Arctic Shield Clothing – Consider This Before Buying
If you live in Oklahoma, then you know it's been bone chilling cold lately. I pulled out every piece of cold weather hunting gear that I owned, including some of my Arctic Shield Clothing. Unfortunately, I found that my Arctic Shield bibs had a broken leg zipper. This is the zipper that runs from the bottom of the leg all the way up to the hip area.
I've had these bibs for about 4 years. I believe I bought them from Cabela's and to be honest, I loved them. They were great for late season bowhunting or catfishing.
I tried taking them to several alteration places, but they said they could not get the metal zippers. Finally, after thinking about it, I Googled Arctic Shield and found they were located in Tulsa. So I gave them a call and talked to a woman (I believe her name was Bridgett).
I told Bridgett what my problem was. I had a pair of Arctic Shield Bibs with a broken leg zipper.
I was a little more than surprised that she wasn't as helpful as I thought she should have been. In fact, I felt she was only be "nice" because she had to be (I could here a man's voice in the background). In all honestly, I did call right before closing, but that shouldn't have mattered. I also didn't tell her that I own a Deer Hunting blog that gets visited by 20 to 30 thousands Sportsmen every month, but again, that shouldn't have mattered.
Basically she told me that there wasn't nothing they would do. I thought perhaps she didn't understand me, so I made 3 attempts to get her to help me. I even offered to pay for the fix to my bibs.
Still no help from Bridgett. About all she could say is "Sorry, we don't do that". I asked if she knew an alteration company locally who could fix them. "No, I'm sorry, that's not something we do".
So finally I said, "So I have a pair of Arctic Shield Bibs with a busted zipper and you can't help me get them fixed?"
"Sorry, we just can't help with that" she said
If these had been some cheap old bibs I found at a flea market or bought at a discount store, I wouldn't be so upset.
If you've bought Arctic Shield clothes lately, you know they're not cheap. Obviously I don't mind paying for good equipment.
My problem is that if I buy supposedly top of the line equipment, I expect the company to stand behind their products. It seems from my experience that Arctic Shield feels their commitment ends when the warranty ends. I have a feeling that if I'd called Cabela's, they would have bent over backwards to help me. That's just the kind of folks they are. Cabela's has always stood behind what they sell.
So just be aware that they probably will not fix or help you get your Arctic Shield clothing fixed if it breaks after the warranty runs out (and I honestly don't remember how long the warrnty is, if any, so you'd probably better check that also). I personally will not buy another piece. This just really sucks because I have some other Arctic Shield clothes and now I know that if something happens to my jacket or or other piece of their clothing, they're not going to help me. Even if I offer to pay for the repairs! Fortunately, there are other companies that make excellent cold weather hunting gear.
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21 Responses to “Arctic Shield Clothing – Consider This Before Buying”
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The owners of this company are J. T. Griffin and Dave Gordon. A website I found says you can call 877-974-4353 and ask for them. Some times you have to go all the way to the top to get the help you need. Good luck!!
I often wonder where actual customer service went. I can’t believe that, in today’s economic climate, these companies aren’t falling all over people in order to keep their business.
You’re doing the right thing, though. The best way to show a company how you feel is with your wallet.
OK this is going to sound a little snarky but are you for real. Trying to get Arctic Shield to fix a broken zipper on a 4yr. old pair of bibs. You said you bought them from Cabelas so if their costomer service policy is so great why didn’t you take it up with them. Or maybe you did but they wouldn’t help you either.. I’ve had nothing but good experiences with the quaility, performance and customer service of this company. I broke a snap-button off my H5 pants on a Wyoming Mule Deer hunt and they sent me a brand new pair of pants no questions asked. Just seems a bit unfair to throw this company off the tree stand and put it out there for all your readers to see that you will never do business with this company over (did I already mention this) a FOUR YR. old zipper. Oh. and I’m really looking forward to your post on all those excellant cold weather clothing companies that have the many benifits of the Arctic Shield line-up. The list of light weight, low bulk, clothing that retains you body heat and is breathable, water proof, wind proof and extremely quiet should be pretty short. Oh and maybe you need to find a better tailor I mean come on. Because he couldn’t find you a simple metal zipper, Arctic Shield get’s raked across the coals for what clearly was a pretty rediculous request. I mean just because its expensive doesn’t means it should be covered for life. According to you they’re not cheap but I would argue that unless your getting your gear at Walmart you shouldn’t be complaining about their prices. Under Armour, Sitka, Browning, Rivers West, Cabelas mto-50, Woorich, Columbia, Filson. Your not getting any bibs from these guys for under $299 bucks. We don’t have to worry about the anti,s coming after our sport, we just need a few more cheap bloggers with thier panties in a bind over how poorly they were treated to attack the companies who help to make the products that keep us in the field and comfortable while were there. Maybe you’ll want to post something negetive about Scent-Lok “misleading” us poor ignorant hunters like those other so called sportsman did and maybe we can hurt their business too. Snarky enough for ya…
So Dave, tell us, how long have you worked for Arctic Shield?
Really Dave, if you’d read the article, you’d have seen where I offered to pay for the repairs. So if I hear you right, it’s okay for a pair of heavy duty clothing to come apart in 4 years? Umm…geez…please don’t tell my pair of 13 year old Carhart overalls that! Or my 8 year old pair of Carhart coveralls!
Perhaps you think it’s okay for manufacturers to make items that will last only as long as the warranty? But I’m betting you don’t, and neither do a bunch of us here in the real world!
