I just thought I’d share a great experience with you all as we here at CGR always like to champion excellent service when we see it. I own (on and off) an Arc’teryx Cerium SL, I say on and off as both of my young adult sons have nicked this jacket off me on ‘permanent loan’. No sooner than I get it back from the eldest the youngest snaffles it. One day it will return to its rightful owner! So, my youngest calls: ‘…zip’s knackered on your jacket Dad, it won’t do up, do you want it back?’ – kid’s eh!
I then started to research out how much a repair to the main zip would be, so I checked out Lancashire Sports Repairs and Alpkit for zip repairs. Both of these are excellent and I have used both in the past – £65 they were quoting. Then an idea occurred to me – I checked my Arc’teryx account and joy of joys I’d bought this jacket in 2018 (the sample products we test aren’t generally covered by a warranty). So I thought I’d see if Arc’teryx offered a repair service and see how much that would cost.
They do offer a repair service and my first point of contact was through the repair portal on the website (you will find this in the Product Care, which is at the bottom of the home page titled Product Care, you then click rapair and go from there). I needed the order number and then I followed the instructions which asked to described the fault, take some photographs (including the labels so if you want to try and repair that knock off one you bought in Vietnam then it’s not going to work) and send that off. A day or so later an email arrived saying the photos had been assessed and I was invited to send the jacket off for further assessment. I was assured that if a repair was needed it would be done free of charge, all I needed to do was to pay for the initial postage. Result!
One important thing is to ensure that the garment is clean and washed. The conditions are clear that the repair centre cannot repair dirty items (for hygiene reasons) so if you are just back from 6 weeks in Patagonia, then you will need to wash the item before sending off. There is a tiered cost for cleaning that you will need to agree to if you wish the repair centre to clean it for you. So I sent the item off to the repair centre in Scotland – I’m based in the UK so it was great to send it off to somewhere in country, which helps keep the cost and carbon down.
About a week or so later an email arrived saying that the jacket was eligible for repair and what zip would I like. I requested that they fit a Vislon zip if possible (the original Cerium SL comes with an Aquacoil zip as standard). They also provided a swatch of colours to choose from. I chose what I thought was an appropriate colour. The next day a reply landed advising that a darker colour would be better – I said ‘cool whatever you advise’. Important to note though that the repair centre will offer a best match and cannot guarantee an exact match. The website portal does a great job of explaining what may happen and you agree to that before sending off.
About a couple of weeks later another email landed to say the jacket was on its way back to me with a tracking number. I was blown away with the result – absolutely first class and looking like new. The centre had sewn in a new Vislon zip as requested and it looked great – their suggested colour choice was perfect. The whole process from initial contact took a month, which was great considering LSR and Alpkit stated 6 weeks on their sites. Most of my contact was with the same person and they were professional, friendly and helpful throughout the whole process. First class service and needless to say as soon as youngest son saw it he asked ‘can I have that back then’ – you win some you lose some eh.
STOP PRESS – heading up to the Lakes 24th – 26th May over the Bank Holiday weekend? Dig out you old Arc’teryx kit if it needs repairing as there will be a Re: BIRD station at the Arc’teryx Academy basecamp. Just rock up for expert advice and free repairs! More information here.
