REIReviews 126

The store manager, Candice, is not only terribly unhelpful, she is rude. I lost the key for my Yakima cartop carrier. I was told to go to an REI store and they would tell me which of 4 keys is the one to order for my carrier. It was 7:30, a 1/2 before closing time. It was drizzling, it was not yet dark. When I pulled my car to the back of the store Candice very rudely told me she would not allow the employee to try the keys because it was raining. I offered to put the carrier inside on the loading doc, a mere 10 feet away from where I was standing. She said "No, it's closing time". I asked what time do you close? She said "8 o'clock". I said "it's 7:30". She said "there are 75 keys on the ring". No matter what I said, she was determined to find an excuse not to help me. I don't know if she hates men or is just a rude, lazy woman. I am telling anyone who asks, Do Not Go To That REI Store. I will bring it up in my conversations. I am posting this review where ever I can. They should NEVER let this woman speak to another customer. She is highly offensive.

Transactional capabilities are borderline fraudulent.

Store pick-up items: delayed 20 min at the counter where I'm told my amex card has canceled half my order. I had to call AmEx on the spot to discover that some bizarre intermediary that REI uses had refunded half of it! And now, in the store, they wanted it back. The clerk told me this happens all the time 😜

Delivery items: 2 days later they email and cancel my other 2 delivery items due to " nventory changes"

Seems REI,,, some in Minnesota,,, is no longer the good store it was... The best workers are leaving,,, not recognized for their expertise. Sad ---- no wonder many reviews have changed from very good to one --two star reviews...

#1
Came in for a brake adjustment talked me into paying $30 for a co-op membership because tire repairs would be free. I was at the top of the hill heading down when I realized my brakes were not working at all I had to slam myself into a cement wall several times to keep from going onto a major highway in traffic
#2
Brought my bike in because my tire was flat came to pick it up. Wheeled it about 2 inches towards the door and realized my tire was still flat.
#3
I brought my bike in for another flat poop. They informed me it would be $40 and no longer free to fix even with the co-op which was originally free.
Highway robbery

I was told in one of the stores that if I purchased my own membership I would receive a 30 gift card. I signed up on line and no gift card. I called and was told I needed to purchase $50 more at that time to qualify for the gift card. I have spent hundreds of dollars since I signed up, but that doesn't count. Apparently their staff doesn't know all the small print and I certainly didn't see it.
There are certainly cheaper places to buy your equipment. Just be aware REI uses some weasel words.
We just bought close to $400 worth of Smart Wool and the clerk told my wife it would be 10% off. We got home and no discount was given. Again beware of what anyone at REI tells you, because chances are it's probably not true!

What a terrible service. Ordered a JetBoil Micromo (A*******). Even paying the order was a special quest with NUMBER of chats with agents. Eventually, the order was paid, and shipment was scheduled to 06/20/23. What am I seeing? Money is back to my card, order is in "backordered" state... Wait, what? I have literally a number of contacts with their agents, saying everything is fine, order will be shipped, wait for a schedule. What a joke...

Went to the REI to use my Member rewards. Closest is the Littleton CO store. It was during their big sale just this past weekend. Walked the entire store. Where were the clothes for regular mountain campers? There is a pride dept, a line called Outdoor Afro and lots of impressive designer clothes made with wispy synthetic fabrics. Everything is so over designed and brightly colored, it would scare the wild critters. It's as if they forgot to bring any of the plain sturdy outdoor stuff. I was shopping for functional straight outdoors-man ladies clothes. I didn't find any, they have no real back country clothes. Just flashy city wanna be looking good faux hiking clothes covered with rainbows. Thinking they've joined Clown world with Dylan over at Bud. REI, have a look-see at Budweiser's sales/stock and look what sick tuckable clothing lines Target is suddenly hiding asap right now. I've always shopped REI first for my gear but this is too flippin' weird. Look fools, I already gave y'all a pass for being insulting idiots about forcing the public to be jabbed to enter during the faux covid ride. But today the WEF powers that run this company is obviously willing to let it self-destruct to run it's social agenda. REI, buhbye, Army Surplus fixed me up just dandy. And the sales folks at the surplus are not stuck up like yours are. Wake up don't be woke.

So theres this gay cashier with his blah blah, i ask him do i pay anything, he said no, plus hes gonna give me $30 gift card. So then i said ok i will join then i walk out the door, only i knew that REI scammed me when i see the receipt thats why this gay guy hide the receipt inside the shoe box instead of asking me where to put it. Receipt says membership card paid $30 is non-refundable. I WILL MEVER SET A FOOT IN YOUR STORE NEVER EVER! Love your customers but you scam me.

