REI

REI, 279 Salem St, Reading, MA 01867, USA,

Category:	Camping Store
Address:	279 Salem St, Reading, MA 01867, USA
Phone:	+1 781-944-5103
Site:	rei.com
Rating:	4.2
Working:	10AM–9PM 10AM–9PM 10AM–9PM 10AM–9PM 10AM–9PM 10AM–9PM 11AM–6PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 7

A Private User

How is it that you can go to the same place a half-dozen times under totally different circumstances and consistently have the same level of dismal service? The employees consistently push the "Co-Op" card service to the point that Ive walked out empty-handed when i was prepared to drop close to a grand on a mountain bike; it became an issue that I couldnt actually get past the sales associate regarding anything about the bike. The hard sell was on the card. An email to the Manager about this resulted in me returning and getting the exact same service from him. And then theres the checkout line. How is it that whenever the store is empty or busy you can expect nothing less than 20 minutes of standing around waiting to pay for your items? Its mind-blowing that theyve managed to remain in business despite the fact that they seem incapable of staffing adequately or that employees will stand around gabbing while one register is open and a line of two dozen patrons waits. For what they pay for shipping to get it to your house its worth it. For picking it up at the store they should offer a discount. What sucks is that theyre typically tops in regards to their products. I like the goods they have but have been forced to get most items elsewhere rather than deal with the debacle that is this store. Avoid at all costs. Update: Ordered an item online and went to pick it up when it arrived at the store. Busy Saturday morning; this is the well-known time where EVERY retail store WILL be busy if it is ever busy. Ten registers. Yep, newly refurbed digs and ten shiny new registers ready to go! Two employees behind them....and one of them is doing something with inventory. An employee that walked by commented that she wasnt trained on the register, so therefore she couldnt help the dozen or so people in line waiting to give them their money. One of the first rules of business is to make taking the customers money as easy and painless as possible. Good work screwing that up....

Catherine Wright

Sorely disappointed. Went to get crosscountry skis with my daughter. Made mistake of telling Natalie that we knew little about skiing or equipment. As we are novices, bought a garage sale pair of skis for daughter. Natalie told us she would have the missing spring piece replaced and would have the scratches smoothed down. Then she left for day, leaving us with Will. Who explained no repairs could be made until I paid for them. So I pay and take to repair area. Little cretin indicates no way no how will he do what Natalie promised which was a two minute job. And he wants to go home, so I can come back tomorrow. Like Im trying to rip HIM off. Will disavowed any knowledge of what I had been told. After I just spent $500 at this place on boots that Natalie said were on sale, but guess what. Not on sale. The skis are unusable without the spring. I go see a manager, who gets someone else to explain to me that the skis cannot be fixed. No springs and no replacement available. So they let me return damaged goods that they had promised to repair as a condition of buying them. Dont tell people lies in order to make a sale. Yes I know damaged skis are not the same as new. But if you cant clip the ski boot to it, then they are not saleable. I came here because I am no expert; I relied on the staff reputation for being helpful to non experts. Apparently the goal is to take advantage of people just to unload stuff. Shameful Natalie and Will. How do you live with yourselves. Great that I have a lifetime membership because I wont be coming here again. If I want to be ripped off I could go on Craigslist.

A Private User

Their products are amazing. Their camping, hiking, biking, and outdoorsy gear are top quality. But the staff is TERRIBLE!!! I was the only person in line recently, literally standing there watching a guy talking on the phone to his girlfriend while glancing over at me a few times. Someone then came out of the backroom behind the registers and started sorting stuff instead of helping. When he finally noticed I was standing there, he came over, checked out my items and didnt hand me a bag! I asked for one and he said "just use the hiking pack you bought." What is that?! I specifically ASKED for the bag. If your gear wasnt the saving the grace, this rating would be 1 star. I went to EMS two days later, they fit me for a pair of hiking boots, gave me a free pair of wool hiking socks and asked me a million questions about my upcoming hiking trip. Their staff was professional. I dont want to give up on REI, but if I have one more experience like that forget it. EMS has already scored half of my business from REI. I will note that I have never had a bad experience at the Cranston, RI store. This is specific to the Reading, MA location.

A Private User

Nothing but great experiences here. The staff is courteous, helpful and realistic. Ive gotten plenty of help on picking out a variety of jackets and hiking back packs here, polite advice on what I was doing wrong and where my money is best spent. Theyre extremely enthusiastic about the outdoors and their service and insight shows it. Ive had my mountain bike fixed, complimentary, even though I walked in anticipating spending $80+ to have it fixed. Instead I got a few little tweaks and in 5 minutes I was on my way, free of charge. I will admit their check out lines do get a little long on busy days but is this really the end of the world? Is 10 minutes really going to change your life? Folks in MA are always in a rush...

Kara McCue

I like REI. I would go there as a kid with my parents until they couldnt really afford it. Now since Im older I went there recently just so look at clothes for my mom for Mothers Day. I wasnt really looking for people to help me but it took 2 associates before Steve asked me if I needed help with things. Very knowledgeable, wasnt to all knew about buying the items. After I found what I was looking for with my Mothers Day stuff, I started looking at hiking boots and what really goes with my hiking and my feet! Really knowledgeable! Really easy to talk to him how to get experience! Hope to see him there more. Only got four stars because it took two other people before Steve asked if I needed anything.

Dave McArdle

Saturday morning I went in looking for rain gear for that nights Pats game. I was not the only one. The entire outdoor department was filled with Pats fans. Ruben was THE MAN. He talked to every customer. Helped every one of us find water proof gear for the game. He explained the difference between outdoor and waterproof jackets. I told him this was probably a one time thing and didnt want/need to spend a ton. He found the pants and jacket I needed for FAR less than what I thought Id spend. I have never shopped here before. But Ruben has sold me. I even became a member today. I just wanted to thank you for having such a friendly/helpful/knowledgeable employee.

Kevin Richardson

100% satisfaction? Not quite. I tried to return a lunch box that had ripped after a few months of use. While the sales representative obliged, I got a small lecture about their guarantee as well - a patronizing "You do understand that our policy isnt indefinite, dont you?" kind-of-thing. I responded that I wasnt aware that there was a time limit on their guarantee. He claimed that there was, but when I asked him to show me the written policy that states that, he backed off. I used not mind paying a little more at REI considering the fact that they backed their products with this guarantee, but now Im having second thoughts.