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bennydh
Jan 26, 2008, 1:27 AM
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Registered: May 2, 2005
Posts: 368
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I recently encouraged my girlfriend to purchase a North Face jacket, because I have until today, been extremely pleased with the quality of NF products.
She purchased a NF jacket from www.princetonoutdoor.com and after its first use, casual use that any clothing should be suitable for IE a car ride to the store or my house, the hem on the sleeve came undone.
A phone call to a less than polite Dave, @ princetonooutdoor, suggested she pay to have it shipped back to them so that they could send it to the NF.
She made a phone call to the NF. They said they would provide a shipping label and that they would repair it. Great! Except it takes 4 to 6 weeks to have it repaired, and in Southern California, in four to six weeks it will feel like summer and the purchase will have pretty much been a complete waste.
 DON'T PURCHASE ITEMS FROM PRINCETON OUTDOOR/SKI, unless you want to talk to Dave. Who was soooo much help. Thanks Dave!!
There are so many trusted places to purchase gear from online, with great customer support, CARE even; that there is no need to support businesses that don't give a rats ass once a sale is made.
 I hope the quality of North Face gear isn't going down the crapper. Its unfortunate that gear can't be replaced and or refunded, and the repaired item be donated to something or someone. The revenue difference can be a lesson that quality or distributors should be more closely monitored. All gear and apparel manufacturers should really take a look at who they let distribute their gear. Especially, if it will turn away future business and tarnish their name.
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vegastradguy
Jan 26, 2008, 1:33 AM
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Registered: Aug 28, 2002
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well, keep in mind that TNF is owned by a large conglomerate, and i would argue that their focus is definitely more consumer driven rather than technical/outdoor driven- which is especially true in recent years.
if you're looking for a good piece of high end outdoor outwear, TNF would be pretty low on my list for most items.
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bennydh
Jan 26, 2008, 1:51 AM
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Registered: May 2, 2005
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 Sucks.. Especially, when; before you scroll down to the forum section on the site you see a blurb about who the NF added to their team... Maybe they could focus on something else.. I couldn't really care less who is on their team. Or anyone else's.
I'm seriously more disappointed with someone selling a defective product to my gf and then being a useless ass as far as customer support is concerned.
I remember buying biners from a guy named Arty online @ great escapes and having him correspond with me on delivery dates, product availability, and options to get portions of the order to me sooner, so that it wouldn't be an inconvenience to me that they didn't have the complete qty i wanted.
I've had another company overnight a back ordered headlamp once they got it in stock so that I could have it in time for a spelunking/caving trip.
Talk about accommodation. Not at PrincetonOutdoorSki. pfff!
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binrat
Jan 26, 2008, 1:55 AM
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Registered: Jul 27, 2006
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vegastradguy wrote: well, keep in mind that TNF is owned by a large conglomerate, and i would argue that their focus is definitely more consumer driven rather than technical/outdoor driven- which is especially true in recent years. if you're looking for a good piece of high end outdoor outwear, TNF would be pretty low on my list for most items.
I second that. The quality has totally gone down in the last few years.
But then again its just my $.02
Binrat
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happiegrrrl
Jan 26, 2008, 3:01 AM
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Registered: Mar 25, 2004
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If it is brand new, the retailer will refund your money. Try them again; sounds like the guy you got may have been "off" for whatever reason. Maybe he didn't catch that it was a brand new item, thinking you were talking about a year old or bought and worn for 4 months type of thing.
If you get the same thing when you call, ask to speak with the person's supervisor.
Call again, be firm and clear, and possibly document with a follow up email if you can get anything other than a generic "customer service@" one.
If you haven't a receipt, that's unfortunate, but if the item was paid for with c/card, you may be able to have the c/c company withold the payment.
As for TNF, it's understandable and reasonable, though unfortunate for you, that they will repair only and that it will take an amount of time. They aren't a small operation. They have several channels of distribution from their own stores down to places that buy their overstock and sell at discounted rates.
But if you really want to take it to the next level, you could try sending a heart-wrenching letter directly to as top a tier as you can get at TNF. You might be surprised at the results.
I remember when I worked as a handbag designer, and we got one such letter. A lady had purchased a red handbag we produced, at a JCPenney.
She had bought it as part of her trousseau, and got caught in a rainstorm on her honeymoon and the dye from the bag ran, ruining her blouse, skirt, and slip and panyhose, not to mention her evening and blah, blah, blah on and on it went.....
It went on, I tell you.
On and on it went.....
Well - what to do!? The company sent her a check for the amount she had stated, and also we designers put together a huge box of handbags of all shapes and sizes and sent it to her.
A few weeks later we got another letter from the lady gushing all over the place at how amazed she was, blah, blah, blah....
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