Sent my Chanel to Rago Brothers for repair. They might have lost it???

TPF may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others

So I emailed them to express my disappointment for their "refurbishing" services. I did receive an apology email back along with a "compensation" for 50% off next time I use them which will NOT happen.
I'm too tired of going back and forth with them and have convinced myself that this is good enough.

I want to thank every single member that responded to my thread and gave me words of encouragement through out the process. It really does help and because of it I am able to move on now, lol.
I also hope this thread will help others who are unfortunate enough to find themselves in a similar situation.
I don't think I will ever send any of my bags away for repair again. I'll just have to baby them more. When I do buy vintage, I'll only buy bags that are in excellent condition. No more repair.


Thank you for updating us. I also had a bad experience with Rago and will never use them again. I'm in the same boat, I only buy vintage bags in excellent condition now.
 
So I emailed them to express my disappointment for their "refurbishing" services. I did receive an apology email back along with a "compensation" for 50% off next time I use them which will NOT happen.
I'm too tired of going back and forth with them and have convinced myself that this is good enough.

I want to thank every single member that responded to my thread and gave me words of encouragement through out the process. It really does help and because of it I am able to move on now, lol.
I also hope this thread will help others who are unfortunate enough to find themselves in a similar situation.
I don't think I will ever send any of my bags away for repair again. I'll just have to baby them more. When I do buy vintage, I'll only buy bags that are in excellent condition. No more repair.

Wow how kind of them to offer 50 percent off your next repair (not really). I don't blame you for just wanting to be done with this company but if you haven't already please consider doing a review on a site like yelp or wherever you can to warn others about them.


Not all bag spa's operate like this one there are some good ones out there but I don't blame you for being nervous to ever use one again. My friend used one for her beyond beat up and damaged Prada bag and it came back looking brand new so there are places that can really do a good job. I am so sorry that you had a bad experience with this one and thank you for sharing that experience here so others can be warned about this company,
 
Here are some pictures
I purchased a vintage CHANEL flap bag and sent it to Rago Brothers because I had previous work done there in March 2019. They did a good job with that bag.
My bag was in good vintage condition with some defects. The snap clasp wouldn't shut and the CC logo had lost its gold shine. I sent to Rago Bros in early May. They quoted me $605 for clasp repair, replate to hardware, and redye. I declined the redye and I'm glad I did after seeing these repairs. After several weeks of no word, I contacted them to get a update. Originally it was supposed to be 2 to 3 weeks turn around time. They seemed annoyed with my inquiry and I let it be. I finally called after 4 weeks and was told by one male service member it was ready and shipping. Then a woman got on the phone and said it would be another week. It shipped 2 days later. They claimed it was because they sent it to their jeweler.
I just received it back and I was heartbroken. The CC had the gold craft trademark on bottom originally. They put it back incorrectly. The CC gold replate job has not been buffed out, numerous scratches, with a cheap goopy effect. There are area places it wasn't replated in gold evenly. The new replacement hardware is in excessively used condition. Its cheap replacement parts with gold come off. I paid a lot of money for clasp repair and replating of Gold CC. It looks terrible like a ammature did it! In addition to the noticed flaws, It closes crooked and they used silver magnets instead of gold to match the gold detailing. Its a shotty job for $450. If they make it right, I'll not blast negative reviews all over every forum including the BBB. I have been successful with complaints in the past and will make sure others know of this situation if they don't remedy it. This wasn't acceptable work. The last pic are of my bag before repairs. After photos are of new hardware inside along side the original pieces. Looks used, dirty, scratched, and awful! They offered to realign the CC. I am waiting to hear back if they will also redo the hardware clasp. The new repairs have negatively impacted the look of the bag. I paid a lot of money for relatively simple repairs by their jeweler only to receive this. If they keep messing up $2,000 bags they won't get away with it. They really shouldn't outsource their bags to this " jeweler. " They do ammature work. Anyone who owns luxury bags won't accept this type of repair work. Looks cheap. I own a purse business and would have spent good money with them had this not happened.
 

