Review of Royal & Mandy
Hi guys, I'm just wanting to write about my experience with Mandy. Might be a little bit controversial since a lot of people rave about her, but I feel like I wouldn't be doing my due diligence if I didn't talk about this.
So I ordered two bags, a Speedy P9 20 UB, and White P9, as well as a replacement strap for a P9 that I already owned, and was told by Mandy that they were being sourced from Royal. Let me get straight into it.
The bags? I don't know where to begin. They were shipped within one box, but the way they were stuffed into the box was unacceptable. Basically, one of the P9 pillows was placed outside. I'm assuming this was to save space, because the UB speedy was placed inside the white one. This caused every single leather item of the White speedy to be...not straight? Everything was bent to hell.
Further, both bags had quality issues. For the UB Speedy, the logo on the zipper pull was not only wonky, but also, there appears to be a small...smudge of some sorts, or damage to the leather. Was told to wipe it off, but obviously it wasn't something that can be wiped off. Not only that, but the little hardware on the inside where the card holder pouch attaches to, wasn't even attached properly. It was rolling about at the bottom of the bag. I know it's not unusual, but the black speedy also had nothing protecting the handles and hardware on arrival, but also, there was no plastic covering the metal logo inside. I kind of just chalked it to being someone else's returned bag, or a used bag, but Mandy kept insisting that it was new and good quality.
The other thing I noticed was how the straps of the White Speedy was cut. I'm not quite sure how to explain it, but I'll include photos of my straps for my other P9. I guess the best way I can describe it is nearing the end, where the clasps are, the leather is meant to seamlessly blend into the back of the strap? But for the white one, they seem to just be lazily cut off. I looked into other people's bag that are from Royal, and their one seems to be done correctly. The pieces of leather of the white speedy also didn't feel like leather? If anyone else has one, and if they have another P9 to compare it to, I hope you know what I mean. The luggage tag, straps, etc of this white one feels like...I'm not sure, foam? Plastic? Even the handles of the bag feel a bit off.
Now briefly, the smell of the bags. The black one smells slightly fine, but the white one has an extremely profound plastic smell. The scent was definitely different to when I received my old P9 from a different seller, which smelled straight up like leather. The way I can describe the smell of the white one is that it had the scent of a plastic backpack you'd buy a child.
I've brought up all the issues to Mandy, and wanted to send the bags back for a refund. The replacement straps from my haul was quite literally the only good thing. Mandy however only offered to refund the UB one, but she did let me keep it. But honestly, I don't think I'll ever use any of the bags. I'm just extremely disappointed from this experience.
I hope this can help others out there. I really didn't want to write this review out, but again, I feel like I wouldn't be doing my due diligence had I kept this to myself.