Who Else Is Upset With All The Flaws Happening With New Bbags???

[Celia_Hish]

So far, i have not buy any bbag from Bal store directly but thru aloha rag...I do not come across any defects when i rec'd them....but most of my bbags are used and i bought a lot from ebay....however, i will look at the price that i bid, if the item is mint condition like new and they are not much marks/scratches on the bag, then i'm ok to pay a little bit more.......In case, there are really defect bags online (but sell it at a low starting price say ard USD299, i guess i don't mind at all, as the price btw a retail price and the selling price has a contrast. The only concern is if i bought a defect bag, then i probably have to send it for service or repair (that is the trouble) but at least i don't have to fork out a few hundred more than getting a retail price. since i'm a kind of person go for vintage bag as well.....finally, buying a bbag, the only issue is the spilt tassels after some use, we sometimes may have the extra tassels or none (if it's a used bag)...but once we used the extra tassels, then we will have difficulty to get new tassels replaced esp those older bags....bal store may not reproduced some color tassels that are way too long or past season.

 

[emmakins]

No-they won't replace for yellowing. I had my bag sent to Florance (at Gucci, being the head company for Balenciaga) for inspection as I thought the yellowing was a fault. It was returned to me as Balenciaga concluded that it was a natural characteristic of the bag. They also said the darkened handles was a result of "contact with sweaty hands."

I kid you not on that last statement!

 

[stylefly]

No-they won't replace for yellowing. I had my bag sent to Florance (at Gucci, being the head company for Balenciaga) for inspection as I thought the yellowing was a fault. It was returned to me as Balenciaga concluded that it was a natural characteristic of the bag. They also said the darkened handles was a result of "contact with sweaty hands."

I kid you not on that last statement!

Well, it actually is...
It's the oils from your hands that darken the handles.

 

[robyn]

People have to realize that there's a Wholesale and a Retail division for Balenciaga. Barneys, Neimans, etc buy their bags from the Wholesale division. The Retail division has its own little world.

Whatever you buy from Barneys and Neimans, it's their "property", you are not contributing to the Balenciaga fund. Balenciaga (Wholesale) already made the money when the department stores bought the styles/colors for that season.

One of the reasons why Balenciaga NY is hesitant to handle repairs is mainly because of other "issues" that may arise. They can't be held responsible for something that wasn't purchased from their store. And to me, that's completely fair!

And lots of luxury brand have no lifetime warranty on anything! I mean, regular wear and tear is NOT a defect. People need to be robbed of the illusion that they can wear their bags to death and cry about "defect" when something goes wrong. And two years warranty for Balenciaga....that is VERY generous.

OK, I was not aware that there is a two year warranty, I was resonding to people who have posted that they bought a bag that had peeling, cracking finish after a few weeks of use.

IMO, there is a HUGE difference in between wear and tear and DEFECTS. And if I buy something that is poorly made, it is going back to the store.

It totally sucks that my SO is not more supportive of my handbag habit because he is great at spotting flaws and potential problems that I don't see. Taking him clothes shopping is great, he can spot a poorly sewn seam and the like from 10 yards away.

 

[keodi]

IMO, it shouldn't matter where the bag's been, where it came from or how it's been treated (within reason)...as long as it's authentic, balenciaga should provide customer service to their customers...because, regardless of where the bag was purchased, it's a balenciaga product & therefore, the owner is a balenciaga consumer...companies like chanel & LV would never turn away a customer who brings a bag in for repair, regardless of where it was purchased...i bought a chanel off e-bay, brought it straight to the chanel boutique on 57th street in nyc & there were happy to help me

I agree 1000% aaallabama!! it shouldn't matter where the bbag came from as long as it's real they should provide customer service.

 

[canada's]

BALNY should at the very least point you in the direction of taking it up with the manufacturer. to simply say, "we can't help you" is ridiculous, especially when their "defects" seem to be a pretty regular thing.

perhaps they aren't defects at all, and just poorly made bags? the leather is scrumptious, but the craftsmanship leaves something to be desired.

 

[RealDealCollection]

I believe that if something goes wrong with your bags hardware you can get it serviced through the Balenciaga sales channels.