Attachments

  • 20190613_112001.jpg
    20190613_112001.jpg
    242.9 KB · Views: 356
  • 20190613_112308_HDR.jpg
    20190613_112308_HDR.jpg
    88.2 KB · Views: 355
  • 20190613_112311.jpg
    20190613_112311.jpg
    175.7 KB · Views: 355
  • 20190613_111836.jpg
    20190613_111836.jpg
    261.3 KB · Views: 359
  • Screenshot_2019-06-12-18-25-50-1.png
    Screenshot_2019-06-12-18-25-50-1.png
    799.4 KB · Views: 355
Last edited:
I purchased a vintage CHANEL flap bag and sent it to Rago Brothers because I had previous work done there in March 2019. They did a good job with that bag.
My bag was in good vintage condition with some defects. The snap clasp wouldn't shut and the CC logo had lost its gold shine. I sent to Rago Bros in early May. They quoted me $605 for clasp repair, replate to hardware, and redye. I declined the redye and I'm glad I did after seeing these repairs. After several weeks of no word, I contacted them to get a update. Originally it was supposed to be 2 to 3 weeks turn around time. They seemed annoyed with my inquiry and I let it be. I finally called after 4 weeks and was told by one male service member it was ready and shipping. Then a woman got on the phone and said it would be another week. It shipped 2 days later. They claimed it was because they sent it to their jeweler.
I just received it back and I was heartbroken. The CC had the gold craft trademark on bottom originally. They put it back incorrectly. The CC gold replate job has not been buffed out, numerous scratches, with a cheap goopy effect. There are area places it wasn't replated in gold evenly. The new replacement hardware is in excessively used condition. Its cheap replacement parts with gold come off. I paid a lot of money for clasp repair and replating of Gold CC. It looks terrible like a ammature did it! In addition to the noticed flaws, It closes crooked and they used silver magnets instead of gold to match the gold detailing. Its a shotty job for $450. If they make it right, I'll not blast negative reviews all over every forum including the BBB. I have been successful with complaints in the past and will make sure others know of this situation if they don't remedy it. This wasn't acceptable work. The last pic are of my bag before repairs. After photos are of new hardware inside along side the original pieces. Looks used, dirty, scratched, and awful! They offered to realign the CC. I am waiting to hear back if they will also redo the hardware clasp. The new repairs have negatively impacted the look of the bag. I paid a lot of money for relatively simple repairs by their jeweler only to receive this. If they keep messing up $2,000 bags they won't get away with it. They really shouldn't outsource their bags to this " jeweler. " They do ammature work. Anyone who owns luxury bags won't accept this type of repair work. Looks cheap. I own a purse business and would have spent good money with them had this not happened.
Rago Bros did a terrible job on my clasp repair and hardware. The first two pictures are of the before photos. The last two are after. Its absolutely tragic.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_2019-06-13-23-57-46.png
    Screenshot_2019-06-13-23-57-46.png
    843.6 KB · Views: 351
  • Screenshot_2019-06-13-23-57-12-1.png
    Screenshot_2019-06-13-23-57-12-1.png
    963.4 KB · Views: 353
  • 20190613_111918.jpg
    20190613_111918.jpg
    280.3 KB · Views: 350
  • 20190613_111911.jpg
    20190613_111911.jpg
    110.1 KB · Views: 348
The deep scratches will not disappear with gold plating and the trademark is often seen either at the bottom or at the top, but I agree with you $450 is a little too much for the work they did. Also, instead of offering to redye the bag, they should have offered to touch up the corners and moisturize the entire bag. The $450 should have included everything.

Rago Bros did a terrible job on my clasp repair and hardware. The first two pictures are of the before photos. The last two are after. Its absolutely tragic.
 
