LL Bean CS is solid.

[davemata]

So I had picked up a pair of boots there for hiking around, and have been thinking of checking out their hunting store in freeport. (Really, just want an excuse to go up there)

Bought some boots (not the "bean boots"), the wrapping on a heel started coming off, in a 3 minute phone conversation they said, no problem, new pair coming on 1/6. Now that's service!

Now how are the bean boots for hunting around here?

 

[MA_Shooter]

I've had to return boots as well, they made it very easy. Nice to deal with a friendly CS dept for a change.

 

[theGringo]

I rarely buy from LLBean, but my wife does. They're the best on customer service. Many years ago my wife bought some boots. A seem ripped out two years later. I told her to forget it. She called them, and asked about it. They sent her a new pair.

 

[Sparkey]

There customer service is top notch but for hunting boots i like irsh setters.

 

[davemata]

Irish setters? I'd prefer to have them for flushing... I'll google the brand, and not the dog.

I wish all CS was that easy. Dell by comparison makes me want to go out to the mountains for a week.

 

[yanici]

CS = Outstanding. And, I've never bought a product there that wasn't quality.

 

[Chuck Would]

I used to be a serious LLBean customer and could tell you several stories about how good their customer service is. It's excellent. But when they dropped free shipping they started to forget their customer base and have gone downhill ever since. They started targeting the yuppie class and forgot the sports. You can get just about everything they sell someplace else cheaper.

 

[davemata]

I used to be a serious LLBean customer and could tell you several stories about how good their customer service is. It's excellent. But when they dropped free shipping they started to forget their customer base and have gone downhill ever since. They started targeting the yuppie class and forgot the sports. You can get just about everything they sell someplace else cheaper.

I think all there shipping is free now - not sure if that's just temporary though. I'm sure you can get just about everything there cheaper, but do you get the customer support, and decent goods? The only thing we had like this was REI, so LL Bean is new to me.

 

[Rockrivr1]

Cheaper isn't always better. I've bought everything from shirts, jackets, shoes, etc', you name it from LL Bean and I can't complain about their products or service at all. They stand by everything they sell. I'd rather pay a few dollars more knowing that if there's anything ever wrong with it I can get it replaced or return it for something else. My wife had a jacket that ripped after she had it for two years. They didn't make the jacket anymore so they gave her the value to buy something else. For me, that is worth the few extra dollars.

Freeport is also a great place to visit if you've never been.

 

[timbo]

I was at their store in Freeport last summer and I was somewhat dismayed by their lack of any hunting equipment...they had a few high end Shotguns and that was about it...no (or very few) rifles, no handguns, no ammo...nada...seems they are cowtowing to their somewhat liberal/progressive anti gun clientele, or maybe I am just a bit too sensitive to stuff like that.
They sell great stuff and I have bought much from them in the past (we have an "outlet" store in Concord) and I stop by there from time to time to see what they have for hiking equiment on sale.
I'm amazed at how many MA, RI, CT, NY & NJ cars I see there anytime I drop by...and for the most part the customers are extremely rude and obnoxious, especially their kids.

 

[Rockrivr1]

I was at their store in Freeport last summer and I was somewhat dismayed by their lack of any hunting equipment...they had a few high end Shotguns and that was about it...no (or very few) rifles, no handguns, no ammo...nada...seems they are cowtowing to their somewhat liberal/progressive anti gun clientele, or maybe I am just a bit too sensitive to stuff like that.

I'm surprised you found the store lacking. I was there in October and they had at least 100-200 rifles and shotguns in the racks. They've never sold handguns, at least as far back as I can remember. I'll give you that their ammo selection was a little bit low. They did have a pretty cool crossbow and bow section where you can go into a range to shoot them.

I figure it this way, if I'm looking for apparrel, camping, footwear, I'll shop LL Bean. On the way back from Freeport, I'll stop at Kittery Trading Post for my "HOLY CRAP LOOK AT ALL THE FIREPOWER" fix.

 

[timbo]

I was at their store in August and maybe either I was in the wrong section (after all, it is a pretty big place) or they were just low on stock. I too love the KTP and go by there every chance I get. I like going down to the fishing section...there is a woman that works down there that is a virtual encyclopedia of knowledge and is a scream to boot...she's quite a piece of work.

Yep, I have said virtually the same thing when I walk into the firearms section of the KTP.

 

[Chuck Would]

I think all there shipping is free now - not sure if that's just temporary though. I'm sure you can get just about everything there cheaper, but do you get the customer support, and decent goods? The only thing we had like this was REI, so LL Bean is new to me.

I think the free shipping is just for this time of year as they are trying to drum up business. I use Cabelas, Gander Mountain and even Bass Pro instead these day's.

The amount of stuff I bought Vs problems I've had is a pretty low ratio.

[quote Rockrivr1]Cheaper isn't always better. I've bought everything from shirts, jackets, shoes, etc', you name it from LL Bean and I can't complain about their products or service at all. They stand by everything they sell. I'd rather pay a few dollars more knowing that if there's anything ever wrong with it I can get it replaced or return it for something else. My wife had a jacket that ripped after she had it for two years. They didn't make the jacket anymore so they gave her the value to buy something else. For me, that is worth the few extra dollars [/quote]

My problem with them is NOT what they currently sell it's what they've dropped. The Pack boot version of their Maine Hunting Shoes are gone. So are their work shirts, Chamois Robes that are sized - not one size fit all. All their shirts are button down these day's. A lot of what they sold was made in the USA. A lot of items that I used to buy from them they no longer sell. Not now. Basically it's Walmart with a higher price and good CS.

