Too far gone? Nope, Mammut’s repair service saved my jacket

No idea what I’m talking about? And what about the cat, I hear you ask? Okay, let me explain. I’m an e-bike commuter. Every day, I ride almost 15 kilometres to the office and just as many back. It takes me about 35 minutes. After over a hundred trips, I know just about every house and every tree along the route. But not the cat that recently jumped out of a hedge into my path. My instinct told me not to run over the animal. Unfortunately, this meant slamming the brakes on a gritted road and on a slight bend.

My evasive manoeuvre was only half successful. The cat may have been frightened, but remained unharmed. I wasn’t so lucky. The bike skidded sideways and I landed on the ground, where kinetic energy was transformed into friction on the fine grit. The result? A dusty right half of my body. My right arm slowed me down the most. There are holes on the sleeve of my Mammut jacket from the fall. Even the shirt I was wearing underneath was ripped open. Same with the skin; blood was dripping from the scrape.

Back home, I took a closer look at the damage. The fabric of the rain jacket was torn over an area of around seven by four centimetres.

I’ve been conditioned to consume for decades. That’s why my first reaction was to go online and find then order a new jacket. However, when I asked Mammut, I found out that my Roseg HS Hooded Jacket had been taken out of the range. Understandable, it was a model from the 2018 summer collection. The friendly e-mail then went on to say that there was no direct follow-up. Instead, I was recommended the Convey Tour HS Hooded Jacket as an alternative.

Jackets

Mammut Convey Tour HS Hooded Jacket

L

4.85

Jackets

Mammut Convey Tour HS Hooded Jacket

L

4.85

I’d already found it when clicking through the Galaxus range and had even added it to my shopping cart. Not least because it was recommended to me by fellow editor Jordan Frey from our Category Management team.

But given the 250-franc price tag for the jacket, I didn't immediately press "Order". When a marketing buddy who used to work for Mammut told me about their repair service, a spark of hope lit up inside me. Could my beloved Mammut jacket possibly be saved after all?

I wasted no time, contacted the Mammut service and received a response after just a few hours. Pretty quick, I’d say. However, the process of placing a repair order… let’s just say I was getting fax-age vibes. I’m sent a link to a PDF form. I dutifully filled in the fields about myself as a customer, described the damage and stated the maximum amount that I’d pay for a repair without further enquiry. The PDF price list, to which I also received a link, serves as a guide. I decided on a maximum of 80 francs and noted that the repaired jacket should also be professionally washed and given another coat of waterproofing.

I then had to save the PDF and send it to the service e-mail address again, together with a photo of the label showing the style and serial number. I’d already cleverly stated this in the PDF document. I also attached a photo of the damage.

Just one day later, I received a response that the jacket will be repaired. As instructed, I put the janky jacket in a box, printed out the repair form and enclosed it. Then I took the parcel to the post office. Mammut specified a processing time of ten working days. In the meantime, I blindly wished for less rainy weather.

Slight delays…

A little more time passed: not ten working days in the end, but 18. The Mammut team apologised in response to an e-mail enquiry. Apparently, theyhad their hands full. Hence the longer wait. They could’ve told me so proactively, but maybe I’m just spoiled by convenience.

Still, the parcel finally arrived in my mailbox. It was the same box I used. Curious and excited, I opened it and took a look at the jacket. The hole on the sleeve had been pasted over with a rectangular piece of fabric and fully sewn on. Upon closer inspection, I could see a difference in colour between the new and old fabric. Not surprisingly, as the jacket has certainly been exposed to hundreds of hours of weather.

Apart from the jacket, there was only a delivery bill in the box. Createlab is stated as the sender. Apparently, it’s a still quite young company that works with well-known and large outdoor brands to carry out repairs. They were also commissioned by Mammut for my case. And they are also the ones who, when I check up, tell me what services are behind the final invoice of 92 francs. Twelve francs were added for postage and shipping, a Createlab employee explains to me on the phone. For the remaining 80 francs, the jacket was repaired, washed and made waterproof using fogging technology.

So I got exactly what I wanted and paid exactly the amount I’d previously agreed to. Could I have got it all done for 70 francs? Looking back, the whole thing felt a bit like bidding too high at an online auction. But I’m not annoyed, I feel very connected to the goals and values of Createlab – ecology and social issues.

A good deed

My rain jacket is now accompanying me through the wet spring again. The repaired area is like a scar, reminding me to perhaps ride a little more carefully in future. Adding 92 francs for a repair to the purchase price of 170 francs in 2018, my jacket is now worth more than a new one. Nevertheless, I get the pleasant feeling of having done something good – not only for my wallet, but also for the environment. Maybe the whole cat fiasco wasn’t that bad after all.