Experience with Chanel refurbishing/repair

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A while back I found a vintage purse which I believed to be a CHANEL. I first had it authenticated by the CHANEL store in King of Prussia and than sent it to Rago Brothers.
Here is the link if interested in repair of vintage Chanel’s. I was told CHANEL no longer will repair older handbags.
https://www.ragobrothers.com/contact-us/.
They will not repair until the bag is authenticated which they themselves will do.
I cannot begin to tell you the superb job they did on this handbag. I also had all the all the hardware restored.
I believe my total was less than $500 but well worth the price to own a wonderful vintage CHANEL oF which I can pass down to my daughter to enjoy.
 
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Quick question about repairing a loose/frayed stitch on a pre-owned bag but one that should be still under warranty as it was purchased by the first owner at Rue Cambon this past April. Will Chanel check the serial number first to know that I'm not the original owner? Although I live in the US, I'm right now in London and would ask my SA here but am such a terrible liar that I'm wondering if I should just send to one of the other recommended repair shops. Though obviously it would be better if Chanel would repair for free. Thanks in advance for your advice.
 
If you want Chanel to do free repair, they will verify your purchase. Some stores may be more lenient with policies. Call on the phone before going into store and ask. Let them know you purchased your bag at another store. They will tell you what they require.
Or use one of the repair companies. They do really good work.
 
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I owned my boy wallet for two months when I noticed the hardware had a flaw in it. Brought it in for repair, it took a full year for it to get back to me as apparently the hardware was out of stock until then, and when I got it back, I found out they had improperly stored the wallet. :( There was a huge indentation from the zipper on the interior of the wallet. They had to ship it back to repairs so that it could be inspected. This took another two months and of course, they determined nothing could be done and it was permanently damaged. The sales associates at my local Chanel in NM acted like they were doing me this huge favor by allowing me to exchange for another wallet. In that span of a year while they had the wallet and subsequently damaged it, the wallet had a price increase of $100 and was no longer available in the color I had originally bought it in. This whole process took several trips to Chanel and over a year and in the end, I no longer had the wallet I originally wanted and had to pay the difference for a more expensive wallet. I'm just shocked that this is the level of service Chanel provides given the ridiculous price point of the products they sell.
 
I owned my boy wallet for two months when I noticed the hardware had a flaw in it. Brought it in for repair, it took a full year for it to get back to me as apparently the hardware was out of stock until then, and when I got it back, I found out they had improperly stored the wallet. :sad: There was a huge indentation from the zipper on the interior of the wallet. They had to ship it back to repairs so that it could be inspected. This took another two months and of course, they determined nothing could be done and it was permanently damaged. The sales associates at my local Chanel in NM acted like they were doing me this huge favor by allowing me to exchange for another wallet. In that span of a year while they had the wallet and subsequently damaged it, the wallet had a price increase of $100 and was no longer available in the color I had originally bought it in. This whole process took several trips to Chanel and over a year and in the end, I no longer had the wallet I originally wanted and had to pay the difference for a more expensive wallet. I'm just shocked that this is the level of service Chanel provides given the ridiculous price point of the products they sell.
 
WOW!!!!
Send a letter to the CEO.......certified!!! THAT is simply ridiculous!!!! The lack of respect and customer service!!!
Tell them you will buy another brand and I bet you will receive something!!!!
So disappointed for you!!! These products are very expensive, we at least deserve GREAT customer service !!!
Good Luck!!!
 
I got something to share too. I bought a black boy bag in caviar leather in Jan 2018. I took really care of my bags. I think I only wear for 3 times since I bought it. Recently I took it out, and I found there are two spots of caviar leather peeling off...........
OMG. THAT’S REALLY RIDICULOUS.
If I wear my bags often, I can consider it is normal wear and tears. However, three times of wear shouldn’t make such a quick damage to the leather.
I also own a caviar O case which I use everyday and a caviar WOC which used more often. Nothing happened to these two caviar items.
I wonder if it is because my BOY bag’s caviar leather is a different type of caviar leather.
What should I do? Should I take it back to Chanel ? As it is still within one year since I bought it.

