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WSJ article: "REI Ends Era of Many Happy Returns"

Bill Kirby · · Keene New York · Joined Jul 2012 · Points: 480
reboot wrote: Speaking from experience?
No doubt, Everybody eats steamed crabs here in Baltimore!
J Q · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2012 · Points: 50
Ray Pinpillage wrote: Nice anecdote and strawman. 20 years and less friends at the trade shows...better call the news! Thanks for making my point. Next time you'll do a better job with your customers I hope. REI competed in a market with weak competition (you) and your customers fired you. Perhaps they knew who you were but really they just rolled out like they do in every market like yours.
Yes, we already acknowledged this point, but hey, way to not actually address any of the points we are actually discussing. I expected nothing less from you.

So you are an ideologue with no sense of reflection? I guess that figures.
Mark Pilate · · MN · Joined Jun 2013 · Points: 25

Mattjohnson - must admit that I almost went to grab some old REI stuff to exchange after reading your post. You appear to be the Ed Abbey of outdoor retail. But before you launch a Greenpeace campaign against REI, consider the following

1. Two wrongs don't make a right (but three rights make a left).
2. Just because some disagree with you, does not mean they agree with REI
3. Just because some disagree with you, doesn't mean they really give a fuck one way or the other.
4. The "gray" area is really not that gray. About as gray as creationism vs evolution. It's only gray to the few who insist it is gray for their own purposes.
5. I hope you never disparage any hedge fund managers or derivatives traders, bank CEOs or any other cock monkeys responsible for the financial meltdown, cuz they didn't break the law either. They just took advantage of the gray.
6. Your actions don't just stick it to REI, they affect your fellow climbers. Nobody cares about REI itself

Only reason I feel compelled to post is because the "gray" is in fact important. None of us operate in a vacuum. I understand acting in your best self interest and as I posted above, it's up to you to judge for yourself. But if you've ever bitched that the world is going to hell in a hand basket, one big reason is that everyone is lookin for some gray to milk.

split161 · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Sep 2010 · Points: 55

The whole mentality that the mega stores are putting the mom and pop shops out of business is silly! Nobody is forcing you where to shop.

Whether you support the mega store or mom and pop shop its going to come at a cost.

chuffnugget · · Bolder, CO · Joined Sep 2011 · Points: 0

REI is like God in the middle ages, we need priests like Mark, in touch with it's mind, to interpret it's laws for us.

Otherwise, when you do a return, you are sinning. A sin within the law is still a sin, and you will go to hell.

Mark Pilate · · MN · Joined Jun 2013 · Points: 25

OK David, you keep poking back at this thread like a red-headed altar boy looking for "favors" from father Mark

You seem like a tormented soul with poor reading comprehension skills. Pardon the cheap Freudian analysis, but is a guilty conscience perchance to blame?

Lets see if I can help you out. Step into the confessional and this time I'll speak more sssllloooowwwwwlyy for you (pay no attention to whatever else you may feel -- those are the hands of Satan)

1. YOU be the judge of whether or not you are trying to drive a truck through semantics, or just applying legitimate use of a generous policy to guarantee customer satisfaction.

2. If you are knowingly and deliberately skirting the fringes of what YOU know to be right, then you are typically on a slippery slope to hypocrisy. Chances are, everything YOU despise is just doing the same.

3. Even Atheists (such as myself) adhere to the "Golden rule" and it's corollaries because there is a certain elegant mathematical simplicity and truth to them. "Assclownery" by definition, seeks to exploit "gray" areas or self-serving exceptions.

Now rise David and be free of your illicit past. Your implicit apologies are accepted. Renounce your sins against REI and come into the light of Backcountry.com shoppers and fuck us not.

chuffnugget · · Bolder, CO · Joined Sep 2011 · Points: 0

1. Mark
2. sure
3. likes
4. to use
5. numbers.

Paul-B · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2011 · Points: 115
Mark Pilate wrote:Mattjohnson - must admit that I almost went to grab some old REI stuff to exchange after reading your post. You appear to be the Ed Abbey of outdoor retail. But before you launch a Greenpeace campaign against REI, consider the following 1. Two wrongs don't make a right (but three rights make a left). 2. Just because some disagree with you, does not mean they agree with REI 3. Just because some disagree with you, doesn't mean they really give a fuck one way or the other. 4. The "gray" area is really not that gray. About as gray as creationism vs evolution. It's only gray to the few who insist it is gray for their own purposes. 5. I hope you never disparage any hedge fund managers or derivatives traders, bank CEOs or any other cock monkeys responsible for the financial meltdown, cuz they didn't break the law either. They just took advantage of the gray. 6. Your actions don't just stick it to REI, they affect your fellow climbers. Nobody cares about REI itself Only reason I feel compelled to post is because the "gray" is in fact important. None of us operate in a vacuum. I understand acting in your best self interest and as I posted above, it's up to you to judge for yourself. But if you've ever bitched that the world is going to hell in a hand basket, one big reason is that everyone is lookin for some gray to milk.
+1

Exactly. I wouldn't stay up waiting for an intelligent response.
mattjohnson · · Greenville SC · Joined Jul 2012 · Points: 40

Mark- I would tend agree with most of your response, other than your interpretation of my point. I've read a lot of posts about how REI isn't in any way unethical in the way they've become so successful, since it was within the rules, and how the people they have put out of business were just less savvy. I also see a lot of people calling people jackasses and what not for abusing the return policy, and it seems to often be the same people.

REI seems to make decisions based on what is best for them, regardless of ethics. I meant to point out that this is not that different from people making returns to REI, because it is within the rules (that REI made), and it is financially beneficial to the returner. It seems to me that either both are right or both are wrong.

chuffnugget · · Bolder, CO · Joined Sep 2011 · Points: 0

Don't bother trying to explain the logic of reletavism to these righteous outdoor consumers Matt. REI is right, and the consumer is wrong. If you make a return, feel the guilt deep within your mortal soul.

Don't forget to bow 3 times daily to the big box. Use your dividend, get your 20% off an item and praise Patagucci.

Mark Pilate · · MN · Joined Jun 2013 · Points: 25

Matt - Then I guess we agree. I admit to a bit of interpretation-stretch on your post in order to kill more birds with a single response.

Mark Pilate · · MN · Joined Jun 2013 · Points: 25

David- I'd let Matt do the talking and you just stick with "+1's"

you seem more intelligent that way.

Kevin Murphy · · Longmont, CO · Joined Feb 2005 · Points: 397

Listen to an interesting piece, with both LL Bean Upper Management, as well as REI's. LL Bean embraces the return. The customer is always right, and uses this ethic for a majority of there Marketing. REI exec felt like a bit of a stick in the mud, and stuck to the bottom line. Beaner was saying how great it will be to have a whole new customer base, and wished REI the best of luck. Unfortunately they do not sell climbing gear.

20 kN · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2009 · Points: 1,346
mattjohnson wrote:REI seems to make decisions based on what is best for them, regardless of ethics.
Sounds familiar. Where else have I seen that? I am recalling something about American corporations.... hmm.... or maybe it was congress.... can't quite put my finger on it.
SM Ryan · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2008 · Points: 1,090

Just found out today that Backcountry has made similar change...
I tried to exchange an item and got this message....
This item was shipped more than 90 days ago.
It is no longer eligible for a return unless it is in new condition with original tags still attached.

I didn't abuse the policy, but it is nice to try something out and return it occasionally if it not durable.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

General Climbing
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