Hi, thank you so very much for your response! I absolutely agree with you that the scratches will not completely disappear with gold replating on CC. As far as the trademark symbol, when they took the piece off they should have put it back in the proper positioning as the original placement. They also put it back crooked. It takes 45 seconds to replate 24 karat gold finish. Then they buff the scratches out as best as possible. The gold on the CC is goopy, and they didn't cover the full CC with gold. It may not show up well in the photos. In the center/ side of the CC they missed the whole area with no gold. It doesn't look like a professional Jeweller did it, it looks like a do-it-yourself project. It also looks like a do-it-yourself hardware replacement from a different bag. Not a luxury expert craftsmanship.
I'm mainly upset about the replacement Hardware they chose for my bag. As you can see in the before photos, the original 24 k Hardware looks better than the replacement clasp. They used cheap replacement Hardware that's used, tarnished with excessive scratches which gives the bag a aged and fair condition look. It is not congruent, it is lopsided now when it closes. They used a silver magnet instead of gold to keep the gold hardware consistent.

For $450, it was $250 for the clasp repair. With that amount of money, they should have put new hardware that is gold and beautiful. It should also close easily since they decided to not do a push button snap closure like the original.
I did not get my money's worth, and it is not Rago Brothers guaranteed work. They say they can't guarantee Perfection, but they shouldn't do work that is Junkie. I feel scammed out of my hard-earned money. I'm hoping they will correct this major mistake or I plan on taking as much action as needed. I have the time and the resources to do so. I don't like being scammed, and I don't want anyone else to get scammed either. They say they approve their merchandise before returning it to the customer. I do not know how they could have possibly thought this was acceptable repair work when making my bag look worse condition. I seen the lady who started the thread double flap. What they did to that bag was extremely awful. I own my own purse business, and I don't understand how they could choose and pick which bags are going to do immaculate work on and which ones are going to rush through. They received a rating as four and a half stars out of five with working on luxury bags, then this kind of work should not have happened.
 

Attachments

  • 190614_063943_COLLAGE-1.png
    190614_063943_COLLAGE-1.png
    1.1 MB · Views: 307
  • Like
Reactions: Anesthestia
Hi, thank you so very much for your response! I absolutely agree with you that the scratches will not completely disappear with gold replating on CC. As far as the trademark symbol, when they took the piece off they should have put it back in the proper positioning as the original placement. They also put it back crooked. It takes 45 seconds to replate 24 karat gold finish. Then they buff the scratches out as best as possible. The gold on the CC is goopy, and they didn't cover the full CC with gold. It may not show up well in the photos. In the center/ side of the CC they missed the whole area with no gold. It doesn't look like a professional Jeweller did it, it looks like a do-it-yourself project. It also looks like a do-it-yourself hardware replacement from a different bag. Not a luxury expert craftsmanship.
I'm mainly upset about the replacement Hardware they chose for my bag. As you can see in the before photos, the original 24 k Hardware looks better than the replacement clasp. They used cheap replacement Hardware that's used, tarnished with excessive scratches which gives the bag a aged and fair condition look. It is not congruent, it is lopsided now when it closes. They used a silver magnet instead of gold to keep the gold hardware consistent.

For $450, it was $250 for the clasp repair. With that amount of money, they should have put new hardware that is gold and beautiful. It should also close easily since they decided to not do a push button snap closure like the original.
I did not get my money's worth, and it is not Rago Brothers guaranteed work. They say they can't guarantee Perfection, but they shouldn't do work that is Junkie. I feel scammed out of my hard-earned money. I'm hoping they will correct this major mistake or I plan on taking as much action as needed. I have the time and the resources to do so. I don't like being scammed, and I don't want anyone else to get scammed either. They say they approve their merchandise before returning it to the customer. I do not know how they could have possibly thought this was acceptable repair work when making my bag look worse condition. I seen the lady who started the thread double flap. What they did to that bag was extremely awful. I own my own purse business, and I don't understand how they could choose and pick which bags are going to do immaculate work on and which ones are going to rush through. They received a rating as four and a half stars out of five with working on luxury bags, then this kind of work should not have happened.
I agree that for the price, that looks like a disappointing job. Very sorry to hear about your bag experience. Little details like silver magnets instead of gold matter a lot, and that's not even considering lopsided hardware and other issues. Thankfully, I chose Leather Surgeons over Rago Brothers in my recent experience (I made a topic here about it!) and was very impressed by the communication they gave. It sounds like Rago Brothers was short on the communication aspect as well as delivery. So sorry they ruined your bag, hope they fix it properly.
 
