I’ve been a die-hard Tumi fan since I purchased my first backpack and tri-fold over 10+ years ago. I’ve been the owner of 5 Tumi products (3 backpacks, 1 tri-fold, 1 carry-on) in the last decade worth well over $2200 dollars. This was the first time I had to actually send a bag in for repairs and I was expecting a hassle-free experience based on the Tumi Guarantee. The whole reason I was a Tumi die-hard was due to the comfort I felt with their lifetime warranty. Little did I realize, they had changed it to a 5 year warranty. I don’t know when this happened, but based on my experience, the "no questioned asked" policy of the lifetime warranty is a far cry from the current warranty and associated customer experience. Settle down for a little story on my Tumi Repair Customer Experience.
First a little background - I’m a frequent traveler and use my carry-on every week. I own a Tumi 20’ inch carry-on which recently had two clip brackets break on me under normal wear and usage. While it still worked, I was worried the other side of the clip would break and prevent me from locking in my clothes and also keeping the suiter flap closed. I had several other things which needed repairing:
- The handle no longer has a spring when opening/closing
- The plastic corner guards and back guards had come loose
- The wheels weren’t smoothly rotating
- The leather corners protectors were ripped
I had held off on sending in the bag for repairs because I didn’t want to deal with multiple returns, but after the clips broke I felt now was the time to take advantage of the lifetime warranty. The first thing I did was bring it into the Tumi store where I had originally made the purchase. The sales representative was happy to help me send in the bag for repairs. This is where I learned about the $25 shipping fee. I figured for $25 it would be worth getting it repaired, but was surprised this was part of the warranty cost. I told him the reason for wanting the repairs and showed him the broken clips. He filled out the form based on the damage and was about to close out the transaction when I asked him about getting the other items repaired. He seemed annoyed and flippantly said, "You can ask them to repair whatever you want." So I had to go through the form and manually tell him what else I wanted to get "repaired". He seemed genuinely bothered I was trying to take advantage of the warranty. WOW. Talk about bad customer service from the get go. You would think he would look at your bag and tell you what else should be fixed.
Next I asked for a "loaner" and he brought out a random assortment of old and dilapidated carry-on bags. I certainly didn’t feel like a Tumi customer when I looked at the poor selection he offered. I picked out the only 20’ carry-on available - something circa 1990. I opened it up to find the suiter add-on was missing from the flap - I needed this to keep my shirts and jackets from getting wrinkled. At first he said that was all he had, but after a bit of prodding he said he would look for the add-on in the back. He finally came back with a few and luckily one fit the zipper although I don’t think it was the original for the bag.
I finished the transaction and went home. I hoped this would be the end of an already poor customer experience. Little did I know.
A few days later I received a call from Tumi Repair. Here’s a summarized recap of the conversation:
TUMI: Your bag is out of warranty so you’ll have to pay for out-of-warranty repairs if you want it fixed.
ME: What do you mean? I thought it was a lifetime warranty.
TUMI: No, it’s 5 years. (This is when I found out Tumi’s Lifetime Warranty was no longer in existence)
ME: Fine, but I know I haven’t had the bag for 5 years. How did you determine it was out of warranty?
TUMI: We looked at the tracer number and determined the bag was manufactured in April of 2005. Since bags typically go to outlets after 6 months we used a date of Sept 2005 to determine you are out of warranty.
ME: Well I know I didn’t have this bag for more than 5 years.
TUMI: Then you need to provide a receipt for when you purchased it.
ME: Okay…I’ll see if the Tumi store has a copy of the receipt and get back to you.
So I called the Tumi store and they were able to fax me a copy of the receipt. The date was April 2007. Not only did I have to get the receipt from Tumi myself (you’d think they could just call the Tumi store and validate the purchase date) their rationale for adding 6 months was either a total fabricated lie or I was ripped off because I purchased a bag almost 2 years after the manufacturing date and it was not from an outlet store. You can’t make up things like this. Anyways, I sent in the receipt and waited for a response.
A few weeks later I get another call from Tumi Repair:
TUMI: We’ve evaluated the repairs required and determined none of the repairs fall under warranty coverage. We only cover wear and tear damage if they are related to defects in manufacturing, but we’ve decided to go 50% on a few of the repairs (lists out the handle, wheels) but you’ll have to cover 100% of the other repairs and also all shipping costs since nothing falls under the warranty.
