Share Your Warranty & Repair Experiences...

[starkfan]

Yeah, the handles on my Magnolia look pretty rough and scruffy. Worse than yours. The sealant was either not applied in areas, split or peeled off. Not sure whether I'm going to bother sending it back to Treesje. Such a hassle.

Yikes, that doesn't sound good at all... Just to check, though, is your Magnolia one of the newer-style ones (i.e. with the thinner, longer handles and continuous zippers)? I've noticed with the older-style Ashers/Magnolias (thicker, shorter handles and zippers that stop in the middle) that those don't have any sealant on the underside of the handles at all, so the edges are just all raw leather. Those can definitely have a tendency to look rough/scruffy as you wear the bag, but, er, I guess that will at least look consistent, IYKWIM, rather than having some parts split and some parts not.

I probably would've sent mine back ASAP if it weren't for the ridiculous shipping situation. I'd have hoped/expected that it'd be the same as with US repairs, i.e. you pay to ship it to them, they cover the shipping back, like someone posted upthread. Paying one-way international shipping is bad enough, but two-way...

 

[Kilala]

Hi Starkfan! Sorry to hear about the sealant issues with your Magnolia. What a bummer! I'll check mine tomorrow. I do remember finding a lot of loose threads on the handles and ruffles while I was taking the reveal photos. I carefully trimmed them with sewing shears as they looked more like sloppy excess thread, rather than coming undone. So far, I haven't noticed any issues with the threads. The sealant was less precise than other designers, but then again it was only my second Treesje, so I wasn't quite up to speed on what to expect quality-wise.

 

[starkfan]

^ I don't have any issues with threads per se, and the stitching of the handles is still holding up just fine. (I'm not anticipating any problems with the stitching either, but just in case: *knocks on wood!*) The other Treesjes I had before I got the Magnolia (Marseille, Geneva, older-style Asher) haven't had much sealant either, actually; the only one with a bit of sealant was the Jovi (on the edges of the tassels/zipper pulls). That one wasn't sloppy, but the sealant that they used did feel a bit more sticky/tacky, IYKWIM, different from the sealant on the Magnolia. And to be fair, the sealant on the Magnolia itself, pre-splitting, looked pretty well-applied too.

Now that you mention issues with sealant looking less than precise, though, there was one case on here with a Mini Marley that had sloppy stray sealant edges. I believe Treesje did offer to exchange it even though it wasn't bought from them directly, but I'm wondering whether or not the use of sealant is an area where their production needs to improve?

 

[Zoey Bloom]

Spray the handle, and the whole bag, with a NON silicone protectant spray and moisturize it with a leather balm from time to time. You will be fine. Sometimes the leather is coated to produce an effect on the surface. The handle, obviously, takes a lot of stress. If the designer wants to match the handle to the bag, they have to use the same coated leather even though it may jar the finish. I wouldn't worry about the underside of the handle too much, you are not in danger of it falling apart or anything.

 

[Kilala]

Starkfan - Uhg! There's a small section of sealant that has completely split open on the handles of my Magnolia.

I'm not necessarily concerned about it falling apart, instead more bummed and disappointed that it happened so quickly. I don't plan on sending it back for repair. Hopefully, I don't regret it. I decided not to send another bag in for repairs to a hole in the lining and fraying. Then my husband noticed the threads in the quilting effect are coming undone.

Since international shipping is so high, do you think you will get the repairs done locally?

 

[BigPurseSue]

Yikes, that doesn't sound good at all... Just to check, though, is your Magnolia one of the newer-style ones (i.e. with the thinner, longer handles and continuous zippers)? I've noticed with the older-style Ashers/Magnolias (thicker, shorter handles and zippers that stop in the middle) that those don't have any sealant on the underside of the handles at all, so the edges are just all raw leather. Those can definitely have a tendency to look rough/scruffy as you wear the bag, but, er, I guess that will at least look consistent, IYKWIM, rather than having some parts split and some parts not.

I probably would've sent mine back ASAP if it weren't for the ridiculous shipping situation. I'd have hoped/expected that it'd be the same as with US repairs, i.e. you pay to ship it to them, they cover the shipping back, like someone posted upthread. Paying one-way international shipping is bad enough, but two-way...

My Magnolia is one that was made last spring for the special order. It has short handles in the older style but they're narrow. I looked at it again last night and you're right, the handles don't look as if they have sealant. Just the raw leather that's starting to look scruffy.

That's a bummer about yours and the shipping. I'd be pretty upset.

 

[starkfan]

Starkfan - Uhg! There's a small section of sealant that has completely split open on the handles of my Magnolia.

I'm not necessarily concerned about it falling apart, instead more bummed and disappointed that it happened so quickly.

Oh no! What in the world is going on?!

Yours is an Oceano Magnolia, right? I had a theory that the splitting sealant that occurred on my bag was due to the Grey Shine leather possibly being a bit thinner than other Treesje leathers (e.g. the ruffles feel rather soft and thin), and that the pressure of the weight of the bag on the underside of the handles caused that thin edge of leather (between the stitching and the sealant) to "buckle" and hence cause the splitting of the sealant, if that makes sense. Now that it's apparently occurred with an Oceano Magnolia, though, I guess that theory isn't likely to be valid.

Are they making the new thin braided handles in a different way or something? Has this occurred with any of the earlier bags (i.e. Spring '09 and earlier, I guess) that have the thinner braided handles? I mean, okay, there are only two instances so far, and both seem to be relatively minor, but it's worrying me a little that it's happening at all. I really hope it doesn't turn out to be more widespread than this.

Also, yeah, I'm totally with you on the last bit quoted above -- I don't have any concerns about the handles themselves actually falling apart, but I was definitely quite disappointed that it happened so soon (2 days' use for me).

I don't plan on sending it back for repair. Hopefully, I don't regret it. I decided not to send another bag in for repairs to a hole in the lining and fraying. Then my husband noticed the threads in the quilting effect are coming undone.

Since international shipping is so high, do you think you will get the repairs done locally?

Oh no, was this one of the Royale bags? Yikes, that sucks... If there's a silver lining to this cloud, though, it's that we do still at least have the first year to send a bag in for repairs. (E.g. for the Magnolias, probably about another 9+ months from now.) So we can still change our minds, I guess...

I don't know if I'll get it repaired locally, since I'm not certain that I can find a place that can match the sealant. There's also the issue of whether or not the sealant can be redone neatly without getting any stray sealant on the rest of the handle too, particularly since some of the split bits may go under the braiding. For now at least, I'll still continue to use it (when it's in rotation), and just put a KIV on the sealant issue.

 

[starkfan]

My Magnolia is one that was made last spring for the special order. It has short handles in the older style but they're narrow. I looked at it again last night and you're right, the handles don't look as if they have sealant. Just the raw leather that's starting to look scruffy.

That's a bummer about yours and the shipping. I'd be pretty upset.

Oh, thanks for clarifying this, BigPurseSue. If it's the older-style short handles, then yeah, the handles probably didn't have sealant on them. (E.g. My Asher has got the older handles, and there's definitely no sealant on the underside.) It's definitely a drawback that handles with raw leather edges start to look scruffy after awhile... I don't generally like unsealed handles, but at least my Asher doesn't have a problem like the split sealant on my Magnolia.

 

[starkfan]

:bump: Looks like we might need this thread again soon...