Reader Reviews

Rating: 5 / 5

Last year I had problems with one of the poles from my old Moss Little Dipper. Moss was purchased by MSR some years ago and I was worried about having the tent pole replaced.

I called MSR and was greeted by a friendly customer service rep. She gave me the instructions to send the damaged pole back for repair.

Anyway to make a long story short - the pole got lost in the mail. At this point I figured I was pretty much up the creek and we were going on a backcountry trip in 8 days, but I called MSR anyway.

The same woman greeted me and told me not to worry - they would ship a replacement pole out right away. No questions asked.

The pole arrived in 3 days and we were able to use the tent on our trip.

I must say I was very impressed at the level of customer service.

Edited by Laurie_Ann on 12/04/2006 08:22:28 MST.

Rating: 5 / 5

The first review is 100% correct. You can even call and talk to people for advice about how best to use the MSR gear. They are one of the backbones of the UL movement, as far as major mainstream manufacturers or retailers go.

Their stoves set the standard for me until the Snow Peak Giga came out and on the phone their staff will even talk about other companies gear with praise.

Rating: 5 / 5

MSR's customer service, along with their parent company, Cascade Designs, has fantastic customer service. They warrantied a Sweetwater filter that started blowing water out of the side (the one they now produce under the MSR line) with no questions asked. They sent me a new filter, which has had no issues in the past year.

A friend of mine works for MSR's parent company, and that friend gave me a tour of MSR and related factories awhile back. I was in heaven the whole time. It was a thing of beauty to see outdoorsy gear still made in the US. And indeed, it is an old school place.

Rating: 5 / 5

I'm in Seattle and have known these folks for year. They are top notch:

Once I took in an old Whisperlite that was on the fritz and thoroughly thrashed (and I was a poor college student)- the repair guy replaced everything except the topscrew...by the time I left, I had a new stove!

Once I sent in a Thermarest to Cascade Designs that I'd been sledding with. They found 18 holes but fixed the whole thing free of charge because they got such a kick out of it!

On all "normal" visits, both companies have been excellent. Like when I broke a pole, lost a weird part to a pump, etc. They are the BEST.

Rating: 1 / 5

I have never been treated so poorly in my life. I called after my Whisperlite literally caught on fire and turned into a flame thrower. I thought that they should know that their product could be so dangerous. Their product safety manager started yelling at me and hung up on me.

It was a very bad experience to say the least. The good news was that I then replaced the Whisperlite with an Optimus Nova, the best stove ever.

Rating: 5 / 5

And many of the small companies as well. I have personally have owned so many MSR/Ridgerest/Cascade Designs products that I've lost count. I also run a small program that uses a fleet of whisperlites, XGKs, Ridgerest Pads and Dromedary Bags.

Throughout my 15+ years of experience with this company, I have never been anything but pleased with the timeliness and responsiveness of their customer service department.

I have had a few complex issues...a plugged Dragonfly fuel line, a broken pole from a camprest chair and some dromedary leakages. They have all been resolved fairly and quickly. I never felt let down and I really appreciate their willingness to be helpful.

Perhaps most impressive is that now I can send an email and receive a response within 48 hours. Sometimes I'm just requesting something odd, like spare stove bags, and it still gets a rapid response.

With all the outdoor companies that I deal with in my profession, MSR rules the roost in terms of their customer service.