Thank you so very much for taking the time to communicate with me on here! I just sent a Chanel bag to leather surgeons for pigment restoration of a fuchsia flap. I'm so glad to hear that leather surgeons does excellent work! It seems like their customer service is five stars as well! They responded to me very quickly! I will post pictures of the bag when finished by leather surgeons. :-)
Thank you so much for your input! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
 
Hello, I am writing to update that the Rago Brothers made the purse beautiful again! I had originally wrote my frustrations on here because of the craftsmanship. They not only took it back but did an amazing job restoration on it. Originally the snap closure was not done properly but they took it back and repaired it and re dyed it. They were very understanding given the fact I probably sent 25 emails. The owner was very kind and made it right. I am getting ready to send another bag to them. Even though the original repair was bad, they apologized and made it right. It's worth noting this for future work. It's not easy doing restorations. I will continue to use their services for re-dyes, and that type of repairs.

Thank you so much for your listening and advice everyone! Happy shopping!
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20190726_094533.png
    IMG_20190726_094533.png
    1.8 MB · Views: 221
The final result from Rago Brothers. Anytime you send a vintage Chanel or difficult repair anything can happen. I'm pleased they took my concerns into consideration and did the best they could.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20190726_094226.png
    IMG_20190726_094226.png
    1 MB · Views: 217
Hello, what I think happened to this bag was not their usual work. I've sent bags before and never had an issue, what happened to this bag was a fluke. Originally when it was sent back I was very sad. It wasn't Rago standards. They understood that and made it right. I'm so glad that they did! Thank you so much for your reply!
 
Rago Bros did a terrible job on my clasp repair and hardware. The first two pictures are of the before photos. The last two are after. Its absolutely tragic.
Oh my, these photos bring me flashbacks of my vintage Chanel that I sent to them years ago for "repair". I haven't been able to recover from the trauma (lol)and have not sent anything I own (including shoes) for any types of repairs anywhere since.
I recently bought another vintage Chanel bag that can use some spa service but the delicate lamb skin and the pearl chain are just too much of a risk. It took me over 5 years to find this bag in good condition and at a good price. I don't think I can do it.
However, I am very glad to see that they fixed your bag and was willing to work out the issues. Also, I heard good things about leather surgeons, so I might try them out.
Thanks for sharing.
Edit: Also, good call on not redyeing your bag. I did that to mine through them and it was absolutely tragic. It lost the shine and the soft Chanel lamb skin touch. It became stiff and dull. Tbh, I haven't used the Chanel bag since I got it back from them. It makes me sad every time I see and feel it.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Ambarabella
Hello,

I completely understand, it does put a level of fear sending your beautiful treasure anywhere! Im very pleased they made it right. However, I guess I would have had to paid them to take out the staples on chain leather. It wasn't threaded correctly so it has a off-putting look when it's not over the shoulder. I really wish they would have been able to help me out with that. Although I didn't pay either for that service so. I imagine that's why it didn't get done.

I have used Leather Surgeons on several occasions and I would highly recommend them if your bag is in original condition. They are artists! If your bag is already been modified Leather Surgeons won't work on it.
I had wanted them to do a beautiful Mademoiselle chain vintage bag, and they couldn't really do much with it since the original owner had dyed it.

I wish you lots of luck with your beautiful bag! I'm so glad you were able to find the one you desire!

Thank you for sharing your story with me!
 
Several years ago (maybe 10), I had a Kate Spade bag that needed the piping fixed. And I think I had some corner wear? It also had a chain strap with leather interwoven and I think that may have been the original issue. It was within the warranty period and KS sent it to Rago to repair. When it came back, the refinished piping was uneven. And started peeling again within weeks. And now I do not recall how else they screwed up, but my bag was not the same after that. It was so unfortunate and I moved them to the banned list. I kept the bag and just trimmed the loose threads from the piping. And eventually regulated the bag to super low duty. It looked too worn to look nice. This turned me off of KS (inconsistent bag quality) and Rago.

I was just looking to get some bags and shoes repaired now and they came up and it seems it is still quite iffy. :(
 
Top