Crumpler

Twas my birthday recently, and the colleagues bought me a new laptop bag from Crumpler because (they claim) they were starting to be embarrassed by me bringing my old Victorinox bag into meetings.
It’s a GOOD BAG OKAY, it’s served me loyally for 7 years now. Tsk.
Anyway. So I’m notoriously picky, and they make sure to have a gift receipt where I can go in and change it if I don’t like it (in theory without ever finding out the price).
I didn’t really find anything I loved, and ended up keeping the bag I walked in with, but that’s all not the point.
The service staff were amazing. Mad MAD props to the two guys that were on shift. They were all proactive in offering assistance to anyone that walked in, they knew their products, I was able to break down exactly what I liked and didn’t like and they gave me options and then told me ‘no rush, shopping’s all about taking your time’.
I’m still not a fan of Crumpler products… but the service here was top notch. 5 stars really, but the fact that there aren’t ANY bags that fit what I wanted really leaves me unable to say this store and the brand it represents is worth of 5.

I’m not sure if I’m supposed to rate the store or the product, so I’m going to splitsies and give it 3 stars. The problem with buying stuff in Singapore comes down to the fundamental issue of warehousing. Specifically, the limited warehousing and the resultant lack of options. A common refrain from Singaporeans who go shopping overseas is that they got the exact model, in the color and size that they wanted. Well, you won’t get that here. «No Stock» is a common refrain accompanied by a sheepish grin. Hey, they try…
I was given one of these as a hand me down in the mid 90s. It was and still is a beat up messenger bag that does the job of stashing my stuff admirably. I’ve always thought these were cool even before they were cool. I still lug all my stuff around in a Crumpler. It’s just frustrating trying to get models and colors or sizes in Singapore.
If you’re wiling to put up with that, it’s an ok shopping experience. The staff genuinely want to help, but there’s only so much they can do with limited warehousing options. Retail is marked up quite a fair bit, which is why it’s considered a «luxury»…yes, a luxury messenger bag?!