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.
Save Money, Travel More!
Source: InACents
2/14/11- Originally published
Thanks for this post! I sent my jansport backpack about a week ago and I’ve been eagerly waiting for a postcard since. Now I know I have to wait a few more weeks for the postcard! Could you tell me how long the entire process took, from having the package be delivered to the warehouse to the repaired backpack arriving at your doorstep? Thanks!
I don’t recall the exact time frame because it was a while ago, but I thought I remember it taking at least a typical 6-8 weeks.
Did you still have your proof of purchase?
I don’t recall if we still had it and sent it in or not.