New REI return policy?

Setting: A dark and stormy night. @Nick and @Artemus are huddled in an REI tent somewhere high on the Bountiful Bench.

Nick (with concern): My anemometer says it’s 11 m.p.h. out there, Art. What should we do?

Art (pragmatically, like Scotty the Engineer would talk): Well, you know what the REI salesman said we should do, Nick, why are you asking me?

(Both are quiet as they listen to the sound of the wind whipping the nylon.)

FInally, Art asks nervously: What’s it say now?

Nick (breathing slowly): 12 mph. I’m getting pretty worried here, Artie my boy.

Art: Let’s just lay low for a few more minutes and see what happens. It is raining pretty hard out there, you know.

Nick (now panicky): It’s going up, Artie, it says 14 mph.

Art (taking command): OK, relax, it’ll be OK, Nicko. We can’t fool around here any more, this is getting serious. We can’t break a pole or the REI guy will shame us when we try to return it. Let’s take the tent down.

Nick (relieved): We can go sleep in the house. Good thing I left the porch light on.

:dance:

REI salesman: "Well, you really should take your tent down any time the wind is over 10 mph"
 
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I think that if people would actually take the time to write a decent letter to management regarding their negative (and positive) experiences it would go a long way to solving some of these customer service issues. You can't fix something if you don't know it's broken
 
This may have something to do with the way gear is made nowadays. Ultralight gear can be flimsy, subject to breakage, and faster to wear. In my opinion, gear is over engineered these days, especially certain vendors. MSR comes to mind. Why would anyone imagine that hiking poles would need a maintenance kit?

REI could be taking loses due to this trend in gear culture. Of course this probably does not relate to a a rude and overbearing employee at the store in question.
 
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Rockskipper said:
Setting: A dark and stormy night. @Nick and @Artemus are huddled in an REI tent somewhere high on the Bountiful Bench.

Nick (with concern): My anemometer says it’s 11 m.p.h. out there, Art. What should we do?

Art (pragmatically, like Scotty the Engineer would talk): Well, you know what the REI salesman said we should do, Nick, why are you asking me?

(Both are quiet as they listen to the sound of the wind whipping the nylon.)

FInally, Art asks nervously: What’s it say now?

Nick (breathing slowly): 12 mph. I’m getting pretty worried here, Artie my boy.

Art: Let’s just lay low for a few more minutes and see what happens. It is raining pretty hard out there, you know.

Nick (now panicky): It’s going up, Artie, it says 14 mph.

Art (taking command): OK, relax, it’ll be OK, Nicko. We can’t fool around here any more, this is getting serious. We can’t break a pole or the REI guy will shame us when we try to return it. Let’s take the tent down.

Nick (relieved): We can go sleep in the house. Good thing I left the porch light on.

:dance:

REI salesman: "Well, you really should take your tent down any time the wind is over 10 mph"
Click to expand...


Hahaha. I had a similar conversation with my wife as we left REI that day.
 
Wyatt Carson said:
Well, you have Campsaver up there, the Helinox camp furniture kings. They have a couple of good Helinox sales a year. That is where I’ve gotten all of my chairs and cots, very good stuff. We have used our Helinox ground chairs about a thousand times and a lot of trips with the Chair Ones before that.
Click to expand...

I may be incorrect but I thought I heard that Campsaver now has a lifetime return policy. It might have only been for certain items so I would definitely recommend researching it prior to purchasing.
 
Super late to this convo.
But my two cents...
I recently returned a little over $500 in miscellaneous gear that I purchased from REI and had no issues. She did ask why I was returning though. The lady that helped me was so nice.
I do think REI can be a rip off and wish that they price matched, but whenever I am purchasing gear I want to test out and have a chance of returning, I go with REI.
I agree with @DuneElliot, a lot of companies don't even know what is going on and need constructive feedback (not angry ravings, big difference haha).

Before I purchase anything, I compare with: Amazon, Moosejaw, REI, Backcountry, Sportsman's Warehouse, CampSaver, and the brand website.
 
@Miya ... always the smart thing to do in comparing sites. I find it seems REI is best to get hands on with the equipment, but most of the time it seems they do not usually have the lowest cost except every now and then.
 
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