 

[Kicker96FS]

I had a pair of hunting boots I bought 7 years ago. They started to come apart last year near the side/ sole area. I brought them back and got credit for $80 bucks. They did not make that style anymore so I got a high hiking boot/sneaker and the wife bought a top for herself.

Gotta love the way they stand behind the products they sell!

I went to Cabella's and bought a pair of Rocky Bear Claw boots, they are warm as toast, comfy, as in like wearing slippers, and will never buy another brand again after wearing these.
The new ones on Rocky's site say 1000 grams of Thinsulate® Ultra Insulation, but I know my pair, almost 2 years ond now, are 1400. Maybe they make a few just for Cabella's?

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Footwear/Mens-Footwear/Mens-Hunting-Boots/Mens-Insulated-Hunting-Boots|/pc/104797980/c/104747580/sc/104826780/i/104841180/Rocky174-Bear-Claw-1400-Boots/721227.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Ffootwear-mens-footwear-mens-hunting-boots-mens-insulated-hunting-boots%2F_%2FN-1102846%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104841180

 

[davemata]

I was at their store in Freeport last summer and I was somewhat dismayed by their lack of any hunting equipment...they had a few high end Shotguns and that was about it...
I'm amazed at how many MA, RI, CT, NY & NJ cars I see there anytime I drop by...and for the most part the customers are extremely rude and obnoxious, especially their kids.

Dunno there timbo. I was there end of Oct. large selection of long guns, as well as archery/ crossbow equipment. Interesting that you found people rude... I found the customers there were actually nicer than the chuckleheads I commonly have to put up with in somerville/cambridge, or at any REI.

Only problem I have with the place is that I can't take my dog in like I can at Bass Pro. That's big for me, she needs exposure to those types of environments. Oh well.

What I don't get is that weird little rubber chain pattern for their boot soles. Looks like it can't be effective anywhere, but apparently people love it.

 

[TWtommers]

Don't they have a separate building in Freeport for firearms? Am I remembering that wrong? I seem to remember that the main building has a little of everything but that there are a couple of other buildings in town with more selection in specific departments.

I've had nothing but pleasant experiences with Bean's WRT CS. Their criteria for replacement/repair is simply that you feel that the item did not deliver the way you expected. I've had a 4 year old parka completely replaced with a smile because the trim around the cuffs mod the fleece insert was fraying. I just wanted it fixed but it was easier for them to replace.

That being said, I don't often find a lot of stuff there that I really want.

 

[Billy]

LL Bean is the best, quality and warranty. Most of their customers are not hunters, they are people that enjoy the outdoors and great quality.

 

[timbo]

Dave,
I was referring more to the customers in the Concord NH "outlet". The last time I was there this summer, there was this older couple, really tearing into one of the help because the ad said they had something and they "drove all the way from Cambridge to buy one" and they were out....other times there are all these yuppies kids running around, coming close to knocking stock and/or people over and the parents are just totally clueless and ignore them...Once when I was there, a couple of years back, there was these two kids about 7 or 8 trying to get into one of the canoes they had set up there filled with mittens and hats, etc and they knocked it over, injuring an older lady that was nearby....parents were nowhere to be found until one of the staff located them and they started blasting the help for having the canoe in such a position that it could be knocked over...I just shook my head and walked out.

 

[Chuck Would]

LL Bean is the best, quality and warranty. Most of their customers are not hunters, they are people that enjoy the outdoors and great quality.

LL Bean AKA Leon Leonwood Bean was a hunter and outdoorsman. He catered to sportman. Hunters and Fisherman. The company did so for many many years even after his death. Today, however, they have forgotten their roots.

 

[Rockrivr1]

Don't they have a separate building in Freeport for firearms? Am I remembering that wrong? I seem to remember that the main building has a little of everything but that there are a couple of other buildings in town with more selection in specific departments.

They used to have the hunting and outdoors section in a separate building, but moved it to the main building a few years ago. They split up the sections as well throughout the main building.

 

[Manomet]

This
"My problem with them is NOT what they currently sell it's what they've dropped. The Pack boot version of their Maine Hunting Shoes are gone. So are their work shirts, Chamois Robes that are sized - not one size fit all. All their shirts are button down these day's. A lot of what they sold was made in the USA. A lot of items that I used to buy from them they no longer sell. Not now. Basically it's Walmart with a higher price and good CS."

I agree
I have worn LL Bean since I was a little kid, my parents valued their customer service and quality. I live in their chamois shirts from october to april. Well about 4 yrs ago Bean stopped making anything in my size, ANYTHING. I wrote letters and spoke to several reps on the phone and in the store (Mansfield). Bean has changed their philosophy and their target customers. hunters and woodsman are not the goal,Yuppies are plain and simple. I would like to shrink a little but in the mean time I had to find another supply of quality clothes. I still think you would be hard pressed to find better customer service, but I have abandoned them just like they abandoned me.

 

[JimB]

i like ll bean products as well and have for many years. unfortunatley in order

to stay in business they have shifted their business a bit. Unfortunatley

they do not carry some of the items they used to.

 

[PatMcD]

Beans' quality guarantee is probably the most abused store policy in America. I've seen clowns stand in line with stacks of worn-out LL Bean clothes they got at the Salvation Army for $1 and get a full refund (store credit) because it had a stain on it. The CS people behind the counter know it, but nothing they can do. Abuse like that adds up and is tacked onto all their prices.

My beef with Beans is their sizes. I usually get a Large Tall at any other store, but at Beans L T is absolutely HUGE.