Dave, you sound like you should be blogging for politics, you really got your panties up in a bind over a blog that I felt was objective. He offered to pay for the repairs, he didn’t inform them he writes a popular blog, if anything, he showed the type of manners one comes to expect from a hunter, humble and straightforward.
If anything, I won’t be buying any Arctic Shield clothing and if you’re the Dave the first poster referenced as being one of the owners of Arctic Shield, I wouldn’t do business with someone who doesn’t understand the concept of customer service and takes a customer to task for expecting quality service.
[...] 7. The use cheap equipment. When I say 'cheap', I mean poor quality equipment. I can't tell you how many people just want the cheapest piece of equipment they can find. Whether it's the cheapest bow, treestand, game camera or rifle, it seems their only requirement is that they equipment is cheap. How many times have you seen someone ask a question in the forums like "What's the best and cheapest bow?" or "What's the best and cheapest cold weather hunting clothes?" [...]
If you buy quality gear the company that manufactures it should stand by thier products and make it right if there is a problem.If this is how Arctic Shield dose business I won’t be buying anything from them.Sonds like they need to hire some people to make repairs.
I agree totally, you pay for quality you should get quality. I don’t care how old a garment is, if the company cant got get a stinking zipper out of the back and put it in an envelope for someone that is not quality. As for dave,i hope you are getting a nice pay check from Arctic Shield. Reading all of this though still hasn’t changed the fact that i would like to give arctic shield a shot. I just may do that and give my reviews. Keep an eye out for that one dave.
I think both Artic Shield and the “blogger” are wrong. They probably should have fixed the zipper or replaced the bibs but they did not HAVE to. And crying about it and trying to make a company look bad because of one faulty zipper is just immature and petty.
Just my two cents..
Hey Chris, if I had only been “crying about it” and trying to make Arctic Shield look bad, then I’d probably agree with you on this one. But I wasn’t. I tried to give them every opportunity to fix this, including offering to pay for the repairs myself. Not only did they choose not to help, they chose to adopt a “you bought it, you own it now, don’t bother us anymore” attitude. I can tell you that if that had been a pair of Carhart’s, they’d would have made it right. Just the difference in companies I guess!
Oh…by the way…had they fixed them, I was ready to write about how great of customer service they have…they chose what article was written by the actions of their customer service…
What is the difference in the H series Number that is behind the H. Does it have to do with the weather ratings??? What are the ranges if that is what it means???
Thanks
I love dealing with poor customer service, you get to call the Better Business Bureau on them, go so far as to call the District Attorney’s office. And if they are really local ….. it’s rather hard to say No in person!
I sometimes wonder about warranties, for instance: you buy a New Chevy truck, powertrain is 3/36,000? Used Chevy truck you get 5/60,000? Oh, you can increase the 3/36 to 5/60 for $500???? Mmmmmm a little backwards???? Best warranty ever, and I mean the absolute best is given by Badlands. Check it out and you will see what I mean, the last pack you will EVER have to buy. Love their customer service too!
Well i know one reason they wont fix it ,because its made in china need i say more
thats whats wrong no one cares about a product they sell anymore. because its imported theres no going back on them? and they can getaway with it less legalitys more MONEY!
Contact Absolute Outdoor and their customer service department should be able to help you out.
877-252-2056
My boyfriend had a broken zipper on his 2 year old H4 jacket. I went to the Arctic Shield website, and it directed me to Absolute Outdoor, the new company that owns Arctic Shield camo clothing. They said they would replace his jacket zipper for $19.95 which would include return shipping back to me. What a deal! We decided to do it and the jacket is like new again. (it took about 3 weeks)
Now that is what I call good customer service!
Amen Rob,thats something else Dave probably doesn’t have a problem with,companies out sourcing out side our borders so they can operate cheaper supposedly to pass savingns on to us the consumers.Ifail to see where made in china ever made anything cheaper.Sorry don’t mean to seem bitter, but there was a time… I think Artic Sheild should have made the repair or atleast helped, sign of the times. was
I have a pair of the bibs that are probably 5 or 6 years old and the leg zipper on one side quit working right. It would start to zip but would pop open making it really difficult to get the zipper slide back to the top.
The slide is metal and it had worn some so it was not meshing the two sides together firmly. I used a pair of pliers to lightly squeeze the top and bottom of the slide together. That is all it took. Works like new again. Try it. Just don’t use too much pressure.
I am going to have to agree with Dave on this. Are you kidding me? Dogging this company because they wouldnt fix your zipper? They are 4 years old! I am sure that you were willing to pay to get them fixed after they would not fix them for free which brings me to my next point. Get a yellow pages! It has a list of everyone in your town that can fix zippers. Dont rely on Bridgett, thats not her job to tell you who can fix them in your city. Now with that being said, are they warm, before the zipper broke of course? I am thinking about getting the H6 or H7.
The artic shield clothing is very exspensive and you would think it would last more than the 4 hunting seasons for the author of this complaint with the broken zipper. Its not like everyone can afford to continue to drop this kind of money every 4 years. I would be upset also. Looking at buying some of this gear but after this article, who knows?
My boyfriend’s 2 year old arcticshield bib side leg zipper broke and I called Onyx/Absolute Outdoor. I found there number online, apparently they purchased arcticshield this past year. When I called their were super nice and understanding about the zipper problem and offered to have it repaired for $19.95.