Never buying from REI again

You "work hard for your money", unlike the rest of us who place ads on Craigslist offering our giggilo services whenever we want new gear.

You complain pretty hard, too. If the time you spent typing, calling, and visiting to complain about a pair of used pants and then kvetching further about it online was spent working as a Walmart greeter, there'd be plenty in your gear kitty for brand new pants.

But I guess that would be hard work. Being cheerful all day. What a drag!

Not near as much fun as complaining about your unsuccessful stint as a complainer.

This is a good example of why REI has and should get rid of their lifetime guarantee.

If you have ever been to a used gear sale at REI, you can be shocked and amazed at what sort of things have been returned to REI.

I have seen shoes that looked like they had been used to walk across the country and back….crusted with mud.

A Gregory pack that looked like it had been burned.

Two examples of ridiculously good customer service from REI in my experience where I think that they should NOT have helped me:

1. Pack that I Broke though some stupidity of my own

Somehow I managed to snap the plastic frame sheet of my pack and went to REI to ask them if they had an address for me to mail my pack into Gregory for a repair.

The guy at the register said, "Just go back there and grab a new one off the shelf and we will send this into Gregory….".

I was stunned and thrilled, but I never would have expected REI to do anything for me.

2. REI branded Hiking Poles that were at least 4 years old and beat to death

I let my brother borrow my poles and he had a problem with the "twist lock" mechanism either locking up or failing to lock.

My brother thought that he had broken my poles and went to REI to buy me a new pair.

The guy there told my brother that there was a known problem with the poles and gave my brother a voucher for something like a $100 towards a new set of poles.

I used that voucher for the Leki Poles that I have now and have been using for a long time, putting hundreds of miles on them and recently replacing the worn out tips.

Note: One of those Leki poles has a cracked lower section that I guess that I could seek a replacement for, but I won't. I have used the hell out of them and I also take good care of my gear and don't abuse my stuff. That said, I would never think to ask for a replacement. I think that there has been reasonable wear and tear and I am getting my money's worth out of them.

Anyway, enough time wasted on this thread.

Can't please everyone.

I still like REI and respect them, but I know that they aren't the cheapest.

Tony

Who decides what the "lifetime" of a product is? How do they know how much use or what kind of use it has gotten?
Lifetime of the product warranties are just a way for the company to retain all power. It does not mean anything, it's not even an actual warranty in any sense. You have to trust the integrity of the company you are buying from.
The phrase "lifetime warranty" in reference to the lifetime of the product, not the lifetime of a consumer, is intended to be deceptive. If it wasn't meant to be deceptive they would just say "warranty against defects" which is what it really is.

^^^ this.

Beyond REI and backpacking gear, I too have philosophically contemplated: When exactly does the death of an inanimate object occur?

If any given failure marks the end of such a lifetime, then how could there possibly be a failure during the lifetime of the item?

Now regarding REI, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe items purchased before the 1-year policy change are grandfathered in to the old timeframe. So they're not unilaterally changing the terms after the purchase. Just confusing us a bit and being less generous. Fair enough.

A friend of my wife's managed to get banned from doing anymore "satisfaction" returns at REI. Over the years she would use all her gear or clothing hard for a season or more then return it saying that it just wasn't working for her and wanting a full refund. They finally said enough with her last return, which they honored, and from now on unless she can prove a problem with the product it is her's to keep. I don't know how many years she had gone without actually paying for footwear, just putting an initial deposit down ages ago and abusing the system from there.

this thread is pure gold.

how long should pants last? where is Mr. Owl, he knows.

"@ Dave T, Andy E, etc. Actually, Sahara pants cost me about $60 after the tax. I know some of you said I should just eat the cost because they only cost about $40. If you are so rich, please feel free to PM me and I will give you my address to send me your money to. Thanks."

I'm not rich to be sure. But if I had a pair of lightweight nylon hiking pants for 2.5 YEARS, and worn them for a good amount of backpacking, and I had some seams starting to go, I would get some thread, sew them up while sitting on my porch drinking a beer in the sun, and get on with the rest of my life. I would patch up that hole I put in them too. And then maybe take a little nap.

p.s. Please don't shop at REI any more.

There have been a large number of threads about this REI policy over the years. To rehash – For a lot of us the return policy (as is) is great to have, as insurance, and when necessary. The reasonable prices and year-end refunds don't hurt either. For others it is a tempting carte blanche to abuse the policy. The thing is, if they don't draw the line somewhere reasonable, then enough unreasonable people, even if they are in an extreme minority, will just cause the policy to disappear if the financial burden on REI gets too high, screwing the rest of us out of a good thing.