However, the leather is purposely distressed (sometimes more than you may prefer) and the leather will show wear and tear which is not covered under warranty as it's part of the characteristics of the bag.

So 3rd party services could be used to clean a bag or fix exposed piping...however, it would be nice if Balenciaga would add this to their repertoire and I'd gladly pay them for it.

Can we contact the place Balenciaga sends the bags to? Does anyone have the info?

 

[Deana]

I got my Violet Make Up Clutch today, and I love it! But I am frustrated that I was given a set of tassels that are much lighter than the leather on the bag. I know it's not a huge problem, and better the tassels than the leather on the bag. But with powder's mom's handles being a completely different color than the bag, shopboy's handles being two different shades, my tassels being different colors on the MUC and paper thin on my City, and a portion of the handles on my Violet City being lighter than the rest of the bag, I want to know what the h#@* is going on? How about taking a look in the care and maintenance section and see how many people are having issues with new bags!!! Stitch problems, glue issues, seams coming apart, and how about all the issues with LE Magenta? Even the color coming off just because a gal wanted to moisturize it!!! I AM GETTING SERIOUSLY PO'D ABOUT ALL OF THIS!!!

I love my Bbags, and I want to buy more in the future, but I seriously can see such a huge difference in the mint unflawed condition of my 05's, I don't know if I want to continue buying expensive bags that is ultimately turning into a crap shoot on what I'll get! Please everyone, post your experiences if you have any, and please include photos if you have those as well. Does anyone feel as hopeless as I do right now???

Here are the tassels from my MUC...

The ones that were on the bag are on the left, and the ones on the right were the extras. I am not a complete idiot, I do realize packing extras could be separate from preparing the bags. But why has this not been a problem in the past? You can see how obvious it looks in photos, so just imagine how noticeable it is irl, I will not be able to use the extras on the bag, unless of course something goes wrong with the bag and that color fades too...

Below is the paper thin tassels that came on and with my Violet City...

The first photo below is the normal colored one on the left hand side of the bag, and the lighter one is on the right. We are looking at the portion of the handle that is attached to the bag. I hope you can see it good enough, I no longer have the bag, so I cropped these as best I could.

Normal...

The flawed lighter one...

Below are photos of the whole front of the bag so you can see both sides for comparison...

As consumers does anyone think there is something we can do besides giving up buying new Bbags altogether?

 

[KDC]

Deana, I had the same experience in 2006 with Ink. It makes it really hard too when you are ordering and purchasing based on pics an SA sends you too. Being in Australia, that is the only way I can buy my Bbags and now I have turned into a real fussy leather freak! People who don't know me may think I am a bit psychotic, but it's all for a good reason. I have been burned many times! My final straw was when I bought an Ink Box from Barneys Boston. The pics looked ok and the clueless SA told me it was the best leather she had seen. Naturally I paid the full price PLUS $400 extra in f&%$@#g import taxes only to receive a dry, veiny, crackly and overall crappy Bbag. One tassel was so thin that it must have broke during the cutting process. It was glued back together and placed on the bag!!! The spares were uneven and very thin too. Some of the veins in the bag (veins are caused by the distressing & wasking process) were so deep that it had cracked the leather and there was a fine cut appearing! Very poorly made. I vowed to never buy 06 anything anymore...Sooo NOT like the thick gorgeous leather from 2005. Thankfully 2007 was better - being thicker and less veiny again. But I must admit the leather did vary greatly! My Vert Gazon MUC was quite thin and a little veiny, but ok. Whereas the Vert Gazon leather on the Work was very heavy and thick, no distressing or smooshyness at all. It has taken a long time to break in. I am now about to commit to buying another 07 City, but this time it will be from BalNY. I am trusting that it will be a perfect Balenciaga bag. If it is not, I won't be a happy person. Bbags in general have lost me sooo much $$$ over the years. Some stores are happy to refund or exchange, but you NEVER get your taxes or import duties back! Sometimes you even have to pay twice if you manage to get a suitable exchange!!! This may be my first and last experience with BalNY direct...Normally I buy all my bags through ******. I have never had a problem there - not even paying any taxes!

