REI

Most Recent Comments

• February 2024 by Jessica Ericksen
  I normally love REI, especially the one close to my home. As a significantly physically disabled autistic woman the outdoors are both wonderful and challenging and I have always felt supported when going into REI. In fact, it’s one of the few stores I will go into alone.The Santa Barbara REI was awful in this regard. Apparently they made the decision to remove their carts. This is a big problem for someone like myself who is limited to carrying around five pounds and was expecting carts because every single REI I have ever been in has had small carts or at least rolling baskets. The last time I was in this REI they had carts. At first I thought that the carts were just all in use but it took getting to the back of the store and talking to a store employee to find out they didn’t have any carts.Wait! They do have carts. But it took quite a bit of hemming and hawing on their part for me to find out they actually do keep some in the back. Eventually an employee did bring me one but it was made to feel like this was a special favor. This first employee did listen when I explained why this was problematic and to her credit was quite nice and willing to be educated about how this was a barrier to my accessing the store but it was really upsetting to not have this taken seriously at first. By this point I had been trying to carry some items in the bag I had brought which is still causing me pain. I appreciate the engagement of this woman I’m glad we could have a productive conversation.When I checked out, the cashier had been informed of my cart request ahead of time and kept trying to justify not having carts, why it wasn’t a big deal, telling me most stores don’t have carts anymore, and how they keep them in the back in case someone needs one BUT that they hide this fact so people won’t know they can ask for them. He kept going on about how they have baskets. I can not carry a basket in a useful capacity. I explained this in a calm manner. I don’t expect floor employees to fix policy issues but to have the issue downplayed repeatedly was hurtful and embarrassing. I’ve worked retail in the past and I know it can suck but it doesn’t take much to say “I never thought about/experienced/knew about (insert store created barrier), I’m really sorry our store has caused a problem and I will let my manager know”.I would also point out that many of their clothing displays were very close together and the cart was not able to easily navigate some of the areas. That means that if I had chosen to take my wheelchair or walker inside I would not have been able to easily independently navigate.This isn’t a review of REI but rather REI in Santa Barbara and the decisions made by management at the store both to make it inaccessible and to put no effort into even a bare minimum of training for staff. I have had lovely experiences at my local REI every time. The people there have been wonderfully supportive and helpful (which usually just means asking if I need a hand lifting something or helping me think through whether a piece of gear can meet my needs but it makes such a huge difference to be treated like that). There are a lot of accessibility barriers in the outdoors that I have to navigate. I don’t appreciate the Santa Barbara REI creating new ones.The explanation I finally received was that some carts had been stolen and that is why they didn’t want anyone to know they still had carts. I had suggested that a solution it would be helpful to put a sign up saying that if you need a cart as a disability accommodation to ask an employee but was reminded they don’t want people to know they have carts on hand for customers who need them. There are so many solutions here that don’t involve making the store inaccessible for people like me. They can put poles on the carts like many stores do. If I see a cart with a pole when I walk in the store, I immediately know I will have to call my partner to come meet me at the door to pick up merchandise but I can still walk around the store and shop by myself. Or locking cart wheels.
• January 2024 by Ana V. Thompson
  Very nice store!The team was very good helping my son find a good climbing shoes.And great selection of many outdoor items.
• December 2023 by Ana Thompson
  Very nice store!The team was very good helping my son find a good climbing shoes.And great selection of many outdoor items.
• December 2023 by Ossian Stefan Olsen
  Terrific shop with a huge selection of all things recreational. The ethos behind REI is also appealing, will be back.
• October 2023 by Emily Kaye
  The staff was incredibly helpful. I popped in to grab a new set of pedals for a bike, and the young guy working in the service dept. had the best attitude and work ethic. They were short staffed that morning due to the Santa Barbara 100 coming up that next day. He was basically working on his own, multitasking like crazy, and handling the work load like an absolute pro. I will be back for sure and will recommend this shop to others.
• October 2023 by mike smith
  Came in here for a online order and looked confused expecting a worker to help me. Instead 4 workers in front are small talking a customer that is paying for his goods. I wonder confused to the back to see if I can pick up my bike part I ordered online. They tell me to go to the front register to pick up my online ordered item. Would have been nice if the 4 workers small talking in front the one customer told me that.
