"SG is getting worse. I just cancelled my club membership after 13 years. They are advertising items that are sold out, not fullfilling the club membership agreement and billing for items not shipped. Anybody else notice the quality of their "Guide Gear" products turning to ca ca?
My last few orders have been a terrible experience and SG basically HOLDS YOUR MONEY HOSTAGE and their customer service does their best to screw things up worse. The customer is not their main concern, JUST THEIR NEXT DAY OFF.
ARE THEY UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT?
"
"Generally happy with the items I receive from S.G. However, like another reviewer commented, they will not publish less than favorable reviews... which in my opinion is very misleading. You will see rave reviews and 100% happiness with every item they sell, however, I have been less than 100% satisfied on at least 2 occasions. Cheap import "Military STYLE" clothing in particular, a N3B Parka had a pocket sewn on backwards, and the Italian Work Pants and Coat was made from tissue paper thin cotton, that would rip at the first hint of real work anyone does in them. Other items purchased are fine, like the Heavy Duty Military Tow Strap, which looked like the same things Harbor Freight sells. Also, be aware that items that are clearance priced, are also sold at full price at the same time... be sure to check the Clearance section online before ordering anything... you may save some big bucks on the exact same thing you are ordering if you enter the clearance item number rather than the regular item number."
"Both John and Judy (order line) were rude and wanted my personal data rather than to get my billing address right. They insisted that I call back later and give my personal data again because they could do nothing about it now. Later I checked my account on line and it seems they never gave me a credit nor refunded a return I sent back a month ago. They were not interested in my order because they just laughed and said to call back later. I think they took my money(refund) and tried to cover it up. It seems they wanted to sabotage the process so my billing details would not be available to me. Do not call an order to them or give them your information under any circumstance. They were fishing for ways to rip me off. I will have to call monday and cancel since there was no supervisor there and they put you on hold a long time just to say to call back monday.
They are criminal no doubt about it."
"The the pricing and service has been fine from this vendor with regards to filling orders quickly and accurately. I haven't had to return anything, so can't comment in that regard.
Do be aware that the customer reviews of products offered by this e-vendor will not include any less than totally favorable reviews. While they did publish two reviews of items I was totally happy with, They have censored two of my reviews that were generally positive but noted things not in the description that might save other customers grief. Really irritating to spend the time to write an informative review and have them fail to publish it because it wasn't favorable enough. Even the favorable reviews don't show up on their web site for a few days while they take time to make sure they are good enough.
It seems less than ethical to say "See what our customers are saying about this item" When they mean is "See what just our customers who were totally pleased with this item are saying". Gary, dude, you CAN let your customers warn each other about crap products and still stay in business. NewEgg etc. are doing fine.
To be specific, One was a "pilots watch" that was not expensive, keeps good time, and looks nice, but the E6B (rotary slide rule) feature is not usable for calculations at all. The other is a muzzle loader speed loader that will only work with certain powder and projectile choices...not a bad item, but it would be nice to know the limitations before ordering, and the SG description did not even hint at such.
I notice they have stopped asking me to write reviews of my purchases now....just as well as I refuse to put forth the effort if they can't take my honest evaluation. At least Gary Owen has stopped calling me his friend in every item description. (I've been a SG customer long before there was an internet)"
"This was my first order from this company and I almost didn't go forward with it because of the poor reviews here, but I took the chance because my purchase was a small, low-dollar item. I was pleasantly surprised with how smooth it went, the order process and shipping went just fine. The UPS Tracking information and order confirmation were both sent promptly. Overall, nothing bad to say other than "I wish the shipping was cheaper"."
"As long as you don't have a problem they are just fine. If a mistake is made or, as in my case, a damaged shipment with missing goods, forget about it. Customer service aparently can't read their own invoices and are either obtuse or passive aggresive. After a couple of weeks and 14 emails I gave up. They offered me a $15 cupon to make up for a missing $45 worth of merchandise. I quit. "
"I have been doing business with Sportsman’s Guide for some time and their customer service has really gone down the tubes. As far as their product line is concerned the old adage applies, “you get what you pay for”, but be prepared for an uninformed, poorly trained and unresponsive customer service department. I had issues with two different orders recently and spent week on the phone and email trying to get it resolved.
I won’t do business with Sportsman’s Guide again, even if they were giving stuff away for free.
"
"We placed an order for a Horse Tire Swing on the 24th of April with a scheduled shipping date of May 10th. When I didn't receive shipping notice by the 12th, I contacted the company to find out when to expect it to ship. They said for me to give it until the 19th, if I hadn't gotten the item by then, I should call back. I waited until the 20th and called again, they said they needed to contact the Vendor and would call me back with info the next day. I waited through the weekend and contacted them again the following week when I still hadn't heard from them, the CS rep said they hadn't heard back from the Vendor to give them 48 more hours and if I wasn't happy to call and cancel the order if I wanted to. Wow, what great customer service, NOT! I waited through memorial day weekend and called again on June 2nd, when they told me they STILL didn't have a response from the vendor I told the CS rep I wanted a refund. She told me that was fine, they would need to contact the vendor first and then they would initiate a refund 48 hours after that. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? You want me to wait for you to contact the Vendor who isn't responding to your phone calls and faxes to find out the status of the order, and I have to wait for them to NOW respond to a REFUND request. TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE!!! I should have been issued a refund TODAY with a REFUND CONFIRMATION number, you have my money, I want it back so I can work with a company who cares to actually produce the product I paid for."
