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

[TheTone]

Local gun shop yesterday was terrible. Clerk acted completely uninterested in doing some work on a shotgun of mine that has some feed issues, basically told me I don’t know how to clean it. When I asked about gun sales and consignment for another gun he didn’t want to let me look at the value book, tried telling me the rifle wasn’t what I thought it was and basically said he wouldn’t price it at what I wanted to

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Outdoor Research
I bought a pair of used GoreTex Crocodile Gaiters for $40 before October elk hunt from Geartrade. Both gaiters experienced catastrophic failures with the stirrup buckle post breaking off both of them. We were able to tape and bind them to get through the hunt.

When we got back, I contacted OR, and they had me submit a warranty claim. OR had me send them pictures of the gaiters and asked me to put a huge "X" on both of them with Sharpee and send a pic to confirm. Upon receipt of the pictures and claim, they promptly issue me OR store credit for $87 to cover the full price plus shipping of a brand new pair.

OR put the updated Croc gaiters on sale for Black Friday, and I was able to get a full replacement plus tax and shipping with around $15 left on the store credit.

Excellent customer service and impressive demonstration of standing behind their product and warranty, even for non-original owner.

EDIT: the buckle problem was a known issue with a limited run of the gaiters. The rep I spoke to confirmed conclusively that the issue has been permanently resolved and thus the "updated" tag on the croc gaiters on the web page.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Local gun shop yesterday was terrible. Clerk acted completely uninterested in doing some work on a shotgun of mine that has some feed issues, basically told me I don’t know how to clean it. When I asked about gun sales and consignment for another gun he didn’t want to let me look at the value book, tried telling me the rifle wasn’t what I thought it was and basically said he wouldn’t price it at what I wanted to

I've found this to be the case at local gunshops my entire life. Best gun counter service I receive is ALWAYS from Scheels.

 

[ewade07]

Outdoor Research
I bought a pair of used GoreTex Crocodile Gaiters for $40 before October elk hunt from Geartrade. Both gaiters experienced catastrophic failures with the stirrup buckle post breaking off both of them. We were able to tape and bind them to get through the hunt.

When we got back, I contacted OR, and they had me submit a warranty claim. OR had me send them pictures of the gaiters and asked me to put a huge "X" on both of them with Sharpee and send a pic to confirm. Upon receipt of the pictures and claim, they promptly issue me OR store credit for $87 to cover the full price plus shipping of a brand new pair.

OR put the updated Croc gaiters on sale for Black Friday, and I was able to get a full replacement plus tax and shipping with around $15 left on the store credit.

Excellent customer service and impressive demonstration of standing behind their product and warranty, even for non-original owner.

EDIT: the buckle problem was a known issue with a limited run of the gaiters. The rep I spoke to confirmed conclusively that the issue has been permanently resolved and thus the "updated" tag on the croc gaiters on the web page.

Just submitted a warranty claim with OR this morning for a pair of Helium rain pants that had front and back seams blowout in the crotch as well as delamination of waterproof material. Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[smithjd]

Excellent experience with Forloh: Bought an AllClima rain jacket. Used it for two months while working for an outfitter in WY. Got home, washed it, and it looked as new except for the outer fabric delaminating around both shoulder pockets. They sent me an RMA and after a week shipped me out a new replacement jacket.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Just submitted a warranty claim with OR this morning for a pair of Helium rain pants that had front and back seams blowout in the crotch as well as delamination of waterproof material. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Good luck!

 

[dtrkyman]

Called Sitka twice the same day a couple weeks ago, got an answer both times and the questions I had were immediately answered!

 

[hunterjmj]

Local gun shop yesterday was terrible. Clerk acted completely uninterested in doing some work on a shotgun of mine that has some feed issues, basically told me I don’t know how to clean it. When I asked about gun sales and consignment for another gun he didn’t want to let me look at the value book, tried telling me the rifle wasn’t what I thought it was and basically said he wouldn’t price it at what I wanted to

I've experienced the same at so many gun shops. They make you feel like you're putting them out. Bob Wards has always been friendly as well as scheels.

 

[BugleMeTimber]

Coleman - Ordered a two burner propane stove and it was missing a pin in the wind guard. Emailed customer service asking if I could get a pin or where I could buy one. They said the model was discontinued and would replace it free of charge with a new model. I declined because I liked the stove and used tie wire to hold it in place. They called me and said they have to make it right so they sent me a tailgate grill worth way more than the burner stove I bought which they had me keep. Probably the best CS I’ve experienced and made me a fan for life. Vortex has been great too.

 

[MTbowhunter36]

Norma shooting - horrible customer service. Purchased several different cartridges and calibers of ammo online. Bought and paid for with a CC. Two days later I receive an email informing me that the 300WM ammo was oversold and I would be getting a refund and an email confirmation within 5 - 7 days. After waiting 16 days without either I finally called and spoke with customer service. I was told that my refund will be sent to accounting and I should see it later that day. Waited three days and still no refund or email. I then sent an email to CS explaining everything and finally received my refund - without an apology or any acknowledgement of their failure.

Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk

 

[Pn8hall]

Had a great experience with Simms recently. I bought a used Freestone wading jacket off a member here and somewhere after packing it around the zipper slider broke. Completely on me and I contacted them and said I bought it used and wanted to pay for the repair. They refused to take my money and sent me a shipping label. Fixed up and back to me in about a week and a half only for cost of shipping it to them. Top notch CS right there.

