I ordered a harness from Alpine outfitter back in June, and I've yet to get it OR get a reply if it's even close to done. It has been over 2 months and it still hasn't been delivered. Has anyone else had issues with this before? I know they were training a new employee to help with orders, but really? Two months for one harness? It's just worse I can't get a reply back to see where it is at this point. I also ordered two x-back harnesses, but at this rate, I'm afraid I'll move before they even ship.

Others have had this issue with Alpine Outfitters and they have either gotten their harnesses after numerous messages to their customer service, or they cancel their order. During the summer, after their sled race season, I see no reason why they would be backed up in orders. I didn't have an issue with Alpine - in fact, I got an extra tow line from them because they took longer to ship my order than they said it would take.

If you can't reach them, I'd say cancel your order and order through Adanac Sleds. They make the same harness, just as nice, and they ship on time and have great customer service. Another place to order from is Nordkyn. However, I do like Adanac's harness over Nordkyn's.

I'd try giving them a call. I ordered some stuff from them including two harnesses last summer and actually got them pretty darn quickly! I did talk with the lady on the phone, cause I meant to add something to my order and she's very nice. But I have heard other people's orders taking way too long. I'd just call and go from there.

I never had any trouble with them. My custom x back came in less than 3 weeks after ordering if I remember correctly and I got prompt responses to all 3 of my email inquiries, this was back in December 2008 though.

Sorry your having this issue, i thought they would have gotten their shit together by now during the summer months..
if you would have done a search on here you would have seen this thread
https://www.itsahuskything.com/t1473-alpine-outfitters?highlight=Alpine+Outfitte
i say keep calling and keep emailing till you get a hold of some one.

i love Adanac Sleds, they even built me custom lines for hiking, i also think their bungee line is stronger.

So they still suck in the customer service arena even after the owner appeared on here a while back saying the problem had been rectified. I waited for ever once never again. In my world their is always competition for your business.


Read post from ao4dogs: (2nd from bottom)
https://www.itsahuskything.com/t1473-alpine-outfitters?highlight=alpine

Len, did you miss my thread with the same link?

it is sad to hear nothing has been fixed on their end.....

I did see that post, and I had hopes when the owner said something, it would of changed. Seeing how that subject was a year ago, I just assumed that they got it together. That is what I get for assuming though. I heard a lot of good things about them, and I wanted to get a good, sturdy harness for biking season, but the time it shows up, it'll be sledding season, and at this rate, I'm not sure if I'll have the supplies in time.

Ashley,
have you had no luck with the info the owner left to try and contact them? i say cancel the order and go somewhere else like NOW before sled season does start. Sorry you had to be the one to find out nothing had changed....

The owner of Alpine stated that custom harnesses is what takes time and that they are the only company out there that does custom x-back harnesses, however, this is not true - Adanac and Nordkyn also makes custom x-back harnesses to fit your dogs measurements.

I wanted to place a new order with them but emailed them on wait time before placing it. Last thing I heard was the wait time was still long. I love their new harnesses and new designs though...

I have had an issue with them, but I called and the customer service was amazing with them. I however get my X-back from nordkyn outfitters. I just like their X-back better. I got that one in 2 weeks! I don't like all the other equipment from Alpine.

We had a 3 month wait period in February when we ordered, we did get them eventually though. It came really quickly after I called and complained.

I ordered mine in March and it came at the end of May right before I was going to move. Only way I could get in touch with them was by phone. The harness is great but I don't know if it was worth the wait.

Call them and tell them you are moving soon, that is what I did and it made it to me a little before I moved.

To "amcooke" and all who commented,

This is Bruce from Alpine Outfitters; I'd like to respond to yesterday's posts, first to the question by "amcooke" fom South Dakota. As I stated in my post from a few months back, we have made timely, helpful customer service a priority and respond to all phone messages and e-mails within 24 hours. We received your e-mail in early August and responded at that time with an update. Honestly, we are not aware any voice messages since then; if we somehow missed your phone call, I apologize. So you know, your custom made Adjustable Urban Trail Harness was completed this week. I will try to call you to answer any questions that you might have, or please feel free to call us at 360-659-3800 and ask for Joyce or me.

To all, since my last post, we have done all the things I said we were doing or were going to do:

- Joyce handles all customer service inquiries personally and within 24 hours.

