REI

Culture of corruption: Why you cannot trust REI CEO Sally Jewel, nor managers Brad **, Eileen **, and Angel **. Related post at ***

I'm writing to urge you to support the REI Board of Directors in ousting CEO Sally Jewel and her overpaid, unethical management staff, and to replace her with an honest leader who will restore REI's roots of integrity and customer service.

If the current Board refuses to do this, then I enjoin you to begin petitioning and voting to replace its membership with upstanding Directors who will replace Sally Jewel and her overpaid, unethical management staff.

Brad ** is the Executive Vice President of REI's E-commerce Division. He reports directly to Sally Jewel. On 4-Apr-2011, Brad consummated a lie to a customer and REI Co-op member, me. In a previous conversation, on 24-Mar-2011, Brad had pledged that he would find out and tell me why Angel **, a supervisor under his reporting chain, had deliberately ignored my request to put me in contact with her boss. Rather than stem the tide of unethical malpractices under his purview, Brad ** chose to reinforce them, and lie.

Please understand wrongful action that gave rise to this debacle. On 3-Mar-2011, I responded to an email sent to me, that same day, by Angel **. According to the job title at the end of that communication, Angel was (and unfortunately, remains) an REI Online Supervisor. After explaining that I was not satisfied with Angel's answer about why my REI online account had been deleted, I concluded with "let's escalate this to your boss. Kindly get back to me, sometime today, by sending me his or her name, title, telephone number, and email handle."

Time stamped 17:02:11 PM PT, an email read receipt from Angel acknowledges the above request. Angel ** never did send me her boss' name, title, telephone number and email handle. In fact, she never contacted me at all. Not the day of my request, not the next day, not ever. Here you have an REI Online Supervisor, Angel **, intentionally refusing to place a customer (and REI Co-op member) into contact with her boss, even after being requested to do so, in writing, and even after acknowledging the request with an electronic read receipt. Angel Currier, an REI Online Supervisor, deliberately ** a customer!

Speaking on behalf of REI Co-op stewardship, Angel ** should have been fired. This is not about Angel ** interposing a delay in passing a complaint up the management chain. Rather, it is a clear-cut case of Angel ** an REI Online Supervisor, burying that complaint. In so doing, Angel egregiously betrayed the trust of REI Co-op members and customers.

Things are even worse than that. Not until 15-Mar-2011, almost two weeks after I had asked Angel ** to provide me with contact information for Angel's boss, did Eileen **, Direct Sales Operations Manager, (two levels up the management chain from Angel) get back to me on this complaint. Moreover, Eileen emailed me only after I had followed up on my own, by placing a call to Bill **, Information Technology Vice President at REI. According to Bill, Angel ** was not under his line of employee reporting. To his credit, however, Bill said that he would pass my request to be put in touch with Angel's boss onto Noel **. Noel, it appears, is Eileen **'s boss.

The timeline is relevant: in our 4-Apr-2011 conversation, Brad ** tried to spin things to sound like Eileen **'s response to me was just a delayed answer to my initial request to Angel **! Likely as not, Brad will try to blow smoke like this towards anyone who will inhale it. When Eileen and I finally spoke on the telephone, she revealed that she had not even spoken to Angel ** about the matter. Barring urgent sick leave or family emergency, I impressed onto Eileen that Angel ** should be fired, on the grounds of intentional customer mistreatment. In retrospect, the same goes for Eileen: like Brad **, she lied.

In a 24-Mar-2011 phone call with her and Noel **, and like Brad ** later on, Eileen reneged on her pledge to find out and tell me why Angel **, a supervisor under Eileen's reporting chain, had deliberately ignored my request to be placed into contact with Angel's boss. Eileen and Noel offered crocodile-tear apologies, but would not let Angel ** offer an apology or explain herself. Of course, Eileen and Noel also insisted that they would not fire Angel. Please support the REI Board of Directors in reversing that decision.

