REI trying to bully Vista Outdoors (aka Savage Arms)

[D.B. Cooper]

I spent alot of money at REI in the past ten years or so. Now, with this new development, I've requested my yearly member dividend ($200+) as a check this year and let them know they're not getting another penny from me.

I didn't know you could do that. How did you get that done?

 

[Wisco]

I didn't know you could do that. How did you get that done?

I’ll find the link later if you need it. I found it under the info about my dividend.

https://www.rei.com/membership/dividend

 

[Mauser lover]

On that note, however, I have a significant "dividend" this year. (Co-op members get about 10% of the value of their annual purchases back in store credit every year in March) So I'm kind of stuck at the moment. Do I throw-away that "free" money (it's really jut a rebate) that will only benefit REI in an effort to protest their activism (an effort that will go unnoticed by the company), or do I just use up that rebate (I'm in need of a new down ultralight sleeping bag) and then began my boycott?

If you can't get it as a check and then rub their collective noses in it with notification of a GOA/NRA contribution, I would say that you need to use it! If you don't use it, you are GIVING them your dividend. That's bad too. I have far left (WAY far left) family (won't shop at Walmart because they sell guns/ammo, etc.) who often give Target gift cards. I despise Target for their politics, but if I just leave the gift card in my wallet/drawer/pile of gift cards, I just gave the retailer of despicability the whole value of the card as profit! If I use it, at least they only got a smaller percentage of that value as a profit. I just make sure to not go above the card amount, so they don't get MORE money. Plus I try to get something that goes as far as I can back toward my line of thinking (big knives, Bell bicycle gear, etc.)

 

[hso]

You can sell gift cards and spite both.

 

[milemaker13]

On that note, however, I have a significant "dividend" this year. (Co-op members get about 10% of the value of their annual purchases back in store credit every year in March) So I'm kind of stuck at the moment. Do I throw-away that "free" money (it's really jut a rebate) that will only benefit REI in an effort to protest their activism (an effort that will go unnoticed by the company), or do I just use up that rebate (I'm in need of a new down ultralight sleeping bag) and then began my boycott?

(On a side note. Alaska is a Constitutional carry state that allows open carry. Although I never carry or concealed carry in town, I'm tempted to open carry my Redhawk in if I decide to spend my dividend - even though I've always considered those kinds of protests to be somewhat juvenile.)

You can do as wisco suggested and request your dividend as a check. It is not store credit, it is real money.

 

[coloradokevin]

Two things, and I saw at least one suggested here already:

1) You can get cash for your dividend if you wait. I have a $60 dividend that I'll be requesting cash for.

2) This is a tactic some may approve of, and others may disapprove of. But, regardless, it has come to my attention that a lot of gun owners are now taking advantage of REI's unconditional 1-year money back guarantee. Basically, they're returning everything they bought in the last year for a cash refund, then they're calling REI corporate to tell them why they returned what they returned. Three of my coworkers have done this already. I don't think I'm going to do that, but it's something to think about.

 

[coloradokevin]

Also, here is the text of an e-mail I just sent to REI. I will be snail-mailing something similar this week. Remember, we're in an echo chamber here, with like-minded enthusiasts. We need to actually contact those who oppose our views to remind them that we're important:

"Hello,

My name is Kevin XXXX, and my member Co-op # is XXX (you're welcome to look up my purchase history if you'd like).

I'm writing to you to explain why I'll no longer be shopping at REI stores, and why I'll be requesting my dividend as a cash payment for the first time this year.

First, I'm a very active person, and the kind of guy who frequents your stores regularly: I ski, hike, backpack, camp, mountain bike, climb, fly airplanes, hunt, fish, and work as a full-time career law enforcement officer. I have always loved REI stores, and enjoyed the gear you sell that lets me enjoy the activities I just described. However, I’m extremely disappointed by REI's decision to jump into a political debate about guns, rather than remaining neutral on this topic. Your decision is particularly troubling to me, since you’re a retailer that doesn't sell guns. I didn’t expect REI to take a stance either way on this issue, and you’ve now taken a stance that I vehemently disagree with.

Honestly, I don't go to REI to think about politics, I go to REI to think about the outdoors. I don’t spend money at REI so that you can use the influence of my dollars to push an agenda I don’t agree with. In today's world there are dozens of other retailers who sell the same equipment that you do, and I'm not going to spend my hard-earned money in REI stores when you're taking a very public and very pointless political stand on something that I don't agree with (and in doing so also eliminating products I like).

Though I'm sure my e-mail will fall on deaf ears, I just thought you should know that some of your members believe in our 2nd Amendment rights, and don't appreciate the stores we frequent jumping boldly and unnecessarily into this debate.

I don't say this as a "gun nut", either. I say this as a career police officer, a POST certified firearms instructor, a competitive shooter, a person who is very active in my community, and as an American citizen. Fortunately, Backcountry.com, Moosejaw.com, and my two other local mountaineering stores have wisely avoided jumping into a political debate that shouldn’t concern their corporate interests.

