REI Reviews 

I have been an rei member for a long time. I have had some troubles recently but this was the last straw - I ordered things from the annual sale - they canceled an order even though I could order it online again, they had packages for me to pick up but when I went to pick them up -they said I needed a different payment - I went to amex and showed them the charges were on my account - they could not figure it out. I asked them to cancel and they canceled one order but not the other so I had to call and spend another hour on the phone to get it cancelled. REI has gone so down hill recently it is surprising

The products and stores are great but their online ordering is brutal. They give false promises on availability, constantly change delivery dates and cancel orders when they say they still have the items in stock. Do better!

Poor customer service! Do not buy anything online as it will not be delivered on time or at all. Went to customer service and all they told me was to waist a couple more days or they could replace and would take several more days. Purchased a birthday gift for day before delivery and no updates for over 3 days as to where package is. Unreliable, untirstworthy and no customer support.

Was advised to buy a pair of shoes from here hoka bondi 9 and they fell apart in less than a month and was told that was normal wear and tear. Halle the manger in Westbrook Maine looked me in the eyes and said three weeks for a shoe like this is normal. They are selling defective products with no care to the customer my foot fell right through the mesh in these shoes in less than a month

Why send a catalogue that has no prices?
% off of what?
Waste of time

Called REI in Pineville NC and asked for an employee to hold a Sea to Summit travel neck pillow for me.
No problem he said we have it in green, ok then I’ll pick it up this afternoon around 4 or so.
No problem he said, we are open until 8!
I arrived at approx 5:05 and asked for the neck pillow.
Youngster with long hair said oh you ordered it?
No sir, I had called earlier and the gentlemen I spoke with said this was the process.
Oh ok?????
Clueless, asked me the same question again and a third time!
The lady next to him was helping another customer interrupted and asked the same question.
I explained again….and they handed me a regular pillow in green, not a travel neck pillow.
She called for help upstairs and Lawrence called and came down with a small neck pillow.
Not green and not a large size.
Great for a child or a petite lady.
Why is it so hard to listen to the customer and understand what the customer is asking for.
The lady kept telling the youngster that he was doing A Ok, when in actuality he was not!
The one I spoke with on the phone did not listen to my description of what exactly I had asked for and the youngster was clueless.
I understand he was a new employee and learning but when you are working with the public, you must have the ability to speak up and understand your customers request!
Apologies were all around, but to little to late!
I’ll just order off the web from now on!
Thank you!

Today I talked to a gentleman, Patrick Degree. He answered the phone when I called 800-426-4840. I can’t rave enough how helpful he was. If I could give him 10 stars I would!
I really like REI AND LIKE THE PEOPLE THEY EMPLOY.

I don't trust the CEO of a company that dislikes the USA so much. She's going to ruin this company with her political stance, I'll be taking my money elsewhere in the future.

I went into an REI store for the first time and the experience was great! I was looking at an air mattress and the help I received was really good and the people seemed great. I was there just to look at the product that I found on line that had some high ratings, but I didn't want to buy it right away because there was a sale coming up and it would be beneficial to wait. I decided I would purchase it a few weeks later during the sale. The staff said that if I purchased a membership I would get the cost back with a gift certificate which I could apply back to my planned purchase. They also told me that if I purchased a $120 gift certificate while I was there that I would receive a 20% bonus on the gift certificate ($24 credit). I was told that it would go onto my account automatically and I could just sign onto my account and see it when I got home the same day. The following day I signed on to find no credit on my account. I called the REI store in Bellingham where I made the purchase and was told that there was no such credit. I spoke with the manager and he told me at first that there was nothing he could do. I was furious and he eventually agreed to give me the money back for the gift card, but unfortunately there was nothing he could do about the membership because there are "no refunds on memberships". This is completely bogus because I only paid for these things because his staff talked me into believing the whole package was a good deal. Then when I agreed to take the refund he said he couldn't do it over the phone and that I would have to return to the store. It's a 2.5 hour drive for me each way to get to that store. As this was completely unacceptable to me because of the fact they took my money on false pretences and then wanted me to go on a 5 hour road trip to recover some on my costs. I asked to speak with his manager and his reply was that he was the manager. I'm going to try and take care of this through my credit card company, but I would highly recommend that you stay away from this crooked company.

