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angry
Feb 22, 2004, 2:09 AM
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SBC, I'm not going to talk policy, that's the way these things go.
What I am more interested in is the exact location of this storage facility full of once used climbing gear, the floorplan, and what type of security they have. Would a climber who recently read about how to be a ninja be able to "booty" quintuple racks in an evening?
PM me with scematics, I'll watch Oceans 11 once more to get the plan straight.
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mreardon
Feb 23, 2004, 1:16 AM
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I have my pants off, and yes, the yellow alien fits in that crack just fine thank you.
I now have my climbing partner's pants off, yup, yellow alien fits just fine in that crack as well.
Grabbed the pooch. Yup, fit just fine.
Gonn'a check on the wife later, but last I checked she was hanging from the rafters by an orange alien :shock:
Then one summer, at band camp, the entire flute squad - yellow alien fit.
Gerbil needed a black alien.
Moral of the story - there's always room for Jell-O and the occasional yellow alien :D
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sbclimber
Feb 23, 2004, 2:28 AM
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In reply to: SBC, I'm not going to talk policy, that's the way these things go. What I am more interested in is the exact location of this storage facility full of once used climbing gear, the floorplan, and what type of security they have. Would a climber who recently read about how to be a ninja be able to "booty" quintuple racks in an evening? PM me with scematics, I'll watch Oceans 11 once more to get the plan straight.
we're in for a 50/50 split right?
In reply to: I have my pants off, and yes, the yellow alien fits in that crack just fine thank you. I now have my climbing partner's pants off, yup, yellow alien fits just fine in that crack as well. Grabbed the pooch. Yup, fit just fine. Gonn'a check on the wife later, but last I checked she was hanging from the rafters by an orange alien Then one summer, at band camp, the entire flute squad - yellow alien fit. Gerbil needed a black alien. Moral of the story - there's always room for Jell-O and the occasional yellow alien
Thanks for a laugh. And the first-hand experience.
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baja_java
Feb 23, 2004, 2:32 AM
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watch Reservoir Dogs too, in case your heist goes awry, guys
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moeman
Feb 23, 2004, 2:34 AM
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In reply to: I have my pants off, and yes, the yellow alien fits in that crack just fine thank you. I now have my climbing partner's pants off, yup, yellow alien fits just fine in that crack as well. Grabbed the pooch. Yup, fit just fine. Gonn'a check on the wife later, but last I checked she was hanging from the rafters by an orange alien :shock: Then one summer, at band camp, the entire flute squad - yellow alien fit. Gerbil needed a black alien. Moral of the story - there's always room for Jell-O and the occasional yellow alien :D
:lol: :lol: :lol:
Funniest thing I've seen in a while
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sbclimber
Feb 23, 2004, 2:39 AM
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In reply to: watch Reservoir Dogs too, in case your heist goes awry, guys
hopefully it doesn't come to that...but yeah, we might need that insight. Who says you cant learn anything from the TV?
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angry
Feb 23, 2004, 4:40 AM
Post #32 of 63
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Are you in, we'll split the booty.
I need info, like should I bring a grappling hook? If I do, how do I get it down, what if I poop myself?
I've got calculations to make, the cost of a trip to the warehouse (did you say washington?) from colorado, and the cost of the gear. From previous posts I'm afraid that a lot of these cams, though still functional, might smell like poo. This could be a problem. What happens if I get pulled over, and a drug dog trained to sniff stolen climbing gear and mreardons ass funk catches a whiff. Busted!!
I know, we'll put the gear in balloons and swallow it, we'll "recover" it later. Hope there's not too many returns on #5 Camalots or Big Bro's.
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hosh
Feb 23, 2004, 5:04 AM
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Um, the only Alien I've ever used was the yellow one. It was a friends and I was borrowing his aliens to "test" them out. I had a cam the exact same size but used his just to see what Aliens were like. It was nice. Maybe this guy had buyers remorse? And "It doesn't fit" is perhaps the stupidest excuse for returning pro ever. If he was using it on OW's, of course it didn't fit, dork. I hope he's like 30 feet ran out on the sharp end one day looking at a crack and fumbling through the gear he didn't return, thinking "Wish I had a yellow alien right now, all the rest of this stuff doesn't fit..." What a dork.
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bukel
Feb 27, 2004, 5:55 AM
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We are surrounded by jerks. Wherever you look there is an army of them. You can´t fight them, they are too many. Just try to ignore them. Even sometimes it is complelty useful.
