customer service

[cowboystl1]

How much does customer service weigh in on your decision to buy gear? i have recently been contacting companies to ask questions about there gear, and some give 0 response and others answer fairly quickly and one even had there pro-staff manager call me which I thought was very exceptional.

 

[nateysmith]

For me it plays a big part.  I think that if I get into a bind, I want someone that will see how important the situation is and help me fix it quickly.

 

[cowboystl1]

well i have been shopping for new gear and its amazing the companies who dont even respond to a simple question. and on the other side of the coin i have had the owner call me or the prostaff manager contact me with in an hour of my email.

 

[nateysmith]

I don't know if you do twitter, or facebook but those are two methods that also get some good responses to questions.

 

[cowboystl1]

i am on face book and i do the twitter but im not so good at that one as i am face book

 

[AWHunt CDAID]

I have been known to lose a phone # due to bad service.

 

[buglelk]

Just to add to the conversation from the owner of a gear company...if you email us, we will respond ASAP. With the volume of orders and inquiries we get, it can be tough to get right back, but we usually are able to keep it within a few hours (unless we get an email at 7PM, followed by a nasty email at 10PM for not responding...sheesh.... ).


Talking about Facebook...that is a "less-than-ideal" method for contacting us. Many companies, us included, use other companies/individuals to run the primary, consistent Facebook campaign for them, so it's often not someone closely associated with the company who is monitoring that on a regular basis. If someone calls or emails though, it's our priority to get a response right back.

 

[Snowcrest 6]

I've always looked at it from the perspective that quite a few gear outfits are actually very small shops (like 1 or two people), some only slightly larger.  Knowing that, personal relationships go a lot farther than trying to post a question on FB, even email can be slow to get a response.  If they have a phone number, I generally call.  Folks are always more than happy to talk to a customer.

 

[Big Country]

Customer service plays a huge role for me when it comes to hunting gear.  Most of the purchases I make as a hunter/outdoorsman are pretty significant with regards to cost and I want to make sure that companies back what they are selling.  I've worked with several companies and have had experiences across the board.  So far, companies like Sitka, Kenetrek, Princeton tec, and Crossfire have exceeded my expectations.  These companies have been great!  Besides, when your spending $400 for a pair of boots or $600 on a set of rain gear you should be confident that if something happens, the company will work with you.  Just my thoughts.

 

[cowboystl1]

Just to add to the conversation from the owner of a gear company...if you email us, we will respond ASAP. With the volume of orders and inquiries we get, it can be tough to get right back, but we usually are able to keep it within a few hours (unless we get an email at 7PM, followed by a nasty email at 10PM for not responding...sheesh.... ).


Talking about Facebook...that is a "less-than-ideal" method for contacting us. Many companies, us included, use other companies/individuals to run the primary, consistent Facebook campaign for them, so it's often not someone closely associated with the company who is monitoring that on a regular basis. If someone calls or emails though, it's our priority to get a response right back.

im not impatient i dont expect and immediate response but i still havent herd from some companies and its been over a week i highly doubt i will spend hundreds if any with them but some i had almost ruled out completely put themselves in the running by being almost over accommodating.  to me if the company is big you have people for that if its small which i prefer then its on you to handle that business most small companies will fall down over themselves to help and its usually great quality stuff. 

 

[turbo1967]

I try to support my local community as much as possible and service is every thing with out service im not buying any thing and if im buying on line than service is not that important , if im on line than i have already done my research and im only there cause of price .

 

[ElwoodUT]

I definitely think that it depends on the product I am buying and if it has a lifetime warranty.  If I am going to spends hundreds to thousands of dollars on one specific companies gear then I will make absolutely sure that I will be able to get in touch with them if I ever do have to utilize my warranty.
If you are in a crunch for time and your go-to pack gets caught on a tree as you are riding by on an ATV and rips the crap out of it then you are going to be very happy that you went with the company with excellent customer service.
IMHO you want to buy from a company that is stable and easy to get ahold of.

 

[wapiti_will]

How much does customer service weigh in on your decision to buy gear? i have recently been contacting companies to ask questions about there gear, and some give 0 response and others answer fairly quickly and one even had there pro-staff manager call me which I thought was very exceptional.

For me it is not as important, nine times out of ten I usually know what I am going after and have done my homework.
For Example:
Badlands
Vortex
Sitka
First Lite
Mathews
Most times I do not need to have customer service, I just have never needed this.

I agree that doing your product homework is key...but you also want to research the company's customer service....you never know when you'll need it.  know a guy who had a dead tree fall on his bowtech, another who accidentally ran his bowtech over with his truck (guess he was too fired up to about taking a monster buck to remember where he put it) and bowtech replaced them both no questions asked.  i've also had to unexpectedly use leopold's customer service and they've been great.


bad customer service and a great product = losing this guy as a customer

 

[cowboystl1]

@ SPOTnSTALK well i had some questions in doing my homework on gear  was where this issue came to me. Trust me before i buy i do all my home work im not gonna lay my money down for junk i work hard for my money and back in the day all i could afford was junk to get me by now im spending deep and i want the best with the best customer service i can get. Unfortunately maybe due to where i live i dont get to see a lot of this gear hands on until money is spent so the service  can be a bigger thing to me maybe. i do have a Cabelas and a BassPro but some of the gear especially clothing wise they dont carry in the midwest or St Louis Mo anyway. Besides im a small business kinda guy i like a more personal relationship with people i give my money to.