree to it in writing, I suspect they'll just fix the flakes and call the problem solved.
I wish you all the best with getting this resolved. Do let us know how it goes.
Unfortunately when LS does a repair it's like wrecking a new car and having the best shop repair it...it will never be the same. If you look closely, you'll be able to notice a difference, especially with the softer and lighter leathers. I really wasn't too pleased with the restoration they did on my beige bag. The color they use is like a type of spray paint. I sometimes wish I would have sent it to Chanel instead...although LS insists they do the work when you send via a Chanel boutique. Overall I think they control their press well and do good work but it DEFINITELY was not as exceptional as I thought it would be. I even had someone call me to basically argue with me on my feedback I provided. Best of luck with the situation...please keep us all updated. I am curious to see how this plays out.
Terribly sad & sorry to hear of your experience & will be sending you major positive vibes
that you get an adequate resolution. Best of luck on this 
I’ve only had 2 items repaired with them. Like everyone, I heard great things too and I guess overall it was a good experience. My issue was when they colored my bag too. This was the first bag I sent them. It was a light pink square mini. I loved the texture of the vintage lambskin and when they added the color (without telling me prior to doing it), it totally changed the texture of the bag. I was devastated. The color was fine but the texture was not. Luckily I was able to sell it for a decent price and when I sent in the second bag (black calfskin), I made sure to leave a note to notify me PRIOR to adding the color bc I wanted to know more details about it as in how much of the bag, which area, etc. They added the color to only certain areas with the second bag and I thought it turned out great. However, I do think the fact that it was black made a huge difference. I personally wouldn’t get my bag serviced with regards to the actual leather, etc. if it was the chain or hardware or maybe even a stitch, I’d be more inclined to do so. I hope they fix this for you bc it’s really unacceptable and I would be just as devastated. GL!
I also did not have a good overall experience due to coloring. I knew they would be using some sort of color since the edges of my M/L was dried out and lost original black color but I did not how much and where. At least there was luster in the leathers and about half of puff since it was vintage bag from 1999. When I received the bag back, all the luster was gone from the leather and the puffs were flattened out. I was left with a dull, matte back, no puff bag.. I will think thrice from using any spa service again.
I too experienced a problem with the leather surgeons I sent my grey Sloane Square tote in for straps to be repaired and spa services and it came back a darker grey and the leather is now very hard. I plan to use the bag on days of inclimate weather. I think for future repairs I will use Ragu Brothers for repairs as I have great sucess with my Kate Spade, Fendi and Gucci repairs and refurbishments.
Please let us know of the outcome, I wish you a favorable outcome.
Please let us know of the outcome, I wish you a favorable outcome.
Omg that's horrible!!! 
I only trust Leather Pros (www.leatherpros.us) . Mark is a true Chanel expert. He's professional in refinishing and matching colors. I've taken over 20 bags to him. I've attached some before and after photos for you all to see his work. Let me know your thoughts! 
I only trust Leather Pros (www.leatherpros.us) . Mark is a true Chanel expert. He's professional in refinishing and matching colors. I've taken over 20 bags to him. I've attached some before and after photos for you all to see his work. Let me know your thoughts! 