 

[Deana]

^^^^^ Wow, that really sucks KDC!!! To lose all that money in customs is bad enough, but then to get a really bad bag is horrible!!! I am truly baffled how leather can be soooo different from bag to bag that is the same color and the same year, from the same season!! I mean what's up with that? I helped pf-er Bev who lives in Australia too, get a 06 Rouge vif City from Barney's in Beverly Hills, and it had perfect amazing leather, tassels, and color. No flaws either. Really close to 05 rather than a lot of 06's I had seen. I thought that would mean all Rouge vif's were amazing right? WRONG! I have seen other's that were just as nice, but I also saw many that were horrible. It proved there was no guarantee a 06 Rouge vif bag was going to be that awesome every time. Now I know for sure the same SA at Bal, NY that sold pp100's bag with the super light handles, is also the SA who sold me the Violet City, and a French Blue Shoulder that had scuffs on the back of it, and was missing the extra tassels! It's just getting so frustrating! I thought my days of hunting down bags from past seasons, and sometimes paying a bundle for them, was in my past. Now I am not so sure!

 

[Bella]

To put it simply, for me, every bag is as good as the person who made it on that day they made it. lol And it's definitely not equal across the board, and that goes for other designers as well. Just had a duplicate Chanel delivered to me because the first one was off. When you look at the two bags, same bags side by side the difference in quality is amazing. Needless to say, I kept the second one. I guess there is just a "pass test" that happens in quality control and it's evident some bags are better made and more beautiful than others.

 

[Balenciaga_Brit]

I have been speaking to someone who says that Chloe bags are going the same way. I think the designers are obviously not getting involved with any kind of QC and the people making the bags are not being given any incentive to do a good job. Who knows, they are probably getting paid a pittance and have no job satisfaction and we are the mugs getting landed with a $1000 shoddy bag as a result.

Designers are becoming blase about the fact that we all still buy these bags. Look how many violet bags alone they must have sold this season. They are making a fortune so why would anyone at HQ think anything was wrong! We should complain loudly to Balny and in turn they should be complaining even louder to Balenciaga direct. However until such time as sales dwindle then no-one will do a damn thing about it. Sales figures are the most telling measure of a companies success. So if we think these bags are not worth the money then perhaps we need to be boycotting them until they get their act together. Until sales revenue drops, we can expect the same poor standard of workmanship and as far as I can tell a complete lack of standardisation. It makes me mad that so many companies across the world are still in business making heaps of money and delivering poor service. This applies to every industry - I see it all the time in the Oil Industry and it makes me mad. Myself and my fiance have our own company and deliver nothing less than 100% but we are trying to compete with other companies who deliver way below that but who still win the business just because they are under a big corporate umbrella. A name means so much to people and the name of these designers is all that alot of people care about.

Thankfully us Balenciaga fans are a little less fickle as Balenciaga don't plaster their name all over their bags so we are not effectively buying just because of the name. But if we continue to buy these bags when we are getting bad service like this then we do get to the point where we are doing just that.

Okay I am getting off the soap box now.

 

[twiggers]

So far so good with Bbags....but LV is the same way Deana. THe quality control issues over there are not good!!! They just released a new bag...super huge advertising campaign...and turns out the interior of the bag bleeds onto the pale vachetta! And this was their 'entry level' bag for people....good way to scare off customers!

 

[karenab]

^^ Very well said Balenciaga Brit

I think the leather of the older BBags is superior (05) to those used now. I know it boils down to a personal taste thing too. Its why I focus more on the older bags sometimes and only buy a new one if its a truly outstanding colour combination and even then, I'm aware that its the leather of the older bbags I own that I love to touch and see in action the most over the ones around now.

When I go to a dept store or Balny, I see so many crappy looking finishes sometimes of mismatched front/backs, dry looking leather, or ones with an obvious plastic/nylon like shine. wtf?

 

[stylefly]

I totally agree with all that's been said. Unless a colour/leather combination comes out that completely rocks my world, I am DONE with buying anything from '06 and later. It's easy to dismiss it as we love the brand and want to make allowances for growth spurts, little imperfections, etc. But why are the consumers on the hook for this? I just won't accept paying a mortgage payment for a bag and having anything- and I mean ANYTHING- wrong with it.

KDC- in Canada, we get our import taxes back if we prove that the item was shipped back out of the country. Can't you do that as well?