So to the OP, no, I'm not too sympathetic if your NYLON pants have a hole or unraveling seam (where was you concern when they first started to do so) after TWO years and you can't get free new ones or a full refund from REI. But I support (encourage even) your decision to cancel your membership. :-p

For a lot of folks this seem to be all wrapped up in the "corporate anything is evil" thing, but in this particular case I'm not buying it.

Dave – great advice about the thread. Works great for me, and takes far less time than trying to return the item.

I'm with Dave T.

I guess everyone has their own way of dealing with life. As my wife says "That's why we all live in separate houses."

" if I had a pair of lightweight nylon hiking pants for 2.5 YEARS, and worn them for a good amount of backpacking, and I had some seams starting to go, I would get some thread, sew them up while sitting on my porch drinking a beer in the sun, and get on with the rest of my life. I would patch up that hole I put in them too. And then maybe take a little nap."

exactly. use floss and look hardcore!

It seems like a lot of people are commenting without actually reading the facts of what I post so I will try to summarize. Yes, the pants are about 2 and half years old. No, the fabric shows almost no wear and tear from usage. They were bought under the old system. They have been used about maybe a total of 3 months during that time. There were multiple seams unravelling. The seams were in areas that did not get a lot of use. When I noticed that the seams were starting to do this I sent them in under the manufacturing defects clause. There was a hole in them from when I ran into a metal spike that someone had embedded in a tree. Hole was about the size of a pencil end. They were covered under the 100% satisfaction guarantee when I bought them so they could be repaired or replaced if need be at a later time. I was just asking for them to be repaired under the terms that REI themselves had put forward. I did not want them replaced. I can’t sew and would have probably paid quite a bit to get them resewn so why not use the gaurantee? All I am asking for them to do is what they said they would do, nothing else.

Now if you want to dispute those facts and REI’s refusal of their own policy and not the ‘morality’ of what I did, please feel free. It is not like I was just sitting around returning items after I used them from REI. I did send some items back over the years after I received them because they did not fit but they went back with tags and original packaging and everything. The three pairs of Sahara pants are all that I own from REI.

I am just relieved you never purchased from Pointless Traveler.

Brett, I think many of us are reacting less to the issue – I willing to give you that its a debatable notion. However it is NOT, as a few people glibly say, a legal "contract". That is literally not the legal status the REI policy has.

I think some of us are responding both to your absolute certainty that the issue is cut and dried, and to your way over-inflated reaction. It does not appear reasonable to a lot of us. In addition to the people who have been on the receiving end of similar people as sales persons, some of us fellow REI members have actual skin in the game. Your sahara pants are coming out of my rebate after all!

I have been a sales person also and if my company had a policy, I honored it, I didn't try to squeeze out of it. That is all I ever wanted. If had known they were going to try and play me I never would have bought the pants in the first place. I don't like being lied to.

I don't see how it is coming off of your rebate. I thought that was based on how much you bought in a year.

What I don't understand is why you didn't exercise a bit of self-help and repair them yourself. You don't have to be totally reliant on others for everything.

Cheers

I can't sew for one. I can't do fine detail work with either hand after a factory accident when I was 18. And it voids the warranty they have on them. I called and asked.

Someday I hope you will reflect back upon the monumental personal affront that you have endured, and be able to smile (albeit, no doubt, not a broad smile).

Anyone want to start a GoFundMe page for Brett's 2.5 year old lightweight nylon pants?

Wait, I just had a new idea. Sit on your porch in the sun with a friend who CAN sew. Give him or her a cold beer and watch them sew, while reflecting back upon beautiful sunsets, clear alpine mountain lakes, and dappled light in the aspens. And then perhaps a nap, dreaming peacefully of those worn pants, now made whole.

I think an official BPL cloth patch could be sewn over any small hole.

Or, you can leave the hole there and claim that it is for extra ventilation.

–B.G.–

If the seams of a piece of clothing are coming apart and the fabric isn't clearly well worn (many small holes, worn nylon near the knees and butt, ect.) then it is clearly a manufacturing defect and REI should have replaced it.
I'm with Brett on this one.

Not necessarily.

Sometimes a clothing item is washed improperly, and this causes stresses in the seams.

So, it might be purely a user mistake.

–B.G.–

> Not necessarily.

> Sometimes a clothing item is washed improperly, and this causes stresses in the seams.

> So, it might be purely a user mistake.

Indeed a luser mistake – look up luser here: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=luser.

It is a technical term ;).

I've been using the same nylon convert. pants from REI brand since 1997. no holes, elastic is still good, zippers good. Haven't had a need to find anything different ;)

half of my stuff has X's on it from garage sales.

some people just won't be happy.

I'd totally buy a BPL patch.

"I'd totally buy a BPL patch."

As long as it has its actual weight (in grams) sewn on it somewhere.

as long as they have a lifetime warranty

What size pants do you wear? If they fit, you can have mine and they are in like-new condition.

To be clear, these are the ones that still have an intact crotch.