Diaper Bag Resolution

So...ahem...if I had any readers, they would have been left hanging for a long time after my last post. And I'm sure if I had any readers, they would have been on the edge of their seats, dying to know what happened with my diaper bag. Because in my head, my readers are like that.

My experience was mostly good. I initially emailed the J.J. Cole customer service on August 17 (a Friday):

Hello, 

I purchased a Stone Arbor Satchel Bag on 5/26/2012. I didn't start using it until after my baby was born on June 7. I also don't use it on a daily basis. I have two young boys and it's not easy to leave the house. I absolutely love this diaper bag, but after only 2.5 months of fairly light use, the loops where the metal rings connect to the straps and the bag are starting to crack/break. I can't afford to replace my diaper bag every 2 months, especially one this pricey. Is this a common complaint or is it possible I received a bad bag? I'm really disappointed about this since I had really looked forward to purchasing this bag and really have loved it until this happened.

Thanks, 

Melany

 I received a response on August 21 (a Tuesday):

Hi Melany,

Thank you for contacting JJ Cole. JJ Cole Collections guarantees its products against manufacture defects. I would be happy to file a warranty claim for you. In order to better assist you, can you please provide me with the following information:

-      When did you purchase the product?

                 

-      Where was the product purchased?

-      What product did you purchase? (System Bag, System180 Bag, Theory Bag, Mode Bag, Bundleme (Infant or Toddler), etc.)

-      What is the color of your product?

-      Please describe the problem with the product.

-      Please provide the 4-digit PO# located on a group of white tags on the product. This may also be 4 numbers followed by the letters YUN

-      Can you email a photo of the problem? Please attach.

-      Have you taken it back to the store where it was purchased from? What was the response?

Please provide your name, address, and phone number so we can contact you to provide a return authorization number and/or further information about the warranty process.

JJ Cole Product Warranty

JJ Cole Collections guarantees its entire product line for 2 years from the manufacture date. This warranty covers the product for the original owner against defects in workmanship only. If the product ever fails to a manufacturing defect, then JJ Cole will replace with like product at our discretion. The warranty does not cover damage caused by accident, improper use, negligence, normal wear and tear, or the natural break down of colors and materials over time.

Thank you,

Consumer Service

Karen

I supplied the requested information and pictures the same day and received this email the following day:

Thank you for sending the bags information and photo to me—I’m so sorry to see the handle material is not holding up well.  An exchange has been authorized and we have two different options regarding the return/disposal of your current bag:

                 

1.  You may mail the bag to us at the following address, and upon receipt your replacement will be sent to you:

JJ Cole Collections

Attn : Returns 911217

2021 9th Street SE

Dyersville, IA 52040987-6828

2. You may make a cut through the opening of the main compartment down into the front of the bag 6” and send us an image with your Reference number 911217 written visible in it.  We will use this as a record you have disposed of the item, and then send your replacement.

Let me know which return option you prefer and I’ll have it shipped as soon as possible. 

Best regards
Consumer Service
Karen

I was very pleased with the fast responses and I was happy they were willing to resolve my problem so easily. Unfortunately, as can be seen by my lack of blog posts, life got in the way. Between people in the house getting sick and a bunch of family functions popping up where I needed to actually leave the house and use my diaper bag, I didn't get back to them in anything even remotely resembling a timely manner. I realize they needed to have the bag or see it destroyed to ensure I wasn't going to keep using both bags or sell one on Ebay but it was really inconvenient not to have a diaper bag to use.

Fast Forward to October 15. I responded and asked if the exchange was still possible and I got a response the next day that the number I was given would be held open for 30 more days. Then came another gap on my part as I needed the bag again. I chose to send a picture of the bag destroyed because I wouldn't have to pay for return shipping and it would save some time. I sent the pictures on November 9, and received this email on the 12:

Hi Melany;

Thank you for the image of the cut diaper bag. We have the new one on order and you should receive this within the next 5-10 business days. Please contact us and refer to reference number 911217 if you have any questions on this shipment.

