I don't typically do a lot of negative reviews. When I started this blog channel almost 10 years ago now, I built it on the foundation that positive messaging really was the thing that was missing from the landscape of independent media. I'd had a terrible experience as an indie musician with a reviewer who decided to post something that was critical of my new release, and it just felt completely emasculating and oddly cruel. There was that time T-Mobile forced me to pay them almost $200 just to cancel my account, because their customer service is as bad as it gets; and there was that time I wrote a thing about how Ashland businesses keep closing down; but for the most part, this site is all about saying nice things about great music. However, it does happen on occasion that I have such a terrible experience with a certain brand that I have no choice, but to get on my digital soapbox and rant a little bit.

Now, I do have a weakness for nostalgia. And that's probably what drove this horrible experience that I just had with Jansport, an online retailer of backpacks. My daughter is 12 years old, today was her first day back at school. Last week it became clear that she was going to need a new backpack, and I got online and chose a new one for her. I had assumed that a Thursday night order would be able to make it here in time for Tuesday morning. I paid for overnight shipping, and really didn't think much more about it. Yes, in retrospect, maybe that was too much to ask. For reference, the other thing I ordered at the same time, through Amazon, of course, arrived yesterday, so it is possible to have an efficient supply chain. I chose Jansport because I've known the brand for decades. When I was in college, their backpacks were popular. I love supporting independent retailers, and it's just disappointing to have a terrible experience with someone that you really wanted to love. :)

So what happened? Well, the thing hasn't shipped yet. It is now Tuesday morning. Five calendar days later, two business days later, and after getting off the phone with support, I am more frustrated, rather than less. Why is that? Well, according to them, the order is processed enough to not be able to cancel, but not processed enough to have a tracking number yet. So if I want to cancel the order, I have to wait for the order number to be generated, and then contact them in between the time that the order number has been generated, but before it ships. Ugh.

Meanwhile, I still don't have an explanation as to why the support ticket I opened on Saturday has not been responded to yet, nor do I have an answer for why after two business days the order hasn't shipped yet, even though the online SLA clearly states that orders should ship within one business day.

So, as much as I love supporting old, recognizable brands that speak to my sense of nostalgia for the days when products were built to last, and brands actually cared about their customer service, I have to put two big thumbs down for Jansport. I will not be using them again, nor do I suggest anyone ever involve themselves with such a horrible buying experience.

The product itself is reasonable, and if you're unable to find a suitable alternative, then my suggestion would be to make sure you go through a reputable online retailer - Zappos, or Bags.com, something like that. Just make sure you don't ever order directly through their web portal. Sanity is a terrible thing to waste. You have been warned.

EDIT: I wrote this last week, and then before I published it, I heard from Jansport support (finally), so I figured I would give them the benefit of the doubt. Today I finally got a receipt for the refunded transaction, and of course they did not refund the shipping which was the whole sticking point to begin with. The woman on the phone from support assured me that I would be refunded the entire purchase, but obviously someone somewhere changed their mind about that. Or maybe she was misinformed to begin with.

I find that totally unacceptable, seeing as it was never actually shipped, and they had all the information they needed to get ahead of that order. So at this point, this article is a public service announcement. Jansport makes decent products, but their e-commerce presence is exceptionally bad.

Having solid fulfillment and accountable customer service is a mainstay of modern e-commerce. Plenty of businesses are able to meet this threshold. Jansport is not one of them.