Caribou Gear

Kuiu Service and Quality Going Downhill

abqbw

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 21, 2015
Messages
213
I have been a very loyal Kuiu customer from their beginning. I have bought tons of clothes and packs and gear. I have noticed that as they have gotten huge they have become indifferent toward their customers and their quality control has diminished. With premium products it seems reasonable to expect at least decent customer service. This summer I purchased over $4000 worth of clothes and two sleeping bags in one order. I ordered early in the day over the phone and asked if they would ship the order that day. I didn't want the order shipped overnight but just wanted it to get shipped out ground that day. They said that there was no way they could get the order shipped that day. But miraculously they could ship it that day if I paid the $70 overnight shipping charge. I pointed out that it was a $4000 order and if they can ship it today overnight why can't they ship it today ground.

Out of the $4000 order I wanted to return one of three $199 jackets that I bought. The jacket package had never even been opened. I missed the 60 day return deadline by about 60 days. On the phone I was given an RA and told I would get a refund. They received the jacket on Dec 1. Three weeks later on Dec 22 they finally sent me a store credit, not a refund! Again, I returned $200 of brand new product in original unopened package out of a $4000 order and they sat on the return for 3 weeks and gave me store credit only.

As far as quality goes, the actual size of the pants is random compared to the label. I have 7 pairs of various pant models of the same waist size. I noticed that the alpine pants were really big in the waist and were literally falling off. At first I was excited because I thought I was getting skinny. But I got a tape and measured the actual waist size on my various tiburon, chinook, attack, and alpine pants. They all have the same labeled waist size but the actual measured waist sizes vary by more than 3-1/2 inches. The alpine pants are over 3 inches larger in the waist than labeled. If all the pants were off by the same amount and in the same direction (smaller or larger) one could figure out what size to order. But the size variances are random between the models and even within a given model. Based on my recent customer service experiences with Kuiu I am not hopeful that they will make things right with the alpine pants sizing issue. I think Kuiu is no longer the company it once was. They seem more interested in supporting Internet and tv hunting stars and "famous' guides than taking care of us nobody customers that send them our hard earned money. They seem to have forgotten who made them the success that they are (or at least don't care).

Anyone else having these types of issues with Kuiu?
 
Sorry to hear about that. I mix and match with multiple companies but Kuiu has been great to me so far. Every piece of gear I have bought is very high quality and they shipped it super fast.
 
Want some cheese with your whine? If you needed your order shipped on a certain date, maybe you should have put such a big order in a little earlier. I think it's reasonable to suspect it might take a couple days to fill. And then you missed the return deadline. I'm not sure how that's their problem.
 
Just one jacket I ordered from them in the past, and it was the wrong size, they made me pay shipping back to them to get it replaced. They might rant and rave about lower prices because they don't stick their stuff in a store...but I'd rather have it in the store to try it on when I buy it. I won't ever buy from them again...too risky. Andy I agree, the customer service was crap in trying to get that jacket returned.
 
Never tried any of their clothes as Sitka is what I like and wear.I put my Sitka thru some tough hunting situations and they aren't even slightly worn out.Just bought a pair of mountain pants off camofire at a great deal
I will say, you are lucky they refunded you at all being 2 months past their deadline.So they dont sound all that bad.The waist sizing issue seems like it would be a big problem though
 
I have a crap ton of Kuiu myself and have not experienced any of the issues mentioned. I've made several returns with no issues, although I followed their return policy (60 days) each time. I even mentioned on one return I needed a different size, they were out of stock so I would have to wait until they have stock by checking availability on their website, they actually sent me an email a couple weeks later letting me know they had stock.
 
Anyone else having these types of issues with Kuiu?

I have not had any issues, but filled my needs about 4 years ago.

As for the shipping, if I had the same day shipping issue, I would consider it a "no-issue".

As for the return for refund vs credit, I would put that on me. If in four months I haven't been able to decide if I want it or not, that's on me and I would be happy to get anything in return based on the, imo, liberal return policy to begin with.

