SOOO Disappointed in Fleurville...looking for advice!

[jasabo]

I also wanted to chime in, a little late, and thank you, Catherine, for responding. I've been a little worried after reading all the bad c/s posts recently, and it's nice to know that you are paying attention and willing to work with your customers. Good c/s means as much to me as a good bag, and goes a long way to creating customer loyalty.

I have a Lime Bingo MS, which I've been very happy with, though I don't care at all for the strap - much too wide and not long enough to wear messenger style. Also, I'd love a cell phone pocket. Right now, I have a Timbuk 2 cell phone holder attached to my strap, which is a bit of a pain and doesn't look very good either.

I also have a red canvans Alpha 7, which is my favorite bag of all time. I LOVE the strap - it's long enough to fit across the handles of my Inglesina Twin and the organization is great. I just wish it was a tad bigger. And I'd love some fun prints in the Alpha's, similar to the Pink Stripe and Lime Bingo prints.

Also, as a mom of twins, I need to carry two of everything, so two interior bottle pockets in the Alpha's would be great...big enough to fit sippy cups too. And, of course, a cell phone pocket.

Oh, and I actually really like the velcro on the Alpha's. It makes it very easy for me to open and close the bag with one hand, and also allows me to stuff a lot into the bag and still close it. I'm not a big fan of magnet snaps. But I'm sure we all have different opinions about these things.

Anyway, thanks so much for responding to these posts. And also, kudos to you for starting such a successful business. I have a lot of admiration for moms who do things like that.

Lisa - mom to 17 month old twin boys

[masetane]

HI Catherine - thank you for your nice replies! I posted earlier in this thread and I have tried twice to email you to address you provided. Both times it was returned to me as undeliverable. Could you email me at [email protected] and then maybe I could explain to you the problem I am having with my alpha 7 and you could give me some advice. Thanks so much!
Caroline
http://fool.exler.ru/sm/ma.gif
Isabelle 10/1/00
Nicholas 2/27/03

[reseam]

First thank you Catherine for coming here to talk with us and help to alleviate some of the concerns several of the ladies have had. It means alot.

Secondly..let me say I absoultely love my Blue Chocolate Alpha 7! It seems as if it is the perfect bag for me and I'm happy with my purchase, I think I've only had it around a month now or so.

The only concerns I've had is that recently a juice sippy cup somehow leaked and got the bottom of the bag wet and it managed to leak through the interior lining and got the blue material wet underneath the laminate style lining. I was quite concerned about staining and worried that a water spot might form. I emailed your company and received a response the same day from David (turn the lining inside out when wet immediatly, try soap and water if a stain does form.)Unfortunatly there is a small stain..well more like a discoloration to the bottom of the bag, but I believe David's recommendation to turn the bag inside out helped it from getting worse. I've actually decided to take precautionary measures now...you can never trust sippy cup I've found..and since I do not need to use the changing pad right now for it's intended purpose I've folded it up and put it on the bottom of the bag for extra leak protection and it seems to be working well. So actually a suggestion I might have for improvement in the new bags is making the lining on the bottom interior of the bag a bit thicker to help deter soak throughs. The only other thing I've noticed about the bag is a couple of tiny bubbles in the lining on the bottom. I'm hoping they will remain that way....tiny I mean.

Again thank you for your responses and thank you for my wonderful bag!

Reseam
Mommy to Kayla Elizabeth (9/23/00)
and Joshua Alan (11/11/02)

[aidansmommy]

Hi Catherine--
I have many Fleurville bags (A7 in blue choc, red canvas, and black cord, MS in denim, EP in orange geo, and a wrist bag in blue choc.) Just wanted to let you know I love them all. Of all of them, the Alpha 7's are perfect for me and I wish they came in many of the fabrics the Mothership comes in. I'd love to see it available in brown cord, pink stripes, houndstooth, and white cord.
Thanks for a super product and it's great to see that you care so much about customer concerns!

