Reader j. sent us the above scan of a page from an L.L. Bean catalog. j. says:
Look where L L Bean advises you to keep your phones and gadgets!
They’re such trusting souls, storing their gadgets outside their backpacks for the whole world to steal. No wonder this is probably the worst complaint we’ve ever gotten about L.L. Bean. They’re obviously just too nice. Good for them.
More From Consumerist
-
Would You Pass Up A Discount On An Item Just To Pay With A Credit Card?
-
Some Companies Apparently Pay Attention To Your Online Complaints
-
Survey: Barely Half Of E-Mails To Major Retailers Receive Adequate Responses
-
Customer Finds Frog In Can Of Green Beans, Gets $50 For Her Troubles
-
Southwest Passenger Learns The Hard Way That Not All Checked Bags Are Treated Equally
Haven’t you even been to Maine?!
What else would you expect from a company with no locks on the doors of it’s flagship store?
Can I get the one on the left in crossing gaurd orange?
They are in cahoots with Apple. Thieves steal your cell phone and leave a coupon inviting you to stand in line for an iPhone!
I’m assuming the “turbo” designation is meant to make us think these bags are “cutting edge” and appeal to the “younger demographic”.
@snoop-blog: Yes, yes you can.
[www.llbean.com]
Putting your gadgets there would be retarded. That pocket is meant for your life savings in cash. duh.
In the pictures, they both have gigantic Nokia cell phones from 1997. If I had a phone that old, I’d probably be begging for someone to steal it.
@Bladefist: I thought it was where you were supposed to leave your credit and social security cards!
@LinkDJ: LOL, I had that phone! It was my first cell phone that I bought with my first job… when I was sixteen. That was ten years ago.
Maybe the packs are more less meant for like hiking and wilderness type areas where thieving humans are less likely to frequent. Just a guess.
I live in Maine. I leave my car unlocked with the keys in it in my driveway. We don’t lock our house. Its quite nice.
what a crappy phone…who would steal that anyway
@Bladefist: don’t forget your photo ID and social security card!
Maine. The state where you can leave the heat on in the car while you run into the convenience store, and still expect to still have a car when you get back. Yes, we’re just that trusting. And for the most part, that trust is respected. The local news is so subdue, the biggest stories we are likely to have is that snowmobile accidents were high this winter at around 25. We tend to be a lot more suspicious when we see a lot of out of state license plates around though.
If you’re ever up in the area, do your self a favor and stop at the L.L. Bean store. They’ve got trout swimming indoors right along the isles, and “fish pond” does not begin to describe it. L.L. Bean is the best thing to come out of Maine since lobster.
Hmmm, I really DO know people who leave their keys in their car. I always thought that you can’t file a stolen car claim with your insurance company if the keys were left in it.
It looks like a decoy phone to me.
1) Unsuspecting would-be thief eyes the phone
2) Tries to lift it from the mesh pocket
3) Gets exposed to a very nasty electrical shock
4) ???
5) PROFIT!
@AceKicker: I’ve had my eye on a bag from L.L. Bean for a while now- I like the simple functionality of their designs and products. I just can’t convince myself to spend the amount they want on shipping to Canada. In the case I do pick it up, I certainly won’t keep my cell phone in the outside pocket.
@mariospants:
Correction. “Turbo” means you get your crap stolen lickety-split.
@snoop-blog: I grew up in a very small town where people routinely left their keys in their cars — and it was not necessarily bad manners to borrow a friend’s car without asking, as long as you were quick and put it back roughly where you found it. Had anyone attempted to take advantage of this system and steal one of the cars, both car and thief would’ve been recognized quickly on the street. And probably waved to. It was too small a town, in many respects.
L.L. Bean is a fantastic company. I’ve bought a lot of hiking/outdoors clothing and equipment from them over the years, had to negotiate a couple of returns, and they’ve never been less than polite, swift and efficient.
@boss_lady: It might be worth it in the long run. I believe they have lifetime guarantees on their bags. I know of people who had back packs from high school that they exchanged for new ones when they wore out 8 -10 years later.
this ad sponsored by the International Pickpocket Association
It’s common practice in advertising to put all kinds of things in every pocket imaginable before snapping the picture. Ever see the Lands’ End briefcase in their catalog? Now that was a joke. (Great bag, stupid photos.)
Moderators, please take note of these comments.
@AceKicker: We drive up from Boston to the LL Bean store at least 2x a year. Sometimes on our way to or from Acadia, sometime just because. Love that store.
As soon as I walk into one of their stores, I immediately start planning this big camping trip and scoping out all the things I need to buy.
Then I walk out of the store and back into the mall and realize that I like central a/c too much to part with it for a week of peeing in the bushes.
You know you grew up in New England when, the first thing you think of when you see this is “why would I buy a new LL Bean backpack, the one I got in 6th grade is still in great shape.” That was 17 years ago!! Seriously awesome company.
I see people do this all the time. I always ball up my fists to keep from nabbing it then handing it back to them a block or two later for an object lesson.
@Spaceman Bill Leah: I’m going to throw in a Jansport back-pack plug here. I bought mine during my freshman year of college in late 1997 and it’s STILL going strong. No tears, rips, holes, anything. I only use it now when I go on trips, but it’s been FANTASTIC. I think I paid $60 for it at the time of purchase.