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sharpie
Mar 1, 2004, 3:51 AM
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I totally agree with mesomorf, it is REI policy and because of that it should be honored in any situation. Yes, unfortunately some people will take advantage of it.
Obviously companies like REI and Nordstrom’s see this as the cost of doing business. If you return an item for 1,000 unhappy customers you've possibly earned 1,000 loyal customers and created profitable long-term relationships with them, and the cost of returning the 1,000 items plus the say 5-10 individuals who are abusing the system are far outweighed by the profits the happy customer will bring the company. Unlike other large retailers who have stringent return policies, places where people like skiclimb work, and don't give a damn about creating relationships with customers but simply about moving product out the door.
I'm a self-admitted gear junky and although I also patronize my local Mom-n-Pops, I hit REI regularly and am expecting a healthy dividend any day. That said I probably return, on average 4-6 items a year to REI. If you assume my average annual purchases amount to around $2,000, and my average annual returns amount to around $200. That leaves about $1,800 in adjusted retail sales, and with and average retail profit of 50% that means my relationship with REI has a gross value of $900 annually.
That $2,000 are discretional funds that I have decided to, and will, spend on climbing (and some other recreational) gear. REI has the opportunity to earn that money by providing me with the best value for my money, and that goes beyond giving me a product. It includes, among other things, customer service, knowledgeable staff, inventory & availability, competitive prices and customer friendly store policies. If I ever ran into a store employee who treated me like skiclimb claims he/she treated their customers they would lose my business and the profit that came with it permanently.
This is my very simple take on retail policies, but the bottom line is these businesses are in business to make a profit and this is obviously a policy that they feel advances them to that end. And, say what you will about the logoization of America, but I believe it's the companies like REI, Wal-Mart, Nordstroms, and all of the others that have made them the successes they are, and it the shortsighted paranoia of getting ripped or take advantage of that creates an adversarial customer relationship in other stores which often fail.
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philbox
Moderator
Mar 1, 2004, 4:46 AM
Post #36 of 63
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philbox moved this thread from General to Gear Heads.
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tanner
Aug 16, 2004, 6:57 PM
Post #37 of 63
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I work for Coast Mountain Sports and if anyone tryed to return used climbing gear especially pro we would flat out tell them no and explain why.
It would be just like tying to return protection purchased from a drugstore because it didn't fit the crack
The answer and should always be no
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cfnubbler
Aug 16, 2004, 7:29 PM
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In reply to: If it's 100% satisfaction guaranteed, it doesn't matter what reason the customer had for wanting to return an item.
This guy wasn't returning the Alien because he wasn't "satisfied" with it. Satisfaction had nothing to do with it. He was playing the system and exploiting a policy put in place to ensure excellent customer service to those with legitimate issues. He was being a complete ass, and customer satisfaction is not relevant to the discussion.
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jklinke
Aug 16, 2004, 7:36 PM
Post #39 of 63
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And I thought climbing hardware in general was excluded from the return policy.
jk
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dingus
Aug 16, 2004, 7:51 PM
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Bet you can tell the dirtbags and poor people from the yuppies and trustfunders.
Never let morals, ethics or integrity stand in the way of getting one over on Walmart.
Or REI.
Or any other corporation. If there is an Inc. after the name, let the shareholders pick up the tab for the liberal return policy. That is pretty much the extent of their social contribution... what you are able to extract from them.
Cry me a river.
DMT
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punk
Aug 16, 2004, 7:53 PM
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In reply to: That customer wasn't the least bit angry...he was playin ya...it's an ancient tactic...afterwards he was probably laughing his arse off telling his friends what a pushover REI is... When I used to run into this tactic in sales i wouldn't budge a bit...I even threatened one guy with calling the cops and having him arrested for attempted theft...then they really did leave angry...and the sales force and management would usually laugh at them over beers in the back when we were closing..but I was luckily never working for REI. There is a line a customer should never cross and that is being abusive to a polite helpful salesperson..
