Hi, yesterday I had a very frustrating and unexpected experience with LV. I am hoping someone might have some advice on how to proceed. I purchased my porte tresor international wallet brand new in 2001. It was gently used until last year when I noticed most of the glaze had worn away and the seams were coming apart in 4 places. 2 of those showed significant seam damage. So I took the wallet to my local boutique and they quoted me a price of 84$ and 6-8 weeks to fix it. I received a call yesterday telling me the wallet was ready for pickup (no indication of what was about to happen). I was so excited to use it again and when they took it out of the bag, it was not fixed! LV said it would take too much material to fix it. I suppose there was a "bubble" (not sure how to describe) of leather that does not lay flat underneath the pen holder, but I only wanted the sides restitched and reglazed. So the manager tells me that my only option is to take the wallet to my local cobbler (he even gave me the cobbler's card, which was nice, but counterintuitive), thus voiding the warranty on the wallet should anything else happen to it. He also gave me the 866# and told me to try calling them. So I called the 866# and customer service basically tells me that wear and tear is expected after 7 years. I completely agree, but this is not normal wear and tear. The wallet is falling apart and is unusable. I am saddened to think I spent almost 500$ on a piece that should not be expected to last 10 years. Customer service did not offer any other options other than buying a new wallet or voiding my warranty at a local cobbler.
Does anyone have any other suggestions on what to do next? Are there higher up people to call, letters to send? Customer service told me I could file a complaint, but it would not change the outcome of my situation. As a long time LV customer, I am frustrated and dissapointed with the customer service I received surrounding this experience. Any suggestions would be most appreciated. As a last resort, I will take it to a cobbler and have them fix it.