REI Employees- do you judge people who frequently return things?

Do you think people take advantage of being able to wear out a pack, shoes, whatever in less than a year to just turn around and get a replacement for free? Have you ever had someone so habitual about it that you had to refuse a return?

On the flip side, is it totally kosher to wear out some climbing shoes in 4 months and return them for a fresh pair because they "wore out too fast"? If someone is just getting into a sport, do you encourage them to try new gear and just return it if they found a better option?

This post is a few months or years too late.  REI has tightened up their return policy, and no longer owns this site, either.

Use your moral compass. If it feels wrong to use gear more than to figure out if it’s right for you then return it, don’t do it. What some stranger (rei employee or random MP user) thinks shouldn’t drive your actions. Think of the intent of the policy and ask yourself if you are abusing it. 

Jake wander wrote: Use your moral compass. If it feels wrong to use gear more than to figure out if it’s right for you then return it, don’t do it. What some stranger (rei employee or random MP user) thinks shouldn’t drive your actions. Think of the intent of the policy and ask yourself if you are abusing it. 

No doubt! TBH, I'm was more curious than anything, especially with all the online orders people have been doing in the last couple months. Personally, I air on the side of just eating it than returning it. 

Quite a few REI employees and managers would like to see the return policy made stricter than it is now. No, nobody encourages people to try new gear and just return it if they found a better option. A certain type of person will always think of that idea themselves. I'm inclined to agree with you, if I picked the wrong product I'll just eat it. If I made a decent effort to get the size right and it doesn't fit, or if the item is defective, I'll return it promptly, otherwise I bought it and I'll eat my mistake. I don't think I've returned more than 3 or 4 items since I joined REI in 1976

Just keep in mind, with most climbing gear it doesn’t matter how long you tried it out for. As soon as the item leaves the store it cannot be restocked so everything you return is going in the trash. Take an extra minute to try things on in the store and do your research before buying. 

Do REI employees judge you for your returns? Yes, absolutely. In fact the record of your transaction history with REI has a KPI that scores your return habits. How much did you buy vs how much did you return? They also track your lifetime profitability to them. "How much money have we extracted from X's wallet?" "How much more can we extract?"

Don't get confused by the bright shiny light over there. Yes returns are tracked. Yes your returns are tracked, summarized and judged. But at the end of the day, does the return policy (whatever that policy may be) drive profitable sales both short term and far more importantly, over the long haul? Have you ever decided to purchase a thing you could buy at any number of retailers or ecommerce companies, at REI solely because of the return policy? If the thought of "I can return this if it doesn't fit" or what have you, moves or has moved you to pulling the trigger on an REI purchase, then the return policy has driven your behavior and accomplished its one and only goal: drive more sales and drive more profits.

If you become unprofitable and return more than you buy they judge you serial returner and your file is flagged and bam, "no, sorry we won't accept returns from you." = judged

I’m an REI employee and yes, we actually recommend trying gear out all the time. Obviously we push that for things we can actually resell, but if it’s like a harness or any climbing safety thing, we try to prevent a return by doing a better job recommending products, because like Lethal Weapon II said, we can’t resell them, even at the garage sale. It’s definitely irritating when people return things that they’ve used for months before figuring out they don’t like it, no matter what it is.

Cherokee Nunes wrote: In fact the record of your transaction history with REI has a KPI that scores your return habits. How much did you buy vs how much did you return? They also track your lifetime profitability to them. "How much money have we extracted from X's wallet?" "How much more can we extract?" 

That makes sense. I would enjoy seeing these numbers. I'm sure my profitability index is quite favorable to them. My first ever credit card was the REI credit card.

If you become unprofitable and return more than you buy they judge you serial returner and your file is flagged and bam, "no, sorry we won't accept returns from you." = judged

I'm intrigued. I didn't know REI actually denied returns inside of the 12 month limit. Has anyone here ever been denied a return that they felt was legit? 

plantmandan wrote: I'm intrigued. I didn't know REI actually denied returns inside of the 12 month limit. Has anyone here ever been denied a return that they felt was legit? 

I've tried to return a bluetooth speaker a couple months after I bought it because the latch which covers all of the cable ports and makes it waterproof broke. They denied me the return because I didn't have one of the weird useless mount peices it comes with. I felt like that was an excuse to deny me the return, maybe they thought I broke it on pourpose to get the return. 

I look at it in much the same way as sending back food in a restaurant, at least have a good reason. I knew a serial REI return guy, skis, tents, you name it. Some of us were raised differently;)

Bale wrote: I look at it in much the same way as sending back food in a restaurant, at least have a good reason. 

That's a poor analogy for me. I agree that a good/valid reason should be your basis for a REI return. However a restaurant is a different story...have you ever worked in a kitchen or known someone that did? if so, ask them. I would never send for back at a restaurant. Well maybe I would, if i was planning on not eating whatever food came out next. I do not have enough trust in humanity that someone didn't F with my food.

