Pelican Isn't Pelican any more!

[John Jarosz]

I don't see any 'bags' on their website. Which product are you talking about?

John

[Alan Gales]

Funny that none of our national politicians ever speak to the fact that Chinese trade has had a net negative effect upon the USA.

Or that they accept contributions indirectly from the Chinese.

Amen.

[Drew Bedo]

John:

This is a bag I got last year at a camera show from a vender who was selling Pelican cases and bags.

I have now called Pelican to get something fixed and they identify this soft sided bag as their PCS line. They say it is a legitimate Pelican product—not an unauthorized knock-off. Pelican customer service (nice folks) told me that the PCS bags are made in China by a company that licensed the Pelican name. logo and brand. The importer is Omega and they do not honor the traditional excellent Pelican warentee. Their warentee is verry limited and, in my opinion, dodgy.

I am so disapointyed thjat Pelican has sold out like so many other US companies.

[BrianShaw]

A few years ago I was talking to Tamrac about their bags and they told me that half of them (maybe more??) are made off-shore. Anything in their line with a 4-digit part number is off-shore, and the 3-digit part numbers are still US-made. I haven't really looked to see if there are quality differences and I believe they honor the same warantee eon all of their products, regardless of place of manufacture.

It seems odd to me that Pelican, a company that I thought had a reputable name, would have a product line that they acknowledge as lower quality and not worthy of their full warantee... despite carrying their brand name on it.

[Vaughn]

When you get right down to it, American (big) business (and thus our elected officials) want to access the huge Chinese market. And that will not happen if we do not let the Chinese into ours. I am not saying that the Chinese are good at allowing us equal access in return (yet), but that's the facts, madam...

[Frank Petronio]

The Pelican warranty policy is pretty bizarre, I've never heard of a company changing terms on certain products like that, at least for reasonable consumer items.

[E. von Hoegh]

The Pelican warranty policy is pretty bizarre, I've never heard of a company changing terms on certain products like that, at least for reasonable consumer items.

The fact that they will not warranty the Chinese made stuff tells me that they know it's shit.

[Sevo]

I just found out that the Pelican camera bag that I have was made in China and they don't honor the usual warranty!

I have a soft sided roll around/backpack that works fine as a camera bag. But now0 the pull-out handle won't deploy fully and one of the "feet" has broken off the bottom. I can't pull it and it won't stand up. When I called Pelican customer service, they told me it was a Pelican licensed product made in China and the warranty didn't apply. The importer, Omega-somethuing, doesnt seem to have any intention of making this right.

Assuming you speak of Pelican, the company that makes the cases, they don't seem to make bags or to have ever made any. A quick Google shows up two wholly independent Pelican Bags companies, one US (apparently a two-man outfit making hand-stitched leather purses), one British (essentially a print service for advertising materials like canvas shopping bags). Neither seem to be producing anything particularly useful as a camera bag. So what are you talking about?

[Drew Bedo]

International trade relations are not the main issue for me.


If Pelican had moved production to China— as Apple has, and manufactured products to their high specification—as Apple does, there would be no issue for me.

What they actually have done is to trade on their well earned reputation as a manufacturer of high quality items by licensing their name, logo and brand to someone not under their control. They acknowledge that the gear is shoddy by not honoring the product their made-in-USA warranty. And yet, the customer support people assured me that my bag was a genuine Pelican product not some illicit boot-leg copy.

[E. von Hoegh]

If Pelican had moved production to China— as Apple has, and manufactured products to their high specification—as Apple does, there would be no issue for me.

What they actually have done is to trade on their well earned reputation as a manufacturer of high quality items by licensing their name, logo and brand to someone not under their control. They acknowledge that the gear is shoddy by not honoring the product their made-in-USA warranty. And yet, the customer support people assured me that my bag was a genuine Pelican product not some illicit boot-leg copy.

Welcome to Globalism.
I won't buy anything made in China. I'll buy a second hand item if I have to, and for more reasons than just quality. The Chinese can make world-class stuff, when they want to.