REI — Attraction in Austin

The shoe lead is very passive aggressive beware!!! I was attempting to exchange some Birkenstocks and she told me I lied of the length If time I had them. I would have bought a new pair if she would have brought the correct size and color. She claimed my shoes were “well-loved” I said they have been this bad 3 months in, I was in Colorado so I guess they wear differently in high attitudes. She said “I would not exchange these things!” As if “grossed out” by my shoes. A shoe salesman!?! I said, who get to choice the “wear and tear “ aka worthiness of an exchange? I’m a lead! She replied. I said, you are not the final say, you are not a manager!? I said, my membership states I have 1 year, and these are Birkenstocks, they should last more than one year!?! She claimed , “well -love” with a snarled nose again. Shoes me her shoes and says, these I’ve had for 6 months and I don’t care if you are a member!” I would not exchange them!!! She exclaimed and walked off and refused to help me any further. This is the second interaction I have had with this lead. The last time was a busy day so I just assumed she was rude for that reason- she is a person that acts like you are bothering her when you ask her to do her job . She is not what I know of REI. I was fine not getting the return, even though it’s bias, but treating some so poorly for using her understanding of her membership as she understood it; is wrong and disrespectful. Especially they it’s an opinion base choice, they had no rules, just we have a right not to exchange! Also, there were equally wore out shoes returned for sale one the shelves with even less soul than mine, but they were taken, this bias / no clear standards - bad form REI and REI Austin horrible customer service! I am now seeing buying from REI is actually no different than Amazon, accept Amazon honors their return policy and has no “ opinion made standards”! I gave it an extra start because the guy customer service member was kind and really tried to help, and the manager was , though bias on her choice. I think dealing with “annoyed me “verse dealing with annoy Ms. I’m the Show Lead, was in fact less frustrating, so she picked a side. We all have to deal with a “Ms. I’m the Shoe Lead” a person that seems to feel more important, special , (narcissistic much?!! ) and not a REI person that would even go outside for mor then 10 minutes with out complaining, much less hike or likes people. Austin REI store manager and sales guy gets 5 stars. Sadly, if the shoe lead would have been more respectful, even 1/2; like brought me the right size and shoe to try on (there were 5 other customers in the whole store) or just talked to me a little long, offered a discount… it would Have matter I have been a member for now 20 Years. But as she said “I don’t care if you’re a member!” I would have bought 2 pairs And the table and butan… but respect matters. The other lady was very personable in the show department. But Ms I’m the Shoe Lead… control freak had to “handle it”, you are a very unhappy person… get counseling and a better attitude! Kindness still matters and so does...

It's too bad the employees rival car salesmen because otherwise, this store is a great resource for most things outdoor related.

Each time I come in, there's a slew of employees hunting me down, saying hello and almost immediately diving into their membership sales pitch.

Even after explicitly stating that I've heard about the membership/benefits and no I'm not interested, they still continue to try and sell me and...why god why?! Please make it stop!

I've even had more than 2 employee come back about 10 minutes later saying, for example, "I see you're looking at this $$ item. You know if you got the membership, it'd totally be worth it" while unsuccessfully attempting to shove one of their little yellow sales slips into my hand.

It's interesting to notice how consistently less friendly/helpful the employees are after I've (politely) said I'm not interested in joining. For example, I was looking for a medium sized backpack. I showed the employee a few examples as well as specific features, sizes, etc. I was looking for. Instead of showing me his suggestions, he decided to lecture me on how I used the work "day pack" when I should have said "back pack" because according to him, his idea of a day pack was a few liters smaller than what I was looking for.

Are you kidding?

He then proceed to show me several backpacks that really were nowhere near what I had asked for and also conveniently ended up being some of the most expensive options.

Another relentless saleswoman did a wonderful job at not answering my questions but instead, found a creative way to tie everything she said back to trying to get me to sign up. She ended up being the one to ring me up and tried to get me to give her the phone number of a friend who has a membership, even though she said they'd get no credit because I was purchasing a sale item. Dear god, lady!

There are very few stores to have Pavlovian trained me to develop mild anxiety when nearing the entrance because I subconsciously know what's about to ensue.

This REI is one of those stores.

It's too bad because I like the store, but for now, I think I'll be sticking to online shopping where I won't be bombarded with sales pitches or lectured...

Avoid this place. The guy in the bike shop just grabbed the bike that my 4 year old was trying out for size.

I went in to purchase 2 pairs of shoes and a bike for my kid. Ultimately decided not to give them any of my business.

The bikes were locked initially and I requested help from one of the person (who was nice) in the bike shop to unlock a 16" bike so that my kid can try and compare the fit with a 12". We were trying the 12" at that time.

Another store associate (based on other reviews, it seems like this his regular behavior) just saw us and told us we need to fill out a form if we need to test drive outside. He also asked us if the bikes were locked or just lying there when we took them (I didn't understand the purpose of that question). I clarified that we got the bikes from another associate and I told that we were just checking the size and didn't really want to go outside for a full ride (Also, we didn't know we had to fill out a form first. No one told that before showing us the bike ?). He said we still need to fill out a form before we take on any bike from the bike rack.

My kid just got out of the bike because of the way he approached. The guy just took the bike and left. It seemed unnecessary and as if he doesn't want us to try on the bike or buy it at all. I would have happily filled out the form if that was mandatory to open the bike for checking the fit (which is bizarre). He did want us to follow him for the form. But i just didn't like that he couldn't leave the bike with my kid and the way we got treated.

I initially thought this is a race thing, but looking at other reviews, looks like its equally bad with others (Deep Sigh!! ?)

Keep your bikes REI :) Don't let them...