your good (or not so good) customer service interactions of late

[WCW]

Purchased a Really Right Stuff Vyce and tri pod, great customer service and fast shipping.

 

[AKDoc]

I really haven't used customer service much over the years for returns. I've only returned a few items.

Seek Outside has always been an informative and helpful customer service experience for me...no returns by me. The same goes for the support staff at Talley Rings...no returns by me. I used customer service once with Thermarest a couple years ago when I broke a foot/ring on my ultralight cot...I was honest and told them it was my fault and wanted to pay for a new one, but they said no worries and sent me two new ones so I'd have an extra...all at no charge. Sitka was very supportive in response to replacing a zipper on my raincoat.

Early on I had really good customer service with KUIU....the first generation/first year Mountain Star tent wasn't working for me, and they swapped me out with a second generation/second year Mountain Star that was an improvement which I am enjoying to this day. That said, KUIU seems less responsive these days, but it may just be email interfacing failure on my end.

Edit: I forgot to mention Larry Bartlett at Pristine Ventures! I've bought a couple of pack-rafts and other products from him over the years. Long-story short...I just last month needed to replace the repair kits for the rafts, and LB was ultra helpful sending me materials and pretty much everything I needed. Thank you again LB!

 

[Jagger0502]

I have had 3 great services this past year and one expectedly good but frustrating service I was expecting. To get the bad out of the way, I purchased a new Garmin dog collar and they did say 1-2 week wait so I placed the order well in advance but was updated 2 weeks in that it would be another 1-2 weeks. Still waiting on it week 4. They were open about the long waits so I am not too frustrated knowing the issues and me waiting u til last minute to purchase.

on to the good.

Seek Outside- awesome company and awesome service. Even with the long wait times this year they communicated and reassured as well as updated thru the process. Great experience.

Final Rise upland vest - the guy and his wife making these, well my hat is off to them and the service. Fella was texting me info and updates from a single message on this forum. It was like talking to a buddy. I said it before and I will say it again, I would let him hunt over my dogs any day and that is saying something. Product was excellent as well! Couldn’t be happier and worth every penny.

Benchmade - has a large Christmas order last year and had a mistake on the order. Explained the issue and they jumped right on it for me and had the issue fixed, even before Christmas when I am sure they were busy.

 

[Jn78]

Some of these are old interactions and some new.

The good:
1. Lite Outdoors. The owner answers the phone himself and is very helpful. Earlier in the year, the writing was on the wall for increased fire restrictions, so I called him after I initially placed my order and I added a spark arrestor. He refused to allow me to pay for it.
2. Leupold. I called to ask a question about getting an extra part. There was no defect or damage, I just wanted to buy an extra from them, or Amazon, or wherever. They sent me 3 for free.
3. First Lite. I totally goofed up sending a return back to them (blown seams on 3 items). It sat in a box in the house for months. I thought my wife had taken it to the post office. So, I sent finally sent it in. I had not heard back from them for a couple of months, so I called them. I learned that their warehouse changed locations and they had no record of receiving my return. They took my word for it and gave me full credit.
4. Patagonia. I had a zipper failure on a pair of 20 year old Guide Pants. That pocket contained my GPS, so I cut the pocket to get to my GPS. They fixed the zipper and repaired the pocket on 20 year old pants.
5. Pentax. I had an old backup pair of sample binos that I bought from a Pentax rep. One of the lenses stopped focusing. I explained that I bought them used and they were stamped as samples. They repaired them for free. The repair only lasted for a year, but the C/S was great.
6. Mountain Archery

The bad:
1. Not hunting related, but Xfinity is the worst. Like worse than going to the dentist with a bad hangover.
2. Cabelas. I cannot image how that place will be around much longer. Just horrible and rude.
3. Kuiu. My interaction was not that recent and it sounds like they may be doing better, but it was so unpleasant that I stopped giving them money.

 

[Squincher]

I haven't required much in the way of customer service, but I don't remember ever having a bad experience with an outdoor company. I wish all industries were as easy to deal with.

 

[Sadler]

Crispi has been great. I messed a pair up and somehow delaminated the gortex booty in my Idaho’s, called and the owner answered and sent me a new pair even though I told him it was my fault.

Argali is great. Broke the tip off of their new knife and they sent me a new one right away before I could mail the broken one back.

Nunatak really pulled through for me this year. I ordered a 25* bag that I needed before October 10th this year. Jan emailed me and said he couldn’t get a done in time so he sent me a loner quilt to use in the meantime. Talk about awesome!

Off Grid is legit too. I ordered up some meals, didn’t like them and wanted to send them back. He just sent me the same amount of meals in a different flavor and told me don’t worry about it.

Kryptek has amazing customer service as well. My pull cord tensioner lock on my Takur jacket broke and they overnighted me a new one so I could take it on my current hunt which has been extremely wet.


I’ve yet to have a bad customer service experience in the outdoor industry. Everyone seems eager to please and wants to go above and beyond.

 

[nettereo16]

+'s
Popped a platypus bottle that I was using for a dirty bag on my elk hunt. Cascade sent me a new one.
The level on my MBG bow sight popped out while hunting and they sent me a new level - MBG is a great company, I had to deal with them before for a different issue and MBG was great both times.
Airlines - I've flown for hunts a few times this fall and the new policies are awesome for changing flights which happens a lot with complicated hunting logistics. For the most part, the CS agents have been better than usual.

