REI return policy

Rental Equipment Inc announced today that their anything, anytime, any reason return policy ended yesterday.  To be replaced by one year (30 day for dot com purchases) plus proof of purchase.  seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology...5_reireturnsxml.html

An understandable policy change, perhaps, but if you're not fond of what they've become, there are still ways to respond beyond not shopping there at all..

Wow. Quite a boon to small/independent shops (and to manufacturers that have a lifetime warranty). Will other vendors with lifetime warranties, like backcountry.com, move to match?

It's a lot easier to buy something expensive with the bulwark of a bulletproof warranty behind it. The playing field in local retail just got more level.

With the loss of the warranty, and the 2007 Supreme Court decision on minimum pricing, it looks like REI's advantages to being big are narrowing. Perhaps we'll see a modest increase in the size of the dividends over time?


Dirtbag downside: the Gear Garage may take a hit...

Well shit,

Guess they just lost a lot of business with me. No point in paying a premium for something that I can't abuse and return if it sucks.

I'd rather just hit up local shops anyway, but certain items were too good to pass up if they were expensive and I wanted that 'safe' feeling to return it if it broke.

They say that they'll still do returns for defective gear after the one-year deadline. "Defective" is of course to some extent in the eye of the beholder - some folks think that clothing that starts to wear thin after years of regular use is defective, but some of us think that returning such stuff ends up raising prices for the rest of us who aren't so liberal with our definition of the word. But if you are wondering if you'll be happy with an expensive piece of gear, and plan to use it well w/in the first year of purchase, it seems to me that the return policy still give you a pretty good opportunity to decide that the thing you've bought is not quite what you wanted.

I think Charlie is right that this should help smaller retailers at least a bit.

I try and avoid REI whenever I can and this just confirmed that I'm done with them.
Local shops such as Pro-ski and Marmot are the way to go plus backcountry.com for interwebz or Telemark Pyrenees for the Euro Dynafirt stuff.

Too bad they didn't make this policy change before Backpacker's Supply pulled out of Tacoma - it might have made the difference. I might have to start using a stove other than the Jetboil now. Jetboils seem to be pretty disposable (We've broken four) and if you can't return they might not be such a good choice.
The other strategy would be to write a "return by" date on everything you buy at REI from now on.

I just happened to be in REI Tacoma today to return a rope (7 years old and it soaks up water like a sponge) and I had to really work hard to get them to even give me a store credit. I finally had to ask what was going on and the clerk told me of the policy change. I argued that there was a full return policy when I bought the rope and that seemed to work.
Be prepared to do your best Perry Mason the next time you need to return something!