ALPAKA Reviews 

This company has the most horrendous shipping times I’ve ever seen in my life , plus if you have issues with anything you purchased they don’t wanna help you

I made an order of 3 items during a promotion and the next morning they had cancelled the order due to an internal technical glitch and asked me to re place the order. They did not honor the promotion despite my request. Really poor service!!!

I purchased a wallet on them, it took weeks for them to give me a tracking number and when the did it appear as delivered, the item never arrived and they refuse to give me a refund.
Do Not Buy!

Having spent a premium on the Alpaka Elements Backpack on something that was quoted as having waterproof material - I discovered that even in light rain it can leak - as the zips aren't waterproof. Something that Alpaka confirmed wasn't a design fault but a design choice. They offered a waterproof cover almost 12 months ago and after various emails and two customer service tickets - I've been ignored. So I'm left with a premium waterproof backpack that isnt fully waterproof and a customer service team that can't get back to a customer.

I purchased a product from the website, when the product arrived the colour was not as expected as the website images were different to the product in the flesh. I initiated a return process to find out that international customers (i.e. outside the US and Canada have to be sent back to Melbourne, Australia at the customers own expense. In this case the cost of return was more than the product was worth. This is ridiculous and even with a faulty product the customer would be massively out of pocket especially with their more pricey and bulkier items which would cost even more to post back.

My advice is AVOID THIS SHOP and get something similar locally or from retailer who won't rip you off if you need to return or exchange it..!!

Make you read the return conditions in total.

I have been using Alpaka gear for more than 4 years. I love the sensibility in design and workmanship. I have used the 2 liter Flight Bag on a 4 year worldwide travel. I just ordered the Zip Pouch Max V2. This allows me to carry a IPad Mini and everything I need on flights. I have the zip pouch as a wallet, perfect for Europe and coins. One of my favorite things Alpaka does not make any longer, The Wash Pouch. This unit is perfect for 1 bag travel. I would order 2 of these if they ever produce it again. I love their products.

DO NOT BUY FROM THIS ALPAKA COMPANY !
Their products are the worst (in one word rubbish /garbage )! The customer services a little bit worst !
I’ve got the tactical clips and the sling from these guys and are wrongly designed ! Doesn’t make sense how they made them because are useless !
The sling if you keep you phone inside you CAN NOT lock it …stays flimsy …open !
The clips , the carabiner is the same wrongly designed …one of them I lost it and the other one that you need to attached it to the straps , that clip is loosen .
RUBBISH
DO NOT BUY
There are so many better products on market these days than these craps !

I am deeply disappointed with my recent experience with ALPAKA, a company I previously trusted and had spent several hundreds of dollars with. This review details a series of issues that demonstrate their poor customer service and shipping practices.

After my original order was severely delayed beyond their promised 8-12 business day delivery window, I was forced to place a second, expedited shipping order ($40 extra for <5 business day delivery) on December 20th, 2024 for the same item. Just 7 minutes after placing the order, I emailed their support team requesting cancellation. Despite the immediate notification and the fact that UPS hadn't even received the package yet (as evidenced by tracking), they refused to cancel it, claiming it had "already been processed and shipped."

The order, which was time-sensitive and meant to be delivered to a temporary address in Orlando (where the recipient would only be until January 4th), wasn't delivered until January 6th - a full 17 days after ordering, well outside their promised delivery window even for standard shipping, let alone expedited. This massive delay rendered the $158.69 order completely useless, as the recipient had already left the delivery address.

When I brought this to their attention, their solution was to offer a $20 gift card for future purchases - not even half the cost of the wasted expedited shipping, let alone the total order value. This inadequate response came without any consultation about what would make the situation right.

The company's response to my request for a full refund was to direct me to their returns portal - completely ignoring the fact that I can't even access the package to return it, as it was delivered to an address I no longer have access to. The entire order value of $158.69 is essentially lost.

This experience revealed several critical issues with ALPAKA:
1. They won't honor cancellation requests even minutes after ordering
2. Their shipping promises are consistently unreliable for both standard and expedited shipping
3. They forced me to pay twice for the same item due to their shipping delays
3. Their customer service team lacks the authority or willingness to properly remedy serious issues
4. They show little regard for loyal customers who have spent hundreds with their brand

I've now been forced to consider filing a bank dispute and pursuing this through small claims court or consumer arbitration. Save yourself the headache and shop elsewhere - this company's customer service has deteriorated significantly.

