Leather World

Horrible customer service at the NEEDHAM ST, Newton Highland Location ONLY. I brought my son in because we saw a cute child’s luggage in the display window. Immediately when we walked in, the older sales woman told my son to not touch it because he will dirty it. He didn’t even touch it! We were in there for less than 15 seconds and was already insulted by the sales lady. And are customers not allowed to touch, open, or feel the luggage before purchase? I will never step foot in this store again.

The world needs less online retail and more «mom & pop» local stores that provide good customer service. Why would anyone buy from
when they can speak to knowledgeable humans and touch the product before purchase?
However, starting today, I will be buying ALL of my luggage online. I received horrible treatment from the saleswoman. She managed to annoy and insult me. My next luggage purchase will be from an online retailer.

Hartmann lists this store on their website as a certified repair center. Because of that, and because it’s a «leather» store, I assumed they could clean my 15 year old bag and make some minor repairs. I called the store and asked if they’d be willing to refurbish my bag (brief case), meaning a deep leather clean in an effort to keep the bag in excellent condition for many more years to come. The man that answered the phone said while they often do clean leather, they mostly do it over the summer months and they had too many repairs currently to take on my request. So basically, he turned away business. I would be willing to pay almost any amount for an in-​depth leather clean for this sentimental belonging — and the fact that this store isn’t interested in mu business is very disappointing.

Second visit to this location with the same bad experience of the dour «manager» who could not bother to greet us or respond to my «thank you» when I left. First experience I attributed to «a bad day» like anyone can have, but twice? Cannot believe she is in any business, let alone a customer-​facing business. Her unfriendly attitude does not encourage me to return.

Disclaimer — review is for Newton Highlands location ONLY. Newton Centre is great — good selection of products, professional and knowledgeable sales people. Go here instead.
That being said, the Highlands store may have the absolute worst customer service I’ve ever experienced. I never even write reviews but felt compelled to for this as I sit here on my phone in my car shocked. I just walked out of the store wondering what the f*** I did to deserve such treatment. The woman who «helped» me look for a travel adapter /​converter was actually mean. Rude, sarcastic, abrasive and kept cutting me off when asking questions. When I politely! declined to make a purchase because I just wanted to get out of there, she made a big show of abruptly running back to her counter and disingenuously wishing me a nice day in a very intentional way. I actually thought I was being punked or something. The whole thing was very bizarre. Ugh.

Wow!!! Spouse and I needed new suitcases for a trip. I said we should go to this store because I’ve passed it 100 times and wasn’t even really sure of its name. We were blown away by the competence, directness and knowledge of our salesperson, Karen. Turns out Leather World in Newton Highlands is one of four stores owned by the same company — also in Newton Center, Boston and Harvard Square. This is the warehouse location and when you want something in another color or example, at least in our case, it was there the next day from one of the other stores.
Not only was Karen smart about what features each piece has (we’re taking trains, so a usual huge size suitcase would be too much to handle) she helped us really think through what would work best for us and helped make sure we wouldn’t be sorry with our purchases. No hard sell! She helped other people after we had been ‘educated’ and we were also taken with how much she remembered about other customers who came in; what their son had for another trip and what he would need for the next one, for example. She should have a TV show, she is so amazing. I’ve shopped for luggage before in stores in specialty stores in malls, in Dept. stores and in discount stores. What you get here is a full selection of all the options, knowledgeable sales staff and fair prices. We happened to get things that are being discontinued, so they were 20% off. I think we’ll be very happy with them and I know we will always shop here and send our friends here for travel related needs in the future. Carries wallets, alarm clocks, adapters, all the other stuff you realize you want when you’re traveling, too. And insulated lunch bags. A great place for gifts. And a great way to support your local businesses.