I took the bag to a local merchant widely known for supplying travel goods of every kind, some that travelers know and love and far more things that we simply did not know we could live without while visiting foreign ports of call. They are known for luggage care and repair and had added an exterior snap to a bag I bought from them about 6 months ago when I discovered that things also fell out of that bag during use. When I picked up that bag, I was not happy with the huge, clunky snap fixture, but the person who completed the job said that a single snap "tore out" of the fabric bag when he pulled on it, so he had to reinforce the area and add another snap ring to ensure it did not happen again once I had the bag back and was using it. Sounded reasonable, so I paid the bill and have used the bag happily since. Thus, I felt confident after talking to store personnel about what I wanted done to the leather bag that it would be done. Doug, the owner, told me that if I was not in a hurry to have the bag back, he'd like to wait for his "best" worker to come in on Saturday and do the job correctly, so I agreed and waited for the phone call yesterday to tell me the bag was ready for me to pick it up.
The photo shows that the Velcro is sewn on crookedly, with 5 evenly-spaced stitches on the right side of the patch, 3 huge stitches across the bottom of it, and 3 huge stitches at a crooked angle up the left side of the patch. Unfortunately, the big hunk o' Velcro is a "tab" add-on so I can pull it to open/close the pocket. I stared at it, wondering how I could convey "are you shitting me" without saying those words, so I said, "Really? You did this?" He assured me he had hand-sewn the Velcro and it works really, really good.
"Okay," I slowly responded, "but, if I were your MOTHER, would you proudly hand me my favorite leather bag and tell me it looks good?"
His face screwed up in that what do you mean expression that conveys he has no idea how totally pissed off I am, and he said, "Uh, yeah. I had to sew it by hand, so it took me longer than if I coulda used the machine, but ... ." He picked up on my stone cold, unimpressed facial expression and let it go.
"Well," I replied, "I had to wait several extra days for this job to be completed because Doug told me that he'd only trust his best guy to do this for me. If you are the best, son, I'm wondering what kind of a mess your worst co-worker could have made."
"So, it's $30," was his only reply.
"No," I assured him. "I'm not going to pay $30 for this job and you are going to have to figure out how to fix the mess you've made of my bag -- or how to get a replacement bag here in a timely manner. Now, I'd like to talk to Doug, if he's available, or your manager if he's around."
"Uh, okay, but he's with a customer, so you'll have to wait."
As he continued to look at me, wondering how to make me go away, he volunteered that he could take out the stitches and resew it, but I assured him that I know stitching, even in leather, and what was he going to do with all the holes he'd leave in the leather from his first attempt? No, he had no idea what to do, what not to do, or how soon he was going to lose his job, so I simply stared back at him, daring him to say even one more word to me.
I waited, and then I asked the manager to come over to the repair counter. I asked him if he had approved this repair on my favorite leather bag. As he looked at it, he knew what was coming and tried really hard not to say, "Oh, shit, this is totally screwed up," but it was a losing battle. He and the repair worker tried to find a work-around, but what they proposed I counter-proposed; instead of a large square patch, the least they could do is cut out a shape similar to the other shapes already used to accent the bag and use the machine to sew it well over the hand stitching the "best" worker did. I was told it would be machine stitched when I agreed to the process a week ago, so no matter how challenging it is and/or how long it takes, this fix better be damned good and not another clumsy hand-stitched attempt to find something that won't be as bad.
I left, got to the edge of the parking lot, then turned around and returned to the store to take a photo. The two men were still standing at the counter, ruminating about how they were going either to make this better or go away. I drove home, still not confident that my bag is going to be fixed properly, then waited to hear from someone, anyone from the shop. The call came this morning, two days after the trip to the store to pick up the bag after the first fix, and it was not promising. The plan was to leave in place the first attempt, but cover it by sewing another leather flap over the top of it, but only securing it at the top -- so it would flap. I asked about removing the first patch and replacing it with a new piece of leather machine-stitched over the first clumsy attempt, but that was met with silence. I asked about gluing the new leather patch to the bag so it wouldn't flop, which was also met with silence. I directed them to do nothing because I absolutely did not see that any of their proposed solutions would make the mess better and told them that I'd drive all the way back to their shop Thursday and we'd discuss it again.
Then, I thought about the reality: there is no way any of the personnel at the shop could fix the mess they've made of my bag, so I need to retrieve the bag and find another plan. I called them back and told them that a friend would be by this afternoon to pick up the bag because I honestly do not believe they have a viable solution to the problem they've created. Ironically, after my friend picked up the bag, she called and told me "it doesn't look that bad," especially because the larger flap covers it. As I told her, sure, it covers the mess when the flap is secured, but the reason for carying a bag is to get at the contents, so every time I have to take out my wallet, I'm going to see that mess and be pissed all over again!!
There was no charge by the shop, but I'm going to have to find someone who can make the bag look a whole lot better than it does before I'm going to be happy again!!
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