Botched spa by “Docride’s Luxury Again Inc.” destroyed my Hermes Ostrich bag. Think long and hard about non-H Spa work!

[Love Of My Life]

yea. Even if she didn’t want to address publicly on here, she should privately talk to her customer instead of blocking her. Maybe she doesn’t want to admit fault for legal purposes? Like doesn’t want to end up liable for the bag but OP offered a settlement of only what she paid and the pictures speak for themselves that the work was horrid

Mistakes & miscommunication are everyday issues, it is how you handle them that speaks
& in this case it seems like the craftsperson fell very short.
Besides the enormous amount of referrals that come from this forum, step up & offer an
explanation.. Do the right thing here...
This thread will likely quite down but the resolution will likely remain very much alive
as their was none..
And a very important lesson to be learned.. H bags go to the H spa.. short & simple

 

[amna72]

That is protectionist and it is wrong. If a company like LC would not have their name removed from a title, she should not either.

I have no idea who the Docride is, nor have I ever red any posts about her work, but I do find it unacceptable that people/companies who did a bad job are being protected to such extent that their names are being deleted. I did notice that there are a lot of groups on this forum whose members made it their task to protect each other against anyone and everyone, but this goes beyond my understanding. We are discussing here shortcomings, faults and mistakes of companies like Hermes, Chanel, Dior... and their names are not being protected, but this particular one is! The OP showed us clear pictures of bad work which was a mean to try to find a resolution for the problem, but has still not been offered anything! If the Docride cares about her business, she should offer a decent settlement and try to recover damage done to her name and reputation. Till she does so, this post should stand and be discussed, so that everyone is aware of it!

 

[tonkamama]

Dear Roy, so sorry that this has happened to you, I hope the person will do the right thing and reach out to you. The small business mentioned in this thread should have carried some sort of liability insurance to pay for the “mistakes“ such as yours. I was a small business owner once, and had full coverage insurance for my business. Due to her well known business on TPF, the good and the bad should all be exposed and revealed for the public awareness! Not communicating and taking the responsibility to make it right is just not a good business practice

Thank you for pointing that out! I did not remove Docride’s name from the post subject. That was the moderators doing. Docride has not responded to numerous attempts to remedy this situation peacefully. So, aside from avoiding any responsibility, she has also not refunded as much as a penny of the injurious “refurbishment” fee. As I’ve mentioned earlier in this thread, six of those attempts to contact her occurred before writing this post. She’s had plenty of opportunities to provide a cure to this nightmare, yet here we are weeks later.

 

[Bag peace]

It's sad that the craftsperson given many opportunities to respond hasn't done so.

I feel that Docride would never respond on this thread. She would be worried that others would question her and she'd be outnumbered here. It makes sense that she would only be active on her thread where she has support.

It's an absolute shame because all she needs to do is come on, apologize to Roy and say that she'll make things right. She could do this privately if she felt she wanted to limit discussion to only her paying customer, and that would be fine since he would update the thread to say that the issue has been resolved fairly, and we'd all come away feeling relieved for both parties involved.

As it stands, her keeping quiet in the hopes that this will be forgotten as other threads fill this forum has made her look so unprofessional. It's been more damaging to her reputation that the initial botched work, IMO.

If these had been my bags and I was subsequently ghosted in this way, I'd be utterly devastated.
As everyone has said all along, mistakes happen and can be forgiven, but this response (or lack thereof) is really unacceptable. I wonder if she'd allow a business or craftsperson to do the same to her? Highly doubtful.

 

[Egel]

I have no idea who the Docride is, nor have I ever red any posts about her work, but I do find it unacceptable that people/companies who did a bad job are being protected to such extent that their names are being deleted. I did notice that there are a lot of groups on this forum whose members made it their task to protect each other against anyone and everyone, but this goes beyond my understanding. We are discussing here shortcomings, faults and mistakes of companies like Hermes, Chanel, Dior... and their names are not being protected, but this particular one is! The OP showed us clear pictures of bad work which was a mean to try to find a resolution for the problem, but has still not been offered anything! If the Docride cares about her business, she should offer a decent settlement and try to recover damage done to her name and reputation. Till she does so, this post should stand and be discussed, so that everyone is aware of it!

The initial post was imo more of a warning than slander and then shifted into something more personal.

I think the difference is that Dior, Chanel, Hermes, Leather Surgeons and the like are compagnies, where as Docride is also someone who posts on this forum.