Which brings us to my disappointing but not surprising conversation last week with REI CEO Sally Jewel. Predictably, and just like a southern redneck sheriff, she confirmed that she stands behind her boys and girls. Seriously, folks, you could smell her bovine excrement through the phone. Cowering behind a vague reference to laws protecting confidentiality, Sheriff Sally asserted that her organization takes corrective measures in cases like this. Poppycock! The only proper corrective measure is to oust Sheriff Sally and her ** deputies: Brad **, Eileen **, and Angel **.

REI CEO Sally Jewel concluded by dismissing my complaint as a relatively minor matter.

Relatively minor? Just imagine, a law officer roughing up some poor soul in a cotton patch in Jim Crow Mississippi. The local sheriff might give the deputy a "talking to", but (heavens forbid) would never admit to wrongdoing, much less fire the deputy, for such a relatively minor matter. Instead, southern law enforcement would close ranks, stonewall, and protect their own. In sheltering Deputy Angel **, REI Sheriff Sally Jewel and her underlings Eileen ** and Brad ** are smugly confident that they can get away with a white-collar variant on Jim Crow corruption. Don't let them get away with it.

Fellow REI customers, setting aside the embarrassing e-commerce incompetence that led to all this, do you consider Angel **'s intentional ** of a customer to be as Sally Jewel puts it a relatively minor matter? Is lying and stonewalling on the part of Eileen ** and Brad ** relatively minor? Fellow REI Co-op members, do you really want to keep on paying the inflated salaries of Sheriff Jewel and her deputies, despite their wink-and-nod unethical behavior?

As a glimpse of the e-commerce incompetence that gave rise to this debacle, under Brad **, REI online accounts are deleted after just one year of activity, regardless of whether the REI member, who has also signed up for the online account, had any purchase activity. That is, Brad ** is too ** lazy to have his bloated organization figure out whether you are an REI Co-op member; instead he'll just delete your online account after a year of inactivity, and without as much as courtesy email. When asked why REI does this, Brad's staff replied, at first, that was to "save bandwidth" (consistent with the demise of the American educational system, they don't even know what bandwidth is). But then Angel **, bolstering Brad's practice of encouraging idiots-by-choice, replied that REI does this "in order to optimize data storage". Is that so, Angel? How many fractions of a cent do you think REI saved by being so quick on the draw to purge my online REI account?

How about optimizing for customer service? No, that's not a priority for Angel **. Nor is it the main goal for Eileen **, Brad **, or especially REI's CEO, Sally Jewel. Beyond promulgating their idiocracy of self-congratulatory arrogance, the facts of this experience expose how Sheriff Sally Jewel and her deputies prefer cover-their-rear self-preservation to ethical behavior. Can you say Richard Nixon?

How much money do Sally Jewel and her administrative assistants suck from the REI Co-op? What is the dollar expense whereby Brad **, Eileen **, and Angel ** continue to enrich themselves, remaining on the payroll of the REI Co-op? If, on one hand, you want to perpetuate Sheriff Jewel's corrupt idiocracy of self-congratulatory arrogance, then pin a medal on her and her deputies, and urge them to Sally forth, metastasizing REI into the Enron of the Outdoor Equipment Industry. Watch your back, though. If they did me wrong (and they did), then they'll do wrong to you and to other customers.

On the other hand, if you agree that REI should return to its Co-op roots of integrity and value, then support the Board in its actions to oust Sally Jewel and her minions. Failing that, replace them all with real professionals who, by contrast, will actually deliver honest service for honest pay. Unless and until we excise this ulcerative cancer, REI Co-op members, customers, and employees will be subjugated to the likes of Angel **, Brad **, Eileen ** and Sally Jewel corruptocrats who will continue to betray our trust.

