Had an odd customer service experience day before yesterday, and I still don't know quite how to react.
So here is the background (and I completely own the fact that I dropped the ball on one aspect here by not calling to discuss it in a timely fashion).
I ordered a pack from one of the big players for my girlfriend for Christmas 2015 after buying one for myself earlier that summer. Customer service caught an error on my order, and immediately phoned me to let me know about it, and refunded my card the appropriate amount. Big plus in my mind, as that is something that I likely wouldn't have caught.
Pack shows up in time for Christmas. Big hit. (We are sheep hunters, so top end gear is always fun). As I'm looking at the pack, I'm thinking to myself that it looks a little smaller than I expected. However, its Christmas, and we have kids, so that stuff gets put to the side.
And I'm forgetful as f*uck. So I don't much look at it after that. She loves it, fits great, and it goes on a sheep hunt that summer (as well as everywhere else with her....)
As we are getting ready the day before, it becomes apparent that the bag is a bit small. However, so is she, so it isn't the end of the world.
It gets hunted all fall. And the next summer for sheep again. And it becomes very apparent that it is too small for 7 day plus trips. Ok, no problem. Still a phenomenal pack, we just need to get it upsized. Additional to this, on the last trip I managed to end up with a hole in the snow collar on my bag.
So the other day, we figure we have a month or so until bears are up and running here, so we should figure out this season's gear. And we start eyeballing the website......
Low and behold, the pack that we ended up with for her, is (now) two bags smaller than the one that I had ordered. And paid for. Again, the pack that I ordered, and paid for, is not the one that was sent.......(Still not sure how I managed to not catch that) Like I said, that one is all on me, as I should have caught that as soon as she opened the box, but she loved it, and it was tough to convince her it wasn't perfect anyway. My f*uckup. I know it, I own that.
Now here is the odd part. Shoot off an email asking about repairing my pack, and options there. Also mention the original screw up, and specifically mention I'm not bitching, I just wanted to give a heads up on that aspect. And ask for advice on what the best pack for her would be.
The guy I was dealing with is super courteous and polite the entire time. Great guy to deal with. Asked me for some pics so that he could confirm which pack they had actually sent. No problem. He asked for some pics to see the hole in mine. No problem.
Now here is the part that makes me wonder if I am just over reacting, or wtf...
Gave me a recommendation on a better pack size-wise with a couple of their wares cited for my 5'3" 125lb gf. Perfect. That's what I asked for.
Gave me a quote of $80 for them to fix it........ Ok...Seems pretty steep to me. Or I can use some duct tape, as ripstop is pretty tough. Ok, that is how I had it patched anyway.
And here is the part that rubs me wrong.... My other option, is to send it back to them, and he'll give me 10% off buying a new pack.
By the time these things land in Canuckistan with shipping and exchange, they are better than $1000. Even with 3 seasons of use on my pack, I'm still going to get the better part of that back if I sell it.
I think I'd be less pissed if I had at least gotten a "hey, sorry we sent you the wrong bag. And sorry that we f*ucked you out of some money there."
The price difference between the packs is on me, and I know that, as I didn't look at the gear when it arrived and she definitely got her money's worth out of the pack (well, MY money's worth.....lol) but I guess I'm wondering, am I out of line to think that at least on that aspect a "sorry" wouldn't be too much to give?
I guess I just don't know what would be reasonable to expect when it comes to repairs or customer service.
Any thoughts on this? Chalk it up to experience bought and paid for?
