REI — Attraction in Cary

I am rating this store a 2 if that after yesterday's visit...my initial visit to this store was much better as far as customer service...I did in the end get what I originally wanted to do and that was a simple exchange of $6.00 worth of SRAM powerlinks (2 qty.)....

I went to counter,said I was given wrong links,(8 speed vs 10 speed)....original purchase was $2.93 at one of their super sales,all SRAM links 7-10 speed were $2.93.

He asks for receipt,I told him I was a member and was told that as a member I do not have to ever fuss with receipts as it is tracked in the system.

He continues with it's easier to look up,do you mean for you as you do not want to do your job??

I told him just look it up under my name,I'd,phone number... whatever it is you use to look up a member...all other stores ( NOT REI ) are very simple and never a problem.

He then asks what card did you use to purchase,I don't know I replied...he then again says it makes it easier....again for you!,not wanting to do your job??

After 10 minutes of going nowhere I start to look through hundreds of emails for the receipt.at the time I pull it up he does so also,why did you take so long??...5 seconds at most to punch in my info??

Now he says you will owe us some money??...what,I'm doing a simple exchange as these were all the same price during the sale....no he says,there are none in front so I have to get them from the back and they are almost double the cost???...what???...wth is going on here.

After another 5-10 minutes saying I was not paying any extra on a simple exchange he finally says I'll do an override courtesy exchange for you?...really this exchange which should have taken a few minutes is now a courtesy exchange to make me happy.

Well I am not happy with the whole fiasco and will not shop at this store anymore,this was insane...all over $6.00 worth of product for...

Wow, I expected professionalism and quality from REI. My experience with them has been truly awful. First I take my bike in for a Tune and because I have a hole in my tire. The bike shop technician quoted me $8.50 to repair the tire and $75 for the tune. I come back to get my bike the next day to find that without my permission they made additional repairs on my bike with parts and charged me for them. Also, the bike tire change was $20 because of "labor" that they failed to mention in my quote. However, I'm a reasonable guy. They fixed issues with the bike, that needed to be repaired anyway. So I payed $110 after being quoted less than 85$. I get on my bike for a ride that night and 5 miles in the tire pops, from the exact same hole; where they failed to remove the piece of glass. So I take it in today expecting professional customer service and care to their member. Instead they say that it isn't their fault. I brought the tire in because it had a hole in it. They claimed that their was simply no way that they could have missed it; when it is the exact whole that I paid them to fix. I rode the bike for less than hour before the repair failed. After this I asked if they could fix the bike tire for me. And they attempted to charge me $45 dollars to fix the tire again. Very dissatisfied with the disrespectful employees who could not accept responsibility for a bad repair and fix it. I'm a 17 year old and when I go into work, the customer is always right and I treat them with respect. I would at least expect as much out of this company. You do not get what you pay for, I will never be using REI again after this terrible...

Very frustrating experience at REI Today at 1pm. I walked in there, planning to buy a kayak. I had my picture of what I wanted and my mind was made up. I'd called to confirm that they had it earlier in the week. when I got there and went to the area there was a shift manager who I asked for help locating the particular one I was interested in. He was interrupted asked by Another associate for help getting cash for one of the registers. He said "ok please help this customer". With a look of displeasure she asked what I was looking for, and I showed her the item, Item Number and details from the website. She immediately said without looking, "We don't have that". I told her I called earlier in the week and she said in a smart aleck tone, "we sell 5 a week it's probably gone" (again never looking). She tried to upsell me on one that was right in front of us but I turned and said OK, I will go to Academy sports they also have one and walked away. The sales associate called to me twice as I walked to the front door, "yelling I found it" but I was not going back. The sad part REI will never care about is I've spent $1500 at that location in gear in the last 5 months preparing for my 2 week Alaskan vacation I took in June. That will NEVER happen again at any REI location. Lesson for today-Customer service attitude...