When I brought my Novara Metro bike into the Issaquah, WA REI, it took them over a week and a half to get me my bike back. The day I got it back which was Saturday, August 7, 2010, I had not even had it back an hour and I already had to bring it back into the shop. I rode my bike for less than 10 minutes and all of a sudden my pedal got stuck. I pedaled slowly backwards and tried going forward again slowly, when it happened again and this time threw me over the handle bars. I looked at my bike and the entire chain busted in half and the bike derailleur that was just bought and put on my bike was completely bent all the way into the back of my tire spokes. This is what REI had just serviced on my bike. After having to walk my bike back home almost 1 1/2 miles, I put back into my car and brought back to REI. He said he has no idea how this could have happened and tried blaming it on my riding off road or two rough. I only rode the bike less than 10 minutes and was riding on pavement.

I called REI on Tuesday, August 10, 2010 to ask for a status on the repairs once again. The guy I spoke with was rude and continued to go back and forth with me saying over and over "both Matt and I rode the bike before you picked it up and it worked just fine." I asked him if he was trying to imply that it is my fault the part they just replaced somehow broke and malfunctioned not even 10 minutes after getting the bike back. He said, "I am not going to argue, we have ordered the part for your bike it should be here in a day or two and we will fix your bike then."

On August 11, 2010, I received a voice mail from Matt in bike repairs saying "the part needed to fix the bike derailleur was not in stock and that it would need to be ordered from Corporate, but the bike was not going to be repaired at all because I was verbally abusive to Bob on the phone the day before". He also said he spoke with the store manager also named Matt, and that he approved and agreed to them not repairing the damage they are responsible for due to me being verbally abusive. As for my being verbally abusive to REI employees, that is a complete false statement.

On August 20, 2010, I received a phone call from Ben **. Ben said that he was forwarded the email I sent to the President of REI, Sally Jewell, and that he was going to be the one in charge of handling the situation. Ben gave me one choice and that was to offer me a refund for the bike repair services. I agreed that a refund would be the first thing I would hope to receive after all the trouble they have caused me, but I would not accept his offer until after he spoke with the store and they would agree to replacing the broken in half bike chain that happened due to there not repairing something correctly. I got a voice mail saying they would replace the bike chain, however they would not put the chain on the bike, I would have to have that done wherever I decided to take the bike to be repaired.

When I arrived to REI to pick up the bike, I was more than shocked to find that the bike service technicians had removed the parts on the bike that they had replaced originally. The rear derailleur has been completely removed as well as the front derailleur. I was willing to settle this dispute with REI considering they offered a full refund, but I was not told that the parts were going to be removed from the bike. I have taken pictures of the bike in the condition it was returned to me.

When I brought the bike in originally, the bike was perfectly ride-able, the only set back was not being able to adjust the front left gear shift. When I asked the manager whom was issuing my refund, where are the parts that were on the bike, he answered back, "I'm not sure". When I picked the bike up the first time from REI, I was asked if I wanted the original parts from the bike that were there when I brought it in, those parts included the derailleur that is needed in order for the bike to be even ride-able. I told them to go ahead and keep the old parts, the guy helping us replied, "we will recycle the old parts". Now I am stuck without the parts that were on the bike to start with, and REI took the parts that they replaced, those being the original parts on the bike.

The bike was given back to me with cables hanging from the back of the bike, and at this point I have had enough of the treatment that REI has shown and am very surprised that a company as well known as REI, the treatment they have provided is by far the worst I have ever been shown from any retail chain or business. Regardless of what anyone at REI says in regards to what they believe to be true as to what happened, I have been given a bike that is no longer able to be ridden. I have been treated with the worst customer service and not to mention all of the stress that REI has caused me. This is truly been the worst I have ever been treated from any retail store or any business in my entire life.

I am writing to you because I had nowhere else to turn in regards to my recent experience with the REI store located in Issaquah, WA. The experience I have had is nothing short of a complete nightmare and probably one of the worst experiences I have ever had in terms of dealing with a retail chain and services that they offer. I will explain my situation below.