• October 2023 by Matthew Dupree
  Accidentally donated my old Leatherman to the USA Transportation Security Administration. Helpful in-store folks were happy to talk me through a couple models on a display table and work out which would work with my old case and bits. Also let me know about a members sale that day. Very satisfied with the result!
• September 2023 by craig wester
  REI in general is a good store. I wouldn't say most workers are experts on their products as they claim. Yesterday, while looking at Garmin watches, the sales associate said that there is no one trained in the store to tell me the differences between the different models. They said that they dont have training on them, and it would be best to YouTube it to get the info. This was two different sales associates. Kinda silly considering that they sell $1000.00 watches and they don't know anything about them. This isn't the first time I couldn't find answers to the products I have purchased. Definetly best if you do the research first. They don't have many people that are knowledgeable on products besides shoes. Seems like that is where they get the training. Or maybe they have such a high turnover they can't train their people correctly.
• September 2023 by Paul Schwader
  Trying to check out with my purchases, the clerk started asking me to join their membership. I politely declined the first attempt, continued to decline 3 more times, then forcefully had to decline a 4th and 5th time, then was questioned why I wasn't interested, and was called disrespectful for not wanting to listen to the sales pitch. I'm not interested, I don't need to justify it to you. What's disrespectful is high-pressure sales tactics after someone has made it clear they are not interested. I don't recommend shopping here.
• August 2023 by Xuli Cao
  Terrible experience with this REI, THEY ARE NOT PET FRIENDLY.( All other REI allow dog inside )
• July 2023 by Nancy Wear
  Wonderful service and very helpful. FYI, REI is going bagless.
• July 2023 by advik mahadik
  Terrible employees. I was recently shopping at this store for sunglasses and I had couple of friends with me. We had a very unusual experience at that time. We bought a pair of shoes and trying out sunglasses and at that time we noticed there was an REI employee keeping watch on us, one of my friends brought that to my attention. We didn't pay much attention at that time. But at the checkout, the REI employee scanned our items and before we could make payment she was called aside by the same REI employee. When the she returned for checkout, she grabbed the shoe box she had already scanned and opened it to check if there was something else as well in there. When she didn't find anything else in there except for the shoes we bought, she seemed startled and just told us that she was trying to make sure both the shoes are of same size. This was totally abnormal. Apparently she was checking if we stole sunglasses or something but she didn't call that out. We felt disgusted by this behavior of the REI employees and this is not the first time this has happened. The employees at this store have tendency to keep watch on people, we know this from the past. Some employees are nice but most of them generally look at the shoppers suspiciously. I'll try and avoid this store and REI in general. Not a good company, so obviously not so good people they employ.
• June 2023 by adv m
  Terrible employees. I was recently shopping at this store for sunglasses and I had couple of friends with me. We had a very unusual experience at that time. We bought a pair of shoes and trying out sunglasses and at that time we noticed there was an REI employee keeping watch on us, one of my friends brought that to my attention. We didn't pay much attention at that time. But at the checkout, the REI employee scanned our items and before we could make payment she was called aside by the same REI employee. When the she returned for checkout, she grabbed the shoe box she had already scanned and opened it to check if there was something else as well in there. When she didn't find anything else in there except for the shoes we bought, she seemed startled and just told us that she was trying to make sure both the shoes are of same size. This was totally abnormal. Apparently she was checking if we stole sunglasses or something but she didn't call that out. We felt disgusted by this behavior of the REI employees and this is not the first time this has happened. The employees at this store have tendency to keep watch on people, we know this from the past. Some employees are nice but most of them generally look at the shoppers suspiciously. I'll try and avoid this store and REI in general. Not a good company, so obviously not so good people they employ.
• May 2023 by Valérie Lent
  The store is well organized, items are high quality. Minus one star for the length of checking out. Update: adding one starbecause in spite of the lines they try to make it quick.
• April 2023 by Ray K
  Happy REI Member. Always tons of knowledgeable staff on the floor to help with decisions and comparing various products. Great discounts throughout the year. Everything you need to live the outdoor life!