Never buying from REI again

Maybe I'm crazy but I kind of like my old hiking clothes that are full of holes, patches and field repairs.

Thank you Brett for the laugh! You've had pants for "a few years" and are upset that you can't return them?

You are pathetic. It's time to readjust your expectations from the world.

I'm in Peru today and can't begin to count the number of people I've seen who would work hard for a week just to have the pants you're whining about.

REI changed their policy because of self-entitled opportunist douches like you. Accept it and move on.

Holy s***!

Is why REI, Costco and the rest have been forced to adjust their policies.

2-1/2 year old trail pants show wear. Complaining repetitively about not getting something for nothing from the big retailer…completely unreasonable.

Have little doubt they're glad you're gone. The policy was changed to filter the absurd.

Nothing like a good ole fashioned BPL dogpile to bring out the hyperbolic nastiness in people. Can't just disagree with Brett, no, we must instead belittle him, call him names, try to make him feel less than human because he had the temerity to expect a company to stand by their warranty. Good show, BPL denizens, good show.

Brett, as you have described the situation, I'm with you, REI should have either fixed your pants or given you a new pair.

Hey, Randy. Go back to Whiteblaze, okay? How old are you? "Douche?" Really?

The abuse of the REI return policy is an old debate on all hiking forums. There definitely are immoral people who interpreted it as a "shoes for life" deal, and would return worn out items forever. This is clearly abuse of the policy, but they would get defensive when called on it and refuse to change. This is why other people get touchy about REI returns that cut close to the edge of appropriateness. To be more pithy- the jack@$$e$ ruined a great policy for all of us, and I have certainly participated in perfectly justified dog-piles on them in the past.

This particular issue as brought up by Brett is debatable, for the various reasons already discussed. I'll leave it at that.

But the "shoes for life" people need to be beaten.

Massive earthquake in Nepal. Over 7,000 lost.

Massive whine on internet. Over $39.00 lost.

1st World problems are astonishing… especially considering the dissatisfied REI customer's pants were made on the sweat labor of similar 3rd world peoples.

He didn't try to "return" the pants. He sent them in for warranty. HUGE difference.

At most retail stores you can't return used gear or clothes. If you have problems with the stuff you buy you can send it in for warranty to the manufacturer.

He put in a warranty claim on REI pants with the manufacturer who happens to be REI.

It's not like he was trying to return a pair of mountain hardware pants which would put unfair burden on the retail store which has no control over the quality of the pants.

To repeat what I just said, he was making a WARRANTY claim to the manufacturer, not RETURNING an item to a retail store.

To compare, I bought my son an OR jacket years ago and the zipper broke. The jacket was heavily worn other than that. I got an RA from OR, took it into the company store in Seattle and walked out with a new jacket, no questions asked, no receipt needed, period.

I sent a suitcase back to Eagle Creek with a sticky lining. It looked like new otherwise. They tried to play the lifetime of the product card and I countered with the consumer protection complaint card and got a new suitcase.

IMHO, a product that has a major component failure that is not due to outright abuse should be covered by a lifetime warranty, regardless of holes or other damage in unrelated parts of the item. This would be like voiding the engine warranty on your car because the seats are worn.

The bottom line is that you pay a premuim for a product with a lifetime warranty and that negates any issues of wear and tear. Keep in mind that there is a difference between fit and satisfaction refunds and product failure issues. My understanding is that REI limits the former to one year and still backs the latter on a lifetime basis.

"Holy s***! "

I believe that the entire quotation is Holy s***, Batman!

–B.G.–

"My understanding is that REI limits the former to one year and still backs the latter on a lifetime basis."

Justin,

I'm afraid this is not entirely accurate. They only have a "limited warranty" which does not cover "damage caused by normal wear and tear". While REI does say they will deal with defects in manufacturing, they are the ones who ultimately make this determination. And since REI doesn't do in-house repairs anymore, I suspect they will scrutinize their decisions even more than ever.

In other words, I may wish to believe that the stitching on my pants prematurely wore out due to a defect in manufacturing, but REI is going to make this decision. I believe they were more "generous" with their exchanges in years past, but they have chosen a policy clearly more conservative, but hopefully more sustainable for them.

But time will tell. I'm sure Brett is not the first or last person to not shop there anymore.

Here's a link:
http://m.rei.com/help/limited-warranty.html

Brett,

I say without snark (which may be a first for me) that in my mind, your two current threads are not unrelated.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=103037&startat=20

For me personally, I try to buy the best quality I can afford as I find it saves me money in the long run. When the best quality meets the best price, well that's the stuff that will evoke Jersey Shore fist pumping for me.

There are a number of factors I evaluate for backpacking gear; durability, weight, ease of use are among them. I own the pants in question here, and while they are great, there's little doubt in my mind that they are not of the same quality of construction and material as my TNF pants, of which the material has a better hand among other things.

I can wear the pants out of the store, snag it on something immediately which leaves a tiny hole, repair it, and still expect the pants to not prematurely fail.

I can hang a pair of pants in my closet for two years and expect for them to perform like new when I wear them.

I've also abused my TNF pants by climbing/sliding over granite and whatnot. While they held up, I wouldn't have been in a position to return them had one of the seems ripped out.

