Backcountry.com

Full review
I had my eye on a Patagonia fleece jacket and had been hoping Patagonia would mark it down in the Spring. By April I was still waiting so I finally tried a web search and found my jacket for 30% off at backcountry.com.

WEB SITE

The web site is well organized and it was easy to find what I wanted. There was an outlet section with markdowns but, conveniently, the sale items also appeared with the regular merchandise on the main part of the web site.

MERCHANDISE

Given the name of the store, it is not surprising that they carry outdoorsy clothing, tents, hiking and climbing equipment and other sporty stuff. The merchandise is generally upscale and includes expensive brands such as Patagonia and Prana. L.L. Bean carries similar merchandise but offers a broader range and lower prices. Backcountry's advantage is that their clothing is more fashionable. Also, the tents looked very cutting edge with funky designs and colors.

CHECKING OUT

Checking out was simple. I only had to enter my information once. However, after I placed my order, in my confirming email, I got a password assigned to me. The password was a random mix of letters and numbers and there is no way I will ever remember it. I needed the password to check the status of my order.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

I got an email immediately after placing my order that acknowledged my order. A day after my order, I got an email that my item had shipped. The email had tracking information for the package. However, in order to get to the tracking information, I had to go back to the site, enter a random assigned password that came in an email from Backcountry and click around until I found my order. After that, I could see the status of my package. These extra steps seemed unncecessary. I strongly prefer it when I get a link directly to the tracking information from the company.

PACKAGING AND SHIPPING

My fleece shirt was shipped in a plastic bag, surrounded by paper in a large box. The box was very large and the paper was unnceccesary because the fleece was unbreakable. I found the extra use of packaging ironic because the fleece I bought was made from recycled materials. Yet, the retailer added all this unnecessary packaging.

It took eight days to get my package after the order. I thought this was an awfully long time considering I paid them $5.95 to ship a lightweight fleece shirt.

STEALS AND DEALS

I looked to see if Backcountry.org participated in ebates, shopping.com or upromise and it doesn't look like they do at this time so I was unable to earn a rebate.

I signed up for their email alerts about a week ago and haven't gotten any yet.

I also looked for coupons on the web and couldn't find any.

However, this site does have an outlet section and the markdowns were pretty good. It is definitely worth checking this site if you are interested in the brands they carry.

RETURNS

My package included a mailing label that I could use for a return. The packaging could easily have been reused to ship back to the Company.

The web site says this about returns: "If for any reason you are unsatisfied with your order, please return the item(s) to us, and we will gladly ship the exchange for free or refund you the full cost of the product(s)."

I didn't make a return so I can't comment on the process.

FINAL RECOMMENDATION

I thought my fleece was a good price and my item was well-packed. The long delivery period was unacceptable given the price I paid for shipping. I would try this merchant again but only for items I am willing to wait on.



DO YOU LIKE TO SHOP ON THE INTERNET? HERE ARE SOME MORE REVIEWS OF WEB STORES:

Clothing and Accessories: Talbots; The Gap; CWD Kids; Hanna Andersson; J. Jill; Tote Le Monde ; Blu Pyxie ; Miniboden; One Hanes Place; Nordstrom; Gymboree; Simple Shoes; Sierra Blue; Ebags; Shoe Dawg; Osh Kosh.

Clothing and Home Goods: Lands End; Bluefly; Soft Surroundings; Garnet Hill; Sundance; L.L. Bean.

Home and Garden: Smith & Noble; Restoration Hardware; Gardeners Supply Company; Unicahome; Homeclick; FaucetDirect; Gardens Alive; West Elm; Crate & Barrel; MyKnobs; CB2.

Books and Magazines: Amazon.com; ValueMags; Magazine Values; Dover Publications.

Office Supplies, Furniture and Services: Staples; Officemax; Topdeq; Efax.

Electronics: HP Shopping; Buy.com; ABT Electronics.

Travel: Amtrak; Hotwire; Orbitz; Hotels.com.

Discount: Overstock.com; Target; Smart Bargains.

Photo Developing: Shutterfly; Snapfish.

Baby Stuff: Babystyle; Babys Here Birth Announcements; Baby Universe; SoZo; Baby Center; Baby Age.

Miscellaneous: 1-800 contacts; Movie Tickets.com; Drugstore.com.

Rebate Sites: Upromise; Ebates.

Before you start shopping, check out my tips on how to save money by shopping on the internet . I have also included some coupon codes and plan to add more as I find them.