Having worked at an outdoor retailer with a generous return policy, the most egregious offender returned his stanky underwear because the elastic wore out after a decade +. Yes, we did judge him. Last year or so there was an article about L.L. Bean that highlighted the personalities/qualities of their employees regarding returns by abusers. Worth the read.

michael sershen wrote:

That's a poor analogy for me. I agree that a good/valid reason should be your basis for a REI return. However a restaurant is a different story...have you ever worked in a kitchen or known someone that did? if so, ask them. I would never send for back at a restaurant. Well maybe I would, if i was planning on not eating whatever food came out next. I do not have enough trust in humanity that someone didn't F with my food.

Excellent point! I guess the analogy works for me since I never send food back or return gear. 

I was having lunch years ago with a dude who demanded that our table receive free nachos since our service was slow. The restaurant was packed, waitresses working very hard, and he said it in a snarky, demeaning way. We got the nachos and I did not partake. I guarantee best case scenario was human saliva.

C C wrote: I’m an REI employee and yes, we actually recommend trying gear out all the time. Obviously we push that for things we can actually resell, but if it’s like a harness or any climbing safety thing, we try to prevent a return by doing a better job recommending products, because like Lethal Weapon II said, we can’t resell them, even at the garage sale. It’s definitely irritating when people return things that they’ve used for months before figuring out they don’t like it, no matter what it is.

Genuinely curious, why is it irritating? As an employee, how does it affect you? Is it irritating from a workplace perspective or from a societal perspective? What I mean is, does somebody returning a piece of trashed gear make your job any more difficult/threaten your employment, or is it just annoying to see someone doing something you see as immoral?

simplyput . wrote:

Genuinely curious, why is it irritating? As an employee, how does it affect you? Is it irritating from a workplace perspective or from a societal perspective? What I mean is, does somebody returning a piece of trashed gear make your job any more difficult/threaten your employment, or is it just annoying to see someone doing something you see as immoral?

Returning any item drives up the store's operating costs and reduces the store's profits, thereby reducing my profit sharing check that I get every 3 months. From a societal standpoint, buying something with the intention of returning it later is essentially taking something without paying for it (i.e., stealing). If people want to try something for a while to see if it works for them, they can rent the item. If renting the item isn't an option, sell it yourself and look at the whatever loss you incur as a rental fee.

I haven't liked REI since a rep sold me this: https://www.rei.com/product/157891/rei-co-op-flash-3-season-sleeping-pad

Used it only in my car and on carpeting, but after ~7 months, the thing couldn't hold air to save its life. I kept it around thinking I was crazy since it didn't have any visible tears. REI wouldn't take it back because it had been something like a year and a day, even though it was an REI branded product that sucked. Insane to me that they still print their logo on it and sell it, knowing how bad it is.

I worked at REI for a short period of time.

Most returns were legit and most people genuinely wanted to only return items if they felt it was warranted. I only judged people if they were clearly using the return policy as a rental program: returning skis in May/June, returning mountaineering boots that had no defects, etc. This drives up costs for everyone and was part of the reason REI has dramatically changed their return policy.

Been an REI employee at multiple stores, and knew someone who was a serial returner. He would buy shoes, wear them for a year and then return them, buy the same shoes etc. After only a couple returns management caught on to him and banned him from returning anything anymore. So, he moved onto a different store and they caught on there too. It got to the point where they knew his name / face, and they would greet him when he entered and would follow him around asking if he needed help. Eventually he went to stores in different states and they even knew about him there. They never asked him to leave but they were passive aggressive enough to make him uncomfortable in the store that he stopped coming around. Tldr: REI management tends to be passive aggressive af and they keep track of plenty of weird things

simplyput . wrote:

Genuinely curious, why is it irritating? As an employee, how does it affect you? Is it irritating from a workplace perspective or from a societal perspective? What I mean is, does somebody returning a piece of trashed gear make your job any more difficult/threaten your employment, or is it just annoying to see someone doing something you see as immoral?

Oh, don't get me wrong, it doesn't affect me at all as an employee. Irritated is just the way I feel about people taking advantage of the system (and it is a very fleeting feeling), and in no way do I think the return policy should change just because there are a few people who take advantage of it. I believe that's the price REI pays for having that policy anyway. Sure, you could call it immoral from a societal perspective, but it's mostly just how I personally feel, and I don't impart my personal feelings towards the people that make the returns, or people in general for that matter.

plantmandan wrote:

I'm intrigued. I didn't know REI actually denied returns inside of the 12 month limit. Has anyone here ever been denied a return that they felt was legit? 

I worked at REI for a little over two years. At least in my store, managers would regularly deny returns if it was clear that you were abusing the policy (i.e high return rate, abusing/using the product outside it's intended purposes, beyond expected lifespan of product, etc). 

And yes, it personally bothered me to see people abusing the policy (which is still quite easy to do if you word things properly or get the right employee helping you). Primarily because most of the items being returned in an abusive way were going to the trash (safety equipment, senseless waste) or were used to the point that no one would want to buy them at a Garage Sale.

If the product(s) legitimately didn't work or fit right I was totally happy to return them.