Category: | Sporting Goods Store |
Address: | 1313 Washington Ave, Golden, CO 80401, USA |
Phone: | +1 303-271-9382 |
Site: | bentgate.com |
Rating: | 4.3 |
Working: | 10AM–7PM 10AM–7PM 10AM–7PM 10AM–7PM 10AM–7PM Closed 10AM–7PM |
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Chris Perkins
I _was_ a Bent Gate customer for over 8 years. Before I lived in Colorado, I ordered from them online occasionally. I have sent numerous people into their store (not on Saturdays!). Bent Gate is the closest mountain store to me geographically, and typically carries the items I like to buy, especially those items I like to touch and feel before I purchase. I am sorry to say that recently the customer service has been less than stellar. Their handling of my friends recent needs has resulted in my turning to other sources. I would only buy something here if I expect never to return it, and quite frankly only in an "emergency" situation (but not on Saturdays!) Recently my friend purchased for me, graciously, a new harness. Mine was old and ratty. She was told that I could return it if it did not fit. This was quite an investment. Later, I went to return the harness because it was too small for me (too many jelly donuts?) and the staff refused, saying that their policy was never to take back climbing gear. My friend specifically asked if it was okay to return before purchase. I was left to climb with my ratty harness for another weekend, and to eat over $100 to purchase a properly sized harness. This happened again recently to my friend. She bought a pair of shoes, and they were defective. The staff helped her negotiate with the shoe manufacturer (notice that they did not take the shoe back themselves.) The shoe manufacturer returned the shoes, and after the 4th visit to the store, we were again turned away, despite the fact that the staff had the replacement shoes IN HAND! My friend had asked for store credit, but the staff said the manager on duty could not make that decision, and that they would know more on "Tuesday" (it was not Saturday, it was Sunday). Needless to say, I am quite flabbergasted with the way both of these purchases were handled, and Im happy to pass the warning along. After spending many of my hard earned dollars there, and sending numerous folks Bent Gates way, I must turn other places that stand by their products, and have clear and consistent return policies. Also, it doesnt hurt to have business hours that work with the working man, (perhaps they should consider staying open later on Fridays, and opening their doors on Saturdays when we who work 9-5 have time to get in there).
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Ryan Reese
I have bought a fair bit of equipment from this store. I was always a bit irked by their equipment and slight lack of variety in their products and product types, however, what convinced me to never shop there again and to warn others away from this store is their salesmanship and their return policy. I purchased a pair of shoes from Bent Gate a little while back. I stated what I needed from a shoe, and after a while, I was given a pair of shoes that I was told would stretch to fit right. I was concerned that they were expensive shoes and that I was uncertain about buying a product that didnt fit right out of the box, and was told that I could return the shoes within 60 days if they didnt fit. Well, within sixty days, I came back with the shoes stating that they didnt fit and that I wanted an exchange. Not a refund, just an exchange. I want shoes that fit, like promised, and want the return, like promised. The young guy at the front counter said blithely that he couldnt take them, that they needed to be in new condition for resale for them to take the return. How in the world was I expected to see if these shoes fit without wearing them? How can I know if they work without using them? Better yet, why didnt the sales representative tell me that they needed to be in new condition? If he had said that, I would have walked right out the door and gone to REI, where at least there is a real guarantee for my money. I was told that I could return these shoes, and they manipulated me, and now they are blowing me off like it is my fault that they gave me shoes that make my toenails turn black and my feet hurt for days on end after a half day of climbing. They took my money and screwed me, plainly put. I climb a lot with the CMC, and not only will I tell people to not shop at Bent Gate, but I will make a point of telling them how awful of an experience I had, and how they will not care for your needs as a climber. If they like climbing, they should show it. All I saw was a love for money and a tendency towards manipulation of the customer.
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A Private User
Worst boot fitting ever! This place is hit or miss with the staff and if you happen to get one of the bad ones the owners WILL NOT stand behind their product. More expensive is NOT better in this case. I went in to get AT boots, I am a relatively experienced alpine skier but know little to nothing about AT. I was told by the sales person that I have been in boots that are a shell size to large from me for the last fifteen years, and that AT boots are supposed to fit super tight. I told him they were too tight, but he assured me that the boots will ‘pack out’ and fit great. I protested again, and the informed me ‘we can always make boots bigger, but if they are too big there is nothing we can do’. The first time I skied them they were so painful I had to quit within an hour. I went back, they attempted to reheat mold them, skied again, same result. At this point I was pretty sure Bent Gate had no idea what they are doing so I went into another AT shop in Breckenridge. The guy in Breck takes one look and says ‘this shell size is way too small , I could punch out the boot so you could ski in them, however, you will never be able to hike or skin in these things.’ I took them back to Bent Gate and asked them to exchange for a shell size up. They refused; however, they offered to sell me another boot at cost. They have huge profit margins, so the boot was discounted by almost 30%. Having already invested $2200 in AT gear that I could not ski I figured it was my only option. Turns out they had fitted me two shell sizes too small. My family used to spend around $8,000 a year there and after my experience has agreed to never give them their business again. Moral of the story is “If we sell you boots that dont fit…. We will be happy to sell you another pair that might.”
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Jim Orsi
Ive come to expect a certain amount of tough-guy climber attitude from the wanna-be alpinists who staff most gear shops, but Bent Gates ski staff is the only one that has lied to my face, most likely to avoid doing any actual work for a customer. I went in there to demo some skis they carried that I was considering buying, and in response to my inquiry the jerk who works in the back in the tuning shop tried to tell me that they dont demo skis any longer, despite the fact that there is a giant poster on the wall of the ski shop advertising how great their demo program is, and I could clearly see several dozen demo skis hanging on the rack behind him. When I asked him what he was talking about, he then said that they sometimes demo things, but they are not going to now because theyre in "clearance mode," whatever that means. He then rambled on about how it wasnt worth it for me because I couldnt apply the rental fee to the purchase price (something I never even asked about). Even though I was about to walk out at this point, I tried to explain that I just wanted to pay to try out the skis before buying them, which is standard procedure at every ski shop in the country. He then said that would cost $50, which is a figure Im quite sure he just made up on the spot to get me to leave, since its double the demo rate of everywhere else on the Front Range. Well, the jerks attempt to avoid setting up a pair of skis (I assume he wanted to get back to sniffing base cleaner) worked like a charm, since Im headed to EdgeWorks tomorrow to demo and buy the skis I was looking for at Bent Gate.