Service used to be good at REI but I have noticed it has deteriorated over that last decade (I am a member for 20+ years). It appears that they have many newbies without the experience of actually using the products. Some in customer service are just not knowledgeable enough. The other day I requested the store to hold an item for me, which they said was in stock. When I went there they did not have it and so they asked me to go to customer service and order it from a different store. The customer service lady took all me info including credit card and then told me that its a low probability you will get it from another store. But that she will call the other stores when she has the \"time\". WTF? I bought the item cheaper from Amazon.