Customer Reviews L.L.Bean Zip Top Boat and Tote Medium

Be careful of the dimensions listed on the site. I called customer support once I received the 2 bags and unpacked them. They are HUGE, much larger than the dimensions indicated on the listing. Customer support (although very nice and helpful) told me the measurements are taken when the bag is full so it's like a cube, not seam to seam. That is the craziest thing I've ever heard. They are taking care of sending me 2 more bags but I was so disappointed as I purchased for my college girls who leave next week (paid extra for quick shipping) and I was going to take them to get their names put on locally. Now I will have to pay to ship them once I have the names added and one is now on backorder.

Took almost a month for this backordered tote to be finally delivered only to be left disappointed that they sent an open top one instead of the zip up that I originally ordered. Called the customer service line and they offered to send the right one and have me send this one back, however I found that to be a bit wasteful since it was monogrammed and I did not want to wait another week or so for the other one to be sent, so I decided to keep it and ask them to refund the difference. No apology was offered during the entire call and no other solutions to make this right by me even thought I saved them the money by accepting to keep the open one anyway. Only after I asked the rep if they could at least give me a discount for another order since I was planning on getting another one anyway, after a really long pause they told me the best they could do is just refund the shipping I paid for this one. Left a sour taste, wanted to be a life-long customer, but not so sure anymore.

I was a bit disappointed by the stitching that attaches the top zipper piece to the tote bag. There were a lot of loose threads and messy stitching. Not the normal LL Bean quality.

Very disappointed in the embroidery. The bag itself is fantastic! But either the embroidery has changed over the years or the quality control has gone down. I have another bag with the exact same name, same font and all the letters are great and bold but when I received this bag, the letters were thin, not fully embroidered and both i's were different sizes

Nice strong bag, I use all the time for going between multiple houses. As a beach bag, though it is inferior to many because it invariable loses keys. Need a key fob and interior zip pocket for small items like lip balm. Others are better because they have this design, so is it an option LL Bean could add, at least to some models?

The bag is good but the monograms are just not okay now. This monogram is at least a decent size, but it is not centered. And the thread is inconsistent, even within single letters part will be thick and then part of the letter will have gaps or patchy edges. I am used to embroidered letters having crisp edges and uniform stitching. Additionally, there is discoloration on the front under the first letter. Then inside, there is discoloration splattered around the monogram. I am assuming it is from someone making a mistake and having to rip out the monogram and redo it. But it does not come off.

Similar to other reviews, the bag I received had threads sticking out everywhere. The monogram is also VERY small, with tons of blank space around it that could easily have been utilized to make the monogram larger. I do not understand why the monograms now only utilize like a third of the width of the space between the handles. Parts of some of the letters on this one are also missing or have very sparse thread. The old monograms look so professional and are aesthetically sized. I honestly could have done my monogram by hand and it would look better. How do we specify if we would like monograms sized and sewn the way they used to be? Also! Please bring back the custom bags!!

My old bag has a 2"x3" letter on it. It is attractive. The new one came through with a 7/8" x 1 1/2 " monogram. When did they change the size? The bag would look better without that puny letter on it. There was no indication of size when ordering.

Good quality, but SO stiff that it's almost uncomfortable. Had thought I was ordering the same bag as my daughter's, but turns out that was from another company. Wish I had paid closer attention and ordered from the other company. I like the zipper enclosure, but miss having any additional pockets on the inside or outside. Wish I hadn't had it monogrammed as I would return it in a heart beat.

It was a Christmas present and came the middle of January. It was estimated to come in mid December.

I dont know for the life of me why this is a bestseller, inner or outer pockets. The land ends version is way better! I will stick to that one. Even trader joes bag is better.

Just got this in today it was a gift and I was looking forward to LL bean quality. Will be returning

The worst all the stiching is coming off from all u

We purchased the first LLBEAN Boat and Tote back in mid 1980s.The quality of the tote was marvelous. It was sturdy, with thick material, tight stitches and lovely pine corns design. It went with us on numerous trips, carried items when our kids moved to their colleges. After all of those years, I thought it is the time to get a new one. I could not believe the poor quality of this new tote. The workmanship is shabby, the stitches are sloppy, loose threads are dangling that at least should be trimmed, it is near impossible to close the zipper. I returned the tote. I am so disappointed while mourning over the beloved that seems is a long lost LL Bean quality.

