I think this serves as a very good reminder to go to H spa and for those that buy on the resale market to carefully assess if a bag you are interested in has had any work as that would preclude it from being sent to H spa and how you feel about that.
Botched spa by “Docride’s Luxury Again Inc.” destroyed my Hermes Ostrich bag. Think long and hard about non-H Spa work!
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One of the most troubling aspects of this story is that work was started on the bag BEFORE the client gave the OK. This is very wrong.
Yes indeed. But we do no know exactly what the communications were between the client and the customer that led to that happening. I would like to conjecture that there was some serious misunderstanding.
We can see the before, after and after again pictures.
xray superbly makes exactly the right point, but a lot of this thread is based upon one uncontested version of events; the only evidence that we can be objective about is the photographs.
E
Evia
Whatever the discussion between the parties the pictures speak for themselves. No one ever says please spoil my bag, and yet that bags’s absolutely ruined. If we are to see the fan threads here on tpf it’s only fair and balanced that we should be able to see and hear about any problems also.
If this were a rotten job carried out by leather surgeons or any other restorer that wasn’t a long time tpf member and buddy of other members here, I doubt there would be questioning of the OPs motives or honesty in this way.
Mods will decide whether or not a thread is to be closed down or not.
In-fighting and/or giving an opinion as to whether a thread should (or shouldn't) be closed will be considered OT.
Opinions are only opinions, including those on this thread. docride has obviously had many glowing reports previously for many years, all reviews must be judged with objectivity and carefully.
In-fighting and/or giving an opinion as to whether a thread should (or shouldn't) be closed will be considered OT.
Opinions are only opinions, including those on this thread. docride has obviously had many glowing reports previously for many years, all reviews must be judged with objectivity and carefully.
This has been such an interesting read. Part of the reason I come to TPF for information is because you can get the good and the bad on any brand and on any service. When a particular brand or service is oversold, I become wary and get frustrated because nobody is perfect all the time.
This also happens on the Massaccesi thread, which has actually put me off the brand entirely. Nobody is allowed to point out flaws, nobody is allowed to share their negative experience, and the person in question is hyped to such an unreasonable extent that it all feels like a giant marketing push and false advertising.
I've honestly seen the same skewed representation of docride's work. It's all praise and no room for dissatisfaction to be discussed freely. Which is ludicrous. These are people, they are fallible, they will make errors when working with their hands. We should be able to openly discuss that, just as we discuss our positive and negative experiences of every other brand and service on TPF (LV, Chanel, Leather Surgeons...).
An honest representation of both the positive and negative would enable people to make informed decisions and to set realistic expectations on the end product they're hoping to receive! All this hype and one-sidedness in an attempt to support someone's business only sets expectations unreasonably high and invariably leads to disappointed customers because they fell for the hype and were underwhelmed with reality. Furthermore, those who have legitimate issues with the service they received (as in this case) have the added frustration of not being able to voice their opinion for fear of the community turning on them, which completely goes against the grain of the forums.
It's unrealistic and unfair to paint a rosy picture of someone at all times, when the reality is that these are human beings working on our bags, and thus, they can- and will- make mistakes. I really feel bag for @roy40 because the bag has really been ruined without even having had his permission to re-colour it in the first place. Then, to add insult to injury, his valid and reasonable attempts to rectify the situation have been dismissed summarily, as though he is the one in the wrong here. No customer wants to be treated this way.
I was actually so close to sending her a bag for a hardware makeover based on the hype. I'm really glad I didn't because I adore my bag as it has a lot of sentimental value, and if it had been botched in any way, I would be heartbroken.
Edit to add: I love that tpf'ers are loyal and supportive of their favourite leatherworkers, manufacturers and restorers. I'm just saying that if mistakes happen, regardless of whether these people are longtime members, there should be room to discuss those mistakes. Taking accountability and responsibly handling said mistake will negate any negative experience. Good customer service is easy when everything is good, but it's much harder when there's been an error, as we see here. No doubt if docride steps up to the plate and addresses the matter (privately or publicly), all can be forgiven and it will only add to the glowing reviews of her work that she goes out of her way to take ownership and make amends when things sometimes go wrong.
This also happens on the Massaccesi thread, which has actually put me off the brand entirely. Nobody is allowed to point out flaws, nobody is allowed to share their negative experience, and the person in question is hyped to such an unreasonable extent that it all feels like a giant marketing push and false advertising.
I've honestly seen the same skewed representation of docride's work. It's all praise and no room for dissatisfaction to be discussed freely. Which is ludicrous. These are people, they are fallible, they will make errors when working with their hands. We should be able to openly discuss that, just as we discuss our positive and negative experiences of every other brand and service on TPF (LV, Chanel, Leather Surgeons...).
An honest representation of both the positive and negative would enable people to make informed decisions and to set realistic expectations on the end product they're hoping to receive! All this hype and one-sidedness in an attempt to support someone's business only sets expectations unreasonably high and invariably leads to disappointed customers because they fell for the hype and were underwhelmed with reality. Furthermore, those who have legitimate issues with the service they received (as in this case) have the added frustration of not being able to voice their opinion for fear of the community turning on them, which completely goes against the grain of the forums.
It's unrealistic and unfair to paint a rosy picture of someone at all times, when the reality is that these are human beings working on our bags, and thus, they can- and will- make mistakes. I really feel bag for @roy40 because the bag has really been ruined without even having had his permission to re-colour it in the first place. Then, to add insult to injury, his valid and reasonable attempts to rectify the situation have been dismissed summarily, as though he is the one in the wrong here. No customer wants to be treated this way.
