REI — Attraction in Greenwood Village

REI has been a store I had visited for many years. One of the only stores I rarely would have complaints about, and on the contrary mostly praise. Maybe this review has to do more with the entire chain rather than a particular store but the following events happened at this location: Came here with defective shoes, which had accumulated small rocks between the Gore-Tex fabric and the outer leather fabric. Even though the shoes had been worm, and were worm on the outside and the soles, they have been worn far too few times and could have been worn many more times if it had not been for the strange issue of debris getting stuck in the middle layers of the shoes with no way of getting the debris out. This was not the first time I had problems with this particular brand, so just in case, I bought them from REI instead of directly from the manufacturer knowing that I had always been satisfied in REI's longstanding satisfaction guarantee. They refused to acknowledge this defect, and went as far as to bluntly tell me that they do not see this defect here, essentially blaming the customer who they claim to provide a guarantee satisfaction for. All this while contradicting their own purchase agreement: quoting REI's website "If your item has a manufacturing defect in materials or workmanship, you can return it at any time, regardless of purchase date" is NOT HONORED ANYMORE. After two cashiers gave me the turnaround as far as returning these shoes, a manager, Jay, was called to the front. He was actually well spoken and respectful, hence the 2 stars instead of 1. Although equally ineffective and downright deceitful on his stance of first carefully looking into the situation, and then telling me "I don't see a defect," and "I am not going to return anything for you today." He proceeded to tell me to get in touch with the manufacturer instead. This is what run down stores do, and unfortunately it was REI's turn to resort to these tactics.

OVERALL: They had lied to me and abused my trust when selling me a product at retail cost nevertheless, with a GUARANTEE AGAINST DEFECTS. However, it appears that is under the discretion of the manager. In this case the manager told me to call around the country, to a different state, to contact HQ, or to contact the manufacturer instead.

Interestingly enough, reading other reviews, several people mention the shoe department being horrible at customer service. Maybe this is just a shoe issue here. I really hope management gets a grasp of the situation and deceit going on at this store, at least to save some of the stores good reputation. After all they have disrespected a loyal customer shopping with REI for 15 years, who referred many people to the store, bought regularly at their events/sales, garage sales, and embraced the reputation of the store and knowledgeable staff...

When I head to REI I think that neither MacGyver nor the pseudo-character volleyball from Tom Hank's "Castaway" will play a role in my shopping experience. However, this new store seems to have forgotten something essential about Mary and Lloyd's co-op along the way, and these kitsch-y elements are found throughout the store.

I head to REI for an authentic outdoor shop. But recently the details have been seeming to slip between the cracks for this store.

1. I was denied a return on a dog leash that snapped after 5 months of use. Customer service is no longer a specialized section in the store at the back. Younger, puerile associates now handle these issues. After years of relatively positive experiences at the "old" location, my first 2 experiences in the new Greedwood Village location have been very underwhelming. I don't recognize many of the employees that I came to trust over many years of shopping at the location off of County Line Road.

2. In the larger space, it took me 10 minutes to locate an employee to help point me in the right direction. The Denver Flagship store has staff members stationed near the entrance for such a purpose. I had to interrupt a group of 4 staff members huddled near a new flat screen display to get some help.

3. The mannequins mix a heavy-weight, casual, fleece mid-layer (a Kuhl casual wear piece with bulky zippers and a non-utilitarian fuzzy face fabric), with a top-of-the-line super-pricey ultra-lightweight outerlayer (Arc'teryx Cerium jacket). Authentic? No. Pandering to people new to Denver and the outdoors with lots of expendable income? You tell me. Where is the sincere engagement? Purpose before profit? How so?

4. I heard one of the managers tell one of the front-of-store staff to, "shut up." Mind you, the staff members were at least 40 feet away from one another, so this "shut up" was yelled across half of the store. Due to the tone of the person's voice, there was no doubt in my mind that this was serious and not playful. The employee being told to shut up was trying to get the attention of customers in line by letting them know that he was available to assist (yes he was speaking at a loud volume so that he was heard). I asked to speak to a manager about this disrespectful behavior that made me uncomfortable, and when I found out that I was going to wait around for the very employee that told another employee to shut up, I bailed. Sherry was the managers name. Her demeanor towards this employee was not cool.

Not sure where REI is going, but it is changing directions. I have not been impressed with the new...

I recently bought a new mountain bike from here last Saturday and was initially very pleased with the service I received. I opted to buy tire fillers to prevent flats. However, after a few rides on the bike, I woke up to a flat tire on the front wheel. I inspected the bike for any puncture marks or issues but found none. I filled up the tire again but it went flat again overnight. So I took the tire to the REI in Greenwood Village and explained the situation that it was a new bike and that I didn’t see any possible puncture sites. Two gentlemen were at the bike desk and both stated that fillers were not a guarantee for flat tire presentation, in a manner that made me feel very stupid. I told them I understood, but again couldn’t find a possible source for the flat. One of the workers took out the tube, filled it up and inspected it for any defects or holes but failed to find any. He then very shortly asked me if I wanted to have him fill up the tire again or get a new tube. I explained to him that I had already filled up the tire twice and would prefer a new one. He then stated, very coldly, that he “understood how frustrating it can be to buy a new bike and have it fail so I can put in a new tube and I’ll just charge you for the tube”, as if it was a giant favor he was performing for me. He then proceeded to install the tube and ring me up in silence. After I inserted my card, he said there would be receipt options for me and then promptly walked away from the register without saying anything further. As a young woman who self-admittedly doesn’t know much about bikes, I may be naive about bike tires or bike maintenance. However, I don’t believe that a tire should go flat without a cause or any obvious puncture sites. I also didn’t appreciated being treated as though I was expecting free service or privilege, when all I did was enter the store looking for help. I don’t believe I was being rude in any manner and I thanked him for the “extra help” he gave me. Especially when I didn’t ask for any special treatment, did not raise my voice or make any outrageous demands. I don’t think I’m being unreasonable to expect to leave a store without feeling incredibly idiotic. My experience at the REI store in Denver was much more enjoyable and I guess I will just keep my business to that store. Very...