Note to Readers

My resolve to keep my blog up to date is having varied results.

Until I get my act together, I'll continue to post mundane details of my life (and Doctor Who retweets) on twitter at @cozmicrain, and quick snippets of thought (and reblogs of cats in tights) on tumblr at Casual Bubbles.

Please come visit!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

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. 

2 comments:

  1. So did it happen again? or was it just a lemon? That's great about the customer service! I have my eye on the two exact diaper bags you did! I am leaning towards the JJ Cole though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It did happen again, but maybe not as quickly. By that time I was so busy, I didn't worry about it too much. I still use it and abuse it much more than in the beginning, and I will say it never got worse than in the pictures. I was worried it would get worse and eventually break, but it's held up fine. I hope that helps you make your decision!

      Delete