Saratoga CA REI bike repair place. Their process seems convuluted. They seemed to do good work
They rescued my Giant Mountainbike.

Their stores are wonderful, wonderfully designed and full of all kinds of outdoors clothing and equipment and more. The membership model is great too, with part of your purchases back every year. REI has been around forever too, and it’s not about to get bought by some private equity firm who’d suck out all the capital and goodwill as they run it into the ground. The only bad thing I can say about REI is that I don’t get to visit and take advantage of it all enough. I’m amazed at some of the bad reviews here, since REI is anything but a scam, but people who’ve had bad experiences need a way to complain too.

I recieved a gift card from my dying mother at Christmas I went to use it for the first time in store a couple days ago just to find out their is zero balance on it and I have never used it . The clerk gave me REI CS number I called their CS person I talked was so rude she refused to help find out why there is a zero balance she told me to reach out to the person that gave it to me I told her she is dead can’t do that I. Have not shopped REI for over two years I’m disgusting their company feels they need to scam people . I will be looking fur another outdoor store to shop in the future

Every time I go in to try on sneakers their is absolutely no help! I recently visited the store in Carlsbad via montebello I finally had the opportunity to try on a few pairs. I went to try on the second pair and discovered there was only one sneaker in the box! No thanks I’m sticking with the running center!

This company is expensive which is okay, however, they don't provide bags for your purchases. I get being eco friendly and all but there are other options. I fail to believe that carrying $500+ dollars of merchandise through the rain is the only way they can contribute to the environment. Maybe not use as many lights in the store as you have. Or compostable bags, or the boxes used to receive your inventory.

This was my first—and last—time ordering from REI. The overall customer service system is poor, though the individual customer service agents are professional and do their best within the limits of the system.

After placing an order, my payment went through and everything seemed fine. However, REI later emailed me requesting I call them to update my payment information. They never called me directly. When I called in, they told me the payment hadn’t gone through—despite my bank clearly showing that it had. I ended up paying again and now have to work with my bank to issue a refund or dispute the original charge.

To be fair, when I finally reached a representative by phone, she was polite, professional, and genuinely tried to help. Unfortunately, it’s clear REI does not equip their customer service team with the tools or systems needed to deliver a smooth experience.

If you need help with an order, calling is really your only option—and even then, don’t expect the process to be quick or easy.

REI uses Ontrac as the shipping carrier, but after the item was lost, they took no action—neither contacting Ontrac to follow up nor providing a refund—forcing consumers to bear the loss.

Unfortunately, REI has decided that a dollar is more important than keeping out National Parks safe for current and future generations.
Since REI has decided to support oil drilling and logging, I will no longer support REI. I sincerely hope more Colorado and California REI member will make the same decision and find local, or at least not greedy, alternatives.

I’m giving the REI store a 3 out of 5 stars because it’s a tale of two extremes. The staff members in-store are fantastic—super helpful, knowledgeable, and genuinely eager to assist. I can’t say enough good things about them. But the shipping company they use? An absolute disaster. My order was supposed to arrive on Thursday, which was perfect since I needed it by Saturday. Then, out of nowhere, I get an update saying it won’t show up until NEXT WEEK. When I called the shipping office, their customer service was a frustrating mess—first lying about the status, then offering no solutions. It completely ruined the experience. REI, please ditch this terrible shipping partner and switch to UPS or someone who actually prioritizes customers. The staff deserve better, and so do we.

If you purchase something online, they put a hold for that amount on your card then charge you again when you pick the item up. Therefore, you could end up in an overdrawn scenario since you will be charged again until the original hold drops off. I bought a 600$ pair of bibs online, when I went to pick them up, another 600$ charge went on my account.

Bought an online gift card, received an email saying it had been sent but it didn't arrive so I used the contact form as stated on my email, no reply despite it saying there would be a response within 48hrs. So I completed the form again, still no reply. This company has stolen $150 from me. BEWARE