Just thought I'd let everyone know of my experience with Ameristep...

Got a Doghouse blind for Christmas. Opened it yesterday for the first time to practice with it for turkey season. Realized it was missing the 2 poles needed to support the blind. They were not in the blind packaging.

Called Ameristep customer support and to say the least they were not helpful at all. They required a receipt which I do not have as it was a gift. Very corporate in their responses and not at all interested in working with me on this.

I will never buy an Ameristep product again.

I'm sure most folks on this site have had experiences like this with various companies as it seems good customer support is becoming a rare commodity. Businesses that look after their customers is where my money will be going whenever possible......

That is frustrating. I gravitate towards companies that have superior customer service....clearly they aren't one of them.

Thanks for the heads up.

Sorry to hear that and it is frustrating but that's the world we live in today, I've never in my life seen so many incompetent people as there are today and no one cares if the customer is taken care of or not.

Worse yet, they lost a customer for $2 worth of fiberglass poles.

I have their "outhouse" blind (not suitable for Bowhunters) and find it to be well made and easy to use. It's a shame they take that attitude towards their customer.

Maybe you should take another run at them. Problem is that most customer service these days is done by phone banks and much of it out of the country. That rep you talked to may have been dealing with a problem new to them and just took the easy way out. Call again and if you get the same answer start working your way up the ladder of supervisors. At each level there is a higher authorization of authority. Pretty sure you will eventually get satisfaction.

I dunno but I like them because they're incredibly easy to set up, and it doesn't matter if they get ripped off.

Have had good luck with my Ameristep products. My cheap Doghouse blind is still going strong after several years!

Too bad you didn't examine it at Christmas.Ive always had excellent customer service and ordering replacement rods is easy online.

id give it another shot. youll get to somewho cares eventually. recently had a similar experience. ( actually much worse) with bulova watches. went on for weeks. got hold of a manager and things were fixed immediately. it was a ridiculously bad experience though but it worked out

Yeah there's no sense in a company doing a customer that way.

These company's have no customer service at all anymore. I bought a 450 AR upper build kit from davidson defence and they sent me a stripped upper reciever for a smaller caliber. There answer to me was you will have to mill it out to handle the bigger ammo. Needless to say will not be doing business with them again.

I left my blind up one December. We had an unusually heavy snowfall. The weight of the snow collapsed the blind and snapped the poles. Five in all. I found replacement fiberglass rods at Tractor Supply. The poles are gray electric fence poles without the insulators. They were the exact size I needed for the Ameristep blind. I cut the poles to length. Slid them together butting them to the pole ends that were left in the hubs using 1/2" ID steel pipe sections as couplers. I had to saw broken fiberglass with a hacksaw, but I got it fixed. Cost me less than $10, poles and pipe.

I hate to hear you had a bad experience with your Ameristep Doghouse blind. I have 7 of those blinds set up on a couple of farms and love them. Hopefully it gets worked out for you. I agree nothing is worse than poor service !

I also had a moderate depth but heavy snow and it snapped the poles on both sides. I jimmy rigged it back to use with dowels and electrical ties. I was very disappointed in the quality but it is going into the garbage can at the end of the year. This is the second go around with their product. The first year the hub broke just trying to put it up and needed some duck tape to use at all. Those zippers are pretty loud and the doorway is too darn low to comfortably get in and out anyway

I'd do what Longcruise, recommended. Customer service is what keeps compnies in business.

send send it to me Ill pay postage

I ended up calling back yesterday afternoon and talked to a different customer service person. They said the same thing as the first, but also stated they had a dealer with replacement poles for $7.50 if I wanted to call them. I told them the $7.50 is not an issue to me but its the principal of the situation that keeps me from doing that - i.e. the blind is brand new and did not have the poles so I think the company should provide the poles as it was their mistake. They said their manager would call me if I wanted and I agreed. They are supposed to call back today. We will see what happens....

I will order the poles if necessary but that is just not the right way to do business in my book...

Ameristep blinds are pretty good - I've had a brick house for 10 years - duct taped in spots from wear and tear - and use it more than my double bull. I also have a chair blind from them I use with the gun sometimes - so whether they are good or not is not the issue to me, its that I expect them to stand behind their products.