I nearly lost it when I heard this. I asked them how they determine wear and tear due to manufacturing defects and I couldn’t get a straight answer. I had paid over $600 dollars for the bag and I would be paying well over 30% of the original price in repairs WITHIN the warranty period. I couldn’t be more livid. Why would I spent $600 on a piece of luggage only to pay an additional 30% premium within 3.5 years of the purchase? I jumped at the ridiculous ambiguity of the "wear and tear due to manufacturing defects" clause - how was this not normal wear and tear? One could argue the clips, handle, etc. should last longer than 3.5 years and if it didn’t under normal wear and tear, then it was a manufacturing defect. The Tumi representative could sense my anger and said he would escalate to a manager.
A few days later I received this call from Tumi Repair:
TUMI: We’ve re-evaluated the damage and determined everything will be covered under the warranty. The manager looked at your bag and agreed this was normal wear and tear and should be covered. We’ll also be informing the repair evaluation group to ensure they update their warranty evaluation process so this doesn’t happen again.
I was certainly glad with the response I heard, but it didn’t change my impression of the Tumi repair experience. I would definitely think twice about purchasing a Tumi bag after going through this warranty fiasco. You only get one chance to give a good first impression. Tumi bombed this one. I would dread ever having to go through this same process if I needed to have something repaired under the new Tumi warranty. Did I truly believe they would fix the process so I wouldn’t have to go through again? No way.
Fast forward 3 weeks later and the Tumi store finally informs me my bag is ready for pickup. I was pretty frustrated it took so long to fix the bag, but was happy to have my Tumi back after wheeling around the terrible loaner for almost 6 weeks. I looked at the bag and noticed Tumi had just repaired exactly what was "checked" on the form. There was a plastic guard which was clearly scuffed up but they fixed only what I has requested. (Note to readers - I advise you to check every single box on the form because Tumi will only follow what’s on the form instead of going out of their way to give you a great experience) I took the bag home only to realize they forgot to return the suiter add-on. It was the original reason why I sent in the bag for repairs and Tumi had failed to return it! WOW. The story doesn’t end here. I called the Tumi store (which is about 40 minutes away) and told them the situation.
ME: Tumi forgot to return the suiter for my carry-on.
TUMI STORE: Oh really? Okay, come to the store and we’ll give you a new one.
ME: How do you know you have one which will fix my carry-on? (She just ASSUMED they would have one.)
TUMI STORE: Tell me your tracer number. (I read them the number) Yes, we have that one in stock.
ME: Should I bring in the carry-on bag?
TUMI STORE: No need, you can just pick it up.
Fortunately for me, I didn’t trust they would have it in stock so I brought my bag to the store. Of course, the suiter they had did not come close to fitting my bag. The sales rep’s explanation, "Oh you have an older model!" Had I listened to her, I would have had to make a trip back home only to find the suiter did not fit and come back to the store again. Unfortunately for me, they said they would have to have Tumi send one which would fit and it would take another week. I left the store with my original loaner. Back to square one, almost 8 weeks after my Tumi was sent in for repairs and still without my original carry-on.
Tumi, you’ve lost a fan and a life long customer. My next luggage purchase won’t be a Tumi. You can bet on that.
Given the security changes regarding laptops, there’s been a request on an internal thread requesting recommended backpacks. I plan to update this particular post with anything I hear from the thread since the folks responding have battle-tested their preferences. I believe real-world experiences are worth something above and beyond the academic reviews we typically see on the syndicated travel blogs. Hopefully you find this useful. Keep your eyes on this post if you’re in the market for a new laptop bag.
The first request makes references to the old Tumi standard, Ogio, Lowe Pro and Spire (http://www.spireusa.com/products/laptop-backpacks.htm) as highly recommended from some friends. The initial guidelines for key requirements were as follows:
Must haves:
- Heavy duty zippers and reinforced seams
- Comes in all black
- TSA friendly (quick release sleeve or foldout)
- Good pocket organization for paper and electrical accessories
Nice to haves:
- Side handle to carry like a brief case
- Cell phone pocket
- Soft iPod/Phone pocket
- Padded straps
Responses:
I’m in love with my Brenthaven backpack: http://www.brenthaven.com/catalog-prostyle-bp-xf.html
Pros: all the features you were looking for, and a lifetime warranty to boot. I had my last Brenthaven for over 9 years, and I got this one for "free" when my old one died.
