Look what Leather Surgeons did to my Chanel!

Luv n bags

Luv n bags

O.G.
Jun 4, 2008
8,956
4,930
#1
I had horrible luck with Chanel Reissues.

I purchased a SNAD one of the ‘bay. It has been in dispute for a couple of months now and the bag is in customs or lost in space somewhere. I loved the color and style and bought another one from a different source. It was a bit dirty and I wanted it cleaned.

I have read so many glowing reviews on Leather Surgeons, that I decided to have my pre-owned Chanel restored and cleaned. I am sure many have had great results. I have no clue why they spray painted my purse a color that is not even close to the original color.

I have reached out to the company many times, with photos attached and bags in similar condition prior to them working on it - and the prices they sold for. Now this $5900 bag is worthless!

This is how it turned out:
Before IMG_1530732998.485444.jpg
AfterIMG_3851.jpg
Side by side comparison IMG_3852.jpg

Absolutely horrible job! And I paid $275 to have them do this!

I don’t know how they are going to resolve this, but I have not heard a peep back from them - after 3 emails with photos attached.
 
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#4
As a non-Chanel person may I just ask this question, which may be naive but regardless: Is there any chance that the bag you submitted was the one that was off in color, and they restored to what the proper coloration should have been? That's the only reasonable possibility I can imagine for a restoration that doesn't match.
 
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#5
jellyv said:
As a non-Chanel person may I just ask this question, which may be naive but regardless: Is there any chance that the bag you submitted was the one that was off in color, and they restored to what the proper coloration should have been? That's the only reasonable possibility I can imagine for a restoration that doesn't match.
Click to expand...

Excellent question!

The SNAD I have in dispute is the same color and style as the “before”. The same style and color just sold on the ‘bay - and it is the exact color and style as the “before” bag. Here is a screenshot IMG_3853.jpg
 
#7
I did hear back from them. They told me due to the holiday, they did not respond.

They sent me several emails that went back and forth. The response to the color change was exactly what the other member posted. They try their best to match the color, etc.
They also mentioned that this bag was refurbished prior due to peeling. If that is the case, whoever did the job prior did an excellent job color matching!

At this point, the value of this purse is zero if I want to re-sell it. It looks so ugly with the spray painted look. In my opinion, the color is totally different! Not even close to a color match.

I have asked to get compensated for the bag, or dye the bag black - since the value is zero anyway.

They also mentioned they saw this post, and eluded that they did not want bad publicity. Unfortunately, I did not read the other member’s experience. If I read it and saw what they did to her bag, I would have left the bag as is.

I hope someone knows a lawyer in their neck of the woods. I don’t know if a resolution can be reached.

I also don’t want to call because I want a paper trail in the event a resolution cannot be reached.
 
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#8
I called my local Chanel Boutique and they DO NOT USE Leather Surgeons!! Let me add that they have NEVER HEARD of Leather Surgeons.

I don’t know who started this rumor on Google, but it is not true!

The reason I sent my bag to them was because of the fake news I read about saving money by sending to them directly.

I am not trying to bash them - they are a family run business and I support all family run businesses. However, this is a cautionary tale that has ruined a beautiful Chanel handbag. I have the purse, but you can see the end result.

Chanel has their own in-house repair team that they use. I am bringing the spray painted bag to them. They told me they normally don’t work on metallics and doubts anything can be done with this bag. But, I can’t say no to a visit to Chanel!
 
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#9
So I took this bag to the Chanel store. ALL the staff was in disbelief! Even customers were coming over to look.

They said they have never seen such a bad job - EVER!

They said my only options were to sue @Leather Surgeons or to sell the bag. They could not and would not give me an estimate of what the bag is even worth with this spray paint on it.

I am looking into civil attorneys in their area and will send the bag to my local consignment store. That way, people can touch and see the bag before purchasing.

Never again!!

I only wanted the corners cleaned and I got a spray painted bag in return. The color looks like a cheap replica that I saw on Poshmark.

Yes, this still disturbs me. I will lose at least $1800-$2000 if it sells at the consignment store.
 
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#11
Miso Fine said:
So I took this bag to the Chanel store. ALL the staff was in disbelief! Even customers were coming over to look.

They said they have never seen such a bad job - EVER!

They said my only options were to sue @Leather Surgeons or to sell the bag. They could not and would not give me an estimate of what the bag is even worth with this spray paint on it.

I am looking into civil attorneys in their area and will send the bag to my local consignment store. That way, people can touch and see the bag before purchasing.

Never again!!

I only wanted the corners cleaned and I got a spray painted bag in return. The color looks like a cheap replica that I saw on Poshmark.

Yes, this still disturbs me. I will lose at least $1800-$2000 if it sells at the consignment store.
Click to expand...

This is going to be a small claims court matter. You will lose money paying for an attorney.
 
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#13
Unfortunately Google reviews, Facebook reviews etc are not reliable sources. I try to go with whoever the boutique recommends or personal friends. I’m so sorry about your bag. I can’t even wrap my brain around why they would spray over your beautiful pink bag ☹️
There’s a thing called spot testing....
 
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#14
I was looking around for reviews of leather surgeons and I think I found yours on yelp. Did you see they responded??

“I’m sorry for the slow response to your review! We had to wait for a profile photo approval from Yelp in order to respond.

We received your email letting us know you were not pleased with the results late July 3rd. Due to the high volume of emails we receive daily, it usually takes around 24 hours to receive a response, but because July 4th was a holiday, we responded the very next day (July 5th).

In terms of the actual restoration, as explained before and during the process, this is not a finish that can be matched perfectly. I did my best to set realistic expectations and be as clear as possible. At three different points in our communications, I explained that this would be an "as best as possible" situation and not up to our normal spa service standards.

After receiving the bag, we discovered it had been painted previously by another company and had already begun peeling. Often, other companies use products that damage the leather, which can be impossible to undo completely. It's also impossible to know the condition or original color of the leather beneath their paints. We explained this can make the results of a spa service more unpredictable, but we were willing to give the bag the very best service we could and waited for your response before proceeding.

We are sorry that you were so disappointed with the outcome. After receiving your go-ahead each time, I truly and sincerely believed that we were on the same page. We hope the refund and the 20% discount on your next service show our sincerity.

Best,

Hunter & The Leather Surgeons Team”
 
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