If you guys ever change your mind, I'll be back! In the mean time, I just wanted you to know why I’m gone.

Respectfully,

Kevin XXXX "

 

[coloradokevin]

UPDATE:

I received the following response from REI in the time since I sent my message. While I'm sure my message alone means very little, the response made it pretty clear that REI at least read enough of my letter to understand what I'm complaining about:

QUOTE:

"Hi Kevin,

Thank you for contacting REI regarding requesting a dividend check.

I have marked your account with the request.

The dividend check will be sent out the first week of July to your billing address.

Your feedback regarding Vista Outdoors has been forwarded to the appropriate department.

Regards,

Wendy W. membership services specialist
1700 45th St E, Sumner, WA 98352 | p 1.800.426.4840 |"



I strongly encourage all of you who have REI memberships to make an effort to contact the company ASAP!

 

[hso]

Well done! Returning gear, cashing your dividend, and making sure they know why are great ways members can express their disapproval of this politically moti

 

[Hokie_PhD]

UPDATE:

I received the following response from REI in the time since I sent my message. While I'm sure my message alone means very little, the response made it pretty clear that REI at least read enough of my letter to understand what I'm complaining about:

QUOTE:

"Hi Kevin,

Thank you for contacting REI regarding requesting a dividend check.

I have marked your account with the request.

The dividend check will be sent out the first week of July to your billing address.

Your feedback regarding Vista Outdoors has been forwarded to the appropriate department.

Regards,

Wendy W. membership services specialist
1700 45th St E, Sumner, WA 98352 | p 1.800.426.4840 |"



I strongly encourage all of you who have REI memberships to make an effort to contact the company ASAP!

I love your letter. Well written, to the point and a great example of making a point with class and dignity.

Boo his on their canned response. It seems like they’re cutting and pasting this as a pat response. That would indicate that they’re getting a lot of people contacting them.

I’m a little embarrassed to say I haven’t contacted them. As a member since the 1990s, I was annoyed when I saw the news of this, but I wasn’t surprised.

Anyway, I’m waiting to see what impact efforts have and how things play out.

 

[coloradokevin]

I love your letter. Well written, to the point and a great example of making a point with class and dignity.

Boo his on their canned response. It seems like they’re cutting and pasting this as a pat response. That would indicate that they’re getting a lot of people contacting them.

I’m a little embarrassed to say I haven’t contacted them. As a member since the 1990s, I was annoyed when I saw the news of this, but I wasn’t surprised.

Anyway, I’m waiting to see what impact efforts have and how things play out.

Yeah, the response did seem a bit canned, but it was actually more than I expected. I noted two things in particular:

1) They read enough for comprehension that they caught that I was requesting a cash dividend check.

2) They noted that I was writing to complain about their gun control stance.

In some ways that's really all you can ask for. Hopefully they inundated with similar messages, so that they can remember that not everyone who shops at their stores is some anti-gun, tofu-eating, hipster (no offense if you're into the latest fashion trends or enjoy tofu).

It's actually pretty easy to send them a message off of their site, and even a short "I disapprove" kind of message would probably help!

 

[Blkhrt13]

I haven’t spent any money with them. I won’t now for sure.

 

[hso]

Expect a canned response.

Alert every other REI member that you can of the opportunity to express our displeasure and inform them of the return and dividend opportunity as well.

 

[joe54]

I received a canned response to my letter as well. Thanks for the heads up regarding the ability to receive dividend monies in cash. I'll be going up to my local store this week to do just that.

 

[coloradokevin]

I received a canned response to my letter as well. Thanks for the heads up regarding the ability to receive dividend monies in cash. I'll be going up to my local store this week to do just that.

I don't think they'll issue dividends as cash until at least July, or something like that. Either way, keep encouraging your fellow gun owners to do the same thing on this one: write and request cash for their dividend payment! REI needs to feel the financial pinch, and understand why they're feeling it.

 

[old lady new shooter]

Also, here is the text of an e-mail I just sent to REI. I will be snail-mailing something similar this week. Remember, we're in an echo chamber here, with like-minded enthusiasts. We need to actually contact those who oppose our views to remind them that we're important:

"Hello,

My name is Kevin XXXX, and my member Co-op # is XXX (you're welcome to look up my purchase history if you'd like).

I'm writing to you to explain why I'll no longer be shopping at REI stores, and why I'll be requesting my dividend as a cash payment for the first time this year.

First, I'm a very active person, and the kind of guy who frequents your stores regularly: I ski, hike, backpack, camp, mountain bike, climb, fly airplanes, hunt, fish, and work as a full-time career law enforcement officer. I have always loved REI stores, and enjoyed the gear you sell that lets me enjoy the activities I just described. However, I’m extremely disappointed by REI's decision to jump into a political debate about guns, rather than remaining neutral on this topic. Your decision is particularly troubling to me, since you’re a retailer that doesn't sell guns. I didn’t expect REI to take a stance either way on this issue, and you’ve now taken a stance that I vehemently disagree with.

