I’m still wearing two polar fleece winter coats from LL Bean that have to be 10 and 7 years old. They still look new and I wear and wash them all winter. Unfortunately Bean doesn’t offer them anymore because of the dearth of high quality fleece. On the other hand, I can’t wear their t shirts because they’re way too short. I can remember a time when everything I had on (except my underwear) came from Bean. I still think they sell high quality goods.
My husband stopped buying his jeans from them at one point…because they didn’t carry size 30 waist for a while for men.
Our kids both still have the LLBean backpacks we bought them when they entered 7th grade. One kid is 30and the other 33. I gave the same backpack as a gift to a student oh heavens…20 or more years ago. His kid is now using it. Some of these things DO last.
@MomofWildChild I still have a down sleeping bag that cost all of $25 in 1972…from REI. I was in college and we ordered 10 of them…because they were such a bargain.
For boots…I still have the Sorels I bought in 1973.
Some things were just made better back in the day…
@deb922, I mostly read on my phone, which doesn’t help. Is wicked a type of slipper? It sounds like they were aptly named.
We got an LLBean backpack for DD back in 6th grade from the clearance store in Freeport (12 years ago) that she gave back to us after outgrowing the purple camo pattern. I love that backpack, it’s indestructible and distinctive. I’ve never sen another purple camouflage one. DS had an LLBean monogrammed backpack we returned once for a new one after a couple years because the zipper broke.
I rarely buy from LLBean because I feel like their stuff is overpriced compared to their competitors like Eddie Bauer and Lands End. In particular LLBean’s sales and clearance aren’t nearly as good. Although Lands End is about to lose my business because they seem to be doing away with custom hemming of jeans again. Charge me $5 for the hemming if you want, but it is a huge differentiator for me and generated a lot of other sales from me. Getting rid of it will cost them my business.
I feel like they went too far with the new policy, though. I think a smarter play would have been to restrict the lifetime guarantee to original owners with proof of purchase, which would have eliminated 99% of the problem. And reserve the right to restrict returns from serial returners. And yes I recognize that it’s a rare duck that keeps a receipt for decades, but oh well.
Patagonia can afford to keep their guarantees because their stuff is stupidly expensive. If I wanted to spend that much, I’d go for Arcteryx anyway. 
I don’t own anything from LLBean because it doesn’t fit my lifestyle. I am not an outdoor person.
From the article, they said 85% are okay with the new policy. Since it is doubtful they’d make $ off the other 15%, sounds like a practical move.
Costco has had a 90 day return period for electronics for a while now, due entirely to abuse by people returning years-old electronics for newer equipment. And who can blame them.
Costco still gives additional warranty for electronics, but returns are capped at 90 days.
Target used to have a much more liberal return policy, but abuse caused them to change it. I was there one day want a woman returned a pair of children’s sneakers that were caked in mud and well worn, but “I just bought these…” The clerks were mimicking her but then saw me and were ashamed, but I said “I get it.”
@thumper1 H and I still use our REI down sleeping bags. H bought his at age 16, we bought mine when I was 21.
Like @deb922 I think Ugg makes an incredible high quality slipper. In the past I’ve had slippers from Lands End and LL Bean that the inside disappeared or the sole got a hole. I never expected them to last beyond a few years. I guess in hindsight I could have returned the Bean slippers for a new pair. My S gave me a pair of Ugg slippers last year and with a year of use most evenings and mornings the slipper still looks brand new. The sleepskin isn’t matted and the suede uppers still fit tight. I would have actually preferred the upper to stretch out a bit.
Retailers and manufacturers save money on me. Unless something is obviously defective within a short time of purchase I don’t return it. I might not buy it again. I don’t buy things expecting they will last years.
This is an interesting article. The author practically brags about abusing the L.L. Bean return policy to annually exchange a pair of shoes for a new pair. Even mentions how his mother refers to it as “his scam”. But he uses some pretty stunning lack of morals and self-justification to basically say, “if they didn’t want me doing this, then they shouldn’t have let me.”
https://slate.com/business/2018/02/l-l-bean-has-ended-unlimited-returns-and-i-am-fairly-certain-its-my-fault.html
“Every year, around Christmas, I would drive to the L.L. Bean store in the Old Orchard Mall in Skokie, Illinois, near where I grew up, to exchange my old shoes for new ones. Over the years, it became a cherished family outing.”
I just read the article. He states that when he went to the store and intended to purchase the same shoes, the sales clerk, informed him of their guarantee and gave him a new pair plus $10.
To me, one of LL Beans problems was that they maybe should have trained their employees better. It’s one thing when a customer exchanges a used item for new. It’s another when the employee not only encourages it but suggests it.
Yes, he started out just fine but quickly got caught on a slippery slope. He went from “My shoes broke in less than a year please replace them”, to “I spent $40 once so now I want a new pair of shoes once a year forever”.
Good read.
"L. L. Bean’s return policy was treasured largely because it reflected the values and characteristics that we like to celebrate in ourselves and each other as Mainers, ones that we may not always live up to but to which we might aspire—traits like honesty, good nature, and a mind-your-own-business ethos in which asking someone to explain himself is tantamount to calling him a liar. "
“It was an odd corporate experiment in believing the best in people; now that it’s over, it seems crazy that it lasted as long as it did.”
Warranties should cover manufacturing defects, not normal wear and tear.
That’s what Patagonia does. No coverage for wear and tear.
“Company spokeswoman Carolyn Beem said the lawsuit misrepresents the return policy. She said purchases made before Feb. 9, 2018, are not subject to the new policy as long as there’s proof of purchase.”
Sounds like there is no need for a lawsuit.
I wonder if Victor Bondi is one of the folks who got new shoes every year.
Friends gave my first golden a dog bed from Beans. Our second golden chewed the zipper, a few years later, so H took it back to see if they could install a new one, which we expected to pay for. Instead, they offered him a new bed–not the same one. It was really much too big, but H took it anyway. It has lasted through about 5 dogs who lived here permanently or on and off for the last 10 years or so! Still in perfect shape. It is also big enough for 3 goldens, at least.
Once when I was in line at customer service picking something up, a person at the station next to me was returning a coat that had been worn for only 3 or 4 months. Why? She said she preferred the new style. I told my rep that I couldn’t believe she had the nerve. She said I would be amazed.
I did return a pair of dirty, worn hiking boots once. I bought them online when we lived in CT, then we went to Maine for a camping trip. I wore the new boots hiking every day for 2 weeks, up to 14 miles a day, and on the last day the sole of one of them detached. We stopped in Freeport on the way home. They looked like they had been worn for years and I was embarrassed even though I knew they were defective, but the sales person was totally matter-of-fact and may actually have said she was glad they hadn’t given out until our last day! I noticed that that model didn’t appear in the catalog again, so I had the feeling I wasn’t the only person who had a problem with it.