LV QUALITY CONTROL --- WHAT IS GOING ON??

[Pebli]

Oh not another thread on quality.... Op how do you think there are none on this topic already?

It's so simple really. If you are unhappy with the quality of an item, return or exchange it. If you are unhappy with the quality of the brand as a whole, find another brand.

It's getting so annoying seeing the constant complaints, even more so when it's a tiny stitch that's the tiniest bit crooked... Like c'mon, really? Just enjoy your items! I'm not saying settle for sloppy work, obviously return if there's an issue but the excessive complaining is just too much.

I also think it's blown way out of proportion. For every return, there is probably 100+ perfect pieces (random figure pulled out of thin air for the sake of my point). It's just that the complaints and issues flood the forum so it seems like more. I've been collecting LV for ten years and have never had an issue. Lucky? Sure. But just saying there's plenty out there who never have an issue.

Do we need yet another thread on this right now? No!

 

[voodoodoll2005]

Complaints about LV quality has always been around.

I joined the forum in 2006 when I bought my 1st LV. The complaints then was "declining quality, not as good as bags made in the 80's or 90's".

Now the 2000's is looked upon as the gold standard for LV, lol.

Also, I think on an internet forum, you are bound to hear more complaints. I have a PM, and no problems so far. But I'm not going to start a thread periodically just to say "PM is still good. No issues so far...."

 

[Scarlett916]

I guess the thing that amazes me are the people who have so many issues with the quality of their items from LV, or any other brand, yet continue to buy so many as they do! Gosh! If I had so many problems, I'd walk away for sure.

I haven't felt the exasperation that some of you are talking about. I've got over 20 SLG's and 15 bags from LV and I haven't experienced any quality control issues at all! I've only ever had to take one item in for repair...a cles that had the chain snap, totally my fault. LV not only repaired it for free, but they overnight shipped the repair to my home at no charge so that I didn't have to make a trip back to the boutique to pick it up. The repair was perfect and they wrapped it up in a brand new box and dust bag!

Approximately half of my bags were purchased online, and the other half in various boutiques thought the USA from NYC to Chicago to LA and many places in between. I've had excellent customer service everywhere I've shopped. I have items made in France, USA, Spain, and Italy. I've seen no differences in quality of items regardless of where they are made or where I purchased. Three of my bags are pre-loved and would be considered "vintage" at this point...the oldest being a petite Noe that is nearly 20 years old. I see no major differences in the quality of the canvas, the hardware, or the workmanship from my oldest pieces to the newest piece that I just received a couple of weeks ago.

Maybe I'm just very lucky, who knows? I consider myself to be picky about quality, but not overly picky. I look my items over extremely well before I decide to buy or keep them. I don't abuse my bags, but I don't overly baby them either. The only real true issues I've ever had with any LV item that I've owned was with my Siracusa PM. I knew going in that DA canvas was more delicate than DE or mono. I knew there was a possibility of color transfer and wear with that particular canvas, especially on a cross body bag. I did end up with both color transfer and a bit of the pattern wearing off on the back side of the bag after I wore it a few times. But I can't blame LV for that! It was my fault. I bought the bag knowing of the potential issues AND I wore it with blue jeans. I still love and use the bag with fairly regular frequency. I won't buy another DA crossbody bag in the future, but I don't regret the one I did buy.

 

[RayKay]

Complaints about LV quality has always been around.

I joined the forum in 2006 when I bought my 1st LV. The complaints then was "declining quality, not as good as bags made in the 80's or 90's".

Now the 2000's is looked upon as the gold standard for LV, lol.

Also, I think on an internet forum, you are bound to hear more complaints. I have a PM, and no problems so far. But I'm not going to start a thread periodically just to say "PM is still good. No issues so far...."

LOL. Maybe you should start one. We could have one for each bag model, like we do Clubhouses.

"Still Sitting Pretty with Pochette Metis"

"Never Complaining with Neverfull"

"Sounding No Sirens for Siena"

"Perfectly Problem-free with Palm Springs Mini"

"Smooth Sailing with Speedy"

 

[Scarlett916]

LOL. Maybe you should start one. We could have one for each bag model, like we do Clubhouses.

