Outdoor Emporium

Reviews 4

BL

Blair Wilds

I have been to Outdoor Emporium 3 or so times over the past couple years and while they do have quite a good selection of products their customer service and knowledge is definitely lacking, so much so that I told myself that after this visit I will not be returning. The first bad experience I had from OE was two years ago when I went halibut fishing out in Sequim... the weekend before leaving town one of the employees sold me a reel that he personally said would hold up to a 60-80lb halibut and well needless to say the drag broke after two times of reeling up just a 4lb weight without a fish on it. The next year I went back and bought another reel that again they said would be great for halibut fishing, well again that reel broke within 15-20 minutes of fishing. So this year I did a bunch of research on reels and ended up buying a Shimano Tyrnos two speed reel that would be more than enough for halibut fishing. I called up tonight before going down as I live in Lynnwood, and I needed them to put braided line on my reel. They said on the phone that the 80lb braided line I was looking for was going to be $.09/yard, so I said ok Ill be down before you close. I get down there and come to find out they dont have the line that I wanted in stock, they just had the 65lb braided line. So I decided to buy a spool of 80lb braid with 500 yards on it for $65 and have the guy at the counter put that on my reel. He puts the line on and just before finishing I notice that there is a spool on the wall for the 80lb braid that he could have used to put on my reel and that would have been $20 less. I tell him this and he says he already put the more expensive braid on and that he cant match the price and then goes on to say that the 80lb braid was actually $.13/yard when the guy on the phone told me it was only $.09/yard. Well its not a big deal until you put 500 yards of line on a reel and then you have a difference of $20. So basically I drove all the way to Seattle from Lynnwood for fishing line when I could have bought it in Lynnwood for the exact same price of $.13/yard when they told me it would have been $.09/yard. Also, after looking at the line put on my reel its definitely wavy and has a high and low spot on it from the guy behind the counter not knowing what he was doing. It was just frustrating driving 25 miles each way to get something you think is going to be for one price and come to find out its the exact same price as Teds which is 3 miles from my house. Then dealing with an employee who knows little to nothing about pricing or products? I told myself after leaving tonight that I wont be coming back. Everytime Ive been there the customer service and knowledge of employees has definitely been poor and been given bad recommendations on products that werent to the level they were supposed to be at. It seems to be an ongoing trend of poor customer service and employees lacking in product knowledge.

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A

A Private User

Customer service is great when your buying something. Not great when you need to return or exchange. I bought a Shimano 2500 reel and St. Croix rod from them at the suggestion of one of their employees in the fishing department. I love the combo, unfortunately I had problems with the reel. The line catches a part of the bail much of the time and doesnt go into the bail groove. This caused many missed fish as if its not sitting in the groove, the bail will pop open with any tug on the line. This seems like a design flaw to me. I went into the store and tried to exchange the reel for a reel with a bail of a different line. I was willing to pay $129.00 vs the reel I purchased which was $79.00. After only owning the reel a couple of weeks, I was told that the reel was used and they couldnt help me. How am I supposed to find the problem without using the reel? I was not exchanging it because I didnt like it. I was exchanging it because of a problem! Im really dissapointed with the customer service of the store. I am not happy that a store employee was the one who recommended the reel to me. I am not happy because I was told to manually put the line into the grooves before I reel in. Its not a top of the line reel, but for $79.00 it should function better than reels that are much cheaper. I have fished for years, and never had this problem on much cheaper reels. I will no longer by my equipment from them. I used to buy everything from them. With this type of service I may as well buy my stuff online. I usually buy everything else online, but I figured that I would get service in case of any issues. I guess I was wrong.

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NO

northwestnorthlanders

I usually wind up at OE looking for outdoor or sporting gear and equipment. A few friends stop by for their fishing and camping supplies, and seem pretty happy with the store. The service at OE is usually right at the level it should be. There have been a few times where I was slightly disappointed by the customer service; on two occasions the gentlemen in the sporting gear sections were too busy to help me for about fifteen minutes, after which I left and came back later. Selection and inventory is usually pretty nice; as far as camping and hunting equipment go, they usually have a good variety of gear and equipment, and prices are pretty good. Long guns are usually more tailored towards traditional hunting; they have a better inventory for bolt action and shotguns than they do for more M4 styled tools. Membership pricing is a must if you are an outdoor enthusiast, or have reason to buy equipment often. It expands the limits of what quantity you can buy for limited sale items (ammo), and brings down the price by five percent or greater most of the time, which is nice when you are buying bigger things. I usually check in with them for their large supply of ammunition before I head out; when other shops that might be closer are out of ammo they usually still have some in stock, and it isnt terribly priced either.

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ZA

Zack Horvath

Id like to preface this with the fact that Im an evil gun owner. I purchased a revolver here about 10 months ago, and ended up getting the membership because it was cheaper to do that and buy the handgun with the discount rather than pay sticker price. Seemed like a winning proposition, but after that, every single time Ive gone back in there to either shop for ammo (before the illegal city tax was passed), look for parts, or even try to order a .22 rifle, getting help in the hunting department is a pain in the butt, and some of the people there talk to you with a sense of superiority - which isnt anything new in the gunshop world. My last experience here was asking if they had a specific rifle in stock, which they said they did and to come on down and that theyd set it aside for me, and when I showed up they didnt actually have it in stock, and the guy didnt remember me on the phone...despite us literally talking 5 minutes ago. Then they said they could overnight the rifle to the store and that theyd call me. It took them a week to get back to me. By that time I had already ordered online, had it delivered to my FFL, and done all the paperwork.

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