This morning I attended the Eastside Steelheaders Handicapped Kids Fishing Derby in Issaquah, WA, and had a great time, dispite of the weather.
However, before it began, I was asked to go to GI Joes in Issaquah, to pick up the 6 dozen night crawlers they said they would donate to the cause,when a member of the club went into the store a week ago. On my arrival, I spoke with Les, who is the District Manager of all the Washington and Western Oregon Stores. He outright refused, saying he knew nothing about it, and that he might be able to sell the 20 dozen worms he had in stock to the public, rather than donate them for nothing to these kids! How BAD is that!! I for one, will not be supporting this store anymore!

Fuzzybutt
Silent Approach Jigs

Well, gee Les. Whaddya say I drop a line to YOUR regional manager and tell him about your apparent disregard for handicapped children? Or how about we call the local news channel and let them know about it?

I'd say a public relations nightmare could be the outcome, and who knows if ol' Les will be able to keep his job. And for the want of, what, a $25-30 (maybe even tax deductible) donation.

You sure as hell won't see ME in a GI Joes now. I'd