**updated resolution** My (potential) breakup with Dior

[TraceySH]

Thank you for sharing your experience with us @TraceySH. I am shocked and disappointed at the treatment you are receiving. I have no other advise to give, but I'm sending you positive vibes that this gets resolved to your satisfaction.

Thank you Spending all morning here trying to go up the chain without luck. It might just end up being one of those "lessons learned the hard way" situations. But hopefully good for others to know before assuming certain things about the products if there's an issue.

 

[TraceySH]

Wow this is awful! But to be honest, the same thing happened to me when I purchased a black lamb skin lady dior about ten years ago. I wore it once and the leather ripped on the back. Maybe I was wearing a belt and it brushed against it? Either way, I was pretty upset and shelved the bag for ten years. Recently I took it back to the dior boutique in manhasset (where I purchased it) and they fixed it in about two weeks. I think they charged me 180$ for it.
Although I am glad they were able to fix it, I am never ever buying another leather dior bag.

I would have happily paid for repair, even though I would have disagreed, I would have been like ...FIIIIINEEE just fix it. But the fact that they CANNOT repair one of their items is concerning!!!

 

[Tykhe]

I would have happily paid for repair, even though I would have disagreed, I would have been like ...FIIIIINEEE just fix it. But the fact that they CANNOT repair one of their items is concerning!!!

Yeah totally. I agree with you. Remember back at the time it happened my lady dior was 4k and my small lamb skin Chanel classic was 2k. My Chanel bag has weathered the years without a single issue. It looks as beautiful as the day I purchased it. I took it as a lesson learned.
Funny story, now that lady dior even after repair is worth 2k and that small Chanel is worth 8k. I am glad I learned this lesson early and only purchased Chanel after it happened.

 

[showgratitude]

I returned the untouched bag for a refund (it was only 2 weeks since I'd bought it), and the other was sent off to Dior repair, 7 weeks ago approx. Yesterday I reached out to my SA regarding the status of repair (this was after they declined to exchange the bag or return for credit).

I received a call from the CD manager at Saks NYC.

His tone was snippy, condescending, rude and lacked any sort of courteousness. He relayed to me that Dior found no defect in the bag, that I "must have done something to it", and their recommendation was to "discard" the bag.

I was shocked. Discard a 5k bag?? DISCARD?? I said, what are my other choices, he said that they could possibly sew the leather together over the quilt, but there would be a visible seam. And that they would prefer not to do this, and would require high level approval because it would "not be to Dior's standards". And I said, what is my other choice, to which he said, "I already told you, to discard the bag". I said, so my choices are to beg Dior to fix with a seam in the middle, a twice used bag for someone who's never asked for anything before, never even sent anything from any brand off for repair, for a brand new bag, or THROW IT AWAY? He says "discard the bag, yes".

I said to him, several years ago, this would not have been the Dior I knew. The Dior I knew would have helped in any way they could, and been nice about it. Not this, encouraging me to just toss a bag. Moreover, he would know that this would mean the end of my patronization, and he didn't care. My poor SA is caught in the mix, his hands are tied, I feel awful for him. He knows me well, and knows I deserve a better outcome than this, but his hands are tied.

I will wait (I guess) to receive approval on fixing this abomination above, as opposed to "discarding" the bag, and move on.

I wanted to just throw this out there as a reference for all of you. I don't want to start a big sh**storm, but just posted this to inform.

The company has changed, and I am so sad about it.

That is one helluva rude Manager! I would have shot back and said: "I am extremely appalled by your arrogance and your inaction on this matter. Let me write Corporate and see if they can discard/let go of an employee like you as well!

 

[fibbi]

Oh no I'm so sorry to hear this. You deserve way better courtesy ! I can't believe the store manager treats long time customer like that. Sorry I don't have much suggestions aside from credit card purchase protection. Hopefully this get resolves well.

 

[TraceySH]

That is one helluva rude Manager! I would have shot back and said: "I am extremely appalled by your arrogance and your inaction on this matter. Let me write Corporate and see if they can discard/let go of an employee like you as well!

@showgratitude

 

[averagejoe]

I'm sorry to hear that their manager has been so rude to you. Telling you to throw out a bag because of the cut on it is really extreme. It can also be fixed, although it would require the front flap to be replaced. It is probably easier to just replace the bag for you (or give you store credit), which I'm surprised that they didn't offer, given how much you spend there.

While the leather is really thin, I'm not surprised, because it seems that most brands that make a supple puffy leather product uses very thin leather for it. Maybe it is the thinness that allows any stuffing underneath to look as puffy as possible (I'm assuming that a thicker leather like taurillon may flatten the stuffing and reduce the quilted effect). Even lambskin or nappa leather jackets use very thin leathers to achieve that super soft feel. I have some leather jackets made of thicker leathers, and they are much less flexible and not very soft to the touch.

These thin leathers are also often used on structured bags where there may be a wooden frame. The leather has to be thin if the wooden frame is to be completely covered and hidden with leather. Thin leathers bend really nicely over a hard wooden frame, and can even allow the edges of the frame to still look sharp and clean even after they are covered with leather. A thick leather will make all the edges look rounded.

However, the leather shouldn't be so thin that it can tear easily.

I hope that escalating this matter to higher levels at Dior can help you get a refund, store credit, or a replacement for the bag.

 

[TraceySH]

I'm sorry to hear that their manager has been so rude to you. Telling you to throw out a bag because of the cut on it is really extreme. It can also be fixed, although it would require the front flap to be replaced. It is probably easier to just replace the bag for you (or give you store credit), which I'm surprised that they didn't offer, given how much you spend there.

