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| - Do NOT bring an expensive designer handbag here.
I purchased a used Celine luggage tote in a rare colour that I had been eyeing for years (light pink with black trim & black handles, "Powder" from Fall 2013 collection). The bag cost me around $1600.00 and it was in very good, nearly new condition. The price of the new bag is $2800. Link attached: http://www.spottedfashion.com/2013/08/26/celine-luggage-tote-bags-for-fall-2013-and-price-increases/
It was my dream bag, and I was devastated when my black dress rubbed off on the back of the bag and stained the light pink leather a dark blue/black colour.
I did some thorough research as I didn't want to send the bag just anywhere, as it was after all my dream bag, and very rare. I found "Love your Leather" and the reviews looked good. I brought the bag in on August 12, 2014. After looking at the bag, Tony (the owner) told me that it was a difficult project, but he was confident in his ability to do it. He assured me that he would be handling the project himself and that he was very meticulous and had been in the business for 25 years.
I stressed to both Tony and the intake person at the front desk to NOT touch the front of the bag, and to only repair the dye transfer on the BACK of the bag. The front of the bag was in perfect condition and I thought that even if they couldn't remove the stain completely, at least I could hide it as it was on the back of the bag.
About a month later, I called to see if my bag was ready for pick up. I was told that it was not ready yet and that someone would call me when it was.
I called again a few weeks after that (sometime in October 2014), and the receptionist told me that it was ready for pick up. I came to pick up the bag and I was very unhappy. The stain on the back was still there (though it was faded), and the black handles of the bag were not only bent out of shape from being on a hanger, but they looked gray and old, as though some of the light pink paint had sprayed onto them. I expressed this to the receptionist and I was told that someone had "called me" (no one had) to tell me that it wasn't ready. This was a complete lie, but in any case, I left the bag with them and the receptionist told me someone would call me when it was ready.
Again, weeks went by without a call. I called again in late October and spoke to Tony. He told me that the bag was a nightmare, he said that someone else had worked on it and it was all messed up, etc. etc. He said he would need around another 8 hours to fix it and then it would be ready. He indicated someone would call me when it was ready and there was a note on the bag indicating same.
This conversation certainly made me very anxious about the condition of my expensive and rare handbag.
I allowed about 2-3 weeks to go by without a call. Finally I called and the receptionist told me that the bag was ready and it had been sitting in Tony's office for weeks. I asked why nobody had called me and he said he didn't know and that he was new there.
I finally picked up my bag on November 29, 2014, over 3 MONTHS after I first brought it in. I was devastated when I saw the state of it. Although the stain on the back of the bag was removed and it looked fine, the rest of the bag was in a much worse state than when I first brought it in. The black trim was sloppily painted and was bleeding out onto the light pink leather in many places. The black trim in many places was covered in sprayed light pink paint. The gold zippers were covered in sprayed light pink paint. The front of the bag was painted (even though I stressed NOT to touch it as it was perfect), and the light pink paint was not the right shade of pink (it was lighter than the colour, which is evident when you compare different parts of the bag). Tony tried to fix some of the blurring black paint on the front of the bag and he rubbed the pink leather so hard that there are faint scratches on the front of the bag. Lastly, the supple and soft pink leather on the entire bag (which used to have a nice sheen to it), are now completely matte, stiff, and feel rough, as though the bag is covered in "white-out" (that sort of texture).
My bag is now absolutely ruined and in an unwearable condition. I am embarrassed to wear it and I will now be forced to sell a damaged bag, that was my DREAM bag, at a great loss. I highly doubt that I will be able to find this bag again as it was a rare colour combination from a Fall 2013 collection.
I did receive a refund from Tony and he mixed some paint colours for me so that I could try to repair some of it at home, but the bag will never be the same, particularly the texture, feel and look of the leather. I appreciate that the project was not an easy one.
Please learn the lesson that I paid $1600 to learn and do not take your high end designer bag here. My advice would be to not take it anywhere. Had I known this would happen I would have just carried on wearing my bag with the stain.
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