Tumi Luggage

I try to shop small: in New York retailers have to pay high rents, and incur all sorts of expenses that online retailers do not. So when I needed a tote bag for travel I decided to go to Tumi in Soho.
The store was having a sale on a particular model that I liked. However they were out of the black, which was the color I wanted. The sales associate offered to have it ordered however I needed it sooner. He kindly offered to call another store for me which he did. They had one at their Madison Avenue shop. I asked for the cross street. He gave me the cross street — however when I arrived at the location it was off by ten blocks.
I then called the Madison avenue store for the correct directions. I also asked if the store was on the east or west side of the street. I was told it was the east side.
The black tote I wanted was indeed at the Madison avenue shop — which is on the west side of Madison avenue, for anyone who is interested — however it was NOT on sale. I wish I’d known this before I’d gone uptown however the sales associate in Soho either did not know or did not think to tell me.
I was not happy however I’d already invested the morning so I bought the bag. However it was a lot of money and I was having major buyer’s remorse.
Back at the Soho shop a few days later, a nice young woman sales associate accepted the return. She printed out the return price for the bag I’d gotten on Madison avenue and the new one on one receipt, and I took home a tote on sale but in a color I really didn’t like. A few days later online I found the exact Tumi bag I wanted in a much nicer color at a lower price online.
I took the second bag to return to the Soho store.
I can imagine that a customer who keeps changing her mind is a pain. I don’t like being that way but at the end of the day, customer service is for all customers. I was not trying to cheat anybody and I had not used the bag or soiled it in any way. I simply wanted to return it for the money I’d spent and I was well within the 30 day return period.
Neither of the original sales associates I’d met the first two times was there. A third young woman said she’d process the return for me, however she said she could only refund the difference between the two bags, not the full amount. Why? Because the prior sales woman had given me a single receipt. Her exact words were, «we couldn’t accept this return even if we wanted to.» She gave me an 800 number to call if I wasn’t happy.
I asked why I was being penailzed for her fellow sales associate not giving me two separate receipts. I asked to see the manager. He didn’t have any better ideas. I explained that in my opinion the line of luggage that will replace a bag that someone has had for years with a brand new one would be able to facilitate a return from a single receipt. They both looked at me helplessly so I called the 800 number, in front of them. It was the wrong number: it was the repairs number not the returns number. I demanded the returns number. They did not have it. Finally I said I wasn’t leaving until they could find someone who could get me a better answer. The manager did some malarkey pretending I’d bought some product and then returning it to the store, in a procedure that I really did not understand, said that the other woman who’d just told me it couldn’t be done was new.
I don’t even really blame the sales associates for all of this. They were all young, and clearly inexperienced. Somebody should have trained them to tell people which items are on sale, which are not, how to handle a return, and for that matter, the other addresses of their other stores and what their exact locations are. Sure, I could have used an app on my phone, but this is Tumi, famed for their customer service and their quality. If I have to figure it all out myself I might as well save the money. Which I did. I bought the bag on line and that was that.

I must say that I had an amazing experience shopping for a luxury bag at Tumi Soho. My sales rep, Adeline, was extremely pleasant, knowledgable of the products, and patient.
When I first arrived to the store, I was greeted and made to fell right at home. After thirty minutes of working to make up my mind, Adeline worked quickly to monogram my new bag and even worked thorough a register issue. I can honestly say that I’m extremely pleased with the service at this location and truly appreciate the personalized attention I received while I worked to find a new bag to add to my collection.
Thanks again for the amazing service. I will definitely shop here again.

Wow, these guys are great!
I received the Benning messenger bag as a gift in the anthracite color, but was very disappointed when the metal zipper kept getting caught around the corners. The metal zippers were also scratching me when I reached in and out pockets.
I was out of the country for two months since I received the bag so it was definitely out of the 30 day return policy. When I came back in town, I stopped by this store to ask if there were any complaints by other consumers or if there were any recalls. I was told that there weren’t any others complaints but they didn’t want me to be unhappy. I was offered a brand new Benning bag in the black and brown color because the zippers were plastic rather than metal.
I walked in not expecting much but was pleasantly surprised about their concern for my satisfaction.
The new bag with plastic zippers are great and I have a new found respect for the TUMI brand.
Please excuse any typos as this was written on my iPhone.

Great customer service! My husband purchased two carry on suitcases and the large veyr light weight Tumi as a Christmas present in 2012. I was about to leave for Prague and discovered that one of the zipper pulls had come off – which would mean I couldn’t lock it in hotel rooms. I called the store and they suggested I cover over right away. It wasn’t that easy to fix, two of them struggled for just a bit, but they finally replaced the pull and it worked beautifully. I was able to lock the suitcase on the plane and in hotel rooms, creating a kind of much larger safe that could hold all our electronic gear. Also, the lightweight Tumi line is great. I was in Krakow which does not seem to have stairs and escalators in train stations so I was appreciating it even more! Highly recommend this store and its good natured staff. Plan to go back, no question. Thought it was very nice that they didn’t charge me for that repair even though it took awhile. And they did it right away.

Great selection, knowledgable staff and hands down the best service.

THE best customer service ever! When you buy luggage, you almost always expect it to fail quickly, especially if you travel a lot. At least thats my experience. Well, when you buy from Tumi, especially the team at this store, you have a travel support team, that keeps things running smoothly. If you ever have a problem with your item, or you need real help, they are there for you. I would say make the investment if you travel regularly, especially if its business.

Granted it is a small store but anything a big store can handle or get, it was a matter of time. Service been great with my sales rep Rob.

This is basically the smallest Tumi store ever. I don’t think I’ve ever bought anything at this location, but they do seem to have newer (or rarer or trendier or something) lines than most of the other Tumi stores.
I own lots of Tumi. I don’t know why it makes sense to pay $ 250 for a backpack, but it does.