Cons: quite weighty, even when empty (but you could consider it a workout substitute)
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I currently use an Acegene backpack (http://en.acegene.jp/spec_ev106.html - I have the black version). It fits the majority of the “have’s” listed; however, I’d suggest getting a slightly larger version – the T400 fits inside the backpack but not the padded laptop-designated pocket. It’s worked out fine for me because I end up putting my notebooks/papers in that pocket and laptop outside of it – allows for easier access to my laptop at airport security and such.
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AT&T just announced the availability date for the new BlackBerry Bold. If you’re an avid BlackBerry user, this is happy news. I currently use the BlackBerry Curve and have been quite jealous of the 3G speeds and the beautiful browsing experience of the 3G Apple iPhones. That said, I still prefer a full non-virtual keyboard and the better Enterprise integration of my email and address book. With the introduction of the BlackBerry Bold, at least one of my high priority items are being addressed (3G speeds).
As a road warrior, among all the features, I’m most excited about the new speed benefits from the 3G support and the beefed up processor. The processor is about twice as fast as the previous generation phones (e.g. Curve, Pearl, etc.) so the screen should be more responsive to navigation and load times should decrease for applications. 3G speed will play into anything you do which requires real-time connectivity (browsing, IM chatting, etc.) The higher resolution should also help with access to better fonts for readability.
There are plenty of reviews out there comparing it to the iPhone and previous generations of BlackBerry’s. If and when I get my hands on one, I’ll post an in depth review based on real-world experience as a road warrior. It won’t cover the lab tests of "academic" reviewers, but it will do a better job of covering real-world usage in airports and various cities :-)
I’ve copied the press release, but no need to read it unless you’re interested in hearing from the AT&T marketing machine.
AT&T Customers to Enter a ‘Bold’ New Wireless World
Waterloo, Ontario — AT&T customers will be entering a bold new wireless world with the launch of the BlackBerry® Bold™, a breakthrough 3G BlackBerry® smartphone that operates on the nation’s fastest 3G network and is the first to support HSDPA networks around the world, including in Japan and Korea. AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) and Research In Motion (Nasdaq:RIMM; TSX:RIM) announced today that the highly anticipated BlackBerry Bold smartphone will be available in the United States for as low as $299.99¹ on Tuesday, Nov. 4, in AT&T retail stores nationwide, through www.att.com and select national retailers, as well as through AT&T’s business-to-business sales teams.
The BlackBerry Bold smartphone, which is being introduced in the United States only for AT&T customers, can be used in the most countries abroad, including more than 60 with 3G networks. AT&T is the world’s leading provider of BlackBerry services.
Bold Design
The BlackBerry Bold smartphone’s design and performance live up to its name. The elegant smartphone features a lustrous black exterior, satin chrome-finished frame and stylish, leatherette backplate with a stunning half-VGA (480 x 320 at 217 ppi) color display for eye-popping visuals and a newly designed full QWERTY keyboard for exceptionally fast and easy typing. On the inside, the BlackBerry Bold features built-in GPS and Wi-Fi®, a powerful new 624 MHz mobile processor that provides impressive performance, more storage memory than ever before — 1 GB on board and up to 16 GB via its microSD/SDHC expansion slot — and a rich set of multimedia capabilities, including an advanced media player for music, videos and photos and a 2 megapixel camera with built-in flash, zoom and video recording, as well as an optimized Web-browsing experience with desktop-style depiction.
"The BlackBerry Bold is the best BlackBerry smartphone ever, backed by the nation’s fastest 3G network and the hands-down best international coverage of any carrier," said Ralph de la Vega, president and chief executive officer of AT&T Mobility. "The BlackBerry Bold is the complete package, providing customers with an absolutely outstanding mobile experience whether doing e-mail, browsing the Web, viewing streaming video or simply making a phone call. And it is being introduced in the U.S. only from AT&T."
