Is Neptune Mountaineering going out of business?

I'd just like to add that I really like Neptune. I have spent a lot of time and money in there and have yet to EVER have a bad experience. Employees are knowledgeable and friendly. It's certainly a bummer to learn that they are struggling, but I'm glad they are still in business! Retail is a tough gig.

Go to Bent Gate. 'Nuff said.

+1 for Bentgate. Fully supportive of buying locally and at full price when appropriate. In general the outdoor industry is f'd given everyone's always looking for a discount. That said, I generally steer clear of Neptune. Every retail experience has been sub par.

Also, check out Powder7 in golden for ski equipment. Top notch!

Neptune and Bent Gate are both great shops, not sure why folks are stating differently. Have I ever run into any neptude? Sure...like a decade ago. But I also remember experiences like the one where I spent 3+ hours working on fitting one of my first pairs of ice boots. The guy helping me was nothing short of helpful and generous with his time (and I was a young no-nothing back then...maybe still?) And who doesn't like talking shop with Malcolm or Dan Hare about gear? Are they perhaps having a few stock issues right now? Sure, but that's because running a brick and mortar store these days is non-trivial. People should use this thread as a reminder that, sale price or not, supporting your local shop has many long term benefits. Believe you me, when you live in a town without a good climbing shop (e.g. anywhere in N. CA), then you will know how crappy it is to have to order everything online and hope that the size is right. Being able to personally examine gear before you buy it is a huge benefit to the customer IMHO, and people should take this into account when considering the "price" of the gear they buy.

misty murphy wrote:I want to let the public know that Neptune is unfortunately not a reputable outfit. I was really excited to get Neptune Mountaineering on board selling my self published guidebook for the greater Southern Utah, Arizona Strip and Mesquite Nevada areas for limestone climbing. It is a beautiful book and being self published it truly is a labor of love. I extended credit to all climbing stores around the country and abroad. Every single outfit has paid me in full. Except for one: Neptune. Of course I would love to be paid (since they re-ordered twice and I extended more credit) but I also would like you as climbers, who spend your hard earned, dirt bag money, on gear, to do what you love, to be aware that this outfit is not worthy of your support. Take your business elsewhere. PLEASE do not buy my book at Neptune. Go to limestonebible.com and send me a message and I will give you a 20% discount to not buy it from dishonest people. Thanks. Support local! Misty Murphy

That being said, that is your experience.
And it sounds like you may have had a bad one.

But my experience with Guidebooks and Neptune's was very different and very positive. To the extent that for a charity-purposed book ( neptunemountaineering.com/p…), they were willing to carry them at no cost/profit and even pay in advance on stock, as well as help cover the cost of printing the book. And I feel that some recognition is due for that. The are not hardly the devil. They are not even Killis.

Perhaps new ownership has glitches that are tougher for your situation.
I wish you luck in resolving it.

BTW- Neptune Mt'ing has been a kind and consistent supporter of the Access Fund's LCO, the BCC.

Neptune is and has been a great store. Their inventory and diversity far exceeds what you can get at the other stores. The staff are often very experienced climbers and skiers. In an honest moment sometimes that is threating. I like to think I know exactly what I want and I am an expert, but why not ask questions? I feel like us climber/skiers have fairly large egos and sometimes those egos bruise easy.

In my opinion it is important to support local now more than ever in Colorado. The general belief is that our economy is rock solid, judging by our ridiculous real estate market. But I do not think it is a direct crossover. In my industry(Mechanical engineering and contracting) Competition is fierce and profit margins are smaller than they ever use to be.

I wish all the local business the best and will to continue to support them as much as I can, even if that means I pay an extra 20% than what I could online.

trailridge wrote:In my opinion it is important to support local now more than ever in Colorado.

With respect to climbing shops, I'd suggest it's important nationwide.

What's especially lame is when people say they want the individualized service, knowledgeable staff, ability to try on/try out stuff, and so on. Then after taking up a shop's time and semi-monopolizing an employee trying on a dozen different climbing shoes, go home and order the one they like from REI/Backcountry/et al because they can get it for 12% less.
Even worse is their complaining when their local climbing shop goes out of business.

The same thing happens with bike and ski shops as well.
Support your local climbing store.

BTW, everyone realizes that CompetitiveCyclist.com, MotoSport.com, Bergfreunde.de, SteepandCheap.com, and WhiskeyMilitia.com are all Backcountry.com, yes?

Yes Marc, they are not shy about it.

Wow, who pissed in your Wheaties this morning? Must have been someone from Neptune.

Order of operations:

Wilderness X -> REI (sweet sweet return policy) -> Neptune -> Bent Gate.

If I lived in Boulder, Neptune and Wildy would switch places. I've had good customer service at *all* of them.

So what's the word Misty? Did Dan contact you first thing this morning to resolve the issue as promised??

Hunter McPherson wrote:So what's the word Misty? Did Dan contact you first thing this morning to resolve the issue as promised??

Just to keep things from getting too out of hand...
Dan promised to look into the matter, not necessarily contact Misty, first thing this morning:

"Honestly, Misty, I don't know your situation but I promise you 100% we'll dig into it first thing tomorrow."

Thanks Marc801 for that. Just to be clear, I don't pay the bills or write the checks. I manage our staff at Neptune Mountaineering in Boulder. Accounts payable comes from Backwoods.

I did not contact Misty first thing this morning, as again, I don't pay the bills. However, I did contact Backwoods CEO Jen Mull first thing this morning - last night in fact - and indeed payment is on the way to Misty. I do not know if Misty and Jen communicated today.

One thing Jen told me was that today was the first she heard about it. That doesn't mean that Misty didn't try and communicate with Backwoods earlier. I don't know the lines of communication and how that all worked out. One thing I do know though - Jen was not trying to be "dishonest" or "dishonorable" with Misty. I've known Jen for some time now - she genuinely did not know about that bill until today.

I do know payment is imminent, and if a check wasn't sent to Misty today, it will be in the next few days.

Dan Vardamis
dvardamis@neptunemountaineering.com
303-499-8866

Sorry for the inaccurate quotation. I simply meant to ask Misty directly whether or not the issue was resolved (Before I get crucified, I realize no one promised for this to be resolved in one day)

Dan, it's well and good that the CEO got involved but something as simple as paying a climber for her invoice should not have to go that far up the chain. I have no problem with Misty using social media to leverage getting paid.

nomadwolf360 wrote:Thanks Marc801 for that. Just to be clear, I don't pay the bills or write the checks. I manage our staff at Neptune Mountaineering in Boulder. Accounts payable comes from Backwoods. I did not contact Misty first thing this morning, as again, I don't pay the bills. However, I did contact Backwoods CEO Jen Mull first thing this morning - last night in fact - and indeed payment is on the way to Misty. I do not know if Misty and Jen communicated today. One thing Jen told me was that today was the first she heard about it. That doesn't mean that Misty didn't try and communicate with Backwoods earlier. I don't know the lines of communication and how that all worked out. One thing I do know though - Jen was not trying to be "dishonest" or "dishonorable" with Misty. I've known Jen for some time now - she genuinely did not know about that bill until today. I do know payment is imminent, and if a check wasn't sent to Misty today, it will be in the next few days. Dan Vardamis dvardamis@neptunemountaineering.com 303-499-8866

There are unfortunately two problems in how all of this played out:
1) that it got to this point
2) that the rather nasty approach taken publicly, which could have been a lot less nasty, but equally public, has been rewarded.

Hopefully the lesson learned on each side can be made into something possible.

Tony B wrote: There are unfortunately two problems in how all of this played out: 1) that it got to this point 2) that the rather nasty approach taken publicly, which could have been a lot less nasty, but equally public, has been rewarded. Hopefully the lesson learned on each side can be made into something possible.

I thought Misty's response was reasonable. What is the proper etiquette? Sit around and wait for the company to stop ignoring requests?

Jesse Toedtman wrote: I thought Misty's response was reasonable. What is the proper etiquette? Sit around and wait for the company to stop ignoring requests?

John Tex wrote:Yeah I wouldn't describe Misty's approach as nasty at all.

You are welcome to that take on it and maybe I am the outlier, but calling them out for a specific action is one thing, and the other is attributing that to specific things:

"I want to let the public know that Neptune is unfortunately not a reputable outfit."
I think she might have meant that she had a negative experience and that she interpreted this as them being disreputable. Their reputation, however, would be based on events over time, not upon her dictation.

"...this outfit is not worthy of your support. Take your business elsewhere."
Based on her experience that's her opinion. And this is an attempt to inflict pain/damage on the business. As for the 'not worthy' well, that's not a statement of fact, it's a projection from her personal experience.

"I will give you a 20% discount to not buy it from dishonest people."
I can understand the desire for vindication, and even moreso, the desire to increase her own profits. But precisely who is dishonest the home office, the people at the counter? That's cynical, regardless. It's an attribution backed up by one data point (presuming the data is 100% accurate, and I have no reason to believe it is not)... But 'dishonest' seems both a less charitable and less likely explanation for the problem reported than some other possibilities involving books not in order.

I do hope that Misty is paid appropriately now and in the future more promptly for any books she's owed for.

I think turning a problem into a personal attack with motivational attributions like that was unnecessary in this case. I think one can be tried on the facts without so much coloration when it is a matter of business and not personal.

Perhaps having a historic view on Neptune's participation in the community and support of the non-profits colors my view of them. Hardly money-grubbing hucksters there... so I would be far more charitable in my interpretation of an individual mistake they make and try to solve it less vociferously. Or at least I hope I would. Maybe I wouldn't and I'd need to be called out on that.

Good for Misty not to get cowed by a slow-pay customer. I have seen tons of small vendors get back-burnered because they have almost no recourse to collect an outstanding debt. She would have had to file suit in small claims court which is improbable.

In my line of work, companies are slow to pay other companies. It sucks, but it's part of life. Never would we consider going online and ask the public to not do business with a company that was slow to pay us. Just wouldn't do that to a customer or client. Not a pro move, and ultimately hurts your own reputation. It's not like Neptune was acting like that 123 company. And under what logic does asking the public to not do business with Neptune help Neptune create more cash flow to pay Misty sooner (assuming that's why they are late). Btw, I've never been to Neptune so I'm just an observer here.