MontBell repair Am I being to picky

whats wrong with the repair?

Sorry about that, just had a bit of a problem uploading pics.

I think the repair is pretty cheesey looking, I think any other bag manufacturer would have replaced it just to keep a good reputation with their primary customers. It's kind of a shame that after only a week of use it gets torn up. To me it looks like the patche would fall off the first time it got wet. And I would guess probably 25 to 50 bucks would be the hit on price.

I agree that it's a cheesy repair job(should at least be the same color), but a new bag for an eyelet is a not real. it should have been re-sewn, not a new bag.

Ok Robert, maybe not a new bag, I could go with that, but at least do a PROFESSIONAL job of the repair.

You would think they would cannibalize a piece of the matching stuff sack for the repair if they did not have the right material. That would be much more professional looking and who cares if there is a ugly patch on a stuff sack.

Mark, I know all of us would have preferred a brand new bag, so there's nothing wrong with having that desire IMO. But the in the end, if the repair holds and it's 100% functional, then I guess there's not too much to complain about in the grand scheme of things. That said, will it hold? I would have expected them to sew in another grommet on the replacement patch. Will the drawstring fray the fabric without a grommet? Who knows?

agree looks like a very amateur hack-job repair. Sewing would be difficult though. A piece of matching color material with finished edge, maybe even Mont-bel logo on it to make it look like it belonged there would have been nice.

Yea, that repair is pretty hokey looking. Personally at this point i would just repair it myself if i were in your shoes. Since Montbell's stuff is made in China they probably sub-contract repair works here in the states. I actually love my Montebell thermawrap parka.
Anyways, too bad it isn't a Western Mountaineering Bag. They make them here in San Jose California close to where I live. Great folks.
Even when my the drawstring on my 15 year old WM bag finally wore out I just repaired it myself with new grommets and cord from JoAnn fabrics. Actually it is kinda cool cause there are all kinds of women in fabric stores but I digress..
Maybe you could at least stitch that patch on using a blind stitch and reinforce the eyelet holes by sewing a couple of brass grommets to the patch.

Thanks all for comments. First off my sewing leaves a lot to be desired and I dont think I should have to fix this new of a product myself, it has life time workmanship warrenty, it was definatly workmanship. I agree it would be a difficult repair as the tube is sewn in to the inside when the baffles are apart, the repair would really have to be stitched by hand. Some of my bags have the tube to the outside which would be better. Another thing that I noticed since I posted this is that the down in the baffle below the repair is all clumped and the baffle seems empty in most spots, hopefully I can wash that out. I hope the glue they used is not the cause of the down clumping in this baffle.Nowhere else in the bag is the down clumping. This was a very small hole when I sent it in and I do kinda wish that I had got with someone locale about repairing it as only a few clusters of down had come out. With insurance it cost me close to twenty bucks to send it in, most likely someone with the touch for this work could have fixed it for just little more. I like montbell products I wanted to sell this on here to help finance a large of the same and a thermawrap jacket was high on my list of things to add. In twenty years of backpacking I have sent in four other items for repair TNF, One sport(prior name of montrail) eureka and most recently Exped all gave me no reason to complain afterwards. And I am glad that others feel as I do about this repair from Montbell I will wash it to see if that solves the down clumping issue in the baffle below the repair

If you are unhappy with them, why would you support them again by purchasing another bag from the same company? Just buy a WM, if you want a mummy bag, and be done with it.

To answer your Q Peter cause I REALLY liked this bag other than being a little tight in the shoulders which mostly made it difficult to get zipped up. Other than that it is really light(20oz) kept me very warm and they get on sale less than $200. The material has a really nice feel to it also. The WM bags are quite a bit pricier and I would never fit in their standard size bags I would have to go to the wider roomier bags (mega light) which are heavier. I am considering a western mountaineering bag but it is kinda against my normal tight a$$ nature. I dont usually buy the most expensive but I dont buy the cheapest either. I buy what I feel is the best value that if cared for will last and get the job done. And of course I look at the weight I read a lot of reviews and Will's review kinda sold me on this bag. And NOBODY has said yet as to if this same problem/repair has happened to them. From what I read on here most have been happy with MB So I dont nessisarily think a new bag from MontBell would do the same again… or would it.

I've got 5 UL MB bags in the family and have convinced others to go that route as well. I tend to baby mine, but I can say that if there were ever a problem, and I had to have it repaired, I would expect a better-looking patch job that that. That said, even if I were unhappy with the looks of the patch job, I have been so happy with the super stretch features of the bag, I do not see changing brands. Even the legendary WM bags don't feature the great stretchiness of the UL MB bags. It's a shame the patch doesn't look better, but as it doesn't affect the performance of the bag (unless the clumping is determined to be glue-related), it will still do the job and do it exceptionally well. Resale value is undoubtedly affected due to the poor aesthetics of the patch. Again, I would hope that MB would see that and make changes to their repair procedures/repair company.