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Hi ladies, my bag is only three weeks old (and I’ve used it a total of two times). Was packing it back into the dust bag after using it for the second time ytd when I realized there’s a loose stitch (and some fraying of the threads at the loop of the stitch.. :( it’s not really noticeable since it’s at the bottom of the bag. The photos are also super zoomed in... but I feel that for a brand new bag which costs so much it should be perfect? Am quite upset as it’s my first Chanel and it’s super precious to me. Hopefully my SA will get back to me on my options for repair.

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Thanks for giving me an outlet to air my disappointment. My DH is not into luxury (at all) and I don’t want to give him another reason to tell me not to buy anymore luxury items [emoji30]

I bought a caviar classic card holder last month. The stitching is also HORRIBLE. My SA told me was normal since it was handmade. But I know it’s not, since I got many defect Chanel items experiences. Sad ....... I exchanged it to other accessory at the end.
Really gotta check carefully before purchase even after purchase .....
 
I bought a caviar classic card holder last month. The stitching is also HORRIBLE. My SA told me was normal since it was handmade. But I know it’s not, since I got many defect Chanel items experiences. Sad ....... I exchanged it to other accessory at the end.
Really gotta check carefully before purchase even after purchase .....

Oh dear! You must have been disappointed.. but am glad you were able to exchange for other items you like :)

As an update to my previous post, my local boutique managed to fix the loose stitch for me. It only took them a week and it came back perfect. Very grateful for my SA.

But you’re right, we do need to check our items properly both during purchase and even after that. Sometimes the lighting at the shop makes it hard to spot finer details.
 
Dear Little_sister,
Take that Boy bag back and ask for an exchange. Remind them of the price of the bag! The leather cannot be repaired. The only thing a repair shop can do is touch up the the leather with the same color. And if it's started to peel now??? It will unfortunately continue. It may not be the same leather as your other products.
Boutiques are so nice when you are buying the bags, but not so nice when they have to fix a problem.
If they give you a hard time, tell the Boutique you are going to call your local TV station and let them investigate and televise how the store is willing to take your money, but provide no service when there is a problem. And be willing to do so!!!! You will see how easily the Boutique store accommodates the TV station......they will do anything to avoid the negative publicity.
It is unacceptable for them to take your bag and act as if they will repair a bag that can't be repaired.
Good Luck,
Greatbags3
 
I purchased my medium flap in caviar second handed and I noticed the clasp and hardware were scratched and the hardwares were chipped. So I decided to go to the chanel Boutique. They didn’t asked for proof of purchase and they said it would take 4-6 weeks. Around week 4 I got a phone call stating that they repaired my chains and clasp. I only paid $125 + tax for the repair. I also got an extra dust bag!!

The staffs were nice and friendly. I have never purchased anything from the boutique store and everything was purchased through reseller and consignment store or eBay. So I was surprised they didn’t asked for receipt or anything. So if you purchased your bag second handed and have no record of purchase then I would recommend to be super nice to the SA and ask them to repair. If they mentioned where you purchased it.... just say you purchased it during your vacation in Europe. I’m sure they can’t really check purchase history from other countries.

Before
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After
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I heard they don’t repair any bag beyond 5 year and my bag was produced in 2017. I recently purchased a woc and there’s transfer on the back from the rubbing of the jeans. I wonder if they can remove the transfer.
 
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Not bags, but I am having a terrible experience with earring repairs. I posted in a separate thread... but basically:

I dropped off earrings for repair 3 months ago, and still don't have them back. Chanel sent me someone else's broken earrings and is holding mine hostage even though they were the ones who made the mistake. Store stopped communicating with me and customer service was rude and tried to hang up instead of trying to work something out.

I dread the day my bag needs to be repaired.
 
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