Sturtevant's — Attraction in Bellevue

UPDATE: Sturtevant's reached out to me about my poor boot fitting and made a great effort to find me the perfect boot. I was set up with Colin who really knew his stuff, easily the best boot fitting I have ever had. The boot selection at this point was very thin so I didn't end up finding a boot to purchase at this point. However, they did give me a refund on my original boot purchase and a list of great boot recommendations for the next season when the boot stock is better.

So recently I went in to Sturtevant's, went through their boot fitting process, and bought my first pair of (what I had hoped would be great) ski boots. Today was my first day trying them at the mountain. Turns out, the boots were not so great.

My experience at Sturtevant's: Walking into the store I was surprised by their selection, they had so much stuff! I started a boot fitting session with one of their teenager boot fitters, and he matched me with a pair of Techica boots 29.5 with 90 flex (I am 210lbs, 6'2", athletic, and a relatively aggressive skier). The guy seemed dedicated to selling me some boots and was confident that those were the right ones. I went to their counter, bought the boots, and was handed a receipt with a stamp saying essentially "Hey guess what, you can't return these now". So no big deal, they seemed like nice boots.

Fast forward one week to today, my first day trying the boots on the mountain. Turns out the boot fitting was not so great... The boots were floppy and would not hold my weight. When I got home my knees felt like I had just squatted a few hundred pounds with the worst possible form. My feet went numb within the first 10 minutes, and I couldn't feel my toes for most of the day. This is with the clasps set as loose as possible and some nice ski socks on.

I went into this shop hoping to get fitted to the perfect pair of boots that could last me a good 10 years or so. In the end, I spent $400 on a pair of boots that make skiing a terrible experience.

To sum things up: I got sold a pair of useless boots, poorly fitted, and told I would not be able to return them after my purchase. Seemingly, these boots were just "fitted" to me to get rid of boot stock before the season ends. Unfortunately, I can not recommend anyone to this place for ski gear, and would be concerned about any other products that relied on their "expertise".

If I were you, I would try one of the Ski shops in Seattle with more experienced...

Really disappointing experience! Historically the staff has been very accommodating when it comes to mounts and tunes. Short version of the customer experience. I brought in 3 pair of skies and bindings to be mounted. Was informed that the delivery date was Dec 5th. I said not problem, let’s expedite the touring set up as I won’t need the two alpine set ups till later … as I have other skis for early season. We don’t offer expedited service any longer as of this year. Okay, when do you need me to bring the boots in based on a Dec 5th date. We need them now. Previously when you’ve had a long lead time I’ve be able to bring my boots in closer to the delivery date so I can ski in the mean time . We can’t do that … the staff member left and shared my request with another staff who then came to the counter (he didn’t identify himself) said sorry we can’t do that. I said it doesn’t make sense for me to leave with you, you store my boots for over 2 weeks, when you won’t need them until a few days before that are mounted? He again said we can’t do that … I said when I mounted my 108’s and 116’s the store was booked out a few weeks and they had me bring them in 4-5 days prior. If you’d like to bring them in Monday we could do that? I said well that would still mean my boots sit here for 2 weeks. It goes on but I’ll bring this to the conclusion … all my gear is back in my truck and I’m taking it all to a competitor. I called them from the parking lot and they said no problem we can turn around the touring set up in a 3 days(for an expedited fee) and the others will be 2 weeks. They don’t need my boots though until 3 days prior. It so simple. I understand the need for processes and efficiency as it leads to profitability … then there is reasonable accommodation and the customer experience. I’ve been a loyal customer for 20 years but it will be hard for me to come back: This left me feeling like there was little care and inability to find a reasonable compromise that met both parties needs. If someone in a leadership role would like to know more please contact me as I’m happy to provide more...

UPDATE - Will the manager reached out to me and apologized for the experience I had, refunded the rental and offered another free rental this season. I appreciate that management is on the ball here and I'm satisfied with the resolution. Original review below.

I'm very disappointed with the rental experience, which took probably 3 times as long as it should have and ended with me being charged more than I should have. The employees I interacted with didn't seem to know what they were doing and were generally unhelpful.

I got started fitting boots with one employee, who then went to help another customer. Fine, the store was busy, so I asked another employee for help, who told me to wait a minute, then started helping another group, finished with them, looked at me still waiting, then started helping the next group in line. I gave up and ended up finding boots by myself, but as a new snowboarder, it would have been great to get help finding a fit.

Next, I waited for another 15 minutes while another associate struggled to find the right screws to install bindings on the board - he told me had never done it before, again not a huge deal, but wasted more time.

I finally get to the checkout counter and discover they're charging me for the "premium" snowboard package, despite the employee at the rental counter telling me the board I got was a "sport" one. I asked the cashier, who agreed that it was a sport board, but then saw that they had charged me for the premium one and said that it must be premium after all because it looked to be in good condition. This I find to be unacceptable; I get that the store is busy and people make mistakes, but I absolutely should not be made to pay more for a package I don't want because the guy entered it in wrong.

Very disappointing, as I've rented from Sturtevant's in the past and had a better experience previously, but I will find another rental place to rent from...