Outdoor Research - Seattle Store — Attraction in Seattle

Edit: Nov 6, 2019. Outdoor Research has promptly fixed the issue and has sent out a replacement vest and taken this one back. Thank you.

WARRANTY REVIEW: I purchased a Transcendent Down Vest from K2 Basecamp in Brisbane Australia June 14th, 2019. I had the vest for approximately 3 weeks, which I maybe wore 6 times or even less before the face fabric across the chest starting wearing out. I thought it may have been my messenger bag but realized the seat belt in my Hilux was actually making this fabric fuzzy. I called OR in Seattle and spoke to someone in their Warranty Dept and they asked me to bring it back to K2 for them to deal with the Warranty. K2 had this down vest for 2 months... OR told K2 that they would not Warranty the vest due to the vest coming into contact with something. K2 told me this 2 weeks into them having the vest, which I thought surely that doesn’t make sense. K2 said they would contact OR again to see what else they could do. Now 2 months goes by, with the vest at the store that I bought it at, with no one finding a solution. This really confuses me since Outdoor Research is known for their Outdoor products, which you would think these products would come into contact with something at some point in their life span. I can understand a company not choosing to warranty a product from abuse or negligence, but wearing a vest while driving your vehicle should surely be a normal activity for a piece of clothing. I picked it up tonight from K2. I have attached pictures of the chest fabric where you can see the vest is brand new except for the diagonal fuzzy fabric section where a seat belt would rub. Now, the reason for this review... What is the point of advertising an “Infinite Guarantee” and not stand behind your product? Is this vest well designed and stylish - YES. Does the fabric used in the production of it have a problem - YES. Would I like OR to stand behind their “Infinite Guarantee” and choose to deal with this - YES... Would I recommend any OR products moving forward to my circle of friends, NO, not after...

Great gear. Terrible staff at their flagship store. Asked about Ferossi pants which I was shown to. Very limited selection for one of their best sellers. Asked the guy if they were anywhere else in the store. I was promptly told no as our spring stock is coming in. Well, I don't know what this means so I ask what that means. Get told this is all they have. I confirm again, are there any others. Told no but could go to their Demoyne (spelling store). In my quite thick accent I say, sorry where is this. He repeats the place. Obviously not from the area, I ask again where this is and I'm told Demoyne (spelling) Washington. OK, well I am in Seattle and flying to London so thanks for your help. It's a very small store so wife goes off looking. 30 metres away, she finds black and blue Ferossi pants in my size! Ask the guy about it and get all the excuses in the world about things being moved, he didn't understand what I was asking, thought I meant a different location. No mate, you're just lazy and bad at your job. Other staff were passable but went to REI in the city and got help from every team member there so it isn't a Seattle thing. Great brand and trying to support a growing company, but they really need better front of house team members. And I bet this post gets all the same excuses...

OR used to have a really simple and solid warranty system. you just brought your gear to their store and someone would see a blowout etc and you'd exchange the gear right then and there.

I live about 2.5 hours a way in the Olympic mountains and use my bibs multiple times a week. I was in Seattle this weekend partly to warranty my bibs after the seam blew out, and hung out until 11 when they opened only to find that I needed to submit a claim online and ship these to OR, and there was no way to drop them off to avoid the hassle/time/expense of that. OR gear is fantastic, these are easily the best snow pants I've ever worn, but their gear blows out kind of frequently so the warranty is definitely something I keep in mind when buying from them. Indeed a button blew out on these like a year after I bought them, but I kept on using them because it didn't effect the functionality that much.

So I guess but from burlier brand or face the new drawn out warranty system?

Just a bummer. Lot of time waiting for them to open today. Lesson learned is to verify the warranty system again every time.

So now in the interim I need to buy another set of bibs to get by until the...