Good for you and if I saw you as your store manager I would had fired your As$ on the spot and refund the guy completely
Know that for every satisfied costumer there are 5 that aren’t
For every PR that satisfy costumer dose there is 3 potential buyers for any bad PR there is 8 costumers leaving
So in short if you would like to stay in business you will treat your clients with silk gloves and bent over backwards to satisfy them…..what, you don’t think that it is obvious that someone taking advantage on the system and when the conman says “Ohh- what a pushover REI is I just did so and so…” it is the GREATEST positive PR for the company. You see he just convinced his other conman friends to come back to REI and buy more stuff where usually they can send the damage goods back to the manufacture and keep their profit…u see no one sells you goods at cost
I was a retail store manager for 10 years in NYC and I have seen them all and I would do anything within my power to keep and grow my client base
BTW how many time I heard REI sales person saying to a costumer “try it and if it is not working for you return it and we will be happy to give you your money back”
Do you have ANY idea of how strong of a statement is that and how confident the buyer is giving his credit card at the cashier and continuing shopping there?
Edited for spelling
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sarcat
Aug 16, 2004, 8:14 PM
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Nice resurrected topic.
dingus: What do you extract from McDonald's whey you buy thier $1 double cheese burgers?
I agree that the piece was stolen. Are receipts not required to return anything?
I have a pair of BD Sabretooths that are years old and rusty. Can I return them and say "I'm not satisfied"? I don't even remember where I got them.
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jenfu
Aug 16, 2004, 8:27 PM
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I got a pair of 5.10 Mocasyms at REI for 20 bucks because someone had returned them. They were brand new except for a little scuff on the rubber. The reason for the return written on the tag was that they were "uncomfortable." When did climbing shoes, especially slippers become comfortable? Yeah for me, bad for the company.
Anyway, this guy, in my opinion, lacks integrity. It's a great return policy but abuse it and see how long it lasts.
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punk
Aug 16, 2004, 8:27 PM
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In reply to: I have a pair of BD Sabretooths that are years old and rusty. Can I return them and say "I'm not satisfied"? I don't even remember where I got them.
at REI you probably can…and I salute them for it.
their buying power is so huge that they can afford this.
but it seems from your statement that you are a decent man and consciously can you live with that…after all we are what our action is. you only know what you are and what makes you a better man.
:roll:
spelling again :roll:
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jeffm
Aug 16, 2004, 8:41 PM
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I agree with everything that has been said (for the most part). I'm glad that REI and others have return policies because I have had to use them. I'd say this guy and probably others will take it too far. My advice would be to have told this guy to "bend over" and you'll show him a crack you could fit it in! :)
-BOB MARLEY ROCKS!
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sarcat
Aug 16, 2004, 8:44 PM
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I was being ...um.... facetious. The ability to make up our own mind is one of the last true freedoms we have. Integrity and honesty with those choices make you decent or deficient. Like you said punk.
I love my Sabretooths and plan on getting a new set when the new BD design is up for sale in a few weeks/months. I saw them at the Outdoor Retailers show in SLC yesterday. Spankin' !!
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robmcc
Aug 16, 2004, 8:51 PM
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In reply to: Was I out of line saying this? He wanted me to go get my boss, but I was lucky because she was on lunch.
You were WAY out of line. You're what, a salesperson for a giant chain? Not even management? You have no business putting your own ethics over corporate policy. 100% satisfaction guaranteed. You don' t have to approve REI's policy or interpret it. You just implement it.
Peter Drucker wrote a bit on Sears policy in its early days. They had a similar no-questions-asked policy. IIRC, he thinks it played a big part in Sears growth and profitability. REI doesn't have this policy because they're stupid. They have this policy because it is profitable. The vast majority of people aren't jackasses who "abuse" the policy. I'm also a whole lot more likely to take home Shiny New Thing if I know I can bring it back if it doesn't work like I want it to.
FWIW, I've spent $thousands in REI.
Total returns so far? $0.00
Still, it's nice to know that if I *do* have a problem, the solution is only a return away.
Rob
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dingus
Aug 16, 2004, 9:10 PM
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In reply to: Nice resurrected topic.
You're so smart, AND experienced. A veritable Citizen of the Net. Seen everything. Done everything.
In reply to: dingus: What do you extract from McDonald's whey you buy thier $1 double cheese burgers?
In reply to: I agree that the piece was stolen.
In reply to: I have a pair of BD Sabretooths that are years old and rusty. Can I return them and say "I'm not satisfied"? I don't even remember where I got them.
DMT
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cedk
Aug 16, 2004, 10:15 PM
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Lucky thing that REI doesn't sell toilet paper.
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punk
Aug 16, 2004, 10:34 PM
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In reply to: Lucky thing that REI doesn't sell toilet paper.
Those considered under Consumable/perishable products, and yes you ca return unused and spoil products like that at Safeway :roll:
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