Second order in an approximately a week that was cancelled due to being out of stock. In each case the item was listed in stock, but coincidentally enough they were the lowest price and best deal for the quality of their current stock. One time I can understand, but twice is an obvious "bait and switch" ploy. I should have been alerted when the customer service agent suggested a less desirable product on my first order.  
 
On the second cancellation the customer service agent gave me this big story that basically breaks down to "we have no idea what we have in stock at anytime so when you make an order, we'll take your money there on the spot, earn interest from it when combined with all the other saps we took to the bank and then tell you that we don't have the item a couple days later. Oh, but we do have this hideous substitute that you could buy instead..." thanks, but no thanks. Caution when buying, if you even bother, and if I were you I would just look for a legit deal somewhere else...  
 
 
Update: As expected after my third email to them they have not replied, yet they keep sending me their SPAM emails about specials and sales probably 3 times a week even though I have unsubscribed several times. How low can they go....  

This review was modified by its author, PeterJK, on 2/23/09 12:45 AM.

I ordered a Tommy Bahama belt. When it arrived, it had a razor cut the entire length of the inside of the belt, like it had been marked as "remaindered" or substandard stock. The damage was not due to shipping because it was inside extensive packaging that was unharmed. The belt was otherwise very nice. When I wrote a negative review of the belt for STP's site, it mysteriously did not show up on the site. (I followed their review guidelines.) I have no doubt that STP will allow me to return the belt, but I think it's unacceptable for them to sell merchandise in this condition without informing buyers. Maybe they didn't realize the condition, but that doesn't inspire confidence. I've had other experiences with STP that have been satisfactory, but I find that they're careless about shipping things that are the wrong size or not quite as described.

I'm not very happy with the packaging. I ordered a trekking pole from STP, which looked like they just tossed into a box along with the literature (which was all bent, and looked used.) and invoice for the product. Next to no packing material to protect the product from shipping mishaps. When I received the box it was all smashed and misshapen. I would normally not fault the retailer for this, since it obviously happened during shipping, but since there was virtually no protection, STP gets the blame. Thankfully there was no damage to the product, but I still find this unacceptable and unprofessional. I think I'll shop elsewhere from now on.

This review was modified by its author, Mobius_13, on 3/5/08 10:02 PM.

I ordered a woolrich parka on 12/24/2007. The order was promptly charged and not shipped. It is said to be schedule for delivery on the 3rd of January. The customer service laugh at me when I said I will file  
a dispute with credit card if they do not ship it out. UPS Ground never takes this long to ship. It is said on the site that the order will be charged when it is shipped. It is clear that STP placed up this "billing information received" shenanigan to charged people early. They gave me a fake tracking number which did not register until 2 days later and by then, the order was still not receiver for shipping. I do not like to buy from a company that lies. Do go ahead and order from STP if you want to give away free money. This company has some very shady business practices.

I am glad that some folks have had a decent experience recently. I will not ever do business with STP again. The UPS return service label was not in my package in spite of the insistance by STP customer service that it was and I must need "another" one. It is now 36 hours from my first contact and I have yet to receive the label that they have claimed they would send. The latest word is that I should receive the return label by 7 pm tomorrow. That will be nearly 72 hours from my first request for the label and I am being told that I was not sent one because it was not clear that I wanted a "refund", I was just asking to "return" an item. WTF? Can any of you explain why this makes a difference as to whether or not I am "provided" the return label that they claim to have sent? I have never received a UPS return label from this company. Instead I have received nothing short of a pathological passive/aggresive game with customer service and the attempt at intimidation by sending back a portion of my e-mails, clearly ommitting the part where I asked for a label. I am now eight e-mails and three phone calls later and I still do not have a UPS return label. Instead they chose to arrange UPS pick up which is impossible as I am not at home during the day. At one point I was told this would be an option but apparently it was the only option for them and as it was not a workable option it still meant I could not return the item and they would not have to refund my money.  
The item I ordered was clearly second quality but not advertised as such.  
If you feel like playing games go ahead and order from these folks.  
I really like the "beliefs" section of the website where they claim to have "ethics consistent with the faith of the owners in Jesus Christ and his teachings".  
Yeah, right. I have been jerked around and had my e-mails altered to allow the company to believe that they are in the right.  
The last e-mail says that my money has been refunded to my credit card but I have not seen it on my account yet. In any case no one should have to spend this amount of time and energy in order to return faulty merchandise. It is hard for me to believe that so many different people in the company seemed to misunderstand what I was asking for.

This review was modified by its author, huts, on 8/10/07 12:12 AM.

Do NOT buy from this company! I ordered an item on 12-9-04 and at that time my credit card was billed. The item supposively shipped on 12-13-04 but it is now 12-22-04 and no one knows where the package is. Sierra trading post claims that the delivery company lost the package, but the delivery company states that the package was never picked up for delivery. The item ordered is now unavailable so there is no way that I will be able to give as a Christmas gift as I should have been able to do. I was told that I would be issued a refund but as of yet I have not received the refund. Please stay away from this company.

Watch out that Sierra Trading Post sends you the advertised  
merchandise and don't expect any returns to be processed in a  
reasonable time-frame.  
 
I ordered two pairs of hiking boots advertised as including "Tecni  
Dry"-- Tecnica's equivalent of Gore-Tex. The boots they sent were the  
non-Tecni-Dry version (which in fact retail for less than I paid since  
I was supposedly buying discounted higher-end boots).  
 
