Armed with a few hours of research and online browsing, I finally decided to leave the house to check out my favorite store in the world- REI. What I needed was a good pair of hiking boots, as the trail-runners that I have been using were ready to be retired. Based on excellent reviews, I was dead set on purchasing a pair of “Vasque Breeze 2.0‘s”.
The shoe department associate was more than helpful while assisting me choose my size. It took all of about 15 minutes, and I was out of there with a new pair of boots. However, when I got home, I tried on the shoes again and I just didn’t feel in my heart that I had the correct size. It felt a little narrow in the toe-box. Fortunately, REI has a great return policy, so I went back the next day to return the boots and pick out another model.
This time, I had my son Kamai with me, and he can be a bit of a rascal. I tried on a completely different boot, the “Vasque Talus” model, while Kamai was running around the store like a he just drank a Redbull and popped a caffeine pill. I paid for the boots and had to get out of there with a quickness.
That weekend, I wore the boots on a short hike up Maryjane Falls in Mount Charleston. They were really heavy, and I just didn’t like how they felt. Once again, I took advantage of REI’s return policy. Brushing off the boots on my way to REI again, I returned those and finally settled with a pair of hiking shoes and never looked back.
“Outstanding marketing companies go out of their way to keep important customers satisfied. Most studies show that higher levels of customer satisfaction lead to greater customer loyalty, which in turn results in better company performance” (“Marketing: An Introduction” 6). This is why REI is my favorite store!
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| REI Las Vegas, Boca Park Photo Credit: www.yelp.com |
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