At this time I don't have a lot of money, I run a private home boarding business for dogs and I work as a graphic designer. I have been wanting to get a bike for a very long time and was unable due to my current financial situation. Every day for months I researched Craigslist.com looking for the perfect bike that I could ride on and off road with my dogs Maya and Gaja. After months of searching, I finally found the perfect bike at a far better than perfect deal. I found someone selling their 2009 Novara Metro for a price tag of $185, and I know the normal price for this fabulous bike brand new is around $450.

Least to say that I was more than excited to have finally found the bike I was looking for. I got the bike home and realized that the gear shift on the left side was not working, I figured this was a very small thing to get repaired and what better place to get that done than that of the original manufacturer of the Novara bike "REI". Boy have I ever been wrong, I don't think I could have picked a worse place to get my new bike repaired. This is why.

When I brought my Novara Metro bike into the Issaquah, WA REI, first off I was told that there was no front derailleur and that being the reason my left shift would not work. Ok, so that was not so bad, but then I got a call three days later saying that there were other problems that they found, so now I would need four total parts to be added to the bike in order for it and everything to function correctly.

I will admit I was a little frustrated because I am not in a very good financial position right now and the bill was now from 65.00 to 125.00 and it may not seem like a lot of money to some, but with my not having a lot of extra money it in fact is a lot to me. I agreed to allow the repairs to be finished and the additional parts to be ordered, I understood that they would need to order one of the parts and it would take a day or two to come in, this was even more disappointing because I now had to wait even longer to get my new bike back.

Overall it took them over a week and a half to get me my bike back. I was very excited to finally get my new bike back, and when I got to the store with my roommate who was with me, the guy who was ringing us up for the bill was nothing less than rude and very, very pushy toward both my roommate and myself. My roommate was with me because he was letting me borrow the rest of the money to get my bike back. He was not happy with how we were treated and said he would never step foot in another REI because of the way we were treated.

The day I got my bike back which was Saturday, August 7, 2010, I had not even had it back an hour and I already had to bring it back into the shop. I rode my bike for less than 10 minutes and all of a sudden when I shifted the gears on the left side, which is the side that was repaired, my pedal got stuck. I pedaled slowly back words and tried going forward again slowly and it worked fine. Not even a block more and it happened again, except this time I was thrown over the handle bars and really scraped up my elbows and knees from the accident. When this happened, my bike went a short distance and then crashed and fell.

When I got to my bike, I looked at my bike and the entire chain had busted in half and the front derailleur that I just paid to have repaired was completely bent all the way into the back of my tire spokes. After having to walk my bike back home almost 1 1/2 miles, I put the bike back into my car and brought it back to REI. Matt, one of the bike service technicians said he had no idea how this could have happened and tried blaming it on my riding off road or to rough. I only rode the bike less than 10 minutes and was riding on pavement. I don't know how it could be my fault that the shifter I just had paid for and repaired on the bike somehow locked up my bike chain when I shifted into another gear. This in no way was my fault. Matt wrote up another service ticket and I left the bike with them once again.

After not hearing anything for three days since I brought the bike back in to the store, I called REI on Tuesday, August 10, 2010 to ask for a status on the repairs. The guy I spoke with was the same guy that my roommate and I had a bad experience with the first time we picked up my bike. The guys name is Bob. Again Bob was rude and claimed it to be my fault the bike had been messed up. Bob said over and over "both Matt and I rode the bike before you picked it up and it worked just fine."

I asked him if he was trying to imply that it was my fault the part they just replaced somehow created a reaction and caused my pedal to lock up and my bike chain to break in two, all this not even ten minutes after riding the bike for the first time. Bob said "I am not going to argue with you about this, and again said "the bike worked fine when you brought it out of our store," then he said "we have ordered the part for your bike it should be here in a day or two and we will fix your bike then. " You can imagine after waiting already a week and a half to get my bike the first time around, I was just a little upset not only with the fact this happened, but also I was more upset because Bob and Matt had both put the blame on me and Bob could not have been more rude and unsympathetic in regards to my bike and feelings.

