What's the deal with KUIU? Disappointing!!

[excaliber]

Get the refund and order a pair of pants from Sitka. Win win

I've had several Kuiu pieces over the years and the only piece I have left is a cap. I wasn't really impressed with any of it. Stick with Sitka it's much nicer.

 

[ELKhunter60]

I can understand a bad experience driving a person away as a customer. But hang around online shopping enough it is bound to happen and eventually you won’t have anywhere to shop. I give most a two strikes your out deal. To me KUIU‘s policies are completely reasonable. Shops like KUIU and FirstLite or even Sitka can’t afford to operate like Amazon. They would go out of business. Many stores won’t let you stack discount codes or use them on top of sale prices. OpticsPlanet and SportOptics come to mind. I’m fine with it that my military discount can’t be used on top of sale prices. That’s fair. KUIU provides a flat rate $7 return shipping label now. They’ve always offered free shipping back to you on exchange items. They have 3 day shipping on $100+ orders. These services are inline with what many online retailers do. Have reasonable expectations and you won’t be so disappointed. If you expect something for nothing then you are always going to find disappointment.

So I should expect to eventually get bad service from a company that claims their product is top notch and prices it accordingly? I guess I'm old school. I expect top notch products, warranties AND service from companies like Sitka, First Lite, Kuiu, Kifaru, Howa, Vortex, Leupold, Outdoorsman, Weatherby, Zeiss and the like. If I don't get that - I take it down the road. I don't mind spending my hard earned money on good products and service - but I better get good products and service.

It's all fine. We all have our opinions. I just wanted to share my experience hoping to give a heads up to some fellow Roksliders in case they were on the fence about which company they wanted to used for their gear. I called my son today and discussed this issue with him. He wanted solid colors for his hunting gear for whatever reason - which Sitka doesn't have. BUT - he's in law enforcement and found that he gets a nice first responder discount from First Lite. So I guess we'll support a company based in Idaho that offers good products, service, and a first responder discount instead of a California based company with company centric policies that doesn't.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Get the refund and order a pair of pants from Sitka. Win win

Hate to say it but that's what happens with cottage businesses that sell direct. You don't experience this with companies like Sitka. I think we'll see this same stuff from First Lite in the future. Such companies "bend" their return policies to accommodate current inventory.

 

[ELKhunter60]

For the record - I own 14 pieces of Sitka Gear. Took the plunge last year after doing a bunch of research. The gear is solid and they offer some tall sizes - which was important to me being 6'4". I had to return a couple of pieces to Camofire during the process due to size preferences. It all went extremely well and I'm extremely happy with my choice.

 

[Ryan Avery]

If you stick around here long enough you will see people post this about all of the clothing companies. I would suggest calling them back and talking to the CS manager. Find out what exactly they will or won't do for you. I bet you will find an answer that satisfies you.

 

[Dos Perros]

This thread is the exact reason I wrote off Kuiu as a company who wants my business. Absolutely bottom tier customer service on top tier priced Chinese goods.

Did you read the thread? Most people had very good CS experiences.

 

[LookinforDirt]

So I should expect to eventually get bad service from a company that claims their product is top notch and prices it accordingly? I guess I'm old school. I expect top notch products, warranties AND service from companies like Sitka, First Lite, Kuiu, Kifaru, Howa, Vortex, Leupold, Outdoorsman, Weatherby, Zeiss and the like. If I don't get that - I take it down the road. I don't mind spending my hard earned money on good products and service - but I better get good products and service.

It's all fine. We all have our opinions. I just wanted to share my experience hoping to give a heads up to some fellow Roksliders in case they were on the fence about which company they wanted to used for their gear. I called my son today and discussed this issue with him. He wanted solid colors for his hunting gear for whatever reason - which Sitka doesn't have. BUT - he's in law enforcement and found that he gets a nice first responder discount from First Lite. So I guess we'll support a company based in Idaho that offers good products, service, and a first responder discount instead of a California based company with company centric policies that doesn't.

It was a general comment to some of the threads complaints. Not directly at you. Either the CS rep got it wrong or there is more to your story. I’d call them back and try again. I know they will honor a sale price for an exchange so long as the item exchanged for was also on sale and the exchange was requested in a reasonable amount of time after the order.

 

[Deplorable77]

Yes I did. Would you like for me to explain the thread title to you? In my village, "DISAPPOINTING" usually does not translate to "very good experiences " I'm pretty sure the op didn't start this thread to sing praises about Kuiu.

Did you read the thread? Most people had very good CS experiences.

 

[fbhandler]

I can understand a bad experience driving a person away as a customer. But hang around online shopping enough it is bound to happen and eventually you won’t have anywhere to shop. I give most a two strikes your out deal. To me KUIU‘s policies are completely reasonable. Shops like KUIU and FirstLite or even Sitka can’t afford to operate like Amazon. They would go out of business. Many stores won’t let you stack discount codes or use them on top of sale prices. OpticsPlanet and SportOptics come to mind. I’m fine with it that my military discount can’t be used on top of sale prices. That’s fair. KUIU provides a flat rate $7 return shipping label now. They’ve always offered free shipping back to you on exchange items. They have 3 day shipping on $100+ orders. These services are inline with what many online retailers do. Have reasonable expectations and you won’t be so disappointed. If you expect something for nothing then you are always going to find disappointment.