Good comments from everyone - thanks for your input....

I'm certain the one who gifted you this has either a receipt or can show through a statement bank/credit card when it was purchased. I'm sure if they knew they would be just as unhappy as you are.

I don't really think it is poor customer service to require proof of purchase, but that is just my opinion. Good luck.

X2 with Stickshooter and pdk25.

I'm sure this is not your situation but they probably hear similar stories all the time.

If you had opened it when you got it and had this problem with their customer services I would think it poor customer service. You shouldn’t be upset about them asking for proof purchase now.

inmho, most of their stuff is cheap junk.... I have several original DB set ups, sewed in Racine Wis,,, superior to the Chinese junk,,,, that we continue to support

PDK and Nemo - I understand where you are coming from with your comments but another way to look at it is --- if they had included all the parts with the blind that were supposed to be there I wouldn't have needed a receipt or have this problem....

No manager call yesterday.

I did PM them on their facebook page for help and someone responded so we'll see what happens...

The Camo pattern on them is terrible! I set one up in the den that my wife decorated with real fancy stuff. I will be darn cause she picked it out immediately when she came home and gave me hell.

Tom - lol lol lol

Hope it works out for you Longbowwally but just keep smiling either way. :)

May I put an alternative point of view .....

Look at it from Ameristep's point of view ....

With all due respect Longbowwally, for Ameristep you're just an anonymous voice on the end of a telephone asking for something for nothing. You have no proof of purchase and have no proof of ownership. For all thy know, you might be asking for something to which you're not entitled. It's not their fault that you cannot provide proof of purchase.

Perhaps the person who gave it to you as a gift could help with proof of purchase.

"You have no proof of purchase and have no proof of ownership. For all thy know, you might be asking for something to which you're not entitled."

Wonder how many people who don't own an Ameristep are trying to score a couple poles? :-)

Honestly, why would they nitpick a customer and hurt their own image by trying to weed out the rare opportunist who would try to defraud them of a couple bucks worth of poles.

Just this topic alone will have many potential customers looking more favorably at competitors products? Think of the alternative scenario where they treat a customer right and they speak well of them. Or, at least, never speak at all and therefore doing their reputation no harm?

After many years in sales and customer service there is an adage that I've seen hold true; "a happy customer tells one person but an unhappy one tells ten".

If Ameristep knew that a customer was deceitful then denying the request would be a matter of principle. OTOH, what appears to be their policy is that all customer problems of this type are brought by dishonest people.

Siilar Issue with Summit Tripod. We bought a few of the Delux models with the leg extensions. one of the brackets was missing that made the base and extension fit. I tried getting that bracket several times, and all I would end up with is "we don't sale individual parts nor replacements.." Customer service is going down the hole with a lot of businesses. On a positive side there are still a few places like Big Jim's and Magnus who seem to really pay attention to their customers.

-Bones

Companies will never learn. I hunted out of one for one evening, never again to tight of quarters.

I've had a Doghouse for probably 5 years. I only use it during our shotgun season, can't shoot a bow out of it. It's been trouble-free (except one night, trying to fold it up during a downpour!), but before making another purchase I will take this report into consideration.

I accept this will not be the popular view but here goes.

I resent that I am forced to proved my honesty as the victum. As far as I am concerned if I call and say the parts are missing they are missing.

And for the record my first blind was an Ameristep and it was a good one.

Sorry Penny. I understand that you resent it, but it is the result of the human condition, and muliple liars and people of low moral fiber that have caused thing like this to happen. We don't bat an eye when someone shows up at walmart with a similar complaint and they ask for proof of purchase.

You don't know how the customer service will be until you have to use it! Then its subject to the person on the other end. If they don't like how you come off don't expect their help.

A gift is not a gift unless it follows with a receipt.

Some things to think about. You want something from someone then you better be nice to them.

And if they don't give you a satisfactory answer then ask for their supervisor and so on up the ladder.

Be prepared to possibly be on hold for a while until a supervisor or manager comes to the phone.

Hope for the best all we can do.

