Macpac not as good as it used to be
Original post
For anyone considering purchasing Macpac - think again. Their customer service is abysmal.
Case is point - my day pack where some stitching came undone. Apparently it was not covered by the "life-time" warranty so I had to pay $115. Could almost buy a new day pack for that.
At one time Macpac was exemplary for providing both exceptional gear and backing up their products.
No longer, so simply DON'T BUY.
There are many reasons for stitching to fail and not all are manufacturing faults. If it protected you from bush lawyer loosing a few stitches in the process noone is going to cover that but if the stitching was faulty or too near the edge of the material I cant see how they could turn it down.
Hopefully they gave you the option of not going ahead with the repair though. I could put you onto a professional seamstress who could of undone every seam and stitched the whole lot back together for not much over half that.
How old was the pack?
How old was it, TonyO, and under what circumstances did the stitching come out?
Lifetime warranties don't typically cover normal wear and tear. They basically just mean that if the product ever fails due to a clear manufacturing fault, they'll fix it.
I've had mixed experience with the new Macpac. Soon after I bought a raincoat, and the main zipper lost some teeth which I considered a safety hazard. I had to argue with a shop assistant about the warranty. She wouldn't guarantee it'd be free until after it was sent away. To their credit, at least, they didn't charge. I was just annoyed that the person on the front desk didn't make that call for me at the time.
Macpac replaced my Cascade pack after of the internal frame snapped. Gave me a brand new pack. I had had a bit of use out of the old pack so was quite impressed.
Today's Macpac is essentially the same as Kathmandu. They follow the same business model: medium-quality products manufactured in China offered at reasonable prices (which no one would ever purchase if not "on sale"). Even many of the people behind Macpac and Kathmandu are the same. The only difference is that Macpac continues to enjoy a certain cachet because of it's past.
I have no issues with Macpac and buy select items when the price is right (their thermals are an awesome bargain) but I don't compare them to Patagonia or Arc'teryx or other top quality brands.
look on the bushwalk.com forum and search macpac
a lot of complaints about their tents. the floors are bed wetters
and about poor quality materials in their raincoats. coats coming apart. delaminating. poor DWR, no venting...
I had a new macpac event coat. it was hopeless, bought it because it was supposed to have superior breathability, it didnt... and it delaminated pretty quickly....
i couldnt be bothered returning it under warranty i wasnt going to use the replacement. i'd read about so many issues with them, i left it somewhere and lost it. lesson learned, macpac has become a mediocre brand, dont test their gear properly for nz conditions ,
having to argue with shop staff over warranties is a story i've heard before.... i've read about staff denying there is anything wrong with their products at all and refusing to take them back...
1 deleted post from
izogi
I think she just didn't want to commit to saying it was covered. But shop staff really should be able to make a call on that, or be able to find a floor manager who can. Even if the manufacturer won't cover it, the consumer's agreement is with the retailer, and it's ultimately the retailer's responsibility to get things fixed if it fails unreasonably. And that's even *before* you consider that this particular retailer is a direct outlet for the manufacturer.
I'm really not sure how she could have claimed I was mis-using what should have been a heavy duty zipper when it was only a few months old. Maybe zipping and unzipping it too much?
It's only a one-off in my case, though. Not a very good sample size.
I have a few Macpac items and all have been ok but Im not sure I would pay retail for any item there these days. My pack is a 75 litre Torlese which is a good basic pack. It does have a few strange features but one doesnt have to use them. I got it on clearance $200 off and it was a toss up between that and a retail priced Mountain Design Tellus 70 litre. Less than 10 bucks difference. The Tellus lost out because with it adjusted to my back the top of the main body was level with the top of my head and the lid was above this The Torrlese sits just below my head unless I really load it up.
I know people with the Tellus pack and they are happy with it. It just didnt fit me.
the dude up there who said macpac was like kathmandu was bang on. Like Fairydown, all this stuff is heavy and crap compared with todays modern gear.
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| Forum | Gear talk |
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| Started by | TonyO |
| On | 27 June 2013 |
| Replies | 31 |
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