"Still Sitting Pretty with Pochette Metis"

"Never Complaining with Neverfull"

"Sounding No Sirens for Siena"

"Perfectly Problem-free with Palm Springs Mini"

"Smooth Sailing with Speedy"

Haha! I love that idea! I would enjoy adding my 2 cents to that kind of thread! Sadly, though I've been on enough internet forums in my day to realize one fact of life...people love to rant WAY more than they like to rave. It's human nature.

 

[chasy.price]

LOL. Maybe you should start one. We could have one for each bag model, like we do Clubhouses.

"Still Sitting Pretty with Pochette Metis"

"Never Complaining with Neverfull"

"Sounding No Sirens for Siena"

"Perfectly Problem-free with Palm Springs Mini"

"Smooth Sailing with Speedy"

I like this idea!
Well I was actually never the one that believed quality issue. I did not have this feeling of declining quality, so clearly and sharply, until this year. Before I bought my pochette metis, I was like "yeah it has issues but maybe they exaggerated." Of course, there is always that self-deception of "yeah it has issues but it WON'T HAPPEN TO ME." Its like the urban legends. Until it happens to you, it doesn't exist.

I did however, just purchased an eden MM preloved, made sometime in 2012. Eagerly waiting for its arrival. I might just stick around in the pre-love market for a while. Still love LV, what can I say.... It has magic.

 

[miss_chiff]

LOL. Maybe you should start one. We could have one for each bag model, like we do Clubhouses.

"Still Sitting Pretty with Pochette Metis"

"Never Complaining with Neverfull"

"Sounding No Sirens for Siena"

"Perfectly Problem-free with Palm Springs Mini"

"Smooth Sailing with Speedy"

Lol I was just thinking that myself last night, only the opposite...'The crappy croisette', 'never buying the neverfull again', "so long speedy" etc...a safe space where people can complain all day long about the bag.

 

[vinbenphon1]

Lol I was just thinking that myself last night, only the opposite...'The crappy croisette', 'never buying the neverfull again', "so long speedy" etc...a safe space where people can complain all day long about the bag.

Hahahaha... I would add... "the useless cles club", lol. Someone did start a fun thread for anomalies, so to speak, it was quite amusing, but alas others didn't get it.

 

[enlux]

I forgot the name of the cognitive bias, but this thread reminded me of something.

As others have mentioned, for every "LV quality is terrible" post there are hundreds if not thousands of happy people with no quality issues whatsoever. But you never see them post. It gives the impression that the quality has gone down whilst it might have always been the same (if not better).

It's the same with war and peace. We live in the safest period in history but with all the news of terrorist, wars, (insert fight on youtube at walmart) it gives the impression that the world is unsafe. It's not.

To hit it home even more - when you're an exotic dancer and all you do is sleep and work at the club, you start to think all men are *******s. You don't know better but what's really happening is that you live in a bubble. The same thing is happening here.

I've got $40k of LV stuff all bought in the last 3 years and only had a quality issue with one item (a backpack that started cracking). It happens, not a big deal. Got it replaced and moved on with life

 

[miss_chiff]

Hahahaha... I would add... "the useless cles club", lol. Someone did start a fun thread for anomalies, so to speak, it was quite amusing, but alas others didn't get it.

Might u be able to find that thread and post the link? I know the extension cord thread is kind of on the same silly lines, given how long that thread became, I'm sure everyone understood the underlying premise of that one.

 

[lvt]

The decline of lv's quality is actually a fact. My local lv store opened in 1985 and most of the employees have been working there for at least 10 years and almost everyone who knows me has admitted that now the quality is much lower than it used to be. They have told me that the canvas and the leather they use now are much thinner, the stitching is not as precise as it used to be and generally they have noticed a fall in quality wich happened gradually from 2000 to today. Apparently lv is trying to minimize the cost of production and now they use materials of lower quality and they new items are much simplier in terms of design and production. Also they have told me that the number of defective items that are being exchanged or send for repair has significantly increased over the last years. This doesn't mean that lv has bad quality or that everyone has quality issues, I do believe that lv has a good quality, but lv has definitely lost its great quality and their recent products won't last as many years as these from years ago.

 

[RayKay]

I think LV has quite a few "complicated" designs, and I also think just because something looks simple in design does not mean it is. It can be harder to create "less" than it is to create "more". But that said, I don't think of something being "simpler in design" as a quality issue. Rather to me that is an aesthetics issue - overall trends and styles today lean towards a more simplified and "clean" aesthetic than the 1990s and 2000s. All across brands, a more minimal aesthetic seems to be favoured. Which I am grateful for, personally; I don't have an issue leaving the fashion of my youth back in my youth and enjoying my LV items of today. \_(ツ)_/¯

No brand is immune to complaints about quality; and never has been. Even on the Hermes subforum there are complaints about thinner leathers these days, etc, and the Chanel subforum has frequent threads on quality issues.