Customer service said they would inquire and get back to me in 2-4  
days. After 3 weeks I contacted them again, at which point they said  
they had "no information" but permitted me to return the boots (as if  
the misadvertisment were somehow my fault).  
 
I sent back the boots and perhaps I will eventually even get  
refunded-- maybe even get the return shipping refunded-- but it's all  
requiring many annoying prods to customer service which often are not  
answered on the first 1-2 tries. Just processing the return once  
they've verified the merchandise has arrived apparently takes several  
weeks.  
 
I will think twice before ordering from Sierra Trading Post again.  

I placed two orders from SierraTradingPost over a month ago. I got free shipping thanks to their special summer offer. Throw in their already low prices + a 20% coupon and you've got some great deals. I had an inquiry and although I did not get a timely response to my e-mail, their live online customer service was very helpful. Soon afterwards, I got an e-mail apologizing about the e-mail I had sent earlier. Easily forgiven, but I should've taken this as a warning sign of things to come.  
 
Ground shipping was a little slow, but perfectly acceptable. On opening the packages, I DID NOT FIND EVERYTHING TO BE AS I HAD ORDERED. I received an incorrect color for one item and an incorrect size for another. But hey, I thought, no biggie. I would be returning some other stuff anyway, since you simply cannot buy clothes online and not expect to return at least one item.  
 
I sent STP not 1, not 2, but 3 e-mails about how to handle the return. They have a great return policy, but they're ignoring my e-mails and that is simply unacceptable and unprofessional customer service.

This review was modified by its author, SlipGun, on 9/10/03 5:19 PM.

Their order processing is slow, my order took 2 days before it was shipped. The product I received did not look exactly like the picture shown.

Let me start by saying I have been shopping from the STP catalog for more than 10 years. I now shop regularly from the website and find it easy to use. The shipping is fast once the item is sent to the carrier. However, I find that they take their sweet time in processing an item in house.  
 
Recently I have noticed a disturbing trend at Sierra. The company seems to have really gone down the tubes in customer service. If you have a return it takes weeks to get your credit/adjustment.  
 
For example I ordered a rather expensive leather breifcase recently. I sent it back because the quality seemed to be a bit low for the price. I ended up ordering the last one available but then returned it. About the time it got back to Sierra the item appeared again on the website for sale. A week later it is sold, but I still have not gotten my money back. When I called they said check back in another week. This is just poor business practice. They charge my credit card and someone elses for the same item. This seems to me to be borderline criminal.  
 
I like sierra's prices and selection but in the past two years (2003-2004) they have really taken advantage of buyers due to poorly mangaged order processing. I used to be able to speak to a well mannered customer service agent. Now I seem to only find terse and unhelpful people on the other end of the line.  
 
Sierra, what happened to you and your Christian Ethics? Oh how I long for the Sierra of old.

Agree with other posts -- good deals, but the spamming is horrendous. They provide a link to their website in emails to get off the mailing list but these requests are ignored. If you order from them I suggest setting up a temporary email address and killing it once the order is complete.  
 
They'll also send you tons of catalogs in the mail which besides being a nuisance is a waste of trees.

Sierra Trading Post is a very average reseller. Their prices are nothing special, and their shipping methods leave something to be desired. I ordered a tie from them, and waited nearly 2 weeks before I received it, with no way of tracking the package.

Good service, was shipped reasonably well.  
 
But I started receiving spam from them - every day, sometimes two emails a day. That was the worst part of the deal, I've never dealed with such a notorios spammers.

Well overall the shopping experience was good from STP but I was a bit disappointed by the shipping and processing time.  
 
Let me start by saying that several people I know have bought from STP and I have indeed noticed their good prices so I decided to go ahead and order.  
 
I ordered 3 woodlore cedar shoe trees for $8.99 each. They normall retail for nearly $20+ each! Great deal on the price, even if they were second quality and stated. They seem to be in good shape with just some minor knots on them. I only ordered 3 just to see how good they are but I may get more for other people.  
 
The ordering on the website is simple and they often have promotions which is a nice deal. I used a code that was a riddle on their flyer and got free shipping.  
 
The products where packaged fine, in a box with minor plastic bubbling and the 3 tree boxes (as expected with box products).  
 
The biggest problem I had was the time and I do not know how big of a fault this is of theirs or of the shipping provider but to me I believe both are at fault. I ordered on the 13th and it wasn't processed until the 18th. Then I didn't receive the product until the 30th of november! Let me say that this was 5-6 day shipping and even though I give them a couple days due to the Thanksgiving Holiday it is still too long. In fact as a comparison I ordered shoes from Zappos. With their free shipping I received the product in 2 days processing time included. I returned one because it was too small and I got a replacement in 2 days to my doorstep. 2 returns in 4 days and on the Thanksgiving week!! In the world of high volume shipping nowadays there is no excuse for such slow responses. STP is quick enough to litter my email with review us emails and send me brochures but they can't get the product here faster?  
 
I should probably order again just to see what the speed is next time in comparison before making a solid judgement but on this order it was too slow for me, in fact some of the slowest shipping on all the products I have ever ordered on the internet, and that is quite a few.

I have been ordering from Sierra Trading Post for well over 10 years and never had a problem. It is always a pleasure to do business with them.