AIBU to be utterly pissed off that things are so sodding shoddily made?

[PercyPigPie]

I'm really fed up. x-posted on Style and Beauty as I wanted advice there too. Need to rant!

I recently bought a purple Osprey bag which lasted eight weeks before loosing its colour and looking really scruffy. They offered a refund but I got stung for postage.

Replaced it with a Blondie Mania bag which lasted 10 days before lining went. Care instructions said not to put more than 4kg in the bag, so I weighed my stuff before using it (came to 4kg - no more). They said they would send it to their testing lab (or some such) and refund postage if found to be at fault. They refunded cost of bag, but not postage (over £10) and have not responded to e-mail regarding this(this was 2 months ago).

Decided to risk another Osprey bag as I saw a reduced black one and thought colour would not run. One and a half weeks of use and the lining has gone today.

I carry normal everyday things - purse, make up, alcohol gel in teeny bottle, umbrella, a soap (family member has allergies), tiny bit of handcream or vaseline in the bottom of a small tub (about a table spoonful), keys, hankies.

These have all been really quite big bags - bags that should easily have managed the above. I have been carrying all this around in my two Cath Kidston bags for over a year without a stitch breaking.

Osprey are being arsey because I can not return the bags within 14 days because I bought a couple as gifts at the same time and am not happy to keep them. They are unlikely to refund postage so I will have lost out about £30 in postage from these three bags.

AIBU to expect to buy a £100 bag (x3) and expect it to last longer than a sodding Tesco carrier?

[MissVerinder]

Pants. I bought a black leather Osprey from TK Maxx the other day.

YADNBU. For the money they cost they should last!

[PercyPigPie]

To be fair, the last one cost only £55, but was reduced from something like £175 or more!

[ZillionChocolate]

YANBU

[redexpat]

threaten small claims court.

[milkmilklemonade]

I have just returned a 600 pound mulberry bag because it fell apart after a week. It was a one off present, I am not a millionaire and I felt like they had just ripped me off.

[ChildofIsis]

We've been quite shocked at the increasingly shoddy kids stuff around.

Bought DD a new bike at christmas.
The welds hadn't been sanded down before it was sprayed and it looks awful.
DD's more than happy, we're not.
The manufacturers say that's how all bikes are now, if we wanted a better quality we should've paid more. The bike was fairly expensive imo.

Perhaps we need to complain more/shop less then the companies would get the message.

[Red2011]

£600 for a bag? £100 for a bag? I use a £10 bag from primark. I load it up with stuff and it's perfectly fine.

Only aghast at prices as I am on a severe (and I mean SEVERE) budget!

[Scholes34]

Tight budget or not, I'm still aghast at the prices. For £600, I would expect that to be a bag to see me out and never fall apart. My £20 bag from M&S still looks good after a year. Is weighed down with a large bunch of keys and purse and shopping on the way home on a bike, plus numerous other items.

Is it me, or is £100, let alone £600, really just too much (present or no present) to spend on a bag?

[MaxSchreck]

YANBU.

A bag like that should be a 'heritage' bag and should last long enough for you to pass it on to a daughter!

[PercyPigPie]

My quibble is that I don't want to be responsible for the return postage for the other two bags I bought as I have now lost confidence in Osprey's products. I don't have a leg to stand on, do I?

[projectbabyweight]

YANBU. Not good enough!

[Red2011]

Scholes34 Actually, I was aghast at the prices full stop too...but was being polite :)

When I worked in London and had money (several years before DD was on the scene) there was a girl in my office who spent £400 on a designer purse. A purse!!!

I must confess I have no interest in designer stuff at all - I don't see why you should spend so much money on something just because it has a label on it.

However, Mudandmayhem you are right to expect such items to be of good standard. Perhaps you should follow up the unanswered email with a phone call? I would also say check out consumer rights - I thought the usual period was 28 days in which to return items. Good luck!

[QueenofJacksDreams]

I use a cheap FCUK bag my MIL got me for Xmas I load it up so much its known as the Tardis I even put my Library books in it when I need to return them and its not had a single problem yet. I'm shocked at the amount spent on handbags only for them to fall apart so soon. I would threaten the small claims court as they're not lasting a reasonable amount of time in relation to the price.

[QueenofJacksDreams]

"If a product develops a fault within the first 6 months, the assumption will be that this defect was present at the time of purchase and you will not have to prove anything."

If you can quote the consumer rights at them they're more likely to take your complaint seriously.

[PercyPigPie]

For those quibbling about whether £100 is too much to spend on a bag - where in the hell do you find a BIG leather bag for less than that?

[PercyPigPie]

PS: Yes - I know TKMax to them, but they are generally not big enough or have teeny handles you can't get over your shoulder.

[Red2011]

I don't buy leather, or wear it. :)

[PercyPigPie]

milkmilklemonade - you have reminded me that that happened with two bags of mine from their outlet shop. They weren't leather, they were the synthetic stuff that they used on their old bags. One zip went so I had to drive 30 miles for a replacement, then the next zip went.

[Scholes34]

I doubt that for £100 you're buying durability in these cases as I'm guessing they're fashion bags.

[PercyPigPie]

No, not fashion bags really. In all cases they have been reduced to half price or thereabouts - so really bags originally costing in the region of £200. I always look for durability in a bag - but you can't really predict if colour will run or know how much material is either side of the stitching on the inside of the lining. In two of these cases there was about 3mm silky material eitherside of the stitching, so of course it was going to pull out. They have taken cost cutting too far in the manufacturing process.

[MilkNoSugarPlease]

YANBU

That takes the piss frankly!

I have a RIDICULOUS amount of stuff in my bag and yet my Cath Kidston ones are fine with the weight...I'd be mahoosively pissed off if I were you!

[Claw3]

Under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 , they have to give you a full refund plus any other losses that have been incurred as a direct result of faulty goods being supplied, such as the costs of postage.

[knittedbreast]

i love bags, but i know what you mean. Years ago my parents gave me a beautiful black Prada hand bag and it lasted years. In fact when i was a student i sued to buy a bag a season (not expensive ones) and they always lasted.

The last bag i got was from monsoon, i wasnt sure about the style but its grown on me and it was in tatters 4 weeks later. quality is definately getting worse

[magicmelons]

YANBU, dh bought me an osprey purse and after being in my handbag a couple of times it is horrible, it has oil marks and dirty marks all over it despite there being nothing that unusual ( for the mum of 2 young dc) in my handbag, the customer service was appalling and they refused a refund. I felt bad for Dh as he really tried hard.
My beautiful Claire Vivier bag is still going strong despite having whole cup of coffee tipped in it so was worth every penny.

[plupervert]

Oh, dear. I, too, have just ordered an Osprey. Hopefully, the fact that it's not coloured/all patenty will spare me this sort of disappointment!

Although I have had the alarming idea that the eBay shop where I bought it might be handling all the returns from this thread!