customer service.

[cmeier117]

How important to you guys is good customer service? I used to think when I was an even more dirt poor college student a few years back that I didn't care about customer service if I could save a buck or two. I have changed my thinking and want a company that is going to take care of me. What companies have treated you well? Which companies suck and you would not deal with again.

I have had great experiences with Kifaru. I have had them refund my shipping on things I have sent in. I have had them rush out a different size waist belt. I have had them offer to overnight something if I needed them too. It is also nice to get email responses from the head honcho and detailed ones at that. They are the best company out their that I have dealt with.

I have also had great customer service from Miles over at Crispiusa. Great guy and great company.


Haven't had too many bad experiences although Eberlestock has yet to return a few emails from a few weeks ago asking about a product for a friend.

 

[JG358]

Customer service is pretty high on my list. Kifaru, Kuiu, Kelty, Eberlestock, Leupold, Big Agnes, Spot Hogg, VPA, Pellegrino's Archery Hut(Evan rocks!), Story Creek have all gone above and beyond to take care of me.

 

[swat8888]

Funny you should ask this as I've currently had a couple recent episodes involving customer service, although I'll list all that I've had:

1. Kifaru- Received the wrong stays due to confusion of wording when I placed my order. Immediately sent me the correct stays and told me to keep the old ones, very quick to respond.

2. Sitka- A package they sent me was stolen off of my doorstep. They didn't answer their phone or respond to email for 2 days (Tues-Wed of this week)...granted its only 2 weeks before opening season for dall sheep...which they market heavily towards. Anyhow, they answered their phones this morning and told me someone was working on my claim...so the verdict is still out. Thank god whatever idiot stole my package didn't come the day before as my new DT1 was sitting on the doorstep.

3. Badlands- No questions asked and very quick turnaround to fix a pack I sent in...I just paid for shipping to them.

4. Mystery Ranch- Same as above, except they did lose my RA # and it took over a month to get my pack back and only after I called to ask what the deal was.

5. Helly Hansen- Sent back a pair of Impertech pants that had the waist belt stitching fall out during last years sheep hunt....no questions asked sent me a brand new pair.

6. Outdoor Research- IMHO the best customer service I've had thus far. I ordered a pair of gloves off their website based upon what they said their weight was. When I received them they were about twice as heavy. Contacted them and they told me to keep them, the mistake was theirs since they were updating their website and told me to pick any other pair of their gloves and they would send them out. Not trying to take advantage of them I opted for a similar cost glove, however they told me it was out of stock. The only other glove that matched the weight specs I was trying to achieve was twice the price of my original glove. They sent it to me anyway, no questions asked, and no money exchanged.

 

[Backpack Hunter]

Kifaru, Bowtech, Crooked Horn, Big Agnes, HuntHardcore, First Lite, Story Creek, Sword sights, Scotts Archery have all treated me very well.
My big thing is calling into a company and getting ahold of a person. I hate going thru automated systems...I do enough of that at my job.

 

[rye_a]

I place a very high value on customer service, and am willing to pay for it. I've had great experiences with Kifaru, Spot Hogg, REI, Sierra Trading Post (though they save me money), and others. I am a big believer in buying things once and buying them right, and when I buy high end gear I expect the CS to match it.

 

[Above Timber]

I agree with rya_a's comments about buying high end gear and expecting the customer service to be in line with the price of the product. Nothing irritates me more than to pay top dollar to for a piece of gear and then not be able to get things corrected when there are problems. I can remember calling Kiui to ask about an order and Jason the owner picked up the phone. When the owner of the company is not afraid to answer the phone that says something.

Kiui
Kifaru
Rick Young Outdoors
Bill Pellegrino’s Archery Hut
All great customer service. The Archery Hut might take a while but it is done right and they stand behind the work. These are all great places I do not mind spending my money with them to support their businesses.

 

[hunting1]

I will pay more for good service! Kifaru has been great, Badlands OK, but top recently is Cabelas! I ordered a target and after 2-weeks was shooting though it. I left a negative feedback on it and next thing I know UPS was at my house to pick it up. I called and asked what was going on and they told me they wanted it back for review and would refund my money. It gets better, the manufacturer calls me to ask questions, appologizes and is sending me there top target for free. Now that is above and beyond customer service. If anyone wants to know the target company PM me.

 

[rpm4463]

Probably the best return policy is rei. I've taken lots of stuff back that is used, dirty, broken, ripped...and they give a full refund. Even better is the used gear sales they have at different stores.

 

[Matt Cashell]

Customer Service is a critical factor to consider when planning a purchase. Critical.

 

[ohhiitznik]

Customer service is big to me now. It never used to be but I really appreciate it now.

 

[Titaniumman]

Customer service is paramount. Jack me around and I won't be back. Haven't spent a nickel at a certain "worlds foremost outfitter" in 2+ years, and won't ever again.

 

[a3dhunter]

Pellegrino's Archery Hut(Evan rocks!).

Evan just likes seeing someone in there he can look eye to eye at, not many short people around any more!




titaniumman- I agree, haven't spent any money there in two years either after they jacked something up, then charged me for it 5 months later.



I look for a company that will provide service as well as stand behind their warranty.

The Best for me:
Vortex and Spot Hogg

Others mentioned above have been good as well.

 

[2rocky]

Part of my role at work deals with retail, and so we tend to see it from the sellers perspective as well. Seems like if you don't get adversarial right off the bat, Customer service is top notch. I remember back in the 80's LL Bean had a rule that their CS reps could not say NO to a customer wanting a replace/refund. That was revolutionary at the time.

Now in the day of social media like this an unhappy customer sure has a broad platform to air his or her grievances. Ever Read Yelp reviews of restaurants? OUCH!

Best bet on both sides is to treat the person you are dealing with with respect, and things work out well.

 

[Titaniumman]

Best bet on both sides is to treat the person you are dealing with with respect, and things work out well.

Absolutely...

 

[swat8888]

Just wanted to add to the forum that GoLite has treated me exceptionally well during my recent failure of my Shangra La 5 tent. The tent ripped about an inch from the zipper when I was closing the tent up....had to patch up with duct tape/tyvek tape. Sent it back in for repair and within a week I had it back at my doorstep. However, when I looked at the repair job that was done I was less than satisfied. They only put a single strand of thread, no cross stitching or anything, over the ripped area. There was no way in hell that thing would be able to withstand anymore than a few days in the field like that. Contacted GoLite again, they apologized, and explained the repairs were contracted to a third party. They told me to ship it back in and they will replace it will a new flysheet and are going to take the old one to the repair shop and discuss the issue with them.

 

[ScottR_EHJ]

Kifaru gave me great service, Seek Outside has been outstanding, Sierra Trading Post treated me very well recently too.

 

[muleman]

TiGoat rocks!

I can't speak highly enough about the service DJ of Titanium Goat gave me. I called him up today to ask how best to repair a tear in Silicone Nylon, and by this afternoon I walked out of his shop with a repaired shelter.

 

[garrenj]

Bump for REI, they are always great. It's nice to know when spending good money on stuff that it can be returned if it doesn't perform or fails.

KUIU has been really good for me as well. Last week elk hunting my fly zipper on the attack pants failed. Got home on Thursday, called customer service they told me I needed to provide pics so they could verify it was a warranty issue. Took some pics with my phone and emailed them right away. Amber reviewed them and sent me an RA # before they were done washing. Only bad news is the average turn around time is 2-3 weeks so I won't have them on my mule deer hunt next week.