Sizing; no issues, but my products were still being made in NA. I don't know if that has changed. Did you return the items that did not fit?
 
I've owned a lot of Kuiu since they started and never ran into any issues. The couple of items I sent back were within the window so it wasn't an issue.

Jason personally extended me a large discount when I told him I lost my gear in a house fire.

I imagine there could be some issues with toray as they are continually expanding their line but Toray makes a lot of clothes for others as well so maybe Kuiu adjusted the specs or their sizing has evolved with later releases.
 
Want some cheese with your whine? If you needed your order shipped on a certain date, maybe you should have put such a big order in a little earlier. I think it's reasonable to suspect it might take a couple days to fill. And then you missed the return deadline. I'm not sure how that's their problem.

+1

Kuiu makes great stuff, and I've also never had an issue with shipping or customer service. I also use my brain when I order from them (or anyone else online for that matter), you should try it...
 
As someone who owns an online business, I feel for KUIU when dealing w/you. I honestly can't stand customers like you, you make a big order and expect to be treated better than someone who made a small order. Just because you made a 4k order doesn't mean you should move ahead of everyone else in line to have your order processed and theirs delayed, that is what the rush shipping is for so yes you should have to pay extra for it because more than likely they will have to move some resources or pay additional time to get your order processed w/o someone else's being delayed. And just because you made a 4k order doesn't mean they should bend their return policy for you, be happy you received the credit. And I can guarantee you that you aren't the only person that ordered a large amount of items. As far as quality, I can't speak to that, whether it's kuiu, sitka, first lite, I think it's all over priced China stuff.
 
Last edited:
I too have never had an issue with KUIU 'S product or customer service! I agree with blb078 if a customer orders $50 or $4000 in my book each Is A customer! And must be treated equally!
 
I haven't had a service issue yet, just sizing issues.

My cousin had some pants that he tested when he got them by pouring a little water on them, instead of beading up and running off it just soaked in immediately. Pants must have never got treated, it was weird. The Kuiu rep literally argued with him over the phone and told him he was mistaken. He changed his mind from an exchange to a full refund. He won't buy their clothes ever again. My brother loves their stuff and it has worked and functioned flawlessly. Must be inconsistency in their product line.

My experience is with two different jackets. Ordered a large and the jacket was more like a XXL in sizing. It was a clearance item and couldn't return. Gave it away to a family member. Next experience is what I'm currently dealing with. Ordered a large jacket for my father-in-law, it fit like a medium at best. Paid shipping to get an XL, still too small. Now I get to pay shipping and send it back in to get a XXL for a guy that typically wears a medium or large jacket.

Their sizing is not consistent at all which makes it even harder to buy their clothes online. I'll most likely be going with a First Lite or Sitka when I upgrade ALL of my camo this summer. Maybe the company will find out soon that outsourcing to China is actually costing them more. Too bad for such a good product. If you do order Kuiu, give yourself 6 weeks to get everything you need by the time you get everything exchanged.
 
Last edited:
Maybe the company will find out soon that outsourcing to China is actually costing them more. Too bad for such a good product.

They reported their sales are doubling annually and are at $30m. They didn't really "outsource" per say. They shifted the sewing function to Toray so the whole process on their synthetics was done in house. My guess is that it was necessary due to demand and I wouldn't be shocked if Toray pushed the a little. It is not new to them, the company Trew (ski wear) has the same model set up with Toray which predates KUIU.
 
I am not saying you were not wronged or that you should not feel you are not comfortable dealing with them again. I do think the merchandise credit was appropriate based on the time passed since delivery of the items to you.

I mix and match gear though do not buy much clothing anymore since am not that rough on the items I have and I have plenty. Waist sizes should not vary when measured from the inside of the pants since the outside should vary depending on thickness of the material. Is a quality control issue when a consistent waist is not throughout the various pant models. That is either a QC issue or poor design/execution on the production and inspection. That would make me hesitant to buy that brand of pants without trying on the items.