Went into a store, asked an employee where to find something and was immediately hit with a sales pitch on the membership program. Get to the counter and am told the membership is $30, the cashier asks for the sales rep who told me about it ( no doubt they have a rewards system), made the purchase with the cost of the membership. Went to buy something online two weeks later and lo and behold my membership was never setup in the system. Went online to the chat and they said I have to produce the receipt in order to verify I purchased the membership. Don't have it anymore so now I'm out $30. For the money I spent there and was trying to spend on the website this purchase you'd think they would have just created the membership but I guess not. Too bad the co-op is some scam sh**

I purchased over $500 worth of goods at the REI on Brentwood in St. Louis, MO today. I was informed (after I made the purchase) that not only did they not have gift boxes for the items, they did not have bags at all, as part of their zero carbon footprint policy. I would have to carry all my purchases out to my car in the pouring rain with no protection for any of it. I understand the NCF policy but this is taking it a little too far. And I'm sure REI saved a good deal of money with this policy and I certainly didn't notice any effect on their already high prices. It may not have bothered me as much if I hadn't noticed while shopping that the young staff asked all the younger shoppers if they needed help but not one of them asked me if i needed help or even made eye contact. I am in my late 60's. Not a great experience overall.

REI now uses Lasership/ontrac shipping on the West coast in Washington state. Any merchant who uses Lasership does not care about your business. They don't even warn you to give you a choice of another shipper. REI has now lost my business forever as a customer, because I can not trust a company who uses Lasership as their shipper. I would of rather paid $4 extra for USPS.

If you don't drink the coolaid they treat you like a third class citizen. You have to buy a membership to get the marked up prices slightly lower Its the biggest scam in the business.

REI changed the credit card associated with their points (formerly dividends) program. No big deal, I have no brand loyalty to a particular bank. Both REI and the new bank (Capital One) sent out communication, and it was a bit confusing to sort out who sent what, because "REI" was usually in the title of the message. REI communicated several times that, "your old card will be good until replaced." Nearing the transition date, I tried to use my credit card at the hardware store, and it was denied. I went home and logged in and found a message that the account was closed. I contacted REI and they told me it was a bank issue. I wrote a follow-up message asking why they said my card would be good until replaced, and they said it was not an REI issue. Shortly after that, REI (not the bank) sent me an email saying that the new cards would be sent out in the near future, but to "continue to use the old card," which was frustrating. I followed up again with REI in writing and they denied any responsibility. My card was finally replaced about three weeks after the cancellation of the old card. I asked for a follow up from REI explaining how this could have happened but have not heard back. The new card has slightly better points than the old REI Mastercard, but I get better offers in the mail every week. I think I will finish using my dividends and exit both my REI membership and the card agreement. REI has nice (but expensive) gear, but their customer service is poor.

REI now uses a Lasership to deliver your purchases. Lasership delivered my package to the wrong address. I contacted REI and informed them of the situation, and all I received was a generic response.
REI was no help. I'm very disappointed in REI and there lack of concern.

Very disappointed with the customer service. I purchased the REI Co-op Half Dome SL 2+ Tent on July 13 to be delivered in Canada (QC). When I looked frequently on the REI website, no tracking number was provided, saying it is an international shipment (US -> CA). Since my delivery was one week late already (Aug 8), I asked REI for a tracking number by email. They provided me with one and I saw that my order had been on hold in a nearby city from July 16 untill now (Aug 11) because (a) some paperwork was not send to DHL from REI, (b) import duties were not paid. I am aware those fees are at my expense but DHL never received my information from REI so they were not able to contact me to pay those fees, and REI never told me to pay them nor to contact DHL prior to my email asking for it (almost 1 month after it has been on hold). Now I am without a tent for my next trekking adventure, and I don't even know when to expect the shipment to be delivered... Moreover, despite my explanation, REI never mentioned any compensation for all this trouble.

Simply put, I always buy my outdoor gear from REI because I know I can buy expensive gear with confidence. Confidence that the gear will be worth the price and if for some reason the gear just isn't right for me after I purchase then REI's return policy makes it a non-hassle.

Rei has been getting from bad to years along the years I have been with them. Customer service seems to be staffed with people who hate the company and the customers. Many orders were cancelled for no reasons at all and items which arrived had a high proportion of damage and they refuse to accept take responsibility. Buy from them at your own peril

I am an REI member, and have bought quite a few items from them. The store staff are usually friendly and helpful. They do have good quality gear, but it is very expensive, even with the member rebates and all.

The biggest complaint I have about REI is their online ordering. I ordered some bike parts. Shipping was already really slow, and then they delayed it several more days. It was almost two weeks before the shipment arrived at my house. I might but a few more things in their store, but won't be placing any online orders in the future.

Even Fauci has said the pandemic is over yet REI continues to require proof of vaccination and recommends masks even for OUTDOOR activities. I have unsubscribed from all emails and will no longer shop at REI.

This store has a good selection of camping and hiking gear, but is highly over priced. The membership is a gimmick to charge higher prices and to fool customers into believing they are getting a discount. Don't be fooled. Go to browse and buy it cheaper online. They used to have good customer service, but they changed their return policy. When we tried to return our unworn brand new purchases, the manager refused even to give us store credit because too much time had expired. This is despite the fact that we have been members for a number of years. The manager's attitude was smug and arrogant. This was at the East Hanover, NJ store. We used to buy from there occasionally because the service was good, but after this experience, we will never spend a penny there again. If a business charges a premium price, the manager and sales people need to treat the customers with respect.