- We have two additonal seamstresses to assist harness production; another is being trained, in preparation for the upcoming season.

- We have added standard size, ready-made X-Back and Adjustable Urban Trail Harnesses, which are shipped out with 2-3 days of order date.

- We are currently in the process of updating our website shopping cart. One of the many new features is weekly e-mail updates regarding order status, which we believe will be very helpful. The integration should be completed in October.

Our custom-made harnesses still take several weeks; 4 - 6 weeek during off season and 5 - 8 weeks during season. They are of course, custom made to each dog's specific measurements. Even though we now have standard size, ready-made harnesses are available for immediate shipment, most of our customers still prefer to wait for their harnesses to be custom made. All other products such as ganglines, picket lines, etc. ship within 1 - 3 weeks.

I would like to share with you a siginificant setback we experienced in mid-August, which did temporarily slow down our custom harness production specifically. You may have heard of the terrible fires in Washington? On Monday evening, August 13th tragedy struck our harness manufacturing location. The fire began when a spark fell from a welder's torch while he was working on the Taylor Bridge in Cle Elum, WA. Flames quickly broke out and spread due to the high winds, engulfing thousands of acres and many homes. The fire moved quickly over the hill into Ellensburg where our manufacturing shops are located. Everyone, including thirty five sled dogs were safely evacuated. We received news the following morning that we lost one shop and one of our seamstresses lost her entire home. Power poles went up in flames and all power was lost, halting harness production. We are thankful that no person or animal was injured in this fire. We temporiarly brought in a couple of generators to restore some power until the lines are back up. Please understand that we are doing everything possible to get back in business and get our customer's harnesses and custom sled bags constructed and shipped. All other products that are not custom made are readily available. Again, we have standard sized X-Back harnesses and Adjustable Urban Trail harnesses immediately available to ship for those customers that cannot wait.

Power lines were restored late Tuesday evening, August 21st and we are back in business, working overtime to catch up.

Again, I offer to the group, if you have anything you would like to share with us, whether it be a complaint or suggestion, please feel free to call me or Joyce directly. Our contact information is as follows:

Joyce Stegmaier, joyce@alpineoutfitters.net, 360-659-3800
Bruce Stegmaier, bruce@alpineoutfitters.net, same phone, or my cell phone at 714-504-4484

Customer feedback is very important to us, both negative and positive. Our business has increased significantly over the past two years, which we are thankful for, and we actualy do get a lot of positive feedback from our customers around the world. CONTRUCTIVE feedback however, is the most valuable to us. Please let us know if there is something we can do to serve you better.

Regards.

Bruce Stegmaier
Alpine Outfitters

Greetings all!

I just wanted to throw out my two cents worth about Alpine Outfitters. I have been a customer of theirs for almost 20 years now and I've got to say that I have never found a neater bunch of people to work with!

When I was a novice musher, the owners took me in and helped me out. As I became a competitive driver (6 dog mid, mostly) and started studying different equipment options, I came to realize that Alpine not only made the best equipment, but backed it 110%. If something didn't fit, or didn't work out for me for any reason, they worked with me to fix it - whether with a refund, an exchange, or a problem-solving session on the phone or in person - they were always there, and they never suggested it was my fault, even if I did a bad job measuring!

When I had a dog that was hard to fit, they invited me to their shop to make a special harness to fit that dog - not their standard harness, but something unique to his needs! And they never charged me for that service.

Now I know that Alpine has gone through some changes over the last couple of years - and a whole lot of growth. Certainly this has caused some bumps in the road, but I've never, ever had issues with their service. Things are taking some time right now. Their growth, I think, is outpacing their workforce at the moment, but they'll get it straightened out and they will certainly make things right for anyone that contacts them. It's custom work, and if it takes some time, it'll still be worth the wait! Trust me!

The fire they are referring to is in my area - if anyone doubts - it was called the Taylor Bridge Fire - and it's only just been contained. It was the largest fire we've seen in this area and it was seriously devastating! The sleddogs that were evacuated - I know those folks! And Alpine has offered to replace ALL THEIR GEAR that was lost in the fire (even though the fire had to impact them financially). That kind of generosity does come around very often - and it deserves notice.

So, to Alpine Outfitters: Thank you so very much for your support of the victims of the fire! And thank you for so many years of awesome harnesses and lines for my dogs as well!