Customer Service Representative: Eshia
Order Date: December 20, 2024
Delivery Date: January 6, 2025
Order Value: $158.69 (including $40 expedited shipping)

Non inpressive merch at a steep return fee. Almost 5 bucks fee for a 35 dollars merch.

Purchased 5 slings December 4 and was given tracking which says an attempt was delivered on December 16, which is a complete lie. Since then it has updated to “more info needed” which I have contacted Alpaka to help more or provide a refund to which they are constantly informing me that they are able to get a reply from the shipper but keep telling me to contact them directly. The shipper does not respond to emails or calls and Alpaka is not helpful.

Avoid this company since if items are lost they are unwilling to help.

Pre ordered a sling bag. On the ship date, received notification a label printed and ordered shipped. Days later, no activity. A week later, no activity. Then I get an email my order was delayed. Do they really think they are fooling their customers? Seems product was ne er ready for the ship date and they are just playing games with the shipping now.
Sent am email to cancel order and nothing.
Have no other choice but to dispute with cc and deny package when finally delivered. Whenever that will be.

No product. Extremely slow. Delayed delivery with no updates. Customer service just kept telling me to wait. I won’t be able to even use it on my upcoming trip.

Told them to cancel and they keep avoiding it. At this rate I’ll dispute this charge.

While customer service has been ok and responsive, the shipping is taking extremely long.

I live in Melbourne where they have a physical store, but my item was shipped from hongkong, which makes no logistical sense.

My item was apparently shipped out on 03/12/24. Today is 13/12/24, with no updates in my shipping.

I will be travelling soon and have no confidence that it will turn up prior. Disappointing that my first experience with Alpaka is like this.

Tl;dr The bad Alpaka customer service you keep reading about extends to Re:Carry.

Wanted to quickly share my experience with Re:Carry. I ordered an Elements Tech Max pouch from their site. It was listed as being new with tags and sold directly from Alpaka. I understood it could be a return or was even ready for a factory second. What I received was a regular sized Tech pouch with a Max tag. I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt that someone there is incompetent instead of thinking this was on purpose. I made the claim through their website which has to be within 72 hours of delivery and only accepts .jpg (NOT .jpeg like an iPhone takes) or .png. They offered return/refund or $20 off to keep the wrong item. 72 hour window to ship for the return.

What I’m not happy about is that they won’t exchange or offer free shipping on the replacement even though they have the exact same thing in stock (new w/tags, color, from Alpaka direct). They are willing to refund but after paying shipping again and the price difference today it would be about $20 more than I paid. I had also bought a pro strap that I’m no longer sure what I’ll do with as I’m sure they won’t take it back. They are no longer emailing me back.

It seems like they have rigid policies that prevent them from doing the right thing. I can’t imagine a free shipping code being worth the bad feelings. The pack is decent construction but service is part of the price and whatever discount you’re getting isn’t enough.

Terrible customer support, sent messages for three days trying to cancel an order and was completely ignored.

Scum bag company avoid at all costs!

Decent product that arrived on time
I ordered from California and received my order in about a week. Got the Metro Sling V2. Zippers are a bit stiff and hard to use and the material isn't the most flexible but for 60 bucks it's acceptable quality in my opinion.
Most negative reviews seem to come from shipping taxes and poor return policy which I cannot speak to since I ordered in the US so that it something to look out for if you are ordering from somewhere else.
All in all was a decent quick experience for me however your mileage may vary.

Absolutely amazing pouch, incredible quality and feel. Excellent customer service. Would highly recommend this product.

Horrible customer service. They cancelled my order and gave a the reason (my ip address did not match my billing address) when I explained that this is an Apple privacy setting to prevent unwanted tracking and that I’ve ordered from them in the past with the same login information as well and also that I had to use shops two factor authentication they said “well you can just purchase the item again and use PayPal this time”… they honestly could’ve just reached out to me using my email they had on file from my previous purchase to verify before just cancelling my order… seems like they’ve outgrown their customers…

I have Shiftpack V2 and I just lost chest strap one side. I contacted Alpaka to buy a new one but they are happy to send a new one for free.

Fast response and good mind service