Horrible toxic odor on new Chanel Blue Cable Boy?

TraceySH

Always hunting for the next bag
Feb 28, 2016
4,734
27,468
Hi all -

Just got my blue cable boy today after a LONG wait and MUCH anticipation!! I pulled it out of the box, unwrapped it, and the most horrible odor emanated from the bag. Like toxic sweet plastic chemical smell. Within minutes I had face flush, elevated heart rate, a piercing headache, ringing ears and nausea. (I am the never get sick or take medications gal by the way, and have no known allergies or health issues TG).

Anyone experience this?? In this bag or another style with PVC? It's from Hirshleifer's, and a preorder. They don't take returns. I do not wish to be stuck with a $5600 credit for a bag that makes me ill. Should someone have notified me that there was a strong toxic odor on the bag? Is this defective? Should they take a return because of this despite their policy?

I can't imagine anyone taking this bag to dinner and setting it on a table with that smell. Ugh. Feedback much appreciated. Pics included here. IMG_2319.JPGIMG_2320.JPG
 
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I bought a non name brand bag years ago and it was PVC. While it was really a stunning bag that said made in Italy, the smell was horrible. I tired to carry it once and it was so noticeable that my friends could smell it! I kept it outside stuffed with papers etc for weeks but the smell persisted. I think this is pretty disappointing in a 5k bag on Chanel's part, and there is no amount of airing out that will make that smell go away. And if it makes you physically ill, you certainly can't carry it. Makes me wonder if bags should be required to disclose chemicals used etc. with all these different materials we are seeing now.
 
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I bought a non name brand bag years ago and it was PVC. While it was really a stunning bag that said made in Italy, the smell was horrible. I tired to carry it once and it was so noticeable that my friends could smell it! I kept it outside stuffed with papers etc for weeks but the smell persisted. I think this is pretty disappointing in a 5k bag on Chanel's part, and there is no amount of airing out that will make that smell go away. And if it makes you physically ill, you certainly can't carry it. Makes me wonder if bags should be required to disclose chemicals used etc. with all these different materials we are seeing now.
I thought about that same thing. I've had similar reactions to pesticides and strong synthetics, which I think is pretty common for most of us. I KNOW I should not be breathing those, so I was not all that surprised by the reaction. But on a Chanel bag? Shocking, yes. Tells me there's some pretty bad stuff in there for my insensitive system to respond that way. I agree, with everything these days moving away from synthetics, pthalates, hormone disruptors, etc. I do think they should disclose chemical processes used for plastics when they are detected as obvious as this is. I have the pink chevron PVC and no issues whatsoever. I am quite sure this plastic was not "made in Italy" :smile:
 
You can't just assume Chinese goods smells bad, their quality has improved a lot over the years, Italian goods are not always of superior quality from my experience, that is a very ignorant comment TraceySH.
BeckyHannaway I stand by my comment. Chinese goods are known to be made with toxic chemicals DESPITE being of sometimes amazing quality, as the environmental standards are far less than for other countries. Secondly, should my $5600 bag or parts of my bag have been manufactured in other countries, I should not be charged that premium if indeed as @gail13 mentioned, Chanel has been rumored to be using parts manufactured in other countries. I am not asking for feedback regarding the level of toxic chemicals used in various western vs eastern countries, and welcome your feedback, but please do not digress. Thank you much.
 
Not everything from China is made poorly :annoyed: I think most people outside of China have this completely invalid overgeneralization stereotype of how China only produces awful things because only the extreme/ odd cases make the news. I'm from China, and I can most certainly tell you that people in China do not just sit around and slap on hazardous toxins on to every object they touch. There're people in every country with no moral compass who make awful quality things. Anyway, I don't mean to be taking the conversation away from the issue with the bag. I just can't stand to sit by idly and listen to people say things like that about my home. But I hope you find a way to get it fixed! Maybe call Hirshleifer's and ask them if there's anything they can do.
 