Honestly, I don't go to REI to think about politics, I go to REI to think about the outdoors. I don’t spend money at REI so that you can use the influence of my dollars to push an agenda I don’t agree with. In today's world there are dozens of other retailers who sell the same equipment that you do, and I'm not going to spend my hard-earned money in REI stores when you're taking a very public and very pointless political stand on something that I don't agree with (and in doing so also eliminating products I like).

Though I'm sure my e-mail will fall on deaf ears, I just thought you should know that some of your members believe in our 2nd Amendment rights, and don't appreciate the stores we frequent jumping boldly and unnecessarily into this debate.

I don't say this as a "gun nut", either. I say this as a career police officer, a POST certified firearms instructor, a competitive shooter, a person who is very active in my community, and as an American citizen. Fortunately, Backcountry.com, Moosejaw.com, and my two other local mountaineering stores have wisely avoided jumping into a political debate that shouldn’t concern their corporate interests.

If you guys ever change your mind, I'll be back! In the mean time, I just wanted you to know why I’m gone.

Respectfully,

Kevin XXXX "

Outstanding.

 

[DannyLandrum]

They're about to open their 1st store in this area, any day now. I've written them numerous time and told them why I won't be spending a dime there, but am looking forward to going in and wasting their salespeople's time and handling all the merchandise, mucking it up, to figure out what I want. They have not responded. They are *extraordinarily* anti-gun lunatics.

 

[D.B. Cooper]

They're about to open their 1st store in this area, any day now. I've written them numerous time and told them why I won't be spending a dime there, but am looking forward to going in and wasting their salespeople's time and handling all the merchandise, mucking it up, to figure out what I want. They have not responded. They are *extraordinarily* anti-gun lunatics.

Oh they responded to me LOL. With a canned form letter. They claim they did what they did because Vita would not "have a discussion" about guns. (Or words to that effect.)

I don't believe a boycott will have an effect, and if it did, I don't believe that REI would care. (Dick's doesn't seem to care about the negative effect the boycott had on them.) In my view, this is just a deepening and broadening of the political divide in our country. Not only do we have separate political parties, news/tv stations, churches, etc., but now we have different retail stores ad restaurants. (REI & Target for the left, Cabela's for the right. - Wal Mart has thus far stayed out of it. For now.) It's getting really ridiculous.

 

[DannyLandrum]

You are sorely mistaken, I think. Dicks just had its worst sales quarter ever, thanks to those who boycotted. We can and must make them feel the pain . I emphasized in my correspondence with them the (true) facts that I'm a hiker, kayaker, and biker, too.

 

[D.B. Cooper]

You are sorely mistaken, I think. Dicks just had its worst sales quarter ever, thanks to those who boycotted. We can and must make them feel the pain . I emphasized in my correspondence with them the (true) facts that I'm a hiker, kayaker, and biker, too.

I didn't make myself clear. I apologize. When I said "...has no effect..." I meant on the corporation's behavior. Yeah the Dick's boycott has been phenomenally effective on hurting their bottom line, but the corporation doesn't seem to care. It hasn't changed their behavior. I'm fairly certain the same will be true of REI. More so because it's a co-op and this move is supported by a vast majority of the co-op members (i.e. "owners"). In fact, i I recall correctly, I believe most, if not all, of the members of the board of directors were reelected shortly after this happened.

 

[RA40]

They sent an email to me stating that they haven't seen me in a while and some blah-blah. Filled out the survey and noted to them why I'd ceased shopping at their stores, will continue to avoid them. I did like the various outdoor clothing selection. Sad because there is a shrinking of outdoor-active stores other than these huge corporate chains like Dicks.

 

[cheygriz]

Stupid question. Who is REI???

BTW, I am boycotting Mall-Wart and Dick's.

 

[LiveLife]

Who is REI?

https://www.rei.com/map/store

Growing up in the 70s-80s in California, they were the premier outdoors/sporting goods store that carried higher end stuff and other specialty items (I did quite a bit of backpacking and rock climbing in my 20s).

With advent of online shopping, there's less and less reason to shop at REI and I get most of my stuff online these days.

BTW, I am boycotting Mall-Wart

Consider this.

I support USA manufacturing and buy "Made in USA" whenever possible. Over the years I have been monitoring sporting goods at Walmart and from less than 15% "Made in USA" a decade ago, now sporting goods department carries well over 35% "Made in USA" (actual percentage varies due to different store inventory). I am seeing more and more "Made in USA" labels throughout the store too.

 

[D.B. Cooper]

Stupid question. Who is REI???

BTW, I am boycotting Mall-Wart and Dick's.

Recreational Equipment Inc. They cater to the lightweight backpacking/through-hiking crowd as well as kayakers and mountain bikers. Their business model is that of a co-operative where customers are joint owners of the company through their membership, very similar to that of a credit union.

 

[cheygriz]

Thanks, DB. sounds like a great place to boycott.