Champlain Islander

I was wondering if anyone else here has had a bad experience dealing with Cabela's new return policy. A few years back I bought a dry plus packable rain jacket and pants from Cabela. They served me well but last year I noticed that they had a pulling feel on one of the legs and when I was inspecting them recently could see the seam laminate had come unglued and was stretching across the leg inside of the inner mesh. I checked out the jacket and the same thing had happened there but since it was over the whole side I couldn't feel it. The water repellant properties are compromised and the garment now isn't comfortable to wear. My goal was to get them to agree with a replacemnt and that I could pick it up at the KC store on the way out west. They told me that even if they agreed to replace it I couldn't return the merchandise at a store. I asked for a replacement from customer service and was told that the merchandise was out of warrantee which is strange since the written policy states that Cabela’s brand clothing has a lifetime warrantee. Their version of lifetime warrantee and mine are obviously different. My view of their boasting of a lifetime warrantee is false and deceptive advertising. Just wondering if any of you have the same rain suit or what you think about the apparent change in the policy where they want the customer to be 100% satisfied. I have bought thousands of dollars worth of gear from them and my recent experience will certainly change my buying habits away from them.

2 Lunger

Your not the first guy I've heard having trouble with Cabela's lately. I'm not sure what their deal is. I've also heard that their new thing is that if you order something online and it is back ordered they will not refund your money, but only give you store credit. I think this is a crock as well. Prevents the guy who doesn't have an excess of funds from going out and getting the gear some where else.

A lifetime warranty is exactly that. How many times does a normal guy wear his rain suit in a season anyways? That's something Wal-Mart could probably make last a lifetime.

Join the club of disgruntled Cabelas customers. I hear the line is getting long.

DoctorDeath

Frank I find this very disturbing because my son and I have purchased a lot of hunting gear from Cabela's over the years, we always found them to be good to deal with BUT when something like THIS happens it really makes one think ...a "lifetime" warranty would imply to me a "lifetime" warranty from manufactor defects (obviously getting it hung on barbed wire would not be covered) unless otherwise specified ....I suppose Cabela's subscribes to the same moral ground as President Clinton when he said " it depends on how you define is" when they say a "lifetime" is not REALLY a LIFETIME ....I hate this kind of crap from a company that I use to have a lot of respect for ..why would a company risk pissing off a good customer over a rain suit when there is room to honestly question their warranty policy with the way it is worded? Good luck ole buddy I look forward to seeing how this is resolved.

dd

davidmil

Now that really sucks. A couple points. First off, if it doesn't say Goretex I don't buy it anymore. Buy something from LLBean and they warranty it FOREVER. My buddy just got a new pair of slippers to replace some he bought 15 years ago. LOL

Back to Cabelas. I've bought a lot of stuff from them but never returned anything other than for size fit. I'm sorry to hear they're word is not their way of doing business. Recently I wanted to buy a good, I mean real good, fly fishing jacket for rainy weather. They didn't have what I needed in stock and they had a lot of this "100% waterproof"...NOT GORETEX. I've tried 3 pairs of NOT Goretex boots or shoes over the years. NONE of them lasted 2 months. I'm thinking their Dry Plus is a cheap knock off to make them more money and now they're not backing up their warranty claims. If their damn stuff is only good for one hunt, one year or whatever.... that's what they should say. I was involved in the garment industry for years. If their Lifetime warranty is only good for 1 year that's what they should say.

I got my new fly fishing jacket from a fly shop in Bozman, Montana. It's Simms, it's Goretex, it's expensive.... but I know these people will back it up. They don't claim a LIFETIME warranty so 5 or 10 years from now I expect I'd have to buy a new one. Since Cabelas claims LIFETIME.... they should replace or give you back your money.

I think Bass Pro, Cabelas and all these big stores have gotten greedy. They're not the bargains they were when they were trying to build a customer base. I find I can pretty much beat or match their prices locally most of the time. I still buy from them because I can do it from the phone or computer. I may have to rethink that.

Phil from Maine

I have to agree with LLbean! I love shopping there when ever I get the chance to get down that way!

I can not say alot about Cabelas as I never really shopped there any. I will say that I expect a store that is advertising a " Lifetime Warranty " to mean just what it says. I have to agree with C.I. on this one that it is some sort of false advertising! I was thinking about going down to Scarborough to check the place out. Not anymore! I see no need to check a place out that can not back up thier own word! I am thinking perhaps it is because they are making so much crap in China that they can not back it up. I say tough for them about it. You say it, then you need to pay it if the product doesn't hold up to its expectations. Sounds to me like Cabelas is in need of a reality check..

sachiko

I agree that a "Lifetime Warranty" should be just that. Okay, if you wore holes in it, I guess that wouldn't count. But I see seams separating as a defect in the product.

They shouldn't advertise, "Lifetime Warranty" if they don't plan to honor it, that's dishonest.

You could probably get a similar item for less from Sportsmans Guide.

Outdoor

I had the same problem years ago with Cabelas with the same product. The seams leaked after 2 years and about 6 times wearing them! They sent me $60 bucks +- back and I will not shop Cabelas unless it is absolutely neccessary. LL Bean all the way!

Champlain Islander

Update... I decided to ignore the email saying they wouldn't honor the lifetime guarantee since the suit was bought in 2004. I wrote a nice letter telling them how disappointed I was in the way the garment fell apart and sent it in figuring I would just get it back. 3 weeks went by and I heard nothing. I was about to start to make some calls to corporate Cabelas and complain and got a gift certificate in the mail for $186 which wasn't what I paid for the suit but was what new current sale price was on the suit. I figure I like them again and will probably get another rain suit from either them or someone else. I will go with goretex and get a better suit and make sure to not machine dry it since I figure that is the reason why the seam tape became delaminated. So alls well that ends well and I will be buying lots of stuff from them again. I just wish they had met my expectations right from the start. By playing games with me they missed out on a couple of fairly big ticket items I purchased from their competitors and one of them was $700.

JW

May I suggest you look at Cabela's MT50 rainwear. I bought a set of pants and jacket in camo in 1996 and it is still taking a beating.

JW

Champlain Islander

Thanks for the suggestion JW. I wished I could get them in seclusion 3d which has more green than the other patterns. Subtle shades of green work better for me than the brown in most other patterns. Either way I plan to get some MT50 and will opt for the goretex rather than the dry plus that was on the other set. One thing is for sure the new suit won't see the dryer even though the tag says it can be dried in a machine.