[Mommyto3]

To offer amazing customer service and chat diaper bags with all of us!! I want to congratulate you on a fabulous product and your ability to juggle 2 kids and a growing business! Very impressive!!

I LOVE my Fleurville bags..I own 2 motherships and 1 A7...My A7 is my bag of choice, the organization on these bags is amazing. I have the pink stripe mothership and houndstooth..I used the pink stripe all summer going back and forth to the beach, and it looks brand new!

My only wish..and this may have already been suggested somewhere ;) is that there were more print options on the A7 and it was vinyl covered. I am also desperately searching for a good backpack..the A7 is too boxy for me to use it as a backpack..it looks funny on me. But, as I'm sure you can appreciate...I can't use my bag messenger style because the baby is usually in the bjorn, and when I wear it over my shoulder it usually falls off my shoulder.

But really, keep up the great work...you can count on me to always support your brand...especially now that I know your 'story'...you have really personalized your brand and product for me. I am also a working mom and know how difficult it can be..so I guess that is why I really appreciate you taking the time to engage in this discussion...I can't wait to see your new bags! I'll be the first in line!

Take care and good luck! Oh..and try to enjoy those babies! :)

[fleurvillemom]

I just tested [email protected] and it worked for me. I need to see if there is still a problem getting emails from outside my system. Could a few of you send me a test email? :)

Thanks!!!
Catherine, mom of Kai (3 3/4 years) and Margot (6 months),
founder of Fleurville (2 years, 1 month!)

[fleurvillemom]

Hi everyone!

It has been so great for me to hear so many great suggestions and comments on our bags! I am definitely taking notes!!! I think that whatever was wrong with [email protected] is fixed now, so please feel free to contact me there! I am continuing to follow this thread and am going to start poking around other parts of the message board too :)!

Take care,
Catherine

[Saartje]

that having to register a diaper bag is a TERRIBLE idea?

Maybe it's just because my husband works for a company that collects information on consumers (they almost certainly know your name, address, how many children you have, and their ages, among other things) and am therefore more aware of what can be done with information you put on registration cards, but I don't like to give out information like that. Information is worth money. My privacy is worth quite a lot to me, and I refuse to give that away for the sake of discounts at the grocery store or because some company says I have to tell them my name, address, and anything else they ask after I buy their product.

Good customer service should not be dependent on giving information away. It means you're being forced to pay something beyond the price of the product to get the company to stand behind their product, even if that extra price doesn't get debited from your bank account.

I know Fleurville is a small company and probably won't do anything untoward with the information (including selling it to DH's company), but (a) that very smallness means I cannot trust them to keep that information secure from theft and (b) they are growing, and sale of information collected from their customers is an easy extra stream of revenue for many companies.

[audball]

I think obviously it really depends on the retailer. If there is a clause (or box to check) about not sharing information, I would hope and trust that the retailer would stand by his or her word. Recently, I misplaced our Peg Perego stroller handbook. When I contacted Peg by email (and if anyone has ever dealt with them, email seems to be the only way you don't get the runaround) and their corporate office immediately sent the correct handbook for my stroller. It was easily evident that they took the information about my stroller off my registry card. Everything was quick and painless!

Similarly, when there was a safety adjustment to the car seat portion, we were alerted right away. My friends who purchased an identical travel system at the same time and did not register never received the notification. It was only when they went to their local BRU did they see the change.

So I can see both sides of the coin...

[fleurvillemom]

Hi Joanne!

Thanks for your comments and suggestions! I totally agree about wanting to put prints on the A7. This is something I'm tyring to work into the redesigned A7. It's tricky because there can't be lots of small pattern pieces... I think there will probably be 2 versions of that bag -- a very simple covered one and a more technical gear-y one.

I'm very lucky to be able to have adorable Margot sitting right next to me playing with her toys!!! :P

Take care,
Catherine