The pictures and the lack of response are a thing for the topic starter, but there also are people who have good experiences with her. This whole thread, to me, doesn't feel so black and white as it might feel to others. I think compairing her to the compagnies above just doesn't feel right, because that is exactly where all of the emotions in this thread come from.

 

[BowieFan1971]

The initial post was imo more of a warning than slander and then shifted into something more personal.

I think the difference is that Dior, Chanel, Hermes, Leather Surgeons and the like are compagnies, where as Docride is also someone who posts on this forum.

The pictures and the lack of response are a thing for the topic starter, but there also are people who have good experiences with her. This whole thread, to me, doesn't feel so black and white as it might feel to others. I think compairing her to the compagnies above just doesn't feel right, because that is exactly where all of the emotions in this thread come from.

But she is a company, just a small one and one that has a “face”. She sells herself and her personal connection here, which is why it is even more important for her to have handled this better.

 

[Egel]

But she is a company, just a small one and one that has a “face”. She sells herself and her personal connection here, which is why it is even more important for her to have handled this better.

I do agree that this could be handled better, the lack of communication didn't even tick me off as much as color change without consent.

But her posting along does lead up to people being on her side. That is what sets this thread apart from any other xyxbotched my bag-thread.

 

[Bag peace]

The initial post was imo more of a warning than slander and then shifted into something more personal.

True, the initial post was to warn people to use only H spa services so they don't end up in this position.
Docride made it personal by:
- Trying to convince Roy to accept sub-par work and look at it from 3 feet away, implying he is being too picky.
- Asking Roy not to credit her with this restoration as a favour to her, implying she knew she botched the job.
- Refusing to engage with him when he tried to find a resolution and effectively ghosting him: there is nothing more personal than this rejection.
Most of us are looking at this as a business/business person who is refusing to acknowledge a legitimate customer complaint.

I think the difference is that Dior, Chanel, Hermes, Leather Surgeons and the like are compagnies, where as Docride is also someone who posts on this forum.

Luxury Again Inc. is a business. A small business perhaps, but a business all the same. She markets her services on the forum to drive traffic to her business, therefore we can discuss both the positive and negative aspects of this business as we do any other.

but there also are people who have good experiences with her.

No doubt. A dear tpf member on one of my most visited threads often praises Docride's work, and I believe she has many other happy customers. So of course she has done great work in the past but, she also has the occasional bad restorations (and 2 members have said as much on this very thread).
She's human and will make mistakes. That is understandable, but her response to this issue is utterly baffling. If she took steps to resolve it, her reputation would soar sky high. Her refusal to acknowledge this is undoing her years of work in building a reputation as a reliable restorer on TPF. Her business boomed from these forums and these members, why would she turn her back on them now?

because that is exactly where all of the emotions in this thread come from.

The emotions are coming from the fact that she is ghosting Roy. All of us are able to put ourselves in his shoes. We would feel extremely emotional at losing both our prized possessions and our right to contact the business for resolution! Would you not get emotional to find you were being completely neglected and all communication cut off if you tried to reach a business to rectify a legitimate issue?

 

[Bag peace]

But her posting along does lead up to people being on her side. That is what sets this thread apart from any other xyxbotched my bag-thread.

I completely understand what you're saying and this goes back to what I posted earlier in the thread that people shouldn't take the discussion as a personal attack on Docride.
I can understand why they do since they are her friends, but for clarity: I'm not posting about Docride *the person*- whom, by all accounts, is a lovely human being and friend to many. I'm posting about Docride *the business owner* who is refusing to make things right by a customer.
The biggest personal attack I see is in her ghosting Roy. I find that really unprofessional and it would feel like a personal slight to me were I in his shoes.

 

[Egel]

I completely understand what you're saying and this goes back to what I posted earlier in the thread that people shouldn't take the discussion as a personal attack on Docride.
I can understand why they do since they are her friends, but for clarity: I'm not posting about Docride *the person*- whom, by all accounts, is a lovely human being and friend to many. I'm posting about Docride *the business owner* who is refusing to make things right by a customer.
The biggest personal attack I see is in her ghosting Roy. I find that really unprofessional and it would feel like a personal slight to me were I in his shoes.

I get what you are saying, not to confuse the person with the compagny, but that is exactly what I do and makes me feel conflicted.

For her company I think there are a lot of mistakes here. It started with dying without consent, lack of responsibilty, and then lack of communication. And I absolutely get why topic starter felt the need to express all of his feelings.