I received a voicemail Wednesday, August 11, 2010 from Matt in bike repairs. Matt said that the piece that was needed to fix the bike was a derailleur hanger and that they did not have this in stock and it would need to be ordered from corporate. However, due to the way I supposedly talked to Bob the day before, and after confirming this with the store manager, they were not going to repair the bike and I could come and pick the bike up any time. Matt claims that Bob claimed that I had used inappropriate language on the phone, I can tell you now, this is a complete lie and I could not have been more upset and offended after being blamed and accused of something such as this. I called Matt and explained to him that I did nothing of the sort and could not understand and believe that they were using this as there excuse for not repairing my bike from the damage that was caused due to something they had not done properly.

Matt said that the store manager was not in and that he would call me back after dealing with a customer in front of him. I never received a call back from Matt and the net day decided to call and speak with the store manager myself. I spoke with the store manager and he also blamed my being verbally abusive to Bob was the reason they are not going to repair my bike. He also said that he saw me pulling my bike out of the trunk of my car when bringing it back into the store, and that is the reason that the derailleur hanger was busted and that is the reason also that they did not feel it was their responsibility to repair.

First of all, the reason the derailleur hanger was busted and the derailleur bent back into my spokes was because after me flying off the front of the bike and the bike crashing, that was the reason why the derailleur hanger was busted and the derailleur bent back into my spokes. He claimed that he has seen this numerous times, people loading the bike into the car and breaking the hanger off the derailleur. Not once did he mention my shifting the breaks and the pedal locking up on me causing me to fly off the bike and the chain to bust in half, not once did he claim this as being a fault of something they did not repair correctly, just happens that this could be and was the reason for the derailleur hanger to bust and the derailleur to bend back into my tire spokes.

After the store manager had also put the blame on me for the reason the bike was even more messed up than before the first time I brought it in to be looked at and repaired, I was not very upset and told him that he would be hearing from a lawyer and I was going to sue them for all the trouble they had put me thru and now refusing to even repair the bike at all. I then did some research and came across the number for the corporate headquarters office in Kent, WA.

I called and shortly explained to the women who answered what it was I was calling for. I was forwarded to the legal department of REI and left a voicemail on the gentlemen's phone explaining my situation and how to handle something like this. I was then contacted a couple hours later from someone who is in charge of resolving disputes and was told that this was the step that they take before anything would need to be taken to a court of law. I explained to this guy my situation and he also has not been of any help to getting my bike back in a ride able and tip top shape.

First the guy told me that he would contact me the next day which would have been Friday, August 13, 2010 after he had spoke with the store manager to find out what was going on and to see if he could possibly come to some conclusion. He did say that the store manager had every right to refuse service to anyone and that he could not guarantee that he would be able to get them to agree in fixing my bike and taking responsibility for the damages that they caused. After explaining to him how this has been a complete nightmare, and because of this I missed the chance of being able to go on a bike trail tour with a group of friends over the weekend, he changed from calling me back the next day to calling me back after the weekend on Monday, August 16, 2010. I thanked him for his help and said I would be looking forward to his call on Monday. It is now early morning Friday, August 20, 2010, one week and I have yet to get a call back from this gentlemen.

I don't know what else to do and to be honest, this entire experience has made me almost not even want the bike back at all, because the people at REI have made this a horrible experience and made me wonder if this bike was even worth all of this trouble. All I wanted was a bike I could go riding on the trails with me and my dogs and be able to go on weekend bike rides with my friends on occasion. Well, at this point I cannot even see through the nightmare this has been, and the excitement of getting my new bike I waited so long to find has been washed away because of the experience I have had with REI. I tore up my elbows and knees as well as my stomach from flying forward off of the bike after my pedal got stuck on me, this was all due from switching gears on the bike, the same gears that REI had just repaired.