Viking Ski & Patio — Attraction in Barrington

I’m am completely new to the ski world and have made friends who would love to see me learn to ski with them and so when I came to this shop I was so excited to buy my own gear! The guys at the ski department were so kind and the young man who helped me ( I think his name was Chris, sorry if I got it wrong!) was so informative and so understanding and helped me feel comfortable as a first time ski shopper! But because it was near closing time he advised that it was better to make an appointment and so I happily did and reserved a ski set that he assured me was fine to reserve and to not feel bad if I ended up not getting. Unfortunately I’m giving this shop a low rating because of an older woman, on the large side, who works at the counter. When I first walked in and inquired about where I could find the ski gear she completely cut me off mid sentence and proceeded to rudely send me away to the back where the ski dept. was before adding a rude comment of them being too busy to assist me since it was almost closing time. I’m sure there was a more professional way to convey it. After her, I was second guessing my experience at this shop but as I mentioned, the guys at the ski department were completely friendly and knowledgeable. Today I called in to let them know that I had to sadly cancel my upcoming appointment and thus give up my reservation on my skis, and the lady on the other line rudely said “Well I hope other people didn’t have to miss out on buying these ski since we reserved them for you!” I was shocked and when I asked “excuse me?” She cut me off and said she needed me to transfer me to the ski department for me to tell them I was cancelling. I was completely confused and after being transferred the other guy on the line seemed confused as well and transferred me back to her after telling me that I needed to make my cancellation with her. I then was greeted with her rude personality and at this point I asked for her name, to which she replied Denise, and told her that her earlier comment was very rude and not professional. She replied with “Okay, Bye” then paused and rushed the words “have a good night.” I’m going to bet that this Denise was the same rude woman at the desk from my first time coming in. I am shocked that this older woman thinks that it is okay to talk to people like this. And if she doesn’t talk to people like this I am wondering why she thinks it was okay to be so rude to me. Besides her, I had a great experience with the rest of the crew but because of the way she carries herself and her lack of professionalism, I am giving this experience a 1 star. She is definitely not an asset to this business. I still want to come back to this shop in the future but I will definitely be hesitant because of Denise, and hopefully I, or anyone else, doesn’t have the displeasure of experiencing her awful...

Absolutely one of the best stores I’ve been to for winter sports. Right when you walk in, you’d get greeted with tons of winter equipment such as coats, snow pants, goggles, helmets, skis and snowboards, etc. As a snowboarder they had tons of selections for boards. I did end up purchasing a Never Summer board with Burton bindings. Also to mention the incredible staff they have there. I walked in the store not knowing what specific board to get but Chris (snowboard expert) was the one to help me choose which board would be best for me. He asked me tons of questions regarding my snowboarding history and it seemed as if he already had a list of boards of what I would like as soon as I told him my history in snowboarding. He ran through all the specs off all the boards I had questioned about and this guy had a brain like a computer! Yes he is trained to sell boards yet he also gave personal experiences on boards which I like to see other peoples honest point of view of the board. I really highly recommend Chris to help out if your go to the store without knowing what board to get but need a board! When talking about bindings, Kinda wish that the store had a little bit more options on bindings because I only had 4 options on bindings. Also To mention not only Chris is an expert on snowboards but have a lot of knowledge regarding towards bindings. With the 4 options I was giving, I didn't really know anything about bindings at all but after a few, Chris was able to talk to me and help me understand what’s the good and what’s the bad. If you go to this ski and snowboard shop, I really do recommend chris because if his knowledge on everything and he made me leave the store happier than how I came in,...

Couple years ago, these guys were good for helping my wife pick out new ski boots. She'd never been fitted before, they tried multiple pairs, heat fitted once we found a pair, the whole shebang for ski boots. The boots have been good for her, but the 2-star review is related to another event recently and the ski boots are the only thing saving this from a 1-star. About a month ago, I called up and asked if they could do the labor to take a snowboard binding high-back from an older union binding off and put it onto a newer union binding of a smaller size. (old = large, new = medium). They said no, the heel cups are not the same and would not line up. I told them on the phone that C3 (Capita, Coal, & Union, you know, the people who make the parts in question) had said themselves the parts would be compatible and should be no issues. Viking ski shop said the parts are not compatible, in fact, the tech there knew so much (he was very confident and kind of an a*s about it) that it would not work EVEN AFTER telling him the supplier of the parts said it would fit. Now, I don't have an issue with a business policy to be that they don't fit parts to different models like that, that I understand. But to flat out say it wont work (when it will, and it does, and I've ridden them 5 times now) and have a holier than thou attitude about it? Yeah I'll take my business elsewhere. Sucks, I really loved Viking, but I won't be treated like that especially when the techs that work there have no idea what they're talking about/need a refresher course on gear and decency. Cashier lady also always has some type of bad attitude when I'm in there which is reasonable since I'm giving them my money...