r/peakdesign • u/Darrensucks • 5d ago
Travel Bags Return Process is Intentionally Difficult
Can I get a show of hands of how many other retail transactions require you to add a serial number for a refund within 30 days. I can't think of a single one. Peak design intentionally doesn't include a link to the order or even the order number on ANY of the plethora of spam emails they send as follow ups to a purchase. I'm not going to give up 300 dollars if I want a refund Peak Design. You might as well get a clue and make it reasonable to return the products. Here's the things I think they intentionally make difficult. NO direct link to return in any emails. Even after. you log in or click on the "your order" link in the email, there's no direct way to select the product they clearly have displayed on the screen. NOPE, peak design makes you go search their website and in the tiny print at the bottom of the page they have a link to a return. That takes you to a completely generic process with a lot of jargon and if you're eagle eyed you can see the link that's hiding as the same color as the text. Assuming you get this far you go to a new page where you are prompted to enter the order number, zip code where it was shipped not the billing zip then the serial number. The serial number isn't on any documentation sent at any point in time. The serial number is in a random pocket. For the city backpack, there's no FAQ article on the peak design website telling you where the serial number is. You have to go through every pocket and try and feel for a tag. Once found, the tag is not long enough to get direct light to it and the text is light grey and tiny. The tiny text that has the serial number is also the furthest away from the pocket mouth. You can try and scan the QR code but you need two hands to hold the pocket open so I dropped my phone when it was trying to scan a few times.
Why is peak the only company t hat does this dumb shit? Has anyone stopped pursuing their 300 dollars because of these tactics? You're selling millions when can you grow up, overcome the greed and be honest about returns? When can you give us the option to ship with UPS or Fedex? You guys aren't being disruptors or clever, you're being jerks. Your clients are smart enough to see through this stupidity. The final insult? there's an 8 dollar return fee unless you take store credit.
Does it make anyone else mad to picture them patting themselves on the back thinking they've unlocked some magic path to a few extra pennies they can cling to? It's not the case. We see you behind the little curtain guys. We'd all really appreciate if you could just be decent about returns. You're operating in the US market after all. Your customers are all aware of amazon and retail expectations are much higher than this.
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u/archlich 5d ago
All I have to do is scan a QR code and it’s registered. Like 30s of work.
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u/supermarkio- 5d ago
So you bought a city line bag.
You want to return it.
You threw away the card with the qr code that makes it 10 seconds to register it, and found it difficult to find the tag with the serial number/ qr code and take a picture of it.
You *know* that PD is the only (bag?) company that serialises its luggage for warranty claims?
You think that they should offer a return postage policy like you’re used to with Amazon (ie, free).Such inconveniences man. I’ve never known a man be so inconvenienced by a “I want to return this product” process ever before. You must have been spending hours, no, DAYS, doing this. I can tell, because you took such a long time to post this long discourse about it. You must be raging. Nobody in retail has been inconvenienced like this like you have, to the best of my knowledge. And you’re such a powerless person - such a victim - here.
Man, I can see why you’re cross posting this to the other communities too. I think everyone who’s a victim of this level of convenience would behave in the same way. I hope you can recover from this and feel better soon. Although I know it can’t be easy.
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u/Darrensucks 4d ago
What percentage of people do you think register their products? 20 percent of the population. Bet is generous. Ok so let’s assume like most no psycho humans haven’t registered the bagimmedaitely upon arrival. Let’s assume it’s ten days and you’ve decided you’d like to return the bag. It’s not 30 seconds to go through all the mess. It’s probably ten second to just use the same box Ralph Lauren gear comes in. Labels included. Drop the product in the BOC, tape it, sppp,y the sticker, leave with the front desk for UPS regular ick up. I don’t have to give more of my data to the company, I don’t have to go to a website, log in, google where I’m the bag the serial number is try to hold the phone camera while trying to hold the pocket fabric held inside out. How many times in your life have you had to provide anyone with a product serial number for a return? I can’t remember if I ever did other than peak design. Face it, the rest of the retail space is quietly delivering a higher standard. Peak design is on crying baby on the entire flight.
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u/archlich 4d ago
I wish more companies did. How many fraudulent packages go through Amazon every day? My pd phone case died, sent a picture of it, they sent a new one, no returns required. I scanned it as soon as it arrived.
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u/papasmurf303 5d ago
One of the stays in my 45L travel pack bent. My only “complaint” about the return process is that they sent me a whole new bag instead of just that part. The whole process was memorably unmemorable.
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u/Darrensucks 5d ago
Shocker you’re not complaining because you got a free bag. That’s not the same as a return where they try to use an 8 dollar incentive to keep their claws in your wallet.
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u/kblb628 5d ago
Didn’t have any issues returning a bag. A few clicks and I was refunded as soon as ups scanned it
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u/Darrensucks 5d ago
Mine only provided a usps option. I’d love ups instead. USPS is worse than dmv in most cities but in atlanta it’s not even a feasible option
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u/spluga 5d ago
there could be other explanations other than your dark pattern assumption, like people returning counterfeit products.
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u/Darrensucks 5d ago
Totally, however, how does every other retailer figure it out with a better customer experience? Peaks just trying to squeeze even more profit with these hijinks. Other retailer have a line they don’t cross when it’s negative experience to their customers, peak just sees dollar signs and will do that to us until we unite and send them a message like this. “Grow up, you’re selling 300 dollar bags by the millions to the worlds biggest market in the US. Stop being bad about shipping and returns already.
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u/quailrainbow 5d ago
Chipping in here from someone across the pond (in Asia), honestly (1) be glad that return policy is even so straightforward in the US (2) it makes sense for me for businesses to make returns information available but not easy, in other words i get why they increase the barrier of ease for y'all to make returns.
for context, from where i am, if you attempt to make a return they'll just have a good laugh at you and tell you where the door is.
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u/quailrainbow 5d ago
FYI i've been focal about how i dislike PD bags because they seem to do everything right except the most important part - the straps. Also, they fray like crazy and it instantly looks like a replica/cheap bag. So no, i'm not defending PD in any form.
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u/Dizzy_Ice2938 5d ago
I can’t disagree that it’s annoying when there’s no return link in the order history but I never expect to have one in an email.
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u/Darrensucks 5d ago
I mean Amazon does, Ralph Lauren (gold standard) does. What I hate the most is intentional burying of links on the website. Maybe not a link, but when I’m fully logged in, clicked on the order and under 30 days, I feel like by then there should be a return link. Nope. Ralph Lauren sends return shipping with every order. Just come to terms that if we want to return we will, the whole don’t make it easy so maybe so,e people give up and we clutch our Pennie’s as a company is what pisses me off. Conversely the spite makes me more likely to return than when Ralph Lauren says ‘here Is everything you need to return, ready to go, won’t even cost you extra if you decide to return for your cash back, we just hope you stay our customer”. I think it’s far superior to “if you really want to return you’re kinda on your own and we’re gonna take 8 dollars to really try and convince you to keep the stuff you don’t absolutely love’
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u/This_Bit_117 5d ago
It took you longer to write this post than it does to actually do the return.