I ordered a Parka, as a gift, from MEC's online Black Friday sale. Having been in the Edmonton south common store a few days before, and observing many in stock, the deal was too good not to order. As I placed my order, it indicated that the downtown store was “Next Day Pick Up”. Given that I wanted to pick up as soon as possible, I selected the downtown store, even though the location is terribly inconvenient for me. Approximately 24 hours later, I called the downtown store, whom after about 25 mins on the phone with various people, told me they had no record of the purchase. Of course, I couldn’t go pick up the jacket, the next day, at a location that was inconvenient, because MEC hadn’t even processed the Order as of yet. Great. I called the customer service line and spoke to a male who told me “this sale has caught us completely off guard and we’re overwhelmed”. No kidding?? The male told me that there had been staff cutbacks this year, due to how slow it had been, but suddenly the sale has regenerated sales that have overwhelmed the existing employees Ok ... the spokesperson then told me that my jacket was in Winnipeg and had to be shipped to Edmonton! What is going on here, MEC?? You hold a Black Friday sale and you’re overwhelmed??? Then my next day pick up, at this inconvenient location, is in Winnipeg???

The kicker is December 16, 2024, I received an email from MEC telling me that my order has been cancelled. My goodness. I’ve been a supporter of MEC for over 25 years, and have never seen such awful customer service or a absolute lack of responsibility in fulfilling an order - for that matter, I don’t think I’ve ever had a more disappointing exchange with any store, ever, than this experience. I will never again shop at MEC. Shame on you, MEC. Not the MEC I once knew