Buyer Beware:

Poor Customer Service at the Sportsman's Guide

  Never thought I would be saying this, but if you buy from Sportsman's Guide watch out. I have been buying stuff there on-line for myself and the DDRC for over 10 years with not hassles whatsoever, until this week.

 I ordered some new convertible paddling pants a few weeks back and when they arrived last week they we mis labeled with the incorrect size. Instead of XL's, which was what they were marked, the pants were Larges and no its not because I gained weight, they only measured about 37 inches at the waist. So, I sent them back and called their customer service people to give them a heads up that there was an issue with the sizing and to ask them to check their stock to see if they had any that were actually sized correctly. The person on the phone said that they would have to check and call me back.

  A few days went by with no call back, so I called them on Thursday afternoon, figuring that 4 days was plenty of time for them to have checked. The person that I spoke to this time had to go and ask someone in the warehouse. After sitting on hold for a while the person comes back and says that no they had not checked yet, but that they should get to it by the following MONDAY. So now they are telling me that it takes a full week for someone to get off their butt and go out with a tape and check three pairs of pants? I told the clerk that that was just not acceptable and that I wanted her supervisor to call me back within an hour. Never happened, so I followed up with am email explaining that if I did not hear back soon that I would just by my pants elsewhere and not do business with them in the future as I felt that their customer service was pretty lacking.

  The next day, I get an email stating that they still have not had the time to check the stock, but they would get to it when they could. I replied that I was going elsewhere and that I would like my Buyer's Club Membership, which I had just renewed for $30 on the same order as my pants, refunded as well as I was probably not going to shop with them any longer. By the way, Bass Pro Shops has better quality pants for the same price and they come in three inseam legnths. Thats where I ended up getting mine.

  An email comes back an hour or so later stating that they wre going to refund me the "remaining savings" from my membership, which would come to fifty (50) cents. I checked my bill from the original order and found that my savings, so far had come to about $14, of which $6 was on the pants that I had returned, so I wrote back asking for an accounting of how they arrived at this figure. They wrote back and said that they were deducting the free shipping from my order and the $14 in savings I received. This is clearly a rip-off and I will be turning the whole thing over to the Texas Attorney General's Office for review.

  You know, I just could have sent the pants back and said nothing, but I was trying to do them a favor, figuring that if they checked and found that all of the XL pants were sized wrong,that they would save themselves the hassle of having bunches of returns. Which they by the way pay the shipping on since the merchandise is considered defective. But I guess their customer service folk are just too dumb to get it or just do not care. Either way I would strongly recommend avoiding Sportsman's Guide at least until they get their act together.

River Guide Services

 I am now accepting bookings for guided river trips for Spring 2010.   

 These trips will be a great way to introduce young people to the outdoors and hopefully provide some memories that they will carry with them for a lifetime. Details available on the Guide Services page. 

Entertainment News

 A few months back I was asked to participate in the taping of an episode fitness show that airs on Veria TV on Dish Network. 

 The show is called the First Step and airs several times during the week. It was pretty neat to see paddling being added to folks workout routines. It kind of validates we paddlers have known all along, Paddling is great exercise.

 We taped it right in front of the Bath House at White Rock Lake and the wind was seriously blowing that day, but through the magic of editing, it looks like everyone is zooming through the water as long as you don't watch the trees on the shoreline.

 It was quite an undertaking, you don't see that we had the whole film crew out in boats following the action. We also had close ups of the host and the participants that were shot with the paddler in the back seat of a canoe with the camera guys facing back at the person paddling. I thought for sure someone was going to to take a swim, but it went along very safely.

 Hope I get to do it again, it was a blast. If you have Dish Network, look for the Cliff and Crystal episode. They get to my part in the second half of the show, but the first half is pretty good too, so watch the whole thing!