Special Report – Osprey Accolades

To celebrate its 35th anniversary in 2009, Osprey launched the All Mighty Guarantee, an enhancement of a lifetime warranty that was already one of the most robust in the industry. Free of charge, the company will repair any damage or defect in its product – whether it was purchased in 1974 or yesterday. If Osprey is unable to repair the item, it will happily replace it. The All Mighty Guarantee: any product, any reason, any era.

(Retrieved from www.ospreypacks.com/en/web/osprey_history)

Those close to me know that I take good care of the things that I value, the things that help me get through the day, the things that take me to places out of the ordinary. My packs are no exception.

In the early 2000s, I purchased my first Osprey pack, which led to a series of other items manufactured by the Cortez, Colorado-based company. Recently, I submitted to their customer service department a pack that I bought such a long time ago that I don’t remember when it was new. I do know that it has been one of my favorite packs of all time, my Stratos 18.

Mostly used for my days in the field when my dogs were in their athletic prime, this pack has seen many, many miles, not to mention rain, hail, sun, mud, alkaline soil, brush as high as my ears, and no shortage of lagomorph and canine blood. Ironically, my pack was damaged in the safe haven of my garage – a rodent (since exterminated). My beautiful pack, still functional, had been cosmetically thrashed by a stupid mouse. R.I.P, furry-bastard!

I mulled over my options – and then I mulled them over some more. At least a year later, I decided to give the nice folks at Osprey a call. What the heck! If nothing else, maybe they could give me a suggestion for a third-party repair shop or send me a swatch of fabric that I could use to make repairs on my own. But because this company has such a firm commitment to customer service, they took my pack. Then the most amazing thing happened: some wonderful and talented person repaired my pack and they charged me NOTHING. After all these years. They returned my pack to me as if I’d bought it a month ago. Did I mention, they don’t even make this pack anymore (long ago discontinued).

I should have known. This was not the first time Osprey has done right by me. A couple years ago, I sent them another pack, a daypack that I used to carry my laptop and knick-knacks to work. It was a good pack, but the waterproof liner in the inside had worn away with use and the stretchy water-bottle pockets had become too stretched out. Rather than repair this pack, they offered me the choice of a new pack. Bingo! I now have an Osprey Talon 11, another fabulous pack, I might add.

80CG6572Everyone has their favorite manufacturer of outdoor gear. I’m not trying to convince anyone to make a switch. I just wanted to share a story that involved good customer service, a story about honoring a warranty, a story about an American-founded company who’d rather keep a customer than make more money off of them. Kind of rare these days…

– Director Silva DOSO (Director of Snow Operations)