 

[Redenkeew]

I agree with the post above that just because something looks simple in design does not mean it is. Shoppers are incredibly savvy today and trends come and go at a much faster rate. People want lighter and simpler bags. I don't know why thinner canvas is an issue because you don't feel like going to the gym now just by lifting your bag and the canvas is still as durable as before. Canvas cracking happens, then and now but you still don't see one splitting in half.

LV also grew into a massive fashion brand compared to 10, 20 years ago. Of course when sales increases, return and exchange also increases. People tend to see and remember complaining customers a lot more than happy customers. For one or two defect items there are tens or hundreds of perfectly made products. My spending has grown to a significant sum in the past 10 years, covering all categories that they make (men's and women's ready-to-wear, footwears in addition to bags and SLGs) and the products I buy now are just as good, if not better in terms of design and quality. I did came across items that weren't made properly and I've said it before and I'm saying it again, LV stands by their products and remedies the situation and the result was beyond my expectation. They even gave some of you an extra strap just because your perfectly fine strap was missing a couple of f*ucking stitches, like what more do you want from them

 

[Missydora]

I forgot the name of the cognitive bias, but this thread reminded me of something.

As others have mentioned, for every "LV quality is terrible" post there are hundreds if not thousands of happy people with no quality issues whatsoever. But you never see them post. It gives the impression that the quality has gone down whilst it might have always been the same (if not better).

It's the same with war and peace. We live in the safest period in history but with all the news of terrorist, wars, (insert fight on youtube at walmart) it gives the impression that the world is unsafe. It's not.

To hit it home even more - when you're an exotic dancer and all you do is sleep and work at the club, you start to think all men are *******s. You don't know better but what's really happening is that you live in a bubble. The same thing is happening here.

I've got $40k of LV stuff all bought in the last 3 years and only had a quality issue with one item (a backpack that started cracking). It happens, not a big deal. Got it replaced and moved on with life

It's called "confirmation bias' is something alongs the lines that this occurs when theres a tendency to interpret or favour info in way so that it confirms one beliefs. So basically if we have strong beliefs that LV is going down hill one will look for only info that confirms this just to fit into ones own preconceptions. Which then leads to statistical/data errors. Which is no good as this bias will filter out new potentially useful or objective info which is then lost and what we are left with is a misconception rather than the truth.

 

[Scarlett916]

Speaking directly to the quality control issues for certain bags in particular...I think that maybe there are simply some inherent design flaws in certain bags that are causing the problem. I am convinced that some bag designs just aren't going to hold up to everyday wear and tear as well as others because of the way they are made or because of the material they are made from. The coated canvas that is on the damier ebene bags does not seem to wear well when it is applied to a less structured bag that is going to cause it to wrinkle and crack, for example. That's why you see so many more complaints from people with DE Neverfulls than you do from people who own the Neverfulls made from monogram canvas or DA canvas. The vachette leather is way more supple and pliable than the coated leather, therefore it doesn't get the wrinkling and cracking. But some people don't like the way the vachette patinas, or the worry of getting stains and water spots on the leather and opt for the coated leather trim. And that's fine. It all boils down to what "issues" you are prepared to deal with. But it doesn't mean that the quality of LV has gone downhill.

And then there is he example of my own experience with a crossbody bag made of Damier Azur canvas. I love that canvas and own many items in DA. None of my SLGs in DA show wear and tear. My handheld Speedy 25 in DA still looks perfect. So does my Eva clutch, which I primarily wear as a shoulder bag. But the Siracusa PM that I wore crossbody suffered from not only color transfer, but it also suffered from the friction of being worn on my hip, close to my body. Bits of the pattern eventually wore off. I have other LV bags that I have worn cross body, worn actually a lot more than I've worn my Siracusa, in both monogram and DE canvass and I have experience absolutely no color transfer or wearing down of the canvas. So I can only conclude that the problem was that DA canvas doesn't wear well on a crossbody bag. I have often wished they had made the Siracusa line in other canvas options, because it is a terrific bag and a beautiful design. Just not well suited to DA canvas.