I think the issue here is whether or not anyone has ever noticed a smell from Chanel or other designer PVC. This is certainly not a dig on all Chinese quality, but I have been told by various manufacturers that items made in China do have a different smell due to processes and products that are done differently. Would one expect a bag that costs this much to smell of chemicals no matter where it was made? I think not.

I also think its interesting that handbags are not required to list content of materials like clothing.
 
Not everything from China is made poorly :annoyed: I think most people outside of China have this completely invalid overgeneralization stereotype of how China only produces awful things because only the extreme/ odd cases make the news. I'm from China, and I can most certainly tell you that people in China do not just sit around and slap on hazardous toxins on to every object they touch. There're people in every country with no moral compass who make awful quality things. Anyway, I don't mean to be taking the conversation away from the issue with the bag. I just can't stand to sit by idly and listen to people say things like that about my home. But I hope you find a way to get it fixed! Maybe call Hirshleifer's and ask them if there's anything they can do.
I appreciate your saying that christine, and I have LOADS of things made in China which I treasure. However, of all of the bags I've gotten made in China, they do always tend to have a very distinctive chemical smell to them without fail. This has that same smell. MY POINT IS, a $5600 Chanel bag should never have this smell, and indeed if it was made somewhere else and "pieced together" in Italy, the pricetag should reflect that. No doubt China has cornered the global market brilliantly on manufacturing and goods, and owns like 60% of our national debt, so I am not knocking China. I am knocking Chanel for passing off some things here...and the :sick: was because I actually did end up throwing up w/ my reaction to it. The juxtaposition to "China" was happenstance.
 
I appreciate your saying that christine, and I have LOADS of things made in China which I treasure. However, of all of the bags I've gotten made in China, they do always tend to have a very distinctive chemical smell to them without fail. This has that same smell. MY POINT IS, a $5600 Chanel bag should never have this smell, and indeed if it was made somewhere else and "pieced together" in Italy, the pricetag should reflect that. No doubt China has cornered the global market brilliantly on manufacturing and goods, and owns like 60% of our national debt, so I am not knocking China. I am knocking Chanel for passing off some things here...and the :sick: was because I actually did end up throwing up w/ my reaction to it. The juxtaposition to "China" was happenstance.

I hope I didn't come off as rude or offend you. I do automatically get worked up when I hear negative stereotypes about China, but I think that was just conditioned in me after I moved to the US for college and had to face a lot of very frustrating comments. I hope you understand. I do agree that the bag shouldn't have any smell and I would've been very disappointed too. Interesting note though, recently I was in an Uber when the driver started to talk about how he used to work in for a luxury goods company, and he told me how a lot of the materials are actually sourced from other countries, and then pieced together in Italy or France so that they can put a "Made in Italy/ France" sign on the product.
 
I hope I didn't come off as rude or offend you. I do automatically get worked up when I hear negative stereotypes about China, but I think that was just conditioned in me after I moved to the US for college and had to face a lot of very frustrating comments. I hope you understand. I do agree that the bag shouldn't have any smell and I would've been very disappointed too. Interesting note though, recently I was in an Uber when the driver started to talk about how he used to work in for a luxury goods company, and he told me how a lot of the materials are actually sourced from other countries, and then pieced together in Italy or France so that they can put a "Made in Italy/ France" sign on the product.
That's exactly what I (we) were referring to. If anything, I think cheap Chinese labor is opportunistically used to amass insane profits for luxury companies by doing just this, piecing together materials that were cheaply made and more cheaply sourced. I am well aware of sweat shops, child labor law violations and all kinds of other "wonderful" practices in the textile industry. And at the end of the day, the almighty dollar wins always it seems. So here, with this particular product, there seems to be some obvious bait and switch going on, and I am just not appreciating it. And, Shanghai is on my bucket list. So. :cool:
 
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So as an add, the hardware on the bag squeaks. I have like 12 boys and none of them do this. The bag has no structure, it smooshes even if you pick it up. The PVC lines one whole side of the bag (the back) - no lining at all!, and there is no slip pocket even inside. The little poor authenticity card is swimming around in there. And the "made in Italy" (!) leather tag is sewn in to the sidewall of the bag. Just sayin.
 
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