Company's say a lot of things but whats their stand behind policy?

Its all in how we represent ourselves at times that get the honey. No one wants to give you honey when you are full of piss and vinegar.

I got a pair of jeans for Christmas as a gift. I had no receipt. They didn't fit and when I took em back they would not exchange them without a receipt.

I've learned not everone has a return policy like Magnus.

Keep in mind, many companies purchase from China and do not always have repair parts in stack as a result. My experience with another company buying from China (and this company surprised me that their products were made in China) was I had to wait weeks for a shipment from China to correct my problem.

I remember when they started off making screw in steps. They were impossible to start and had a friend fall 30 feet when one of them broke. I always stuck with Cranford EZ Steps. It tainted me on all of Ameristep products.

Rik - I think Ameristep products are made in China - kinda ironic considering their name....

I think I have exhausted all avenues of getting any satisfaction from Ameristep and will pursue other options of getting some poles.

Thanks everyone for your comments....

I hunted one day with their screw in steps years ago.... To this day unless someone took them out that is where they are still in that tree...LOL If you buy any be sure to take a hammer to get the started!

As most know customer service differs from business to business.

We have a Cabelas 45 miles from home. They sent out a flyer which had EZ Ups (canpies) for $50.00. I drove over to buy 3 for myself and two others. After I got there I was told they were out and that it was a promo item and there were no rain checks. I spoke with the manager and denied my request for a rain check on them even after I explained my 90 mile round trip drive. I thought about it on the way home and decided to call Cabelas customer service and told them what had taken place. The female in customer service responded by saying there was no reason not to give me a rain check on the canopies. She asked me how many I wanted and I told her 3 and she sold them to me for the sale price, SHIPPING FREE. Now that is customer service. SERVICE.

I bought a doghouse blind at a surplus auction several years ago that had been returned to the store because it didn't have the fiberglass poles. I called the company and they shipped me the poles free of charge. I used that blind in rain, snow, and freezing rain for about six years before some butt head stole it.

I really don’t have a dog in this fight but I read more than one comment about the poles breaking. That in itself would keep me from buying their products. I have a old tent that went through snow and wind storms in the Sierras and the poles are still good.

I had 2. Gave one to a friend eventually. They’re both still real good though one leaks some as it’s old. I don’t commonly even use the poles unless it was w a trad bow n not a gun. So I misplaced the poles. The one time I dealt w their customer service I was treated fairly. I offered to pay though as it was my fault. Not honoring a brand new blind would tick me off

Jon Stewart.,what you ran into was a lazy person. They didn't want to deal with you . By turning you down the did not have to do any work.,

Eating crow - "means humiliation by admitting having been proven wrong after taking a strong position."

When I've been wronged I don't mind putting forth the energy to have it made right - in the same breath when I've been done right I strongly believe in praise.

Today I received a new Dog House blind(complete with poles lol) from Plano Synergy - a company that owns Ameristep from what I can tell.

Either the second customer support person I talked to(who was good at knowing how to talk to customers) or from a PM I sent via Facebook to the Ameristep page - via one of those two ways Ameristep took care of my problem.

I will attempt to track down the party who took care of me and thank them.

I felt it was important to let everyone know this ended up well and Ameristep took care of my problem. Did they have to since I didn't have proof of purchase? Of course not but by doing so this sends strong signals, to me at least, that parts of corporate America still values their customers and takes care of them.

Thank you Ameristep.

You got lucky, Ameristep shine like new pennies in the sun anyway! Every deer and turkey within 5 counties would've spotted you;)

Why don't they call themselves Chinastep?

South, I sat in mine and watched six turkeys wander all around me and so close I had to lean over and look down out the window. None of them showed any sign of concern over the blind.

I've had a Ameristep hub blind for years. It doesn't, and never did, shine. Brush it in for deer.

I had one I sat up on an Island in the swamp. Brushed it in good and killed deer and Turkeys from it with my longbow. I put a camo canvas over the top of it after a few years and put moss on top of that. It finally fell apart after maybe 7-8 years.

I stand corrected, I forgot how dumb turkeys are;)

I stand corrected, I forgot how dumb turkeys are;)

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