You may or may not have a legitimate claim and we can't tell without seeing the pants. Whether or not you will ever do business with REI again is, well, none of my business, but I appreciate hearing the story as it serves as a data point. I'm a big boy and can sift through the internet slop to get a sense of whether there's a trend with this store, good or bad.

I personally have had nothing but good experiences with REI, and do everything I can to support a Washington State based business. I'm sure they look like a big box store to most people but to me, they are local. I ski, bike, and would like to get into SUPing. They have plenty to offer me and there are endless opportunities for them to take my money, the cash (or lack thereof) in my wallet being the only limiting factor.

Judging from the quality of garments at my local store in regard to TNF, Columbia and other companies, I am not really surprised REI stopped offering lifetime warranties for clothes. The quality has gone downhill over the years, and it would be really stupid of any retailer to offer extended warranty on them; otherwise they would be bleeding money.

If you want better bang for your bucks, stay away from companies known to cater to hipsters who captured the "outdoors chics" or "wilderness chics" with no intention of ever going outside of their own cities. Oh well, I am glad the military chic phase is over, that was obnoxious.

"Nothing like a good ole fashioned BPL dogpile to bring out the hyperbolic nastiness in people. Can't just disagree with Brett, no, we must instead belittle him, call him names, try to make him feel less than human because he had the temerity to expect a company to stand by their warranty. Good show, BPL denizens, good show."

To be honest, I am surprised no one derided his avatar. The anarchist flag brings up a lot of negative stereotypes about crusties, gutter punks and voluntary joblessness slash homelessness. Or at least that's how the thread would had devolved into if he was on forums with more conservative outdoors folks.

BPL is very tolerant compared to many of the forums out there. If not most of them.

Tough to tell without seeing the pants, but based on my experience nylon hiking pants have a life expectancy of more than two years. Especially seams. I've had Mtn Hardwear and TNF pants that have far outlasted that timeframe with 500mi per year of hiking. Neither manufacturer is known for exceptional quality either. Granted, different areas are tougher on pants than others.

Either way, the pants didn't meet Brett's expectations and he asked for a repair, not a refund or even a replacement. That doesn't make him a mooch, a douche or a free loader in my mind.

Ryan

From description, it sounds like the seams were defective – bad thread or tension or whatever. Legitimate gripe. Just because there was also a hole from poking it doesn't change things.

But after two years or whatever it was, I can see REI not accepting it.

Gray area

I rarely return something regardless, so I'd just as soon they're not that liberal with returns

Being indignant seems over-reaction, but we're in the age of over-reacting.

People, smell the roses, be happy, no need to be pissed off all the time about unimportant things!

Truth is, one thread snaps and the seam will starts to slowly unravel. Nylon is especially slippery and this can happen quickly. SUPER common with nylon anything. Almost guaranteed to happen at some point actually. While it is debatable whether the snapping thread a few years in is a product of flawed manufacture, or just normal wear and tear, when you first find such an issue it can be fixed easily. A dab of super glue or better seam grip on the loose thread end can stop the unraveling in its tracks. Simple hand sewing is not really a "skill" requiring an education, nor does it require more dexterity than eating breakfast cereal. You can seal up the part that has unraveled using one of those $3 sewing kits from a drug store. In this case, apparently, he just let the seam get worse and worse over time. Maybe this could be a lesson learned for him. If I was REI I might take the claim of product failure more seriously if he brought it in right after there was a fundamental failure/separating seam. I suppose once it unraveled a long way it would look a lot like abuse. Maybe if they did a partial refund…but is not cut and dried.

Personally I like understanding why things happen, and then fixing problem preemptively, instead of the emotional flailing I did about such things when I was a youth.

"when you first find such an issue it can be fixed easily"

A stitch in time saves nine

I always thought that was some relativistic reference, but it just says to promptly repair a seam : )

ahh the degeneration of threads that devolve into BPL "morals" … some folks here missed their calling as bible thumping preachers

and its not even winter !!!

regardless of the "morals"

its seems that REI may no longer be honoring their promise of items purchased before the warranty policy change as being still "unlimited" under the old warranty … something they said they would honor when they applied the change

corporate promises …

;)

"People, smell the roses, be happy, no need to be pissed off all the time about unimportant things!"

Jerry, that's the best line I've read on BPL in a long while.

and its not even winter !!!

^^^

I was just going to say, does everyone realize that it's SPRING out there????

(Or at least out here. Can't wait til next week…)

> From description, it sounds like the seams were defective – bad thread or tension or whatever.
Good point. It may be that whoever made the pants – which won't be REI, used cotton thread and chain stitch. Cheap thread and very fast sewing, but both are very prone to falling apart.

Cheers

very nice Peter, I feel much better now : )

Eric, though I stopped my weekend job at REI a year ago, at that time the store managers had a great deal of leeway when it came to honoring returns. Some items were taken back that were well used and years old, and some new items were not taken back due to customer history or some other arbitrary measure I was not privy to. It is a weird place.

As to BPL… I was off this site for 3 years and just returned recently. It is not the same place. I feel like I am on Reddit when I read some of the comments. I used to really value how people rarely became petty or mean spirited here. We have Supertopo for that.

My pleasure :-)