 

[Bag peace]

I get what you are saying, not to confuse the person with the compagny, but that is exactly what I do and makes me feel conflicted.

I appreciate that this must be a difficult conflict if one is friends with her. Of course it becomes more personal to those who have known her for a long time.
However, I will reiterate that I don't believe the posters on this thread are attacking the person since everyone has stated they want the business to find a resolution. I hope that gives you (and her other friends on tpf) some comfort.

Once the business owner, acting in the best interest of her brand, comes to a fair agreement with Roy, I have no doubt that everyone will feel relieved and will grow to trust Luxury Again Inc. because there is integrity in owning a mistake and correcting it. Especially when it is a small business taking the extra steps to do so.
I'm excited for the day that we get a happy update that everything is resolved.

It started with dying without consent, lack of responsibilty, and then lack of communication. And I absolutely get why topic starter felt the need to express all of his feelings.

Exactly how I feel. I really respect you for separating the business issue from the person which is not easy when you are conflicted, as you explained. But you're being fair and in both your support of your friend and your understanding of why it is important to speak openly on this issue. Thanks for explaining your point of view to me as I've learned a lot about how some other posters may be feeling.

 

[indiaink]

I was "watching" this thread, but I think it has now devolved into not worth being watched. We've all had more than our say, and I thank the OP for originally sharing this.

@docride (doing business here, regardless of whether she's perceived personally or professionally, she's taking money from people here to do things to their bags, which makes her operating professionally) had the opportunity to respond long ago, whether publicly or privately, and has not (that we've been made aware of).

So, there's nothing to be gained by a continued rehashing. But, I'm not a mod (thank heavens, I'd be fired pretty quick) and I'm not the OP.

Let this thread stand as a warning, key words "spa, Hermes".

 

[KellyObsessed]

If she has to be publicly shamed into communicating with Roy, I think that is "too little , too late" and it wouldn't restore my faith in her.
Asking someone to look at their bag from 3 feet away is the most ridiculous advice I have ever heard.

 

[BrandSnob]

The initial post was imo more of a warning than slander and then shifted into something more personal.

I think the difference is that Dior, Chanel, Hermes, Leather Surgeons and the like are compagnies, where as Docride is also someone who posts on this forum.

The pictures and the lack of response are a thing for the topic starter, but there also are people who have good experiences with her. This whole thread, to me, doesn't feel so black and white as it might feel to others. I think compairing her to the compagnies above just doesn't feel right, because that is exactly where all of the emotions in this thread come from.

But those companies are her peers. She does exactly what leather surgeons does so why wouldn’t people treat her the same especially when it comes to business? This is a business issue and about her business practices and her saying she could fix something she actually ruined after talking about being a top specialist when in reality she did amateur work and ruined someone else’s possession. I understand some ppl know her font but I was taken aback by how fonts tried to dismiss the reality of the situation: a customers bag was ruined, with photo proof, and the company blocked her. Even the mods put a message saying “obviously Docride has other glowing reviews” or something, completely minimizing photo evidence of shoddy work and a hurt OP bc they want to defend a longtime poster instead of allowing a hurt customer to fairly express his feelings without little footnotes that take away from his message

 

[BowieFan1971]

I am a small business owner...I am an esthetician who, because of Covid, chose to quit the spa I worked for last year to take a very small number of regular clients in my home. The very nature of my work is extremely personal and I have known these women for a number of years. I care about them and believe they care about me. But I never mistake that for friendship or take that relationship for granted. I give them all the respect and courtesy due them as clients. My husband got frustrated and annoyed with me this morning because I was straightening up after him in order to have my house on par for my clients this afternoon. He said something along the lines of them not caring if a thing or two is out of place and I was being overly picky. I reminded him that when my clients are here, this is not my home, it is a place of business. They are not here to see me and hang out, they are here to receive a service in exchange for money. That makes them a client, not a friend or even a “friend”, no matter how friendly our relationship is. He understood what I meant and let it go. I never take for granted that should I not perform to expectations, which I set over the course of years of exceptional service, that I will be given an automatic pass and/or not have to take responsibility— the same level of responsibility— that I would if I was dealing with a new client. And referrals from existing clients are even higher stakes, because now their reputation is called into question as much as mine.

The true hallmark of an excellent business is not how they handle things when they go well, but how they handle things when they don’t. Luxury Again Inc. did not and is not behaving like an excellent business and potential clients have every right to know that so they can assess their “buyer beware” risk before entrusting them with valuable prized goods and buying their services.