EastPak/JanSport Lifetime Backpack Bag Repair Experience

I recently found my old Eastpak backpack bag from my college days, and the inside was fraid and badly damaged from my years of lugging around heavy text books. When I purchased it, I knew it carried a lifetime warranty, but I never knew exactly how good the warranty was; therefore, I decided to look into warranty repair service.

If you go to either the Eastpak or Jansport warranty repair page, it highlights the details for submitting a bag for repair. What I did not realize until after I submitted my Eastpak, was Eastpak and JanSport appear to be the same company. Several weeks after submitting my Eastpak, I received a postcard from JanSport, which stated I would be receiving my bag soon after they inspected what went wrong with the bag. Fast forward a couple of weeks, and I received my bag back in the mail.

I was not sure whether they would just send me a similar new bag or if they would just repair the bag. To my surprise, they actually took apart the entire bag and sewed in a new liner. From an environmental standpoint, I was quite happy that they fixed the bag rather than just send me a new one. In today’s disposable market, it usually cheaper for a company to replace the item with a new one rather than spend the time to repair it. I was quite happy that Eastpak/JanSport stuck to their roots and took the time to repair my bag to as good as normal.

Cost for repair? Shipping costs and a couple weeks to wait for my bag to arrive.

Columbia Jacket Warranty Experience

I also recently sent back two jackets to Columbia for warranty repair because the zippers broke. You can file a claim on the Columbia website, then send the jacket(s) back.

After sending both jackets back, I was contacted to select two new jackets, as they could no longer fix the ones I submitted.

I was about to donate them to charity and have to go out and purchase new ones, so I am glad I took the extra minute to look into the warranty, as I will be sitting in two nice warm jackets this winter.

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Source: InACents

2/14/11- Originally published