REI HAS THE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE ON THE PLANET!

[Anonymous]

I am about to spend 1000$ or more in their gear and they couldn't care less.
Any as good websites I can purchase equally quality gear from, please? What do you think of MEC?

Thanks,
Alex

[Justin Baker]

Please do tell more.

Backcountry.com is good. Good prices and return policy.

[Dave T]

IT'S THE ALLTIME WORST! I HATE IT SOOOOOOO MUCH!

p.s. Are you for real? Can you relax on the all caps? Also, if you have a problem with REI's customer service, the problem just MIGHT be with you.

[Pierre Descoteaux]

They still have great service and warranty. It is a no brainer for me since I'm in Canada. They are also very helpful on the phone. If they have what you need and if they ship it where you are since some brands can't be ship outside of Canada I wouldn't hesitate.
Cheers
Pierre

[Ken Thompson]

An educated consumer is the best customer.

[Robert Perkins]

While I'm not necessarily an REI supporter on all of their gear, particularly when it comes to lightweight gear, BUT I have found their customer service to always be very good to excellent. I'd be curious to see what the specific issue was in this case.

[Anonymous]

I am for real. Yeah probably it's just me, although EVERY OTHER WEBSITE I have made contact with, NEVER had this sort of attitude with me. EVER!

I have read lots of REI's customer service reviews and they don't really proud themselves for good customer service. They don't have enough staff, time or empathy to treat with individuals and I guess every single customer who is not a member already, for as much money can potentially bring to the company, is just another drop in the ocean for them. They don't particularly care about "possible" membership or good feedback.
Not the customer service policy we have in Italy to be honest.
Or that they have at Patagonia for example.

I guess I can just spend my 1000 USD dollars somewhere else.
Just need to find a Canadian forwarding company.

[Kattt]

This is still a pretty vague complaint. More details would be helpful to others .

[Greg Mihalik]

Oh, boohoo, boohoo, boohoo….

Did someone not get their way?

[Anonymous]

But it doesn't really matter, as I have mainly asked for another comparable website where I can purchase and get knowledgeable advice from!

Long story short: I have asked for a few advice over the phone to JIM, Rei most knowledgeable product specialist. He asked me to give him more in depth details about my trip, so that he could advice me better, so I did more research and then e-mailed him. He replied to a bit of my e-mail (it wasn't very long!) and said he would have replied to the rest the day after. I never heard from him again.
Phoned up a few times, they told me he was on my e-mail and to just wait for his reply, then I asked if I should e-mail any further question in and they said "absolutely". Then I received an e-mail today, from somebody else who knew nothing about the insights of my travels, giving me totally unrelated suggestions, which were just the most expensive stuff REI carries and telling they couldn't waste any more of their time with me.
I specified I was gonna spend about 1000 USD in their gear and that I wanted to be sure of what I was buying before purchasing, but they couldn't care less.

[Dave T]

If REI has worse customer service than "Italy" I'm not sure there's much more to say.

[Kattt]

Ok that was funny Dave :)

[Kattt]

You might have better luck with a smaller company then. The personal attention you would like to receive seems more likely when working with less of a giant.

[Anonymous]

Hey, we have pretty good customer service, taken away government and politics. :)

[Brian Roach]

Alexandra,

The customer service at this store will help outfit you for your trip.

http://shop.nordstrom.com/c/personal-stylists

[Anonymous]

Ah shame, they don't have tents and sleeping bags dressing rooms!

[Kattt]

Pizza, spaghetti, mandolino and….good sense of humor in your case :)

[Marko Botsaris]

Alexandra, continue to ask your questions on here. Cut and paste your email to them here somewhere and see what happens.

The main problem is you will have to decide which advice to take.

[Anonymous]

I think "alexbambifluff" about says it all. I've been ROTFLing for several days now, but I can't contain myself any longer. You guys are being played. ;)

I'm sort of surprised REI figured it out before someone on this highly sophisticated website.

[Jennifer Mitol]

I'm really confused.

[Marko Botsaris]

Tom, I'm still going with high-maintenance, low experience. But anything is possible. It doesn't feel that way to me.

[Kattt]

…."you guys are being played"

Maybe, but I don't think so. The word order used in the posts shows Italian as the native language.

[Ken Thompson]

OK I get the language thing. What I don't get is someone saying yes to 1.5 years of travel/backpacking without really having any experience, knowledge and insight.

And sorry to say that dropping a thousand dollars at REI means nothing. They have single items that cost more than that. Truly a drop in the bucket for them. Over two billion in sales last year alone. It's a big chain with poorly trained and low paid staff that don't care. Just like almost every retail chain in the good 'ol USA.

[Bob Moulder]

"It's a big chain with poorly trained and low paid staff that don't care."

That is not my experience at the fairly new REI store in Yonkers, NY. I was there today, and although it was not at all busy (pretty early on a Tuesday, after all) the staff were friendly and offered assistance a few times. I did not need help this time, but the few times that I have desired some staff input, the sales people were knowledgeable and enthusiastic.

Okay, maybe not every store is like this, but I have been to the Seattle store and the Denver store (very impressive!) with similar experiences.

I have seen some of the back-and-forth in Alexandra's other Gear threads and would have to agree wholeheartedly with Marko B's assessment above. Sometimes the customer expectations are so overwhelmingly unrealistic that nobody can overcome the obstacles.

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