I wouldn’t call a $600 tent or $150 vest something for nothing. If you can spend that kind of money and not have expectations then you and I live in two very different worlds. I get and agree these companies are not and cannot be like Amazon, I hope they never are, but regardless of your or my understanding of how each of these companies runs their business I can tell you from experience other companies, smaller companies, do much better then Kuiu on this particular issue. Rather then going out of business because they let me add an additional 10% to my discount, it has a way of bringing customers back... maybe they could learn something from Amazon, or OpticsPlanet after all...

 

[Dos Perros]

Yes I did. Would you like for me to explain the thread title to you? In my village, "DISAPPOINTING" usually does not translate to "very good experiences " I'm pretty sure the op didn't start this thread to sing praises about Kuiu. View attachment 139965

Would you like for me to explain statistics to you? I’m sure the OP isn’t the only human to have ever interacted with Kuiu CS.

 

[NateK]

Most companies won’t exchange sizes on sale items. Otherwise people would buy whatever size was available (if their size was sold out) and just exchange them later. A bunch of exchanges can cost a company quite a bit just in handling costs.

 

[jjentringer3921]

If you're not going to sell in stores then you should offer the opportunity to exchange sizes. This stuff is already expensive enough. Some people save up for a long time just to purchase one pair of pants like the Kuiu Attacks, and then to find out they dont fit and you will need to invest even more money to get the correct size doesn't seem like great customer service to me. I know First Lite is this way if you buy something on their sale. At least Kuiu will offer you a refund whereas First Lite won't even do that.

 

[mike.adams.467]

I agree

Me too. I’ve found them to be very reasonable.


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[Iketurner]

I've only ordered twice from them, glad everything went smooth. Hopefully they get OP taken care of

 

[fbhandler]

If you're not going to sell in stores then you should offer the opportunity to exchange sizes. This stuff is already expensive enough. Some people save up for a long time just to purchase one pair of pants like the Kuiu Attacks, and then to find out they dont fit and you will need to invest even more money to get the correct size doesn't seem like great customer service to me. I know First Lite is this way if you buy something on their sale. At least Kuiu will offer you a refund whereas First Lite won't even do that.

This is one of the reasons why I’m “slowly” but “SURLEY” transitioning away from “hunting” brands. Like most folks I got on a band/brand wagon, but now I want off... As many already know, the technology being used and marketed as the latest and greatest by these companies is old news in the mountaineering and skiing industry. Splatter some camo on it (preferably your own perpritory camo) charge 30% more, then wait till next year, change said perpritory camo, as the old one no longer works, discontinue key items and do what ever is necessary to lock in these niche customers, even though most of what neing offered isn’t in stock till next spring


I know it sounds cynical and admittedly, for the most part I’ve been happy with the performance of my “hunting gear” (ie firstlite/kuiu/etc) but I do believe I’ve found greener pastures. I’m doin my best to watch out for the anti hunting companies and I would prefer to patronize the smaller American business but honestly as far as the rest, I’m over it...


Again YMMV...

 

[LongWayAround]

I bought a pair of Yukon pants on sale. They were too big. I called, sent the pants back, and ordered a new pair for the sale price after the sale was over. EZ-PZ.

 

[LASTINLINE]

its been a trend for most any store ive delt with in the past 5 or so years. stores even Wallymart will refund the transaction then you need to re -purchase a new one. the time consuming issue is then you have to make calls or email to get the original discounted price rather than being an automatic process where the store sees your repurchasing the same item but just a different size. in many cases due to fustrations with the process i think people just get the refund and dont re -purchase. the pre-paid return tags for some of these companies are convenient but some charge fees.i can understand as people could take advantage. sometimes the stores sizing chart is way off only to add to the agony. this is all the new norm i guess.

 

[SeanDC]

My wife is the CS manager for Carhartt. She said the way this was handled is standard practice. If you ask for the sale price on the replacements they will honor that.

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[fwafwow]

If you're not going to sell in stores then you should offer the opportunity to exchange sizes. This stuff is already expensive enough. Some people save up for a long time just to purchase one pair of pants like the Kuiu Attacks, and then to find out they dont fit and you will need to invest even more money to get the correct size doesn't seem like great customer service to me. I know First Lite is this way if you buy something on their sale. At least Kuiu will offer you a refund whereas First Lite won't even do that.

I'm don't think this is true with FL, at least universally. I just purchased a vest on sale from FL and it is too big for me. I would have been able to exchange it for the right size, but they are out of stock in that particular size and color. I offered to hold onto the vest until they are restocked, but the CS guy told me the items won't be restocked until spring, and that I should return the vest for a refund.

I see both sides to the issue - I'm irritated when I have to pay shipping (either way), and wish there were unlimited exchanges. But I also figure that each of those cost money, and that if they are being provided by a seller, I'm paying for it somewhere. As for sale items, I suspect that many sales are designed to clear out inventory, so to have the sale price continue on for an extended period of time (such as in my case - to Spring of 2020) with the result being that they are returned some of the inventory they want to clear out, then I get the reason for some of these restrictions.

 

[Scotto]

My dealings with Kuiu have always been positive, and I have sent a couple items back.
As has been recommended already, maybe another call for a different CS rep?