After one more call to montbell Id like to say that Im still unhappy with the way things worked out. First off I have no hard feelings of Montbell as a whole or their products that would be like hating chevies cause of a bad experience with a mechanic and service manager. I was hoping that by showing the repair on line MontBell would at least stitch a patch over this or maybe even replace the bag He (Scott G.) said that they would take a LOOK at the repair I said look online he said he already had and saw nothing wrong. Things did get a bit heated and I cant remember all that was said but my integrity was questioned as to how the damage happened and scott felt blackmailed by the fact that I did say I would post my feelings on here again. I dont have corporate lawyers to help me get a $200 bag fixed and Im not a very educated man but I am an honest man and I would not expect them to fix something that I damaged. If the clumping issue in the one baffle is gone after $20 of downwash and laundro mat change and 2-3 hours of my time I will have a usable product again. I have already wasted more timed than this is really worth It became a matter or principle to me. I hope that no one on this site disrespects me for airing my dirty laundry on here

no way !
that's a hack job. screw 'em. it ought not to have failed in the first place, and now, now if you went and tried to sell that item, it's close to valuelessness. they have devalued your asset.

montbells' efforts are UNacceptable.

peter vacco

copy the better posts of this thread and send it to them. in no way should this issue be closed, and you forced to accept that shlock form of workmanship. they can jolly well replace the bag, because you've been run thru the ringer, and sell it as a second if they want. it's not your problem.

make a video. put it on you-tube. that will get their attention.

I love my two MontBell bags, my MontBell UL down inner jacket, my MontBell Thermawrap jacket and my MontBell pillow. Even with so much positive vibes clouding my judgment, I must state that I am appalled by that repair job! C'mon, MontBell, at least show a modicum of care by patching with the same fabric…

Agree, that looks like an amateur job, and if the damage is due to defects in workmanship or materials, the repair needs to be functional and visually acceptable as when you bought it new.

Go up the chain of command at Montbel, and send them pictures. I would start with a call back to customer service and as for the supervisor on duty… which is usually not the first person who answers the phone.

I really appreciate the support I have recieved from everyone. I have called several times and I did ask to talk to MR BIG and he has read the posts and seen the pictures and his position seemed to be that I caused the damage, which simply is not true I pulled the string. I have 3 other mummy bags and have owned two others not a one everneeded repair I realise lighter fabrics are lighter fabrics but if no one else has had this problem then all I can figure it was not sewn right. And the kick is that I still feel its a good product and I made a good selection I just got a lemon and for some reason the repair dept dont see what we see or there is problems within the co. When I can afford to make a change in bags I will. Im gonna drop this now if montbell has. If however as Im suspecting they are going to post their side of this and take the offensive tone that POE just did "Ill BE BOCK" I cant see how they cant, this is very bad for buseness And I wonder how many Man hours maybe even written by a Lawyer they will put into it. But I bet they will post. They won. How anyone can possibly see it this way I dont know But this aint worth the time I got into this The best advise I got came from Peter buy a western mountaineering bag and be done with it. So I will make no more posts unless MontBell does especially if they question my integrity again. If any BPL members disagree with what I did here I am all ears. Write it here or PM me If you support this as it seems Everyone who has posted has Please GIVE THIS A BUMP Thanks Mark

last MB i buy if this is true

ive been pimping their EXLs … but unless it comes with good guarantee … i wont bother

ill just stick to buying stuff from REI or MEC or EB for their no questions asked guarantees

besides their bags arent even en-rated like the rest of the industry

I would hazard a guess that if they lost around 2 sales based on bad PR, they break even with the cost of replacing your bag. I see bad PR costing them more than that. The repair is shoddy and even if functional, definitely detracted from the value of your bag, even as compared to non-repaired state.

Actually, I would expect a replacement is likely cheaper for them than any type of custom repair. Custom or non-standard repair work takes time ($) for a worker to evaluate and perform.

If you buy a premium product, you expect premium service and support to go with it. Maybe Mont-bel is NOT a premium product after all.

Heck, apple will usually replace your broken iphone screen one time for free, even though it was not defective. Although making a cell phone, which WILL be dropped occasionally out of glass could be called a major design defect.

I am not suggesting anything, but when customer support gets discarded, it often usually leads to a deepening spiral. Foolish management never understands how much reputation means.

I have scratched them off my list for the time being too. I think they screwed up when they changed the super stretch down hugger to the current model anyway.

As an owner of a UL Down Inner, I've been overall quite happy with the product, but a company unwilling to take care of customers who pay good money for a product and are JUSTIFIABLY unsatisfied with quality and/or service will not retain my business.

This, in my opinion, is most certainly a case where the customer should be justifiably unsatisfied, as repair is at best, a half-hearted effort. When they chose to repair it, they immediately admitted that yes, it should be considered a covered claim of unsatisfactory workmanship. In doing so, the repair should restore the product to a state equal (functionally and aesthetically) to before the damage. I think any reasonable person would agree that neither has been satisfied in this case.

MB dropped the ball, I dropped (and from the sound of it, many others) MB from my list of potential gear buys.

As the old saying goes…you tell one person about a good experience you had; you tell ten people about a bad experience…no bueno, Montbell.

No bueno.

My father in-law sent my MB UL Down Parka back to Mont-Bell last week to be repaired from a mishap on our last trip……now I know where it's going and what I could expect. I guess I'll consider myself fortunate if it comes back looking like it wasn'trepaired with Shoe-Goo and flushable toilet wipes. Was the person repairing the bag huffing the glue or what!?

I'm surprised by the lack of quality in that repair, as well as the account of the original poster. I've called Mont-Bell in the past and had nothing but excellent customer service, this divergence from my experience with them is disappointing.

Unfortunately, there's enough outdoorsy folk just along the Colorado Front Range and in Boulder to keep Mont-Bell from feeling the pinch from bad customer service accounts like this one…thats a shame. This will likely be swept under the rug and the majority of MB customers will never know that this is the "quality" of service that can be expected if something does go wrong with their purchase.

This shoddy job really emphasizes the limited in Limited Lifetime Warranty.

You may wish to let MB America know that you will take this up to MontBell Japan. All the stuff we hear about the high value the Japanese people put on customer service — it might just do the trick. And if MB Japan decides their American branch needs a good remedial training on customer service, then so much the better.