Hmm. I could get away with this if I wanted. I carry my bag a block on a non-busy street from my car to work. Otherwise it mostly travels from the curb or driveway of private homes inside, then back out.
Not *everyone* is wearing their backpack on crowded public transit for hours each day.
For a minute I had LL Bean mixed up with Land’s End. I though Consumerist had gone nuts saying this was the worst complaint, completely forgetting the association with Sears/KMart… then I realized it’s just me.
I like LL Bean.
@JerBearHtL42: I don’t believe you…please prove you live in Maine by providing your address, and directions from Boston. Thanks.
My mother still has that phone. STILL.
Really depends on the situation. I went to a high school where you could literally leave everything you owned in the middle of the hallway, and nothing would be touched except the pens/pencils – which would be immediately borrowed
These bags arent big enough for school. My kids would need 3 of them to bring home their homework. I guess they are just for your electronics.
Additionally, L.L. Bean’s return/fix policy is fantastic. My dad bought a jacket there in the 1980s. 20 years later, the lining is work and the zipper doesn’t work – he brings it in, they fix it up good as new for free.
L.L. Bean’s store is open 24/7/365 with no locks on the doors. Maine is the most trusting place on the planet!
@TheBusDriver:
Lol…that reminds me of that old SNL skit…
“Announcer: From Boston Mass, right off the Mass Turnpike, it’s What’s The Best Way – All right, here’s your host, Stanley Sperrow -
Stanley Sperrow: Hello, welcome to What’s the Best Way, the only game show by New Englanders, for New Englanders. Ok folks, ready to play?”
@AceKicker: Reminds me of when I was younger and we would go to the U.P. and visit grandma, we would pack snow over our license plate so they wouldn’t know we were from out-of-state. They would do shit to out-of-state cars, well, just because.
I am ‘J’ and I agree, in most parts of MAINE you can do such naive things, the parts with out all tourists. I don’t live in Maine and I leave my keys in my truck ALL the time. I was just kinda shocked that someone didn’t catch that photo.
@MissPeacock: I’ll back you on the Jansport packs. I had one for 7 years (4 in college, 3 of work), heavy use, carried full loads easily 20+ pounds daily in school. I carried it single strap, alternating each semester for my back, and never had a strap problem. I had to toss it b/c the zipper teeth finally wore down so much that they’d pull apart at the top of the bag. Still have the wife’s pack from 1992 that I told her to get at the time. $60 well spent on a padded back and leather bottom pack. I also have a Samsonite, Ogio, and an eBags that I like very much, although they do not see the use my old Jansport had.
LL Bean does make some quality gear. And yeah, I’ve actually seen people walking around with calculators, keys and cells in the mesh pouches of their bags at college in the past few years. Way back when I was in jr high, I got a bag that had pencil slots on the outside. First thing I though was that I’d never make it to my locker before the pencils got stolen – or if I’d even make it inside the building, for that matter.
@chrrey103: wow. what are kids learning these days? xD
all i had on me for the entirety of high school and college was a 1/2″ binder and a notebook.
i’m guessing they don’t have lockers in school anymore?
What in the hell do you need 8 pockets for anyway? (see: right description)
@JerBearHtL42: no kidding! my uncle had to rummage around 3 neighbor’s kitchens while they weren’t home before he found his lobster pot (that they borrowed when he wasn’t home).
his grumblings about having to hunt down his pot made me chuckle a bit considering how strange leaving your house unlocked & open to your neighbors is to “foreigners”.
@Soulgenesis
They do have lockers but they have tons of homework they have to carry home. Last year my daughter brought home 3 huge books everynight. My son is supposed to but I rarely see his. Unfortunately, the rolling bookbags aren’t “cool”. I just ordered a Jansport so I am glad to hear the reviews. Old Navy is also very sturdy.
@Shannon: I dunno, that one on the left definitely looks like it’s being worn by a kid at school.
Besides, losing your phone in the wilderness because it falls out of the mesh pocket it was hanging out of isn’t exactly fun either.
@chiieddy: Here, Here Chiieddy!
@Spaceman Bill Leah: Yes. I actually bought a new one when a single zipper wore out on my old one after 10 years, even though they offer the lifetime replacement warranty, because I felt like, dammit, I used it every day, and 4 years of high school, 4 years of college, 2 years of lawschool, 2 continents, 11 countries, and 3 cars later, I HAD GOTTEN MY $48.50 WORTH AND THEY DESERVED MY DAMN MONEY FOR A NEW ONE.
I also have an Eddie Bauer flannel shirt that’s still with me, that has been on a similar life/world tour. Only I didn’t wear it daily after grunge went out.
But it’s been a raincoat, blanket, pillow, sweater, hobo carryall, collared shirt to tour the cathedrals of Europe ….
Hooray for high quality!
@snoop-blog: You can have mine. Well, 2 years ago you could have.
Technically, I already gave it away my orange manbag. Not because it was orange and awesome, but because there’s just something unmanly about cute cashiers asking me where I bought my purse, or when your friend’s girlfriend buys one in a different color.
@Legal_Eagle_In_Training:
“a week of peeing in the bushes”
– that’s one of the best things about camping!!!