I am not sure if you have ever heard of the company called Targus but if you own a laptop I am sure you have. They tell everyone that they are the global leader in laptop bags when you call their support line, you can also see it on their about page. About 7 months ago I dropped $60 on a new targus backpack for going to and from work with all of my gear. I made it a point not to buy the cheapest bag as I have had some horrible experiences when I have bought the cheapest items. About a month ago the seam along the zipper on the bag started to let loose a bit. I dealt with it for a while and now even when the bag is zipped you can still get the laptop, books, etc out of the bag without having to unzip it.

I emailed Targus support about 2 weeks ago and never heard a response back from them. Today I decided to call into support to see what I had to do in order to get this bag replaced. The woman I spoke with told me they would replace the bag however I had to send my bag in before they would send out a replacement. This is understandable however I cannot do that because I use the bag every day to go to and from work. Without a bag I would have a hard time getting all of my stuff to work with me. I asked if I could provide a credit card to them and have them ship me the new bag and if I did not return the defective bag they would have my card to charge for the amount of the bag. This is how most companies I have dealt with work when it comes to having to replace items. The woman continued to argue with me telling me that there was nothing else that could be done. When I asked her what I was supposed to use to get my stuff to and from work her answer shocked me. She said “I guess you will have to go buy a bag and when you get the new one from us, return the one you bought.” That is a bit too unethical for me and I could not believe that a company would tell someone to do something like that. I requested to speak to her supervisor and she said there was not one available. Oddly enough after insisting I speak to a supervisor she got me on the phone with a gentleman by the name of Gary Carver. He also insisted that there was nothing that could be done about this situation. I have to send my bag in before they will replace it.

While I understand their point they need to understand that if you buy a bag you cannot go without it otherwise why buy the bag in the first place? They are dealing with a product that is heavily used by a lot of people and to leave their customers hanging like this does not award them good PR. Tonight I went out and bought a new Swiss Army bag and when I get the replacement from Targus I will rid myself of it and never buy another Targus product.

On a side note someone should tell Targus that ASP 3.0 is so 1990’s and they need to get with the times.