TR: REI BLOWS!! SHOP ELSEWHERE!!!!

[Dru]

Blowin' in the s, hop elsewhere.

[cj001f]

I submit here both that a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee carries ethical obligations on both sides

Bullshit!

"If you're ever dissatisfied with an item, you may return or exchange your REI.com purchases at any REI store or through mail order."

If you guys can't stomache that complete the transition to Walmart.

[ivan]

oh - look! an rei sucks thread!

[chirp]

WWGD??

 

[Dechristo]

Who was it had/has the "they'll get over it or die freaked out" sig line?

[layton]

Justin is right. They should have asked a few simple questions to make sure he bought it there, then returned his helmet. The manager played his employee in a game of good cop bad cop.

 

REI does indeed blow. They purposely stocked their new Bellingham shop with all sorts of climbing gear to purposefuly run the Base Camp outta town. Gues what REI doesn't carry now that the Base Camp is gone? You guessed it, climbing gear.

 

REI fucking sucks and I fully plan on abusing their return policy to fuck them over as much as possible.

[Toast]

True, REI's flavor has a Walmart aftertaste. But to be fair, something doesn't sound quite right about your story. I used to work for REI along with a couple dozen other folks on this board. I even worked a stint in CS handling returns, and I know most of the folks there. In general, the satisfaction guarantee is honored with no questions asked as long as you have proof of purchase, have a purchase history in the member database, or there isn't a smell of abuse or mal intent. MisterMo kind of sums up the counterpoints... However, once a customer starts in with a little attitude all bets are off, and they're going to treat you just the way they did. Consider yourself lucky for having got a refund. Now STFU.

 

P/S nice job on Three Fingers

[chirp]

Toast

 

Dude brings back his Grande Caramel Macchiato...2 inches from the bottom, he says "didn't taste right, make me another one or give me a free drink coupon."

I say, " Ahh dude, here let me remake that for you, no worries, sorry it wasn't right."

The fact that he ordered such a fruity drink in the first place gives me insight into his (lack of) character from the beginning.

[dbb]

... Had I got a refund initially, for example, the WHOLE WORLD wouldn’t be reading this story about how REI BLOWS, has TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE, SELLS DEFECTIVE EQUIPMENT, and that people should NEVER shop there under any circumstances.

 

what I find funny here is that between working on the orgasmo-ray gun, choda boy has highlighted the important keys for the search engines. then next time someone types "rei blows the whole world" into google, they're going to get a ear full!

 

good to see you're fishing again J

[underworld]

thinking back to working at a bike shop in college we would always get the "it broke, i don't know why - i was just riding along" we called it "JRA" and would make fun of that person because things don't break when you are just riding along. Similarly, things don't just break while sitting on a backpack. They probably made fun of you too.

 

 

if those helmets are truely defective, why isn't there a stink about it just like the Alien Probes? I have a half dome and it is beat to sh!t with no cracks.

 

seems like everyone bitches after they get their refund or exchange. shouldn't you bitch if you DIDN'T get an exchange?

 

[ZimZam]

WWGD??

 

Instead of returning to his car to get his other helmet, he have snatched a kalishnikov and sprayed the entire joint.

[catbirdseat]

I think Black Diamond deserves to take a lot more flack for a poorly made helmet. I think they are being let off the hook here.

[ashw_justin]

I think Black Diamond deserves to take a lot more flack for a poorly made helmet. I think they are being let off the hook here.

 

That's a good point. If it's the helmet I'm thinking of, it seems like the flex could be reinforced without too much trouble (some I-beam ribs or something like that).

[Dechristo]

I believe BD engineered these helmets to be reinforced by a thick skull.

[Choada_Boy]

Please bear in mind that at no point was I enjoying myself during this exchange. I was actually not looking forward to the whole thing. At no point was I anything but respectful and professional to the staff that I dealt with. I was never unreasonable, just louder and louder, and increasingly emphatic. I made a deliberate effort to keep my anger in check, but any reasonable person will get angry when they are confronted with a person that spews the most illogical statements in the face of pure reason. I was not trying to rip off REI. I was simply attempting to return a product that I honestly felt to be defective. I could easily rip the helmet to pieces with my hands, without any training on phonebooks. I have seen other BD 1/2 dome helmets that took a large amount of abuse, so after the first helmet, I gave BD the benefit of the doubt and got a second. My bad. I did not research my purchase because I have never had any problems with BD products. I have since lost faith in this assumption, seeing as many people have had the same complaint with the same product.

 

So, two questions:

[Dru]

Helmets are for posers. I don't think there's anything in most climbers' heads that a helmet would save.

[tomtom]

I made a deliberate effort to keep my anger in check, but any reasonable person will get angry when they are confronted with a person that spews the most illogical statements in the face of pure reason.

 

Nope, not true. You got angry and that's your fault.

 

Or are you saying that other people manipulate your emotions and you are not in control of (or responsible for) yourself?

[JackY]

 

Maybe you should quit climbing and return all of your

unsafe gear.

[counterfeitfake]

"What do you think, should we give him a refund?"

"I dunno. He IS pretty intimidating looking..."

[Johnny_Tuff]

I thought the ideal was to do so many perfectly-executed Gym Jones workouts and travel so fucking light that your rate of speed naturally prevents falling objects from striking you, and if perchance one did strike you, it would shatter on your structurally perfect delts, thus rendering such niceties as helmets unnecessary.

 

What would Twight do?

[DirtyHarry]

I'm still waiting for the Quinn Conehead - style helmets to be put on the market. Its the future of alpinism.

[chucK]

I think Choada Boy's explanation sounds reasonable. However, his strategy was flawed and the REI goons exploited it.

 

Sounds like he framed his argument around the helmet being defective rather than REI's 100% satisfaction guarantee. Whether the helmet is defective is an arguable point, and the REI person used that. The 100% satisfaction pledge is not. Should have switched to that the minute they started weaseling.

 

Next time I'd try, "I had my misgivings about the lightweight nature of this helmet, but I figured it was worth a try since REI has the 100% satisfaction guarantee. Well, it broke. I gave BD the benefit of the doubt and tried another one, and the second helmet broke too. So, now, I'm definitely not 100% satisfied. I'd like my money back."

 

Or perhaps, more to the point, "I'm not 100% satisfied with this product. I'd like my money back."

[jordop]

Dunno why anyone would buy one of those styrofoam stormtrooper toy helmets anyway . . .

 

Retired a 10 year-old Ecrin Roc last year. Hung off the pack, thrown down, for ten years. It took *23* full blows with a sledge hammer, from all angles, to get ONE crack. I'm stickin with dem

[wfinley]

I let my dog sleep in the tent this past summer and he snuggled up next to me and his nails popped my Prolite Thermarest. When I took it back to REI the customer service rep told me that Thermarest warrenty does not cover dogs sleeping on them. After a bit of argueing (I was polite and told them my dog had been sleeping on my old thermarest for ten years) they ended up sending it back to the company for repairs and didn't charge me anything. I was kind of bummed that I didn't argue for a new one -- but more pissed that companies sell gear they bill as light and fast when in reality they're made of cheap fabric that will last maybe 2 seasons.

[Dru]

cmon wfinley that's bunk. if your rope got a core shot while you were jugging it over an edge would you take it back to REI and tell them that your older rope never did that?