Mike Lazaridis, president and co-CEO at Research In Motion, said: "The development of the BlackBerry Bold smartphone was an ambitious undertaking, and we focused intensely on the things that are most important to mobile customers when developing this best-in-class smartphone for HSDPA networks around the world. The BlackBerry Bold exudes quality in everything from its stunning display sharpness and incredible keyboard to its premium phone performance and sophisticated software applications. It provides an extraordinary mobile communications and multimedia experience, and we are very proud to introduce this breakthrough smartphone in the United States together with AT&T."
There has been chatter about TSA and laptop manufacturers working together to create TSA-approved laptop bags for speeding up security checks. The idea is travelers could avoid removing laptop from TSA-approved laptop bags. The driving requirement is allowing clear access to the laptop as if it were separated in its own security bin. You can expect bags which roll-out flat to separate the laptop from the other items in your bag which may prevent an unobstructed view of the laptop. Targus and a few other vendors have already announced TSA-approved models which should be available in the coming months.
I don’t believe this will save time in the short run as travelers and TSA personnel get accustomed to an updated security process incorporating the new laptop bags. I can see inexperienced travelers taking a cue from travelers with TSA-approved bags and sending in their unapproved laptop bags. Expect additional questions from TSA personnel if a travelers fails to remove their laptop into a separate bin. In the long run things should speed things up if there are enough travelers who purchase TSA-approved bags and we work through a few iterations.
I plan to keep my Tumi. I’ve my security process down to an art. Have a happy Monday morning.
Real reviews are exactly that – reviews targeted towards real users. We don’t run any sort of performance tests. show you boot-up times, or colorful trend charts on battery life, etc. What we give you are real experiences from people who use the product on a day-to-day basis. If you want to read about the specs, feel free to Google them. These reviews are more qualitative and hopefully provide you something that you don’t necessarily find elsewhere.
The Background
The first product is the latest and greatest Treo 700P. The reviewer is a co-worker and previously had the Treo 600. He found himself due for an upgrade after dropping his Treo 600 one too many times. * Owned: 2 Months * Wireless Carrier: Verizon
And now, in his own words:
The Good
- Since the carrier is Verizon, I can take advantage of the EV-DO network which provides near-DSL speeds. Browsing the web is actually bearable. I find myself surfing the phone to find things like flight times, news, directions/locations, movie times, etc.
- Bluetooth 1.2 support lets me use my headset from up to 20 feet away. [Please don’t wear your headset like jewelry – when you’re done, take it off!]
- The built-in camera is 1.3 megapixels (1280x1024 resolution). While not the best, I found myself carrying pictures of my wife and kids around for quick photo-sharing ops with co-workers and clients. For work, the camera comes in handy for the numerous white-boarding sessions that come with the territory. Instead of relying solely on my notes, I can take a quick snap-shot of the whiteboard, transfer it to my computer, and attach it in an email. My clients love it!
- There is a video capture tool include that lets me catch my 16-month old son being 16-months old :-)
- For email support, you have multiple options, but I ended up going with a third-party email client called Chatteremail (www.chatteremail.com) which I found to be high on user functionality. It does come with a $39.95 one-time licensing fee.
- The QWERTY keyboard comes in extremely handy for efficient input, especially if you’re big on text messaging
- It comes default with 60MB of free memory in addition to an SD expansion slot
- As an extremely organized person, I like having all my appointments and tasks entered into my phone. I use Keysuites (www.chapura.com) to manage the synchronization between my Treo and my laptop. The one drawback is it currently does not address time zone sychronization which is a pain if you travel quite a bit, like I do.
The Bad
- Although it’s alot easier to surf the web, websites updated to render on small screens are still lacking.
- The wireless sync email client that comes with the Treo did not impress me with its poor usability. It appeared to always be “syncing”, thereby using up my battery faster; it also didn’t sync well with my mail server when I deleted mail on my Treo.
The Ugly
- Compared to prior versions of the Treo, the battery life is short! I have to charge it as least once a day and depending on how many conversations I have on it, more than once a day.
- The Treo seems to slow down as the battery power gets low
- I’ve noticed some lag time (2-3 seconds) when switching between applications which requires a soft reset to clear up. I find myself resetting the Treo 700P about once a week.
The Short of It
For me, the pros of the Treo 700P outweigh its shortcomings and I recommend it to business travelers such as myself. While it is pricy compared to the Motorola Q and Blackberry, it contains more functionality and can increase productivity at work and at home.