Favorite place to buy gear?

Stich wrote: Wilderness Exchange They have new and consignment gear. You can't beat it. Nice store, too.

I'll second that!! AWESOME store!

I think there is a scale of dick-movishness.

On one end is having a sales person help you select and try on shoes, then ordering them off cheapoplanet.megintertoobs.org. On the other is stopping by to check out the color in real life of that jacket you're about to buy off chepoplanet.net.

Although the latter is obviously about 10x less lame, both are still decidedly lame.

Personally, for me it's not about supporting local business for its own sake. Rather, at a store I get the service of helpful staff, trying on different sizes, etc., as well as the service of not having to wait for shipping. When I need those services, I pay for them. When I don't, I don't.

I am pretty sure Bent Gate matches prices, even online. If you find a deal, go in there and talk to them. I got 20% off cams once because Mountaingear was having a sale.

Wildyx does not match online prices, but i think if you find a deal at REI, the would work with you.

Everyone just remember, you need the local shops, if you don't ever buy from them and you only go in to check out what you should buy online... Eventually that store will go out of business, and then you won't have a place to look at the gear you want to buy online, its a catch 22.

At least make a balance of it, my 2 cents

Stephen

It can be tough to justify spending the extra 10-20% to buy local sometimes, even though you know it's the right thing to do. That being said I am an ardent believer in supporting the local economy when and where possible. It's a form of self-tax.

In Boulder, trying to buy climbing gear this is tough, reason being is that Neptune employees are, as a rule, snobbish, self-righteous and unwilling to help you if you don't appear on the cover of one of their overpriced guidebooks. I really wanted to love that store, and of course there are friendly folks who work there, but I've been patently ignored whence showing up in my work clothes (buttondown/slacks) to try on helmets, after witnessing a fatal head injury (ended up purchasing online after trying on in the store as the employees ignored my requests for help), and in probably 4/5 of the times I've moseyed in there.

I wish Gary would get some kind of attitude adjustment enacted amongst his staff, I'd be willing to spend the extra dosh to keep the money local, but not to be ignored or stereotyped by the staff.

This neptune place is gettting pwned in the webz. Hope owner dude is paying attencion.

Ellenor Stone wrote:Maybe Neptune's staff can have one of those team building group rock climbing outings

Ha, yeah, they could benefit from some trust falls and ice-breakers.

Seriously, not trying to pick on Neptune, but I do hope management from that store realizes they have a reputation for being surly and it turns patrons off. For me to even notice the surliness after drinking XXX pitchers at The Sun next-door means it's damn surly.

For those displeased with Neptune Mountaineering, we’d like to extend our apologies for your less than desirable experience. Although we’ve been giving you Nep’tude since 1973, we’re working harder on providing you the best customer service in our store and there’s not much we can do to remedy your situation via this forum. Next time, if there is a next time, you’re in the shop and have a poor experience with one of our staff, please get their name and feel free to email us HERE to explain your issue. We appreciate your feedback. Please know that we have measures in place to do a better job at making you feel comfortable and cared for in our store.

Get on steep and cheap QUICK!

5.10 hornet shoes going for 75 bucks but you only have 12 minutes left!

NOT REI.

Neptune has some amazing deals when they have sales, I never got bad vibes from that store. Maybe not being from Boulder helps...

Coming from back East, I'm a huge devotee of Rock and Snow in the Gunks. Rich and his staff are super friendly and helpful and will spend hours with you playing with gear, even if you don't buy it. They also match any online retailers' prices - give them a call if you don't see your gear on their website. They also have a cam club card, if you're building a rack (buy certain amount get one free) and their Brass Club gives you a gift cert every year. Better than the REI or Moosejaw dividends, as I could actually spend it on something useful.

BENT GATE......PERIOD. I started climbing last november and I have purchased every single piece of gear from bent gate. The staff is awesome, extremely knowledgeable, very friendly, always helpful. In fact they know me by name now, and greet me whenever i come in looking for new gear. They well match prices, even online sites prices. I don't think i have ever paid full price on any gear from them. Im not talking a few draws either:
Full set of BD C4s up to 4
Full set metolius tcus 00-5 (red)
14 bd wire gate draws
2 edelweiss axis ropes 1, and 2 .... 2 edelweiss helium twin ropes
Full set of bd stoppers 1-13
Full set camp tricams .125 (white )- 7 gold
Oversized rocks 9-14
Mini trax
Petzl mocrscender
La sportiva muira, and tc pro
Dmm offsets, and peanuts
Tons of biners
Bd harness, metolius harness
And more shwag too much to list..

I think on average I got any where from 15-30% off or they matched the online price.

Go in, make friends, get deals and maybe new clmbing buddies. Oh the owners of bent gate also own the golden bike shop.... Same awesome customer service.

Ellenor Stone wrote:Tara speak like a human please

Hey now Ellenor, let's not forget the Mountain Project forum Guideline #1: don't be a jerk :)

The Golden Rule.

I hate to say it Tara, but maybe neptudes should adapt that policy..... Thats why i dont.shop there..... Bent Gate all the way! I showed the owners of bent gate this thread.....and they gave me a free tee shirt.... Rock on!

BameR wrote:I hate to say it Tara, but maybe neptudes should adapt that policy..... Thats why i dont.shop there..... Bent Gate all the way! I showed the owners of bent gate this thread.....and they gave me a free tee shirt.... Rock on!

We're doing our best :) One customer at a time... Nice work on the free t-shirt! Looks like you're in Golden anyway, so we'll encourage you to shop there and save on gas.

Tara W wrote:Although we’ve been giving you Nep’tude since 1973,

Sounds like the Nep'tude is the problem... seriously though, props to the store for showing its face on here.

And if you think elenor is being a jerk... Welcome to mountainproject. BTW cn I have a free tee-shirt?

In Neptune's defense, I've actually noticed that recently the sales staff are definitely more friendly. I just wish there was more of a monetary incentive to shop there. I don't think they can really compete with REI or Moosejaw in that respect.

Personally, I've never had a problem with Neptune's staff as far us unfriendliness and/or rudeness goes but they definitely do not provide the finest customer service i've ever seen. That is to say, they've never been so rude as to deter me away but they could be a bit nicer and show more interest in the customer's needs without the customer having to milk it out of them. They are also far more knowledgable on climbing in mountaineering in the Front Range than say REI. I will continue to shop at both for different reasons and different gear.
There's some constructive feedback Tara...hope it's useful.

I work at Neptune Mountaineering because it has always been my favorite place to shop. The world of climbing has literally passed through the doors of this shop. I work there because I want to keep the spirit of climbing alive. You know? Adventure, risk, freedom, self-reliance, absurdity, personality, etc. Climbing tends to attract some fringe people because of its unique ethos. It is almost certainly the case that you can find humble and rude people in any store. Certainly the case one can find both good and bad experiences anywhere you look for them. In the end it is up to you to decide how to respond and treat such situations, be it constructively or destructively. Please consider this and come into our shop with an open attitude. Let me (and Tara, and Sarah) prove you wrong and do everything I can to get you psyched on climbing. Everyone I know involved with Neptune Mountaineering, right now, rocks. Period!

Heck I ordered some of my first cams from Neptune last year - extra 20% off on all gear for cinco de mayo - scored some tech friends for crazy cheap. A couple were sold out and they couldn't fill two doubles I wanted - they gave me another 20% off on the corresponding single. My only experience with them was stellar.