REIReviews of rei.com

ordered a set of bicycle pedals, order accepted and after a week, no shipping number, filed a complaint on line, after 24 hours answer, REI cancels the order as there is no inventory. Very basic idea is to sell only what you have in stock. Now waiting for a refund, just wondering if it's going to that a week or longer

I recently had to buy new hiking boots. The customer service was really good. I have difficult feet to fit (small wide feet with high arches) and while I almost gave up, the staff persisted until they found a pair that worked. I tried on a ton of boots, ordered some online (they knew the manufacturer carried wide in my size while they didn't.) I had to return because they were still too narrow. After a 2 week search, an REI staff member found me the pair that finally worked. (Need a wide toe box try Keen Targhee Mid, they finally did the trick-although I hope not too wide at the ankle too- but by far the closest fit to what I needed). Plus REI is a co-op and I joined. I get a percentage of what I spend, plus they gave me a coupon for the price of the membership. All in all a great experience!

Have you ever had the experience of trying to get the attention of in-store customer service folk, but feel they're less than interested in helping you? Well, welcome to REI San Francisco, where, if you're an average, older (as in senior) guy, inquiring to buy, say, a very expensive, top-of-the-line product, (should be a motivator for some level of interest on the part of a customer service person), there's no chance to get any kind of real customer attention if your customer competition includes, for instance, a young, 25-ish, fashionably dressed, Asian female. At least in this REI San Francisco Mission district location, that seems to be the status quo. Do I blame the young customer service man who was completely oblivious to anyone except the dazzling object of his attention? Not at all. The problem seems to be more a flawed part of the culture and training of REI personnel. Suffice it to say, (at least in San Francisco), if you don't look like the young, fashionable, REI target audience, your shopping experience there might be different than you'd hoped for: a good chance you could be treated in a way that leaves you feeling.... well, less than a valued customer... not very good.... even invisible. I think I'll stick with Amazon: they know how to treat a customer.

I wish I could rate this no stars. Their customer service is so atrocious it's completely laughable. I placed an order over 3 weeks ago. It did not arrive in time after paying for expedited shipping so was returned to sender as I was not in the country anymore. It has now arrived back at their returns department 3 weeks later which I've been patiently waiting for a refund and now they're telling me I have to wait until they send it somewhere else before I receive a refund. It's insane how a company can take your money and just hold it, while they do as they please. Tracking shows the package was signed for over a week ago at their returns department and they are still telling me they can't even issue a refund (I know it then takes a few days for it to appear in your bank).

REI is a great experience. Maybe not the lowest price but my annual dividend keeps me coming back...they have the highest quality of gear and experienced customer service department.

The nicest most helpful people in the stores - great product knowledge. Phone customer service also VERY helpful. They train their staff right!

Dealing with REI’s inefficiency and unprofessionalism was a truly unpleasant experience. I paid for a 1-day delivery because I needed to get a backpack before I left the US (I was leaving in 3 days but decided to pay for the 1-day delivery to be on the safe side). After a series of mistakes from their side and UPS’s I ended up without a backpack nor any valid explanation from REI. On the contrary, I felt I was being mocked by their customer service - I called and chatted so many times to ask for their help and every time they would do something useless or that negatively affected the possibility of me getting the package on time. I wasted a lot of time and energy and dealing with this and I really regret not having gone to another retailer. Although their stores look nice I would never recommend buying from them because of how horrible their customer service is.

Overpriced ! I go there to try on cloths and boots and purchase online from other sellers. Usually 40%-70% less in cost. If I can find boots online for 99$ and REI charges over $200 ,something is wrong.