OT - RTIC product reviews and customer service

diverstephen

 Posting this since I first learned of RTIC products from this forum. Overall people seemed happy with their quality and prices. I recently purchased one of their new hydration day packs despite no reviews. Big mistake. Almost impossible to draw water from the drinking tube and bladder started to leak on second day of a camping trip with my Boy Scout troop destroying a first aid kit and several books. Once I got home I tried to contact customer service and was told that I could only email them with my warranty request. After two weeks and 4 phone calls I finally was able to get a phone rep to send me a return label for return their product.

I waited to post a review until I gave them a chance to make things right. I submitted a review several days later to warn other potential buyers of my issues and of course it never made it to their website. I started looking at reviews for other products and nothing was posted on the site under 4 stars. I'm a big Amazon shopper and always rely on the reviews (good, bad and ugly) before purchasing anything. Just beware before buying anything on their site that the reviews you are reading are probably a little slanted. They seem to post the good but the bad and ugly seem to get lost

Lesson learned .... don't buy camping gear from imitation cooler company. I wouldn't touch their new imitation grill based on this experience.

HeavyG

I base all my decisions on a single data point.

DMW

HeavyG said:

I base all my decisions on a single data point.

That doesn't sound very logical.

YukonRon

Single data point or not, still pretty poor performance and service.
I get my gear from brands that step up, manufacture quality and back it.
I buy a lot from Marmot as an example. I ripped a spot on the floor of one of my ultra light weights, called them, got a return order, shipped, and received it back in less than 6 days. No charge for the repair, just shipping.
Very expensive tent, and they took care of it.
Reliability and service. Proven results, that is why I buy.

Brason

I have had a very different experience with RTIC. I bought a soft cooler the 30. After using it for a few months the zipper broke. I contacted customer service and they sent me a new part, no questions asked. The whole process took about 10 minutes and I was not charged for shipping or anything. 

I think their customer service is great. This all happened on a weekend and they helped me even though the office was closed.

JohnInCarolina

HeavyG said:

I base all my decisions on a single data point.

It does make interpolation a challenge.

lousubcap

Yes but you can get any outcome you want.  Political staffers are experts at extrapolating from any number (or set) that will get the right answer.  And of course, the opposition can use the same data to support their position.  DC game show and any gubmint body as well.  

HeavyG

YukonRon said:

Single data point or not, still pretty poor performance and service.
I get my gear from brands that step up, manufacture quality and back it.
I buy a lot from Marmot as an example. I ripped a spot on the floor of one of my ultra light weights, called them, got a return order, shipped, and received it back in less than 6 days. No charge for the repair, just shipping.
Very expensive tent, and they took care of it.
Reliability and service. Proven results, that is why I buy.

Glad to hear Marmot's still around. Do they still make all their stuff in the USA?

I have a couple Marmot products I bought about 40 years ago. First was a  down parka, one of the first GoreTex parkas to come out. Great parka. Still have it but haven't worn it in a "few" years as it got a "little" snug. The second was a GoreTex shell parka. Great parka. Still have it but haven't worn it either in a "few" years as it got a "little" snug.

jamesj

I also had a good experience, well would rather not had it at all but my soft 30 cooler started peeling up where the top layer is glued to the zipper part.  Got online, did the chat with one of their reps, got my order number. Then tried to input the info on their website but was having a problem so called them and they just emailed me a return label, sent it off and a few days later had a new cooler. 

YukonRon

HeavyG said:

YukonRon said:

Single data point or not, still pretty poor performance and service.
I get my gear from brands that step up, manufacture quality and back it.
I buy a lot from Marmot as an example. I ripped a spot on the floor of one of my ultra light weights, called them, got a return order, shipped, and received it back in less than 6 days. No charge for the repair, just shipping.
Very expensive tent, and they took care of it.
Reliability and service. Proven results, that is why I buy.

Glad to hear Marmot's still around. Do they still make all their stuff in the USA?

I have a couple Marmot products I bought about 40 years ago. First was a  down parka, one of the first GoreTex parkas to come out. Great parka. Still have it but haven't worn it in a "few" years as it got a "little" snug. The second was a GoreTex shell parka. Great parka. Still have it but haven't worn it either in a "few" years as it got a "little" snug.

As far as I know, the tents are designed and built here. I go exclusively with their ULW tents and duffles.

I have 5 tents, each used for a specific type of trail camps, my most valued are my 2 Marmots. I have an old LL Bean Dome, a Northface, and a Black Pine. My experience in dealing with these companies have been stellar, thus far. 

Too bad about the experience the OP had with RTIC. Getting into the high end, high stakes, outdoor sports and recreation business is brutal. Failure anywhere when starting out is perceived as failure everywhere, but in reality that is just not the case.

I am certain RTIC has a few issues to resolve, all new product introductions and new product lines do. However, in our case, we seldom have the opportunity to risk trying a new brand.

The cost for the equipment we use is a bit higher than most, but the cost of failure could be catastrophic. Where we go, you are most unlikely to find a sporting goods store, or outlet to fix things.

I just know what works, for what we do. 

For water, we carry a gravity fed filtering system (less than .5 pound in weight) from Platypus, a uV pen and a couple empty nalgenes. Works very well. Just not a huge fan of solely relying on camel packs thus far.
I know there are some packable water storage bladders out there, which are excellent, but, I have not found one I would use with either my Kelty external 74L, or Osprey 38L.

This is another area where I spend stupid piles of cash. When peak bagging, I am a belt and suspenders type of guy.

A quick shout out to our local outdoors supplier, Quest. Top of the line equipment retailer, selling only gear that provides excellent customer service after the purchase.
Look them up on line, if you are into that type of thing.

distanceman

I bought their 1 gallon jug when it first came out. I promptly returned it, because it felt really cheap and low quality. My only experience, but I won’t ever buy RTIC again. 

I went with an ORCA cooler that was on sale, and couldn’t be happier. 

fishlessman

a manufacturers review on their own site tends to be bias, dont read those reviews