As for the return, you pondered keep/no keep was almost 4 months. I think the 60-day window is reasonable and actually generous for anything that has a seasonal demand and has changes to styles just about every year. If someone verbally told you you could have an exception then you can raise that issue since your expectation was reset. That is a training issue there and the call was absolutely recorded so if you provide the date/time (did you call from a cell phone where is easy to gather the call info?) then they can replay the call, if they are so motivated. They might reward you for helping them refine their call scripts and training since consistency is important. That is why the varying waist sizes would bother me, inconsistency.

You are disappointed they took 21 days to inspect the return to confirm was in new condition and then process a merchandise credit. My company can do that within a business day of the item returning to our docks. We hustle. On the other hand, if you had returned the item at the 14 or 30 or 45 or 59 day mark then maybe the processing would have been crisper. No way to know.
 
I have bought several Kuiu pieces in the last year in multiple orders and I have had nothing but positive experiences.

One of the things I heard about the Alpine pants specifically is they are cut different. I don't think that should have as much to do with the actual waist fit, but I know most guys describe the Alpines as being a much "roomier" pant. Most of the reviews I've read have commented on buying one size smaller depending on your fit.

As far as the rest of your complaints, I find them to be knit-picky with a bit of entitlement for spending a boatload of money. You asked for special treatment based on the value of your order and refused the idea that you could pay a premium to get special service. Don't complain about that. the rest of my analysis involves value judgements based on my opinion so I will leave them out.

I was initially annoyed at the supply chain issues Kuiu had last year, but outside of waiting months to get their #1 selling product, I have been nothing but impressed with the gear and service. I have since learned the cycle in their products and I will plan better if I want to order more gear.
 
I have put some of their products thru absolute abuse and they performed flawlessly. No issues here but it has been a couple of years since I ordered anything new.
 
I have a few KUIU garments and really like the pieces, but the model of customer service for an online only clothing company needs to improve.

I ordered a set of gaitors from them and also a set of superdown pants and the gaitors shipped almost immediately despite being out of stock online. They didn't fit and I had to return them. I got an RMA and returned them and a few weeks later emailed them to cancel my superdown order because I was fed up and ready to buy the sitka pants. The customer service rep cancelled the order and then found that my returned gaitors had been sitting in shipping for 2 weeks without me receiving a credit on the return. More or less had I not emailed them about cancelling the rest of my order I would never have gotten credit.

I like the KUIU gear, but I'm certainly beginning to favor Sitka again fairly heavily due to being able to try it on in the store and it seems to fit me better overall. I don't think its unreasonable to think that free return shipping should be included when you sell clothing online exclusively or do like amazon where the company charges return shipping at the much lower corporate rate than you get mailing a single package via UPS/FEDEX.

To this point none of it has mattered because people want KUIU bad enough to go through the hassle. At this point I think of it as like a preseason team sports order where you front the money months ahead upfront to have the pieces when you really need them. I do expect any company that doubles their sales volume (14M in 2015, 30M in 2015) will probably have some growing pains.
 
I think pretty much everything I bought was when they first came out and it was made in NA. Just clothing too. I've had nothing but good experiences with them. After two or three seasons one of the cargo pocket zippers on my attack pants came off. I called and they said send them in and the would repair it. They ended up sending me a brand new pair of the made in China attack pants. I couldn't tell any difference quality wise. The only item I've purchased in the last couple years have been the gaiters and I've been happy with them too.
 
I'm a gear junkie and my wife is my hunting partner, which means any time I get new gear... she decides she wants it and I have to buy double.

My KUIU inventory includes 14 pairs of pants, 6 packs, 6 jackets, 2 vests, 2 insulated shirts, and countless base layers, socks, gaiters, and gloves (yeah, I know I have a problem). I have a few Sitka and First Lite items that I like as well.

I have never had an issue with KUIU products, returns, or customer service. I've always returned items quickly and been refunded quickly. Sometimes I've had to wait months for inventory to come back, but just order in advance and take advantage of the free-shipping on backordered items.

Sorry you've had bad luck, but to answer your question. KUIU has been great to me.
 
Back
Top