Odd leather smell
- Thread starter Bond7Girl
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O M G !!! I naively thought Noir was magically out of this ...but no....THAnks for pointing this out.
I'm really sorry about everybody's skunk bags 
That's really heartbreaking! I feel for you.
Is that problem identified just in stamps Q & R ? When are they going to release a new stamp letter?
TIA
That's really heartbreaking! I feel for you.Is that problem identified just in stamps Q & R ? When are they going to release a new stamp letter?
TIA
We don't know exactly how Hermes sources, distributes, or utilizes its leathers. There may be no way to know which items might include bits of bad leather. Is every item even uniquely identifiable and trackable? Every belt, bracelet, wallet? How could Hermes possibly contact all the buyers? What about people who bought gifts for others? People who bought from countries other then their own? While it would be lovely for Hermes to do what is suggested above, I don't believe it is remotely realistic. The best they can do is accept the return of smelly items politely and do their best to give the customer whatever resolution the customer desires, if at all possible, or the closest thing to it. That is what Hermes seems finally to be doing.
Well, they have a database robust enough to know who buys a lot and who qualifies for the hard to get bags. Most people are using credt cards instead of cash. My guess is that it is entirely feasible to contact people who have bought items IF they can identify a reliable pattern for what items have been affected. They are a big enough company and enough items have been affected that they should be doing an analysis. If companies can do it for a $100 car seat, they can do it for a $10,000 bag.
Yes, it's easy to identify who bought what. But the way H operates, it's not easy to identify which items are effected by the smell. We know for a fact NOT all togo and epsom bags are effected because some of us bought those bags and they don't smell. Do you really think H should call everybody who bought leather items during the last two years?
No, but they could probably do an analysis and figure out the commonality among the affected bags. A supplier, a date of production, an artisan, a dye lot. That could narrow it down substantially and those people could be contacted to have their items evaluated. Possibly more expensive for them but looks less shady. They may still be soon data collection and planning to do this, who knows.
I don't THINK that every leather item is uniquely stamped. I could be wrong. If it is, I don't know that a one-of-a-kind SKU, or whatever, can be linked to the buyer. At least, the receipts given to customers do not list singular identification numbers for everything. Color, leather, size, yes, but not "75 cm rouge H togo belt number 84X1250B; 56/700," or whatever. Hermes still keeps information on bespoke saddles as handwritten entries in leather-bound books! Not, perhaps, the most techie of companies.
I just don't see how every single item could be tracked to its new owner, or how every one of those thousands upon thousands of people the world over could be contacted. I suppose everyone who bought a Togo or Epsom bag in certain years could be contacted, but as not all items are affected this would result in an enormous number of "false positives," if you will. But by all means, continue to be angry with Hermes' response to the issue. They certainly have not handled it perfectly.
And this is almost certainly veering off-topic, anyhow.
I just don't see how every single item could be tracked to its new owner, or how every one of those thousands upon thousands of people the world over could be contacted. I suppose everyone who bought a Togo or Epsom bag in certain years could be contacted, but as not all items are affected this would result in an enormous number of "false positives," if you will. But by all means, continue to be angry with Hermes' response to the issue. They certainly have not handled it perfectly.
And this is almost certainly veering off-topic, anyhow.
I don't THINK that every leather item is uniquely stamped. I could be wrong. If it is, I don't know that a one-of-a-kind SKU, or whatever, can be linked to the buyer. At least, the receipts given to customers do not list singular identification numbers for everything. Color, leather, size, yes, but not "75 cm rouge H togo belt number 84X1250B; 56/700," or whatever. Hermes still keeps information on bespoke saddles as handwritten entries in leather-bound books! Not, perhaps, the most techie of companies.
I just don't see how every single item could be tracked to its new owner, or how every one of those thousands upon thousands of people the world over could be contacted. I suppose everyone who bought a Togo or Epsom bag in certain years could be contacted, but as not all items are affected this would result in an enormous number of "false positives," if you will. But by all means, continue to be angry with Hermes' response to the issue. They certainly have not handled it perfectly.
And this is almost certainly veering off-topic, anyhow.
Agreed. The receipt of a item does not carry any unique id of any sorts. You can only tell the size leather+colour, none of which identifies the item's "batch" for lack of better words.
Remember we are not dealing with electronic goods which has microchips etc. The raw materials are animal skins. They come in and get inspected and categorised and then cut out to make big pieces such as bags, then the leftovers are made into SLGs and jewellery etc. Nowhere in this process anything is uniquely identified.
Report: I turned in my "affected" bag last week, and my amazing SA managed to replace it with my *DREAM* replacement bag in just one week!!!!!!
I'm so happy and grateful for the way my SA and SM handled my situation, and I wish the same swift and joyful resolution for everyone that has been impacted.
I'm so happy and grateful for the way my SA and SM handled my situation, and I wish the same swift and joyful resolution for everyone that has been impacted.
I have an R stamp Black Togo Leather Birkin purchased in June, I'm really hoping that it doesn't have this issue. I did notice a strong leather smell when I used it, but I assumed that this was just the regular smell of Hermes leather when it is new. This is my first leather product from Hermes, so I have nothing to compare it to. I have just taken it out of the box where I have been storing it and it still has a strong leather smell, but nothing too unpleasant. I guess I should test it out tomorrow under direct sunlight to ensure that it is a normal piece.