LL Bean LL Bean's Rugged Ridge Parka with Defective Plastic Zipper, World's Worst Customer Service Freeport, Maine

I worked for L.L. Bean as both a Customer Service Rep. II and a trainer for four years.  I am so sorry you had this experience.  Hopefully, I can give a little insider information about L.L. Bean customer service and what may have happened.

When two items are shipped back to L.L. Bean when one has been replaced due to a defect, it only shows up as one credit as the second was shipped free of charge. We call this a BWR (Buyer Will Return). You paid for one, you get credit for one (even though both were shipped back.

As for the quality issue, when L.L. sees a trend with a quality issue with an item, they will address and correct the problem.  But, it often takes a while for a trend to be established.

Also, I noticed the date was during peak.  During peak, return can take up to 4 weeks to be processed due to warehouse space and volume of returns during that time.  When you track a return, you see a signature for a palate with about 500 returns on it.  Sometimes returns will sit on palates for a week or two before thay are processed just due to sheer volume after Christmas.  During peak, it is not unusual for 275,000 orders to be shipped in one day.  After Christmas L.L. Bean can get as many as 40,000 returns in one day.

Again, I am very sorry this happened to you.  Please call a customer service rep. (not an order rep.) and I know they would be more than happy to restore your faith in this company.
They are the only company I have ever worked for that truly put their customer first.

Thank you, 

Robin