I've been waiting months for my canvas medium zip top with long straps. Upon receiving it, I immediately had trouble with the zipper. It was very difficult to open and close. It needed to be pulled and held at a certain angle. I was thinking it may just need to be broken in, but looking closer it might be the uneven stitching/sewing application of the zipper entirely (when closed there are giant bumps that indicate there is a misalignment). I don't even use the zipper option because of how inconvenient and time-consuming it is. But now the entire zipper is unraveling, and there are loose threads EVERYWHERE. I've had the bag for about 2 weeks now and did not expect it to fall so quickly. Absolutely disappointed

I ordered this bag on December 5th 2024. The bag was not delivered until August.

I was so excited for this bag to come in only for the embroidery to be stitched right over the zipper, which makes the zipper unusable. Really expected a lot more from L.L. Bean.

I purchased this bag over the phone with an LL Bean employee. When the bag came, the bag was correct but the monogram was not what I asked for. Their customer service team gave me two options - send the bag back and they redo it (the bag is on back order until September so wait another month and go through the headache of sending it back) or I just keep it with the monogram incorrect, neither of which are options that would satisfy the situation. Customer service was not apologetic that an error was made on their behalf and there was no additional accommodation made to try to "make it right." But I was reassured by Tom (LL Bean employee) that they have the best customer service world wide. This is not customer service. The error was made on the company's behalf, not mine and nothing was done to make it right.

Multi-decade user of boat and totes, and one of the reasons I order from LL Bean is reliability - I expect not to have to go through the hassle of a return. However, my recent (spring 2025) order of a medium sized zip top boat and tote was super disappointing - one corner looks like the sewing machine and the bag got into it, and the machine won - a pile of random stitches, some missing stitches, bunched up sewing. It's just a mess.

I received the correct color bag, but the straps were the wrong length and no zip top.

I ordered this tote with a monogram on DECEMBER 4th and have still NOT received my order. LLBEAN has sent me multiple notes telling me how small the company is that makes these and to be patient. Then BEAN lost the order and had to find it to give me new dates. Now I am told it will be August before my bag is sent. After years as a customer ...No more LLBEAN for me. DO NOT BUY

Ordered a Vintage Rose Boat and Tote, Zip-Top, Large with Long Handles on March 11, 2025, which at the time was backordered until April 1st, as a Mother's Day present for my wife's first Mother's Day. On March 26, it was delayed until April 29, no worries, still plenty of time before Mother's Day. However, on April 23rd it was delayed again until June 1st, which would mean it wouldn't arrive in time for Mother's Day. After reaching out to customer service 5 or so times via different methods, they finally at least offered me 10% off for my trouble on April 29. Fine. Oh wait, I get another email exactly a month later saying now it won't get shipped out until July 2. Oh, and I checked and they're still selling these too, doesn't say Out of Stock online. So I call and email Customer Service 5-10 more times and they just lie and lie to me saying "Oh yes, it'll definitely ship out by July 2" until I finally reach a supervisor, who apologizes for my experience and doesn't know why the customer service representatives would stand by that date, or why I'm given a date at all, or why they continue selling the product even though they're already 6 months behind. Another 15% off, but it's really not about the money, I want the product I ordered, that again, is a Mother's Day present for my wife that never arrived. I'm writing this review on June 27, 2025. 2 days ago, on June 25, the item was delayed again, until "August 5" (notice how they're all arbitrarily 1 month increments, tells you they have no idea what they're doing). Reach out to Customer Service again, and the lackeys refuse to offer anything other than "I am sorry for the frustration and disappointment the further delays have caused." Which is even more insulting than refusing to compensate me for ruining my wife's FIRST Mother's Day. Because you're not sorry L.L. Bean or lackeys, because if you were, you'd be bending over backwards to fix or rectify the situation. I've lost all faith that I will ever receive this item. I will never purchase another item from L.L. Bean ever again and I urge every single person that every reads this to do the same. This company is an abomination and deserves to be shut down.

I purchased a medium , zip top , short handles. The underneath of the handles had 3 good size hard , balls of extra thread. Since it's short handles , my hands are going to be touching them all the time , opposed to if it had the long straps. So bummed. I was so excited for this bag!

See photos; arrived with unfinished hem which is already unraveling. Missing seam stitch. Poor quality control. We bought these because we thought they would last, we could have bought low quality locally. Do better, LL Bean!

Light blue color is nowhere like this in real life. It's essentially blue-gray. You need to be color correcting your photography. The embroidery machine was clearly filthy, as you could see where both bags were clamped due to black smudges. Immediately sent these back. You all need to do much better.