On November 30, I still had not received the bag so I sent this email:

Hi Karen, 

I was wondering if there was any sort of tracking information for the order of my replacement diaper bag (reference number 911217) as I have not yet received the bag and it's now been longer than the 5-10 business days (closer to 14 by my count) and when you throw in weekends and holidays, I've been without a diaper bag for almost three weeks now and carrying all the baby stuff in shopping bags is getting frustrating. 

Thanks for any information you can give me,

Melany

And yes, I realize I was slow to respond at one point myself but a lot of that was because I didn't want to have to carry baby stuff around in reusable shopping bags.

On December 3, I received this repsonse:

Hi Melany;

We apologize for the delay. The item was temporarily out of stock. We show this shipped November 30th through UPS. Please log onto www.ups.com and enter tracking number ########### to follow the progress of your shipment to your home.

Coincidentally, the bag showed up that very day. All in all, I'm very pleased that J. J. Cole worked with me and fixed the problem I was having. The only complaint I have is that the new bag took so long to get to me. I wish they would have sent a message my way to let me know the bag was out of stock.

So there it is, my long-overdue update.

JJ Cole Satchel Bag: Bad Construction or Did I Get a Lemon?

Let me say this up front. I am absolutely terrible at making decisions. I spent months agonizing over the diaper bags (yes, I realize I have problems). With Jake I just used a giant corduroy messenger bag with no real pockets and I always had to dig to find things.

This time I wanted something with more organization and I'll admit I was looking for a certain cuteness factor. I finally narrowed it down to the Skip Hop Studio in Plum Burst and the JJ Cole Satchel in Stone Arbor.

Part of the difficulty was not being able to see the patterns in person. Finally I saw the Skip Hop at Buy  Buy Baby and the JJ Cole Satchel eventually came to Babies R Us in the right pattern. I ended up going with the Satchel because it seemed slightly larger and with two kids, I thought I might need the extra room.

I purchased the bag about 3 months ago and have been using it for about 2.5 months. I love the bag. There is plenty of room inside, lots of pockets, and it's very cute. Some people on Amazon complained that the interior was pink (sort of a soft mauve color) and they were returning it since they had boys. I have two boys and I don't care that it's pink inside. It's my bag, not theirs. It's like not choosing a purse because the inside is pink and your kid is a boy. Even though it's full of their stuff, I'm still the one carrying it.

Unfortunately, I noticed some of the loops connecting the metal rings are starting to crack/break and one place where the loop connects to the bag is starting to separate at the stitching. I'm super disappointed because I love the bag and have only been using it for 2.5 months. And it's not like I leave the house every day and drag it around for hours at a time. I've used it to go to the doctor, the grandparents' houses, and to the store a handful of times. With two kids (especially a preschooler and one who is under 3 months old) I don't get out a ton.

I've contacted JJ Cole's customer service by email. They tell me there is a 2 year warranty on manufacturer defects. I've sent them the requested information and several pictures of the problem and am waiting to hear back from them. I'll post the results of this test of JJ Cole's customer service here when I know more. 

A snapshot of motherhood

It's late afternoon and I'm sitting on the couch, unable to move. In my left arm I'm holding a very peacefully sleeping 3 week old. My right arm is pinned down by my 3 year old, who first passed out on the couch and then woke up and decided to relocate and fall asleep again while snuggling with Mommy. My right arm is also falling asleep because the 3 year old is much heavier than the 3 week old and is cutting off all blood flow.

I'm thirsty but can't reach the drink that sits inches from my left hand. My nose itches but I can't reach it with either hand. My husband has left some boring sportball game on the television and I can't reach the remote to change it. My phone, with which I could amuse myself, sits next to my drink, also out of reach by mere inches.

I think about falling asleep too but know the instant I do, one or both of my sons will wake up and insist I wake up too.

While this is going on, my husband is in the other room digging through an ocean of Legos trying to find the right parts so he can finish building the 3 year old a Lego fire station.

Oh and did I mention, my right leg and hip area is wet and cold because 3 minutes ago the 3 year old peed all over himself and me and I'm debating whether to deal with it for another half hour because he's kinda cranky today and needs the nap.  