-'s
Bought a sprayer at Tractor Supply for some food plot work and it's been garbage. Their customer service has been equally as garbage.
Cabela's - has turned into the Walmart of the outdoors world with the BPS takeover. Rubbed me the wrong way with a lot of Cabela's gear I own that now no longer falls under warranty. I tossed a pair of Cabela's rubber boots that leaked on me hunting last night.

 

[Salmon River Solutions]

Nope, not on rangefinders. I believe they actually have the WORST warranty in the business regarding rangefinders. Stupid me for thinking they had lifetime warranties on all of their products. Obviously they KNOW their rangefinders don’t hold up.

I had a buddy 2 years ago drown one in a creek. They sent him a new one within a day of his arriving at leupold.

 

[OldGrayJB]

I sheered a pin in a Case XX folding knife by applying too much pressure with a dull blade. Mailed it back to them. About two months later I got my knife back. They not only replaced the pin, but also rechromed all 3 blades and polished it up like a new one.

 

[sndmn11]

I ran my bow over with my truck a few times last month....
RMSgear had me fully setup and tuned in a day.
Spot Hogg replaced my sight for the coat of shipping to them only.

I seem to have a problem stripping the Allen heads on Leupold CDS VX3i scopes. This second instance has been at Leupold since 9/3, they know we are leaving to hunt on 10/22, and it has been, "it is shipping back in the next two days" for about two weeks.

Bell and Carlson searched their stock for a discontinued short action lightweight version of their Vanguard stock, found one, and repainted it the color of my choice to get it shipped in two days.

Seek Outside, Nightforce, Talley, Hawkins, and Black Canyon Custom Rifles all are top notch in customer service.

 

[ODB]

yeah Outdoor Research has always been very (very) good- ditto on Cascade Designs (MSR, Thermarest, et el)

I had an Xtherm with an obnoxious slow leak this summer, couldn't find the leak even dunked in my bathtub- sent it in and had a new one shipped out pronto

I love MSR I’m general...but holy hell they need to make a metal pump for the Whisperlite.

 

[dreamingbig]

Kifaru - great - had a stitch come out. They responded in 10 minutes to the warranty email. The problem was resolved in 10 minutes.

Leupold - terrible - had a range finder quit reading accurately. It was hardly used and never abused. They told me to kick rocks in a very non-customer friendly way. Byeeeee leupold...

Leupold - yep. There warranty on range finders is a kick in the crotch. I have two go belly up much faster than they should and they could care less.

Vortex range finders now! They aren’t better but they are supported by warranty.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[hunterjmj]

Great - SKRE: ordered a bunch of stuff but was missing an item. A quick email cleared it up and they sent me a free hat.

Not so great- Sportsmans Warehouse: the general atmosphere sucks in that place. I avoid going there if I can. It definitely seems like it's changed over the years.

 

[afdiamond1]

Ross Outdoors in Phoenix. Great people to work with. I had a bunch of questions about optics and Josiah was very helpful. Kifaru is great as well. Always had questions answered quickly and warranty work fixed quick. Davis Tent has been awesome too. I ordered a fly for my tent and it was missing a grommet(stuff happens). They made it right quickly.

 

[unchained]

Sierra Designs, not good. The shock cord on the tent poles some how dry rotted. I asked if this can be warrantied. Sent an email 9/24 got the "well get back to you as soon as we can." Sent follow ups every week, still no response.

 

[wmd]

I ordered a down jacket from Eddie Bauer which was on sale. The day I received it they dropped the price another $25, I sent an email explaining the situation and asked if anything could be done, Received answer that my cc would be credited the $25 and it was on next statement. I haven't ordered a lot from EB in the pst but that will change.
wmd

 

[ODB]

Dutch Bros. Was in a long line of cars and ordered three coffee from the gal running around out there. Before I could move a car length, my order was brought out to me so in could get out of line a on my way. Tops!

 

[jspradley]

I've never had a bad experience with any hunting company I've dealt with CS at.

Kifaru called me about an item they were out of an asked if I could accept a sub
Outdoorsmans called me right away about a bino stud and adapter configuration that I placed that just didn't look right to them, we got it squared away and, big surprise, they were right! They also called to let me know that my Swaro babies had arrived safe and sound.
Kuiu sent me two left gaiters, when I called them they were super helpful and sent me out a replacement next day air.
First Lite CS was super helpful about a shirt that got damaged.

I'm sure there's more but I can't remember. For the most part outdoors companies have great CS

 

[TheGreek]

I’ve had two great interactions with customer service at leupold in the last year. I broke a set of binos and they sent me a new pair for free and they were super responsive when I recently had questions about my rebate processing for a recent purchase. Two big thumbs up from me.

 

[shaneroyce]

I had an excellent experience with Swarovski. Had an eye cup on a spotter that the rubber was coming loose on. I called to ask what type of glue they use so I could secure it. The rep said, “Why not just give me your address and I’ll send you a whole new eyecup assembly that you can easily replace?” It was at my door a couple days later. That’s not an isolated incident with Swaro customer service. I’ve found them to be outstanding on the 2 minor issues I’ve had over the years. BTW...that was on a 15 year old spotter!