 

[Htm84]

I had a good experience with keen recently. Had a pair of work boots and an eyelet broke. They just had me send some pics and gave me a store credit for a new pair with free shipping. Didn’t ask me to do anything with the old ones.

 

[Wrongside]

Schnees was exceptional to deal with over a misunderstanding on a recent boot order. Exemplary customer service. Boots seem nice so far also. They seem to know how to create repeat customers.

 

[Hodgessj]

My dealings with SKRE have been very good. No issues at all

 

[Moosehunter]

Prime….truly pathetic. Mainly just the product tho. I bought prime nexus 4 as soon as it came out. Having shot I I thought I’d like it. Right before the first elk season with it i noticed “severe“ cam lean. I took to “authorized” dealer who ”fixed” it saying the limbs were bad. therefore not able to use it that season. Then this Year was very busy do to getting married and such. Pulled out a month ahead of season finally. And same thing. took it to the dealer who told me they would get it figured out. Sent it to prime and about 3 months later I receive the response that a limb pocket was off a little. So a brand new bow I could never hunt with. They fully repaired then. But still never got to use a 1100$ bow? just sold it cause I was so mad at them. Would not recommend!! Like…600$ resale and absolutely noo elk hunting? Had to depend on my other old reliable junk vs the new junk. Edit: Never did they really acknowledge the fact I saved for a long time to afford it. Only to get totally ruined. Insanity.

 

[OregonSteeler]

Great customer service from OnX Maps. I've had them for years and even since they were chip only and known as Montana Maps.

Over the past year or so, their mapping tool has been less than optimal when I've tried using in when I'm in/out of cell coverage. Went back and forth with them a couple times and they were helpful and got me back on track. I was thinking of leaving them for GoHunt maps (member with them also) but I feel OnX Maps are far superior than GoHunt.

 

[Bucsfan69]

Kryptek- I’ve had a hunting coat for 6 years or so, best coat I’ve owned. The metal zipper tab snapped in half so I called and emailed them about a replacement zipper or repair. He got back to me quickly but stated “ don’t you think it’s lasted you long enough”. I understand maybe I expect too much from a jacket that long, but when you buy from a “quality company “ maybe you expect more.
I will just not buy from them any longer

 

[twall13]

Good-
Nunatak- Jan was incredible to work with on a custom order pair of puffy pants. I understand he's doing away with custom stuff to cut back on lead times but he actually shipped me his personal pair of pants to test before deciding how long to make the leg zipper on mine. That's just insane to me. Gave me all sorts of confidence that he'll take car of me.

Gastronome- My last order came with one bag that had a hole in the bottom and leaked everywhere. I reached out via email and sent them the photos and they had a replacement in the mail that same day and threw in some bison snack sticks as a bonus.

Kryptek- I had the stitching on a pretty new Lykos puffy coat come undone in the pocket. I emailed them and they sent me a replacement within a week. They let me keep the other coat as well so I sewed the pocket up myself and ended up with two puffys for the price of one.

Cameraland- Always pleasant to deal with, promptly took care of an item that was missed from my most recent order.

S&S Archery- Warrantied some of their trekking poles for me twice, the second time was an issue of my own doing and over 2 years after the initial purchase. I was contacting them to see if I could buy the parts and they sent them out free of charge the same day I asked about it. Great guys to work with over there.

Still deciding-
Kowa- I had to send in my little 554 scope and it was a little hard to get ahold of them. Contacted them through email first, took about a week for them to refer me to their website to fill out a form. Filled it out and couldn't get a confirmation that it was submitted, no response to my email query to see if they got it. I finally called them up and after a brief hold talked to a live person who got me an RMA number. Sent in the scope and heard nothing for two weeks. I called them up to confirm they had received it and they said they had and would get back to me after someone looked at it within the next week. They've had it for over 3 weeks and I still don't know for sure what's going on. As long as they take care of the issues and it doesn't take 6 months I'll be fine, but I can also see this one going south quickly. I love their scopes, so I really hope this one turns out okay. I can't say they have stellar customer service, but I'm still hoping for adequate service.

Poor-
Cabela's- Multiple crappy experiences lately but I'm pretty ticked at them for the latest in particular. I tried to burn all my Cabela's bucks and be done with them but they cancelled my most recent order and now the deal I was getting is gone.

Fedex- I've had 3 packages get "lost" en route from them over the last two years. One of them cost me a snowshoeing trip I had planned as the snowshoes I ordered never showed up and then were out of stock for over 6 months. They said they found the box empty in their facility so I got a refund. Interesting way to lose a package...

Walmart- Their online order system sucks. About half of my wife's orders get cancelled a day or two later because the items aren't in stock. If they aren't in stock, don't let me check out. Drives me crazy.

 

[Voyageur]

Good-Vortex
My binoculars were functioning just fine, but thought it was about time to send them in for a “tuneup” as over time I had put some small scratches in the objective lenses.
The level of service I received was way beyond what I expected and turnaround time was only two weeks give or take a day or two.

 

[HandgunHTR]

Had a good one today.

Ordered a scope from CameralandNY via their website. Within 10 minutes, Doug called me to let me know that the scope I ordered (Nightforce SVH 4-14 FFP Mil) was actually not in stock and that he wasn’t sure when he was going to get it in, but it would for sure be after the new year as Nightforce is off for the rest of the year. He also stated that it may be longer due to the Shot Show being in Jan as well.
He could have just let it sit or just cancelled the order, but the personal call was very welcomed.
I am in no hurry so I told him to ship whenever it came in.