Murdoch's Ranch & Home Supply — Attraction in Silverthorne

Had a bizarre experience here this afternoon.

I came in to buy a new Leatherman tool. I spent a few minutes looking at the options and settled on the Skeletool CX. Bought it, then went to Target to do some more shopping.

Before heading home, I decided to pop open my new tool and put it in my carry kit. The bottom of the box was glued together, so I ripped it open. When I got the tool out, it was obvious that it had been used moderately - there were little scratches/scuffs all over it, the knife blade had a couple of nicks and one of the screwdriver heads had been dinged-up. There was grease on the back of the tool, and one of the arms is hard to open and scratchy.

I returned to the store less than an hour after I purchased the item, with the box and receipt. A gentleman at the first counter greeted me and I told him I had a return. He offered to help me, but I was intercepted by a lady who told me to give it to her. I explained that the tool had obviously been used and I would like to return it for another of the same item or get a refund. She said she needed to look at it and took it to the back of the store. I waited up front.

She returned a few minutes later and told me that she was not going to give me a refund because the box had been ripped and that she couldn't resell it in this condition. I reiterated that the product was in the current condition prior to my purchase, which is the reason I was returning it - and the receipt clearly shows that I have owned the item for an hour.

She handed me the box and receipt. I asked to speak to a manager; she proudly informed me that she was the manager. As I'm not one to make a scene, I thanked her for her time and left the store.

Based on the great reviews this location generally receives, I am happy to believe that this is a new manager who simply doesn't know how to do her job yet. I'm sure if I returned again tomorrow morning, a different manager would have no issue understanding that someone bought this tool and used it for a bit before returning it - or maybe they swapped an old damaged one into the box and kept the new one. Whatever happened there, they carefully opened and closed the box in such a way that an associate accepted the return without further consideration of the condition of the product (which is understandable.)

But I'm not going to return tomorrow. I live on the other side of the pass and I rarely have time to make the ~2.5 hour round trip; when I do come to Silverthorne, it is exclusively to shop and I always stop by Murdoch's.

The worst thing is - the same item was in stock at REI today but I decided to wait and see if Murdoch's had it first. This experience has been so frustrating that I will no longer shop at this store.

Edit: There is nothing "legendary" about your copy/paste responses to legitimate concerns. In what ways are you working to...

I wanted to make it known that I just received some of the most awful customer service ever. The young man’s name is Sandro, he was over in the firearm section, and I asked him if he could help me I was shopping for couple 85 qt yeti coolers and had questions about the yeti bucket . I asked about the yeti bucket and I had specific questions about the lid - Sandro looked at me with a sneer of what I can only portray as disgust. . Kind of rolled his eyes and mumbled “give me a second” I waited then he said “yeah it doesn’t have a lid” I said yes cause I have seen the clear lids. He begrudgingly then walked off and said “Follow me” I followed Sandro over to the tack section over on the far north back wall and he showed me feed bucket lids he looked at me again, rolled his eyes and said “these are the lids for buckets” - I said I understand that these are bucket lids, but I’m looking for the clear yeti lid that goes on the cooler bucket he then was like “ yeah I get it… but I don’t have those lids” then I said OK do you know the price of the bucket as there was no pricing on either the shelf or the product .. at this point, Sandro seemed really fed up, almost angry that I am asking questions, and he got on the radio and said “I need a price check look look up from a UPC“ as he walked away he was totally dismissive, acted as if I was a total bother. He walked back over to the gun section. I went back to where the coolers are. He came back. He looked at me and said “FORTY” At this point I had had as much attitude from this young man as I could handle. I just said OK thanks bud . And walked off- there is absolutely NO way I’m buying a 2 yeti coolers a yeti bucket from them. .. certainly not from SANDRO - Heneeds a massive attitude check he needs to understand just the basics about retail customer service and that one of his roles at Murdochs Is to help customers that have questions that’s part of his job description I’m sure. Sandro’s attitude and demeanor, cost Murdochs a 700$ + sale today and more importantly, completely detract from Murdochs business model. I understand that good help is hard to find these days and you’re probably unable to fire the guy but at the very least you should take your margin on the 700 out...

Murdochs in Silverthorne used to be our "go to" store for all of our ranch needs; fencing, gates, water tanks etc. We purchased all of our feed for horses, cows and chickens as well. Over the years I have also purchased guns, hunting clothes and gear, tools, several generators, expensive grills, and countless pairs of jeans and boots. One year we spent over $20,000 at that store alone! The last several years the customer service has continued to decline to a dismal level while at the same time the prices continue to climb. The store is unorganized and dirty. One set of the main front doors were shutdown for several months making it almost impossible to get out of the store with a a large cart full of feed. We have also purchased chicks there since the store opened. Recently it has become nearly impossible to even buy those anymore; employees say they will be available at such and such a time and then decide to sell them earlier than they said they would. My daughter has come from Kremmling 3 times to find out that the chicks were not sold at the times the employees said they would be sold. I have stood in line with several others while 3 employees stood by the registers talking and looking at their phones while 1 employee checked people out. Due to these reasons, as well as many others, my family and I have decided to no longer purchase anything from Murdochs in Silverthorne. Instead we will drive further, shop online more, and purchase farm and ranch feed and supplies in Kremmling where the owners and their employees appreciate our business and provide good customer service. Todd J ...