To those of you who are unhappy with Alpine right now: try contacting them. Leave a message on the phone. Joyce and Bruce are super people and they really do care about their customers. If you've been waiting, let them know. If you are anxious to get your gear, tell them. If you aren't in a huge hurry, then contact them anyway. Let them know you just want to check up on your order, make sure it's not lost. And if you can spare a bit, send some money through them to the sleddog owners that have lost everything. I understand they've been taking up a collection.

And finally to Bruce: If you want constructive criticism, try this: You can't make all the people happy all of the time. It's not possible. Don't waste your time on those that you know you can't make happy. There are plenty of us out here that know the quality of products you supply and we will never be turned away from Alpine!

Sorry to hear about the fires! That's really scary! Hope everyone is safe!

Thanks, Sara. Our family is fine, but a lot of friends lost everything. The community has been incredible though - so many donations the volunteers don't know what to do with them all. People really pulled together for the animals and the people. I've never been more proud to live here.

Thank you guys for replying, and thank you Bruce for the call today! I'm sorry, I didn't know about the fires (I don't keep up with the news ) Also, I'm sorry if you didn't get my emails or calls, I'm not sure why you never received them. Well, then phone calls don't surprise me, my "smart" phone isn't very smart. Regardless, thank you for your prompt reply and phone call to update me on everything that's going on. Your customer service is amazing, and I'm excited to see the new harness and I look forward to buying more products from you and your company! Sorry about the losses that the fire has caused, and all the issues that it has made, but I hope things start running smoothly again.

Thanks to everyone with their replies, and the links to the other shops. Though I'm going to keep my business to Alpine outfitters when it comes to harnesses, lines, and other things, I did notice that the other site provides things I cannot get through Alpine Outfitters, so it's still very handy information!

So thanks again for everyone with all their help and experience, plus the other sires to order from. Thanks to Kaos Kennels (sorry, I don't know your name!) for your knowledge and years of experience with the company, and Bruce for taking time out of your day and calling plus replying to this, it shows AMAZING customer service to me!

amcooke, I'm so glad you were able to get in touch with the folks at Alpine and so glad you came away with a good experience!

You'll love the harness, I promise!

L

So this isn't necessarily an issue yet, and if it turns out to be this is no way their fault. I absolutely love them, their products, and I have never had anything but a positive experience with Alpine. However, I just ordered an Xback harness a couple of weeks ago (its in the mail now), I wasn't all that comfortable measuring Siku because he is so squirmy so I had my boyfriend do it. Well I was measuring Nikolai for his yesterday and he is so good at staying still so I was confident with my measurements on the new harness, but when I compared them to Siku's (Nikolai is bigger) the measurements were WAY off and now I'm not sure that Siku's custom harness is not going to fit. What happens in that situation? Is it wrong to hope that I can return it? Has anyone ever had that happen with products from there? Its not their fault or really their problem, I guess I shouldn't be worried until it arrives, but I'm very positive that it is not going to fit and don't want to spend another $40 and have an additional Xback that doesn't fit and I can never use.

http://www.alpineoutfitters.net/secure/scripts/termsandcond.asp

It seems they will take it back as long as it is unused. They will remake one at half the cost of the original plus shipping.

I would contact them and ask to just make sure.


Good luck!

You could email their customer service and hopefully catch them before they start it, they're pretty good about helping with measuring if you think you did it wrong.

simplify wrote:

http://www.alpineoutfitters.net/secure/scripts/termsandcond.asp

It seems they will take it back as long as it is unused. They will remake one at half the cost of the original plus shipping.

I would contact them and ask to just make sure.


Good luck!

Thanks I'm praying that it fits, and it should be in the mailbox when I get home. They have always had such great customer service with me, so I just feel bad that they did the work and it was my mistake. and I couldn't find that link of their website so thanks! I did send an email to Claire yesterday and only heard back from a Joyce today, so I will see what Claire says for sure if it does not fit. But this takes some of the stress out of it!

Jennet&Embry wrote:

You could email their customer service and hopefully catch them before they start it, they're pretty good about helping with measuring if you think you did it wrong.

Thats what I did with my second harness today, I emailed them and said to wait until I check my measurements for the millionth time just to make sure this time. I mean I did go to college, it shouldn't be to hard to take a couple of measurements, but apparently it is for me!