"Took 2 months to ship me the wrong product. Then, they didn't return my phone call. Finally, I gave up and resold the sleeping bag at a loss. "
"It took almost two weeks to notify me that my item had been backordered, so I had to scramble to find another vendor. My fault. I knew of their poor reputation, but the price was so good I took a chance. Don't make my mistake!"
"I would not recommend this merchant based on my experience of non-existant customer service and non-delivery of the product I ordered."
"Serious communication problems exist with this company's store. When I reported a problem with my order (an item was missing) by phone, email, and online form no one got back to me. It took bringing an authoritative third party into the picture to finally resolve the issue. Future business with them is out of the question, even if they do have great prices."
"Non-working "Customer Service" Number. No response to written or Email communications, no follow up or support on Order Inquiries. Items not Delivered within specified time frame. Several complaints filed against this merchant through Better Business Bureau * DO NOT PURCHASE FROM THIS MERCHANT * You will be forced to DISPUTE ALL CHARGES and fight for a REFUND !!!!"
"I wish I had read these reviews before placing my order with College Backpacking! The Osprey backpack I wanted was actually a few dollars more expensive from College Backpacking than another vendor at the time but the company had the color I wanted so I placed the order anyway. It had a maximum processing and shipping combined time of 11 days, which was just what I needed to get my backpack in time. I thought since that was the MAXIMUM end of the range, I would be fine. I placed my order on 7/25/10 and my credit card was charged on 7/25. I emailed them that same day to ask if there was an estimate of when my backpack would arrive to make sure I was calculating the shipment range correctly since my schedule was so tight. They finally emailed me back on 7/29 and heard back from Michael that they would send me a date of delivery the next day. I never heard back from them, so sent them another email inquiring about the product on 8/1. It is 8/3 and I have yet to hear back from them. I also left them a couple of voice mails throughout the process and never heard back from them on the phone, either, and my calls (even during their business hours) always went straight to voice mail. At this point I am going to send them an email telling them I am going to cancel the order, and try to order this quickly through another vendor. The sale at the other vendor is over, so now I will end up paying $30-$60 higher than if I had just gone with that other vendor on 7/25! I wish I had, I would have saved myself a lot of headache and money!
UPDATE: It is 8/10/10 and I have not heard from the company even though I asked them to cancel my order on 8/3. At this point I am going to have to dispute the charge through my credit card company since I have not heard anything at all from College Backpacking since 7/29 despite numerous calls and emails. I tried calling them again today and the phone number is now disconnected. What a horrible experience!"
"Similar experience to person below with the Osprey pack. Placed an order and was billed immediately. No follow up emails with shipping information. Phone numbers to store (from website and BBB) go to voicemail. No responses to my emails to customer service. Worried i am being scammed out my purchase so will likely have to file a report with my credit card company. Stay away from this seller!!! Dont be fooled by the low prices like i wise, i would rather have payed the extra ten bucks and not had to deal with this hassle!"
"I placed my order on May 24th with college backpacking for an Osprey backpack. My credit card was charged on the same date. The website states orders will ship within 3-5 business days.
After i placed my order the website notified me to tell me i placed 3 orders (which i did not). I emailed College Backpacking to verify this order was only placed once. I was told by their Customer Service Representative it was a error on their website and not to worry, my single order would ship within the next few days.
9 days pass without any tracking number or contact from College Backpacking (12 days after placing the order). I emailed them to follow up on the status and was told my order would ship mid next week.
11 more days pass - during which i emailed customer service several times, and attempted to call but was it always went straight to voice mail. No calls were returned.
21 days after the original order i was told they were having problems filling orders with "marmot" (i ordered an "osprey" product, not "marmot") and put the blame on "marmot" but was assured the issue was resolved. I was told they would contact me within a day or two with a tracking number. This never happen.
More emails were sent with no response from customer service. After over 3 weeks I asked for the order to be canceled. I was told the credit would go through within a few days. It has now been another week and my bank shows no record of this credit.
I needed this pack for a trip which has already passed. After doing research on this company i have found i am not the only one who experienced this problem. College Backpacking did not fulfill their end of the deal and i would advise anyone against doing business with them."
"I ordered my sleeping bag on April 11th. Today is May 8th and I still have not received it. I have called them about 60 times all different days and i have never gotten a hold of a real person, just a voice-mail system. I also emailed them and the first email they didn't even respond. They finnaly responded on the 2nd email and said the shipments from the companies "were slow". I check with them about every other day, and they give me the standard "oh were looking into it". They never give me a response. Do NOT buy from them. The only reason I bought from them in the first place was because they had free shipping and was 20 dollars cheaper than the competitors. I would rather spend an extra 40 bucks and get it here 3 weeks ago than wait a month. I have already been on 2 camping trips where I have needed it and one coming up in 15 days. I SAY AGAIN DONT BUY FROM THEM. I buy alot of things on the internet from lots of different companies this is by far the worst customer service I have received let alone getting a products shipped to me"
"Update: Well, I guess I was given another false promise. No additional products were shipped (pack cover). I will never use this vendor again and do not recommend. I have since found comparable prices else where (ie Sierra Trading Post). I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS COMPANY
Update: After the initial posting and another attempt at contacting the company, I did get a hold of a person named Michael. Michael was prompt and professional. He informed me the Grey pack would not be available until June and the Bamboo color until late April. I settled for the Tahoe Blue. I asked for a rain cover to make up for all the hassles and he agreed. I received the pack (as promised) and he said the rain cover was on order. I will post an update when I get (or don't get) the rain cover and validate they did not charge me for the sales tax.
INITIAL COMMENT: After promised 4 day delivery and NO pack, I called College Backpacking with no response. Emailed and received a reply . . . oops your pack is on backorder till JUNE! Would you like another color . . . . I inquired as to what colors are available and when would it be delivered. No response. Still no response. They also tried to charge me sales tax even though I live in California. I do not recommend!!!!!!!"
"To go along with what another customer said, i ordered a pack from them three days ago, and decided to email them to check on the status of my transaction. Three emails later and countless phone calls, I have still heard nothing!! I don't know a lot about business, but ignoring one of your patrons isn't that good of an idea. I really hope it doesn't take 21 days to get my pack, and i'm finding it hard to fathom how they will survive as a company with this horrible customer service!"
"I ordered the backpack on November 7th and did not receive it until the 28th. The website declared 2-4 day shipping, so three weeks is hardly an acceptable time frame. Furthermore, though a phone number is listed with business hours, not once was the phone answered in the 10 different times I called. Email customer service was also spotty at best, with just two of my five emails returned.
If you can live with all of that, then go for it. The price I got was the cheapest I could find on the internet, and the backpack was in good condition when it arrived. I probably would have gone with a different company had I known 2-4 days would stretch into 21."
"fast delivery and great price for the triconi 60 :)
Thanks"
"This pack is awesome. It's large enough for long trips but is still usable on short trips too. The adjustable frame is great I have a 20" torso and it fits well. Plenty of compartments to keep things organized. I would definitely recommend this Pack. "
"Their price was great and the delivery to Belgium was prompt.
Their customer system doesn't seem to be fully automated, so it takes about 1 day for them to reply to your queries, but they do reply and do their best to provide good service.
Highly recomended!"