**ORIGINALLY POSTED ON VACAVILLE OUTLET TUMI STORE BUT MENTIONED KEVIN IN CORTE MADERA FOR THE ENGRAVING EXPERIENCE.**
I received a new laptop for Christmas and wanted to protect it with a nice bag that would last me forever. I began my search on Macy's.com where I have multiple gift cards and came across Tumi, but knew nothing of it so kept scrolling. I found myself at the Vacaville Outlets in other luxury brand stores with a budget of sub $200 for a new bag. I saw backpacks, briefcases, slings, and women's purses that match that description but none that I thought would be durable long term. The Samsonite store was the next stop, then I saw the Tumi logo outside the store. I turned to my boyfriend and said, "We have to check out that store, I know nothing of it!"
We were quickly greeted by Daniela who is The Gem of Tumi stores. Coming from sales myself, I'm naturally drawn to and identify genuinely passionate people who are happy where they work. That's Daniela. She did a needs analysis and asked me questions like, "What will you be using the bag for? How will you be using it? What do you expect the bag to do for you?" ETC ETC. That's when she pointed to my beautiful Ashton briefcase laptop bag shown in the photo. IT DOES EVERYTHING I NEEDED IT TO DO AND MORE. I expected great padded protection, lots of zippered compartments to hold chargers for an iPad, phone, buds, and more. Even my work binder fits in the main compartment, a 3-ring medium sized binder with a notepad inside. What was also very important to me was style, obviously coming from Coach and Michael Kors previous to stepping in. The tag was nearly $100 more than budget but I opted to get it because of Daniela, really. Without her, I would have settled for a nice looking bag down the way at Coach that checked all my boxes, nothing more and nothing less. And was $189.
Without Daniela, I wouldn't have known about the materials that make up the bags and appreciated why it's made that way compared to competitor brands. I also wouldn't have known about the great warranty offered through Tumi and the registration of my bag on the Tumi website, in the event some good samaritan found my bag and wanted to return it to me. I also wouldn't have known to go to the Corte Madera Tumi store to get my bag personalized as seen in the photo. What a great touch! My boyfriend and I made our way there on a day trip last week to get that done with Kevin because that store has the machine capable of engraving. And how equally helpful Kevin was and solidified why we were making our purchase with a great company. Kevin likely walked back and forth a dozen or so times to make sure I was 100% happy with the engraved patch. Once installed, I just KNEW this was the best purchase I've made it awhile and I'm so happy I experienced this with such great customer service. Thanks Daniela and Kevin. I can't wait to make my next Tumi purchase! Cheers! read more