SaddleBackLeather

First briefcase I bought wasn't sealed right and dye ruined two sets of slacks and shirts of mine. While friendly staff didn't care and gladly refunded the cost of the bag. I had a notepad holder that became warped and it was like pulling teeth to get them to do a warranty claim. They finally determined that the item should be replaced and the replacement was visible lower quality and had a missing rivet. I gave up at that point. I finally decide to give them another try. I ordered a $859 briefcase and the amount at checkout and what I was charged were two different numbers. Their response is to reject the item when it arrives and get my money back. Both quality and service are declining with saddleback

I purchased about 15 items from Saddleback Leather over the last couple of months, generally of good quality from a company that seemed to be interested in doing good in the world.

Boy was I wrong. When one of the items turned out to be defective (the handle of the bag was sewn severely off to one side), I asked to return it. I asked them for an update a week later, then another week later, and after a third request for the RMA, they made the determination that nothing was wrong with their work. I would love to post a photo of the defective product. It's an embarrassment to a company that purports to produce leather goods of the highest quality. I can't imagine that my bag is really up to their quality standards. Maybe it is. But if my bag meets their quality standards, then Saddleback Leather isn't the same league as comparably priced leather goods.

I've bought enough stuff Saddleback Leather that they should treat me like family. I've invested in their mission and employees substantially. Instead, their ultimate response to asking them to replace their defective bag was that I could probably still sell it on Ebay or Facebook (I assume they meant Amazon, maybe!).

This is a company pretending to do the Lord's work, but it's a wolf in sheep's clothing. I suspect that this is a company that does the right thing only as a last resort.
The handle is centered on the left bag. The defective, non-centered handle is on the right. Saddleback Leather says this meets their quality standards. If it meets yours, place an order and play the lottery. Maybe you'll get a good one.

Last X-mas I received a messenger bag as a gift. The quality was outstanding. Since then I've collected 4 other bags from eBay. One bag was about 10 years old and some of the rivets rubbed off on the straps. At their expense Saddleback had me ship the bag to them. They replaced the rivets and removed the rub marks. The customer service was very friendly, and the warranty work was excellent. The bags are beautiful. They are expensive, but you are buying a bag engineered to last 100 years of daily use. I notice people complain that the quality has diminished. But compared to the older bats (I own a few), the hardware on the new bags is all stainless steel (vs. Nickle-plated brass), and the designs are even better (e.g., I think the front pocket messenger bag is far superior to previous designs that used an internal divider).

There was a day when their prices were fair, and the quality was excellent. These were the days when they built their impressive reputation - today they're cashing-out on that with every naive customer that gives them the money to do so.
This is another company that has their products made outside the United States with materials from outside the United States, then uses the United States as a market to sell their wares.
Don't be taken in by the yes-men and shills with which the company's owner surrounds himself to bolster the company's (and his personal) reputation, often at the aggressive repression of those who would express their honest opinions. Take a look at what his employees say on Glassdoor.