While the leather is really thin, I'm not surprised, because it seems that most brands that make a supple puffy leather product uses very thin leather for it. Maybe it is the thinness that allows any stuffing underneath to look as puffy as possible (I'm assuming that a thicker leather like taurillon may flatten the stuffing and reduce the quilted effect). Even lambskin or nappa leather jackets use very thin leathers to achieve that super soft feel. I have some leather jackets made of thicker leathers, and they are much less flexible and not very soft to the touch.

These thin leathers are also often used on structured bags where there may be a wooden frame. The leather has to be thin if the wooden frame is to be completely covered and hidden with leather. Thin leathers bend really nicely over a hard wooden frame, and can even allow the edges of the frame to still look sharp and clean even after they are covered with leather. A thick leather will make all the edges look rounded.

However, the leather shouldn't be so thin that it can tear easily.

I hope that escalating this matter to higher levels at Dior can help you get a refund, store credit, or a replacement for the bag.

Hi @averagejoe , this one has exhausted me & surprised me ...which is hard to do. I've received no follow up from either the SM or my SA but I am going other LVMH routes (gathering high level contacts by other means) & will hopefully gain some access to communication that way.

In the words of some high level people in other arms of LVMH, "these bags cost them nothing to make" so replacing them is inconsequential for a large company. I do not know why this SM is emotionally invested in digging his heels in/ losing a client over THIS, when, despite your insight on construction above, clearly there's some kind of vulnerability to damage. Again, I've never asked for a replacement, needed a repair, or pushed in any way for some sort of exception for anything I've ever purchased in the past. I rarely ever even return anything. I am an easy mark

Lots of shock. Shock that the bag tore so easily. Shock that they didn't offer some sort of credit/ exchange/ replacement. Shock that Dior cannot fix. Shock that the formal suggestion was to discard a 5k bag. Shock that Dior has no customer relations dept for physical boutiques. Lastly, shock at the rudeness and condescension of a boutique I've been an extremely good client of for 7 years??

After the loyal patronage for many years, they have no interest in keeping my business. That's the biggest shock of all....

Thank you, as always, for responding. I knew this would be surprising for you as well.

 

[3threebabies]

In the words of some high level people in other arms of LVMH, "these bags cost them nothing to make" so replacing them is inconsequential for a large company. I do not know why this SM is emotionally invested in digging his heels in/ losing a client over THIS, when, despite your insight on construction above, clearly there's some kind of vulnerability to damage. Again, I've never asked for a replacement, needed a repair, or pushed in any way for some sort of exception for anything I've ever purchased in the past. I rarely ever even return anything. I am an easy mark

I have wondered if SM remuneration (especially bonus) is related to net profit. In that case, any credit for damage would directly affect his paycheck. I have never heard of retail managers being paid off net profit, but automotive GMs are almost exclusively paid this way.

 

[golden's mom]

Discard? Well, first, even though he is in possession of the bag, it is in fact your item! I believe va te faire foutre is in order!

 

[TraceySH]

*****UPDATE****

I received a call from the regional manager who oversees Dior in dept stores in the NE. She couldn’t have been nicer and more apologetic. She has seen this thread, and was/is aware of what transpired.

She most certainly agreed the situation was mishandled, and was disappointed it escalated to this without her knowing about it. She didn’t defend or excuse, quite the opposite

She provided me with her direct contact for any future issues & said they are sending me a replacement ASAP.

Not quite sure how she found out about this post, but grateful to you guys out there for your support and suggestions. I am also grateful that we do have this site & it does provide credible visibility when something goes awry.

I am glad Dior is still …. Dior… and this was a “one off”.

 

[fibbi]

*****UPDATE****

I received a call from the regional manager who oversees Dior in dept stores in the NE. She couldn’t have been nicer and more apologetic. She has seen this thread, and was/is aware of what transpired.

She most certainly agreed the situation was mishandled, and was disappointed it escalated to this without her knowing about it. She didn’t defend or excuse, quite the opposite

She provided me with her direct contact for any future issues & said they are sending me a replacement ASAP.

Not quite sure how she found out about this post, but grateful to you guys out there for your support and suggestions. I am also grateful that we do have this site & it does provide credible visibility when something goes awry.

I am glad Dior is still …. Dior… and this was a “one off”.

I'm glad you are getting replacement! Happy ending!

But now I'm little bit afraid of using my medium Caro...may be I should have got the non-macrocannage version... I'm not as care-ful with bag..

 

[Christofle]

*****UPDATE****

I received a call from the regional manager who oversees Dior in dept stores in the NE. She couldn’t have been nicer and more apologetic. She has seen this thread, and was/is aware of what transpired.

She most certainly agreed the situation was mishandled, and was disappointed it escalated to this without her knowing about it. She didn’t defend or excuse, quite the opposite

She provided me with her direct contact for any future issues & said they are sending me a replacement ASAP.

Not quite sure how she found out about this post, but grateful to you guys out there for your support and suggestions. I am also grateful that we do have this site & it does provide credible visibility when something goes awry.

I am glad Dior is still …. Dior… and this was a “one off”.

I have a feeling brands keep tabs on this site based on what I’ve noticed over the years.

 

[TraceySH]

I'm glad you are getting replacement! Happy ending!

But now I'm little bit afraid of using my medium Caro...may be I should have got the non-macrocannage version... I'm not as care-ful with bag..

I know. That’s my only concern as well. If it somehow happens again, I do think it’s likely to be seen as a defect tho?

 

[TraceySH]

I have a feeling brands keep tabs on this site based on what I’ve noticed over the years.

100%. And that’s smart of them too.