If you want a company that clearly does not value their customers, then I present to you: Away Travel. If you want an experience with a shitty customer service team, again I present to you: Away Travel.

For context, I was a loyal customer at Away for years. I purchased a carry on from them at full price in February of 2024 and the Large checked bag last October when they emailed me a coupon 20% off. Despite the high price tag, I liked the product. It did the job and I liked the look of it. I always gave it good reviews and suggested the brand when I asked about luggage.

Last week, my sister mentioned she was in the market for a new carry-on for a trip she is going on soon, so I recommended Away and sent her a referral code for $40 off from my account. She used my referral link and created an account, but she instead of receiving the code, she saw the message "We are processing your request. You will receive an email if you qualify for this offer."

She reached out to them via their chat function to see why they weren't able to generate a code for her. There wasn't anyone available, so she was told she would receive an email. After a full week of back and forth via email, she received an email today that said: "After a careful review of your referral, we found that it was unfortunately not able to be approved. Our system flagged that both accounts may be operating from the same device or network."

This was confusing to me because yes, my sister and I do live in the same household, but why would that be an issue? I reached out to customer service myself via chat and had a similar experience. I just wanted to get to the bottom of why this referral was flagged. I waisted over an hour of time just trying to figure out why there was an issue, but all they could tell me was that they flagged it as a "self-referral" so they could not approve it.

The implication that I was somehow trying to cheat their system (all for $40 off mind you) was downright offensive. It is not like I have given them any reason to suspect that I may be trying to pull one over on them. There has only ever been 2 deliveries made to my house from them and this is also the first time I have ever contacted their customer service team. The whole situation was just supremely frustrating and their mistreatment of me, a loyal customer, has lost them a customer in me and now also my sister. At the end of the day they probably couldn't care less about losing the couple of thousand dollars we would've spent with them over the years, but I am just disappointed that I was mistreated by a brand I loved so much.

This review has less to do with the quality of their products and more to do with the quality of their customer service. They made me out to feel like a criminal trying to rob them of $40 off of what would have been a $400+ purchase made by my sister. Also, why would I, as one person even need so much luggage??? Make it make sense.

For a luxury priced brand that places a premium on the integrity of their product and services, I really expected more.

It is so sad that we live in a time where companies like Away do not seem to value their customers or do anything about issues raised unless they face backlash on social media. Too bad I'm not TikTok famous or something, because that is what it takes nowadays for companies to give you the time of day. Interesting that a $40 referral code is the hill they are willing to die on, but I guess the rich get richer and the big guys win again, or some other cliche like that. So here I am waisting even more of my time writing this post. I am, after all, just petty like that.

If you want a company that clearly does not value their customers, then I present to you: Away Travel. If you want an experience with a shitty customer service team, again I present to you: Away Travel.

For context, I was a loyal customer at Away for years. I purchased a carry on from them at full price in February of 2024 and the Large checked bag last October when they emailed me a coupon 20% off. Despite the high price tag, I liked the product. It did the job and I liked the look of it. I always gave it good reviews and suggested the brand when I asked about luggage.

Last week, my sister mentioned she was in the market for a new carry-on for a trip she is going on soon, so I recommended Away and sent her a referral code for $40 off from my account. She used my referral link and created an account, but she instead of receiving the code, she saw the message "We are processing your request. You will receive an email if you qualify for this offer."

She reached out to them via their chat function to see why they weren't able to generate a code for her. There wasn't anyone available, so she was told she would receive an email. After a full week of back and forth via email, she received an email today that said: "After a careful review of your referral, we found that it was unfortunately not able to be approved. Our system flagged that both accounts may be operating from the same device or network."

This was confusing to me because yes, my sister and I do live in the same household, but why would that be an issue? I reached out to customer service myself via chat and had a similar experience. I just wanted to get to the bottom of why this referral was flagged. I waisted over an hour of time just trying to figure out why there was an issue, but all they could tell me was that they flagged it as a "self-referral" so they could not approve it.

The implication that I was somehow trying to cheat their system (all for $40 off mind you) was downright offensive. It is not like I have given them any reason to suspect that I may be trying to pull one over on them. There has only ever been 2 deliveries made to my house from them and this is also the first time I have ever contacted their customer service team. The whole situation was just supremely frustrating and their mistreatment of me, a loyal customer, has lost them a customer in me and now also my sister. At the end of the day they probably couldn't care less about losing the couple of thousand dollars we would've spent with them over the years, but I am just disappointed that I was mistreated by a brand I loved so much.

This review has less to do with the quality of their products and more to do with the quality of their customer service. They made me out to feel like a criminal trying to rob them of $40 off of what would have been a $400+ purchase made by my sister. Also, why would I, as one person even need so much luggage??? Make it make sense.

For a luxury priced brand that places a premium on the integrity of their product and services, I really expected more.

It is so sad that we live in a time where companies like Away do not seem to value their customers or do anything about issues raised unless they face backlash on social media. Too bad I'm not TikTok famous or something, because that is what it takes nowadays for companies to give you the time of day. Interesting that a $40 referral code is the hill they are willing to die on, but I guess the rich get richer and the big guys win again, or some other cliche like that. So here I am waisting even more of my time writing this post. I am, after all, just petty like that.