BEWARE - Cheap quality backpacks and support

!!Don’t bother!!

Sealand is the typical South African story. All the promises, ZERO SUBSTANCE.

My wife wanted a new backpack, we liked the whole “recycled” theme and their colours, so I decided to try this “support local” initiative and got her a Sealand Buddy Backpack. BIG MISTAKE.

Had it a couple of months and the seems started to unravel with barely any use. I had my doubts when I bought the backpack, it does feel and look quite cheap, but I thought surely they’d construct it properly to last. Well, it IS cheap and it doesn’t last.

So you’re probably thinking: “theres after-sales support and warrantees for that, quality guarantees to take care of instances when product quality issues slip through the cracks”. WRONG!

On 19 April my wife returned the bag to one of their stores, they insisted on it being repaired and more than a month later, we’re yet to receive a single call or feedback about this backpack repair story. Out of desperation I went to the store myself to try and put this mess behind me, NOPE. The Manager was off (Moses) and the employees (Jayden and Oliver) were completely unable to reach any kind of conclusion on the matter. They called around, yet again, no conclusion. I asked for the Manager’s surname to be able to escalate this (He was the person that the backpack was given to for repair), they refused to give it to me and the Manager himself (Called from the store) also refused citing “POPI” act. It appears that the brand is not big on educating their employees and instead promote false information and avoidance tactics.

Long story short, the store had no answer and they proceeded to look through this substantial book of repairs brought in by customers (Concerning by the way how many items are being repaired, although unsurprising), they found my return but still had no information for me. They called around and still, no information. I even asked them to show me in their call list book (tracks feedback to customers) if we were contacted, confirmed, not a single call or email

I then just asked for my money back, since the product has completely failed at the most basic level and their service was non-existent, I therefore just wanted my money back after wasting a month hoping to just get my bag back. All I wanted was to move on with my life and learn from this mistake.

Yet again, the answer was NO.

So, let me save you some drama: Go buy a properly constructed Fjallraven or Patagonia (Also recycled) backpack (available locally in Cape Town) and give Sealand a big skip. Sealand is just another example of big promises and no follow-through. Once they have your money, it’s over. You’re better off just throwing the bag away and cutting your losses. By now I don’t even want a new Sealand backpack, the bag and after-sales service is just simply so disappointing!

Here’s a link to the Fjallraven stockist, thank me later:) https://justlikepapa.com/pages/fjallraven