Exhausted

I wonder if being extra super tired is a sign of impending labor. I know some people get bursts of nesting energy before labor but I slept in this morning (thank goodness Bryan is done with school for the summer so he can hang out with Jake while I sleep) and took two frickin' naps today. Also, I've been doing the same thing I did when I was pregnant with Jake. I can't get to sleep early so I stay up until midnight or later (one night I was up past 2am). Yet, the only reason I'm still awake now is because I needed a snack before bed. So yeah, tired. Snooze. Yawn. Blah.

Because pregnancy heartburn is really interesting stuff

Ok, so I'm going to pretend for just a second that if you are reading this, you truly do care about my heartburn. Then I won't feel like my little rant is completely boring and irrelevant. Even if it is. And who knows? Maybe someday, some pregnant chick will come across this post and she will totally get it and it will no longer be so boring and irrelevant...maybe.

When I was pregnant with Jake, I had heartburn every night and took a Zantac (before you ask, yes my doc suggested it when Tums didn't work) and most of the time, it did the trick. As with most of my first pregnancy, my problems were manageable. This time? Not so much. In addition to the other problems I've written about that I may or may not have actually published (I'll check later), the heartburn is worse and my good ol' Zantac is not doing the trick. And the onset of my daily burn is creeping up earlier and earlier. I sighed but dealt with pre dinner heartburn that made me want nothing more than plain noodles for dinner (because I was still hungry, even with the heartburn). It sucked but I figured I could handle it.

And then this morning I woke up and waddled down the stairs for some breakfast and before I could even decide which cereal to eat, the heartburn hit.

Lovely.

Sidenote: please feel free to comment (she says to her imaginary readers) but do know that I have tried many of the home remedies for heartburn. Milk helps sometimes. Honey worked a whole once. And eating heartburn friendly foods like bananas, applesauce, and yogurt haven't made much of a difference. If you've got anything else, though, I'd probably give it a try!

The Tupac Hologram brings back college memories

Twitter seems to be my main source of outside world knowledge these days. I'm on Facebook much less than I used to be and I don't even see the news on TV anymore. I was never much for seeking out news on the computer, though I will admit, if I had my homepage set to Yahoo like my mother in law does, I would spend infinitely more time clicking on news stories. But back to Twitter. I saw a lot of tweets about  a Tupac hologram, including this one from Felicia Day:

Don't understand this holograph Tupac thing. Who owns the rights to you after death? Could someone bring Gene Kelly back for another movie?

— Felicia Day (@feliciaday) April 17, 2012

I did a quick Google search before writing this post, just to see what the whole Tupac thing was all about and found an article on Gizmodo about how it was actually really expensive CGI. Whatever, the idea is still neat. And it brings me to the real reason I wanted to post about this.

Back in college, I was taking a Prose class and we had just finished reading Dubliners by James Joyce.  Our professor had us working in groups. Our assignment was to pretend we were going to make "The Dead"into a movie. We were each going to have the change to pitch our idea to him and the idea he liked best got a prize.

My group decided it would be clever to cast only dead actors in the film. We would use super awesome technology and bring some sorely missed greats back to the big screen. Not sure how clever we really were but we did win the prize (I think that time the prize was a copy of one of his books, signed by him after class).

Yeah, I realize, not the most exciting story in the world but I found it amusing that this kind of thing is actually happening now and that Felicia Day tweeted about making a new movie with a dead actor.

Sorry, guess this was a pretty boring post after all!

Once you've seen Doctor Who, things never look the same

I had just added Doctor Who to my Netflix Queue when The Bloggess posted this on her site. Now I understand it. I've worked my way through the 9th and 10th doctors and am only a few episodes away from being completely caught up on the 11th.

Now every time I read the word "odd," I think "Ood." For the first time in my life, I really want a pair of Converse sneakers. A sonic screwdriver seems like the handiest tool I could ever own. I'm seriously trying to think of a place to put something like this if I can get my husband to build it for me. And I see Daleks everywhere I go. When I see this toy crane out of the corner of my eye, for half a second I think I have a baby Dalek in the house. I think I might be a tad obsessed. Now off to watch another episode on my phone while lying in bed. Where are my headphones?