"
I ordered a patio umbrella shade, it arrived in a box destroyed by shipping without any hardware or instructions. I notified customer service and was told the missing items would be shipped out. After waiting 1 1/2 weeks I called again was told that shipping had been sitting on the request and not sent my parts out...NOW there are no more umbrellas or parts, they are on back order till 5/11. On 5/11 I called asked the order department if the umbrellas were in, I was told yes, I then asked if my parts had been sent out they said no but would be right away. On Tues, 5/18 I called again, still no parts sent to me, the man I was speaking to promised they would be sent out within 24 hours. I called today (5/21 & spoke w/Cassy) and was told AGAIN that no parts were sent to me and AGAIN the umbrellas are on backorder. After I became quite upset she put me on hold, then came back on the phone and said the parts would be shipped to me on Monday(really??)..BACKORDER, PARTS, NO PARTS????? "
"I want to let everyone know that I have purchased from the Sportsman Guide for several years and was always pretty happy with the products & customer service. That has all changed in the past year... in that time,they have started to ship items that are not is shown in the catalog, not informed the customer of backorders and ran the credit card for the purchase, not accepted coupon codes that they e-mail to you and delay or even cancel orders because of so-called invalid coupons. The company's customer service doesn't really care to help or listen if you call to ask questions or complain. I have spent over $50 on return shipping and countless hours on the telephone. My advice is to spend more somewhere else and save yourself the hassles!"
"Wow - I guess the majority of people only review when they have a negative issue. Well, I have ordered merchandise off and on for about 10 years through Sportsman's guide, and have either been very lucky or most people don't bother to search out a review site to give Sportsman's Guide the positive feedback they deserve. I can't give a review for most of the products that they sell, but I can say for certain that their ammunition and their military surplus items (clothing, gear, etc.) is top-notch, packed well and with care, and the best bargain around. Nobody else I have ordered from in this venue (Cheaper Than Dirt, etc.) comes close to service, value, and quality. Never had a problem with their shipping in 10 years and they've always had good communications and have lots of coupon incentives. I've bought numerous pairs of boots, coats, uniforms, and if there was ever a size issue (they sell lots of boots and clothing from Europe) I've never had a problem with returns/replacements. I haven't bothered to buy retail items like household gadgets or electronics and such from them so I can't comment on those type of items. After all, they're a 'Sportsman' store, so I assume that is what they specialize in - not lampshades, toasters, or bicycles. Heck, I have even bought fully functional Mausers and Mosin-Nagant rifles, as well as parts kits (minus receivers) for many modern firearms (how about a Belgian Browning Automatic Rifle?) off their website without problems. If you need ammunition (don't we all?), surplus gear, or hunting items then Sportsman's Guide is THE place to buy it. I can't understand how they can have such bargains seeing that they're based in the taxpayer's nightmare of the People's RepubliK of Minnesota. The only negative issue I have with Sportsman's Guide is that their catalogs are too addictive and regularly cause impulse buying :)"
"Possibly the worst customer service and most incompetent company I have encountered. They advertise products they do not stock and send you something else anyway. The product they decided to send was faulty. When I tried to return it they would not give a refund, as it was a gift so I asked for a replacement. They then decided to ignore my instructions and refunded part of the cost back to the gift giver but not the shipping. 9 emails and 2 phone calls required to sort this out and I still have no chair, so I have ended up losing out on a wedding gift. AVOID AVOID AVOID!"
"Ordered Full meal MREs as pictured in their ad. Should be entre, side dish, snack and dessert. Instead, got Potato Cheddar soup and cracker. They claim it is civilian MRE. Not a chance. Disgusted with both their snake oil trick and the follow up "so what". Word to the wise, start boycotting the company. They are no longer friends with the outdoors people, only with the scam artists. BOYCOTT NOW!!!!!!"
"The number above is my order number. I recently ordered table bases, based on a website photo on the Sportsman's Guide website. The photo shows a conical base that mounts flush on top of the floor. They sent one that mounts flush from below the floor requiring cutting a hole in the floor. Close, but not for my application. When I wanted to return the parts they told me I got what I ordered but they would let me return them if I paid for shipping. The shipping would have cost half as much as the parts, so I asked if they would pay the shipping costs.
They refused and told me I was lucky to be able to return at all since I got what I ordered and I ordered incorrectly. They were actually rather insulting. I emailed them the webshot of what I ordered from and they said they don't carry that part anymore.
So beware, when ordering from these guys. Granted, they would have taken back the part, but their shoddy web upkeep, caused me to pay for parts and shipping of things I didn't want."
"I ortdered a heater/defroster on the first of Feb 2010, invoice said order would be delivered in 3-7 days. Here it is 12 days and still no heater defroster.Seems like if you doin't pay the extra for faster delivery you get the shaft from this company. I don't think I will be ordering from Sportsmans Guide again. Such service in this day and age is unacceptable.
Signed
William Johnson"