It's funny. I initially looked at that specific bag along the lines of it being modern and quirky. Like the recent Coach collaborations with Guang Yu and Basquiat. However, looking back on it now with this new information, it looks less like an attempt at artistic expression and more like a failed rehab.
I was actually so close to sending her a bag for a hardware makeover based on the hype. I'm really glad I didn't because I adore my bag as it has a lot of sentimental value, and if it had been botched in any way, I would be heartbroken.
Edit to add: I love that tpf'ers are loyal and supportive of their favourite leatherworkers, manufacturers and restorers. I'm just saying that if mistakes happen, regardless of whether these people are longtime members, there should be room to discuss those mistakes. Taking accountability and responsibly handling said mistake will negate any negative experience. Good customer service is easy when everything is good, but it's much harder when there's been an error, as we see here. No doubt if docride steps up to the plate and addresses the matter (privately or publicly), all can be forgiven and it will only add to the glowing reviews of her work that she goes out of her way to take ownership and make amends when things sometimes go wrong.
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Thank you for being so candid @roy40
I've used some of docride's products in the past with great success. She was helpful when I acquired my first box hac.
The calls for moderators to close or remove the thread are predictable because docride is a long-time user that many of us find personally endearing. Unfortunately that does not negate that what happened to roy's bag is unfortunate and the response by docride (if she really did simply block and ignore him) is behavior that most of us would find unacceptable if we dealt with a vendor that handled our legitimate complaints this way.
There will be people with great experiences and people with not great experiences with every business. If docride is the person we all think she is, surely she will make this right.
I've used some of docride's products in the past with great success. She was helpful when I acquired my first box hac.
The calls for moderators to close or remove the thread are predictable because docride is a long-time user that many of us find personally endearing. Unfortunately that does not negate that what happened to roy's bag is unfortunate and the response by docride (if she really did simply block and ignore him) is behavior that most of us would find unacceptable if we dealt with a vendor that handled our legitimate complaints this way.
There will be people with great experiences and people with not great experiences with every business. If docride is the person we all think she is, surely she will make this right.
With all due respect- and this is a comment on the whole matter rather than specifically your post- the issue here is that some people are making this personal. It is not. It is not about so-and-so's friend or an O.G. member.
This is a business transaction. 2 bags from @roy40's collection were sent to docride for restoration. He has posted pictures of both of them and we can see the job was not carried out correctly.
Now it is a good business decision to take responsibility for this and make matters right. Mistakes happen and that is okay. Blocking and ignoring the customer's request to find a resolution is not okay.
She could pay for him to have the paint stripped and the leather rehabbed by someone else (what is there to lose and the bag may end up salvaged). She could refund his money. She could, at the very least, apologize instead of trying to talk him into settling for a botched job and stating she doesn't want her business associated with this rehab. Those are bad moves for any business to make.
I can respect and appreciate that she has a great reputation and great friends fighting for her. I hope to say that about myself one day. But I cannot respect people delegitimizing a valid issue that is backed up with evidence, simply because they want to protect their friend. The former is personal, the latter is business. Separate the two and know that one does not impact the other. One can be a good person who is not a skilled leatherworker. One can be a great leatherworker who had an off day, that does not make them a bad person but merely a human being.
For those of you who have had excellent work done by docride, I hope you continue to enjoy your bags and sing her praises. For those who have had issues, I hope you find the courage to openly speak about them and do not get forced into settling for fear of upsetting others. In the end, there will be good and bad rehabs, and as others have said, it benefits everyone to see both and make up their own minds.
In this situation, I would hope all of us could feel empathy, despite any previous interactions with the craftsperson. For whatever reason, things did not go as expected with the restoration work. I think @roy40 came here in utter frustration after having tried, unsuccessfully, to find to some sort of resolution. What I’m having a hard time understanding, is why the business owner let it escalate to the point where the problem landed here on the forum. Why not swiftly work towards a solution for your very disappointed customer?
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In business when you have a happy, satisfied customer only 10 people will know. But when you have an unhappy customer who feels like they were wronged, thousands of people will know. I’m not sure why Doctride wouldn’t just refund OP’s money as he requested. Taking a loss of $600 is better than all of this bad business press for Doctride.(I should add that the loss I’m referring to is the time Doctride spent rehabbing but clearly the bigger loss is OP’s bag.) All this could have been sorted out before it reached here. I will be honest I have never gone on Doctride’s thread that has been mentioned here. I have seen her name pop up on this forum being praised by other TPFers over the years. Fortunately I have never needed to send my bags for repair yet but after this thread I know for sure who I won’t be sending my bags to if I need to in the future. Everyone is saying people make mistakes...well I don’t want to be the person that they make the mistakes on. And then add insult to injury, get ghosted when asking for a fair resolution? I don’t need the potential headache & heartache. I want to thank OP for posting. I leaned a lot from this thread and I am now made aware.
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This is so beautifully said. You make excellent points, and express them so well. Thank you!
Has anybody else had a reply deleted? I had one deleted. Weird. Never had that happen before. In any event, I hope @roy40 gets his money back or the situation is otherwise rectified. If not, there are lots of lawyers on this forum, including yours truly, who could point you in the right direction.
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