Let's share warranty experiences

Patagonia: 8/10

Is the king falling from his throne? Perhaps not yet.
I had an R1 pullover that is admittingly quite seasoned. The stretch fabric made it impossible to repair the numerous holes in the hood, arms, and torso, so the employee at the outlet in SLC said she was able to order me a new one. However, she did mention that this was a courtesy. Apparently Patagonia is seeing the same issues REI had where people buy something, absolutely abuse it, then return it just to do the same exact thing again and again. Staff said the "ironclad guarantee" is going to get stricter in the future, with staff being able to deny warranty if something is caused by wear and tear or if the customer got the expected value from the product. I hope they still continue to repair clothes for free regardless of the reason for damage! Ultimately that's the most sustainable option.

As a side note, the pullover R1 I received in exchange feels like it's no longer made for climbers or outdoors people. The belly of my old R1 was extremely stretchy (but not durable) so it stayed in place when I lifted my arms. This one feels like a normal pullover you would wear to hang around the campfire.

Adam Flemingwrote:

Patagonia: 8/10

Is the king falling from his throne? Perhaps not yet.
I had an R1 pullover that is admittingly quite seasoned. The stretch fabric made it impossible to repair the numerous holes in the hood, arms, and torso, so the employee at the outlet in SLC said she was able to order me a new one. However, she did mention that this was a courtesy. Apparently Patagonia is seeing the same issues REI had where people buy something, absolutely abuse it, then return it just to do the same exact thing again and again. Staff said the "ironclad guarantee" is going to get stricter in the future, with staff being able to deny warranty if something is caused by wear and tear or if the customer got the expected value from the product. I hope they still continue to repair clothes for free regardless of the reason for damage! Ultimately that's the most sustainable option.

As a side note, the pullover R1 I received in exchange feels like it's no longer made for climbers or outdoors people. The belly of my old R1 was extremely stretchy (but not durable) so it stayed in place when I lifted my arms. This one feels like a normal pullover you would wear to hang around the campfire.

That's unfortunate to hear. I was starting to feel bad about sending things back (knowing they were unrepairable) so I asked about it the last time I set up a warranty return. I was told it was totally fine and they'd tell me if they felt like I was ever abusing their policy. I'm on my third pairs of work pants and shorts now, and love them for the durability and the warranty (not the fit), they last at least twice as long as Carhartts. But I only pay that kind of price for work clothing because I know I'll get a new pair once mine are unrepairable. If they end up going the way of REI, I'll have no reason to buy from them as their clothes don't seem to be made for tall slender folks like myself, and I imagine there are plenty of people with my same mindset. 

I'm currently in the midst of having a 9/10 experience with Arcteryx, seems like they might be trying to return their warranty process to the consistent and robust policy it used to be. My 6 year old Atom's zipper broke and it's currently in their hands getting repaired for free. The process was super simple and they gave me choices of zipper colours for the replacement which is cool. They also gave the whole jacket a look over and found a small tear on the inside of one of the sleeves. I was offered a whole panel repair for $60 which I declined (a square inch of tenacious tape will fix it just fine). Cool that they advise the most robust repair method, but it felt a little impersonal to be suggested to pay $60 for a tiny hole repair.

Julbo USA 10/10

I’ve been a user of Julbo sunglasses for around 30 years. I recently had a problem with the lens on some new glasses. A quick conversation and a simple email form had replacements sent without hesitation. I highly recommend Julbo for performance sunglasses. They stand behind their products. 

Climbing Technology (CT) from Italy.  0/10

I really like the Wall harness, but gear loops pulled out of their stitching on one side after a few months.  I emailed CT twice about it with photos & got no response at all, despite their claim that they have a 3 yr warranty.  Luckily I have an industrial sewing machine so I just fixed it.

Patagonia 8/10

I was gifted a pair of the 2020 Alpine Simul pants. The glue on the pocket came delaminated when I washed them according to the tag. The pants were basically brand new other than 1 minor skuff on the leg. I sent them in for return and they tried giving me a $75 credit, which was the lowest sales price of that item before they were discontinued. This wasn't enough to replace them with a worn wear version of the same item. I talked with their chat and 4 different agents for an hour and got them to agree to price match the Terravia pants to the credit amount (the closest comp in the catalog).

I got what I wanted and expected out of Patagonia's warranty but I had to fight for it and Patagonia did not make the amount they were going to try comp me apparent before I sent the item in. Still better than most in the business and they did the right thing at the end of the day. 

5.10+/10 Outdoor Research

My Puffy jacket that’s several years old failed on the zipper pocket and the main zipper was starting to have a little pitch like it was in danger of failure. OR replaced it no questions asked online. Sent in photos through the form, at first they offered me a way more expensive jacket, which I declined in favor of replacing my existing puffy with the same one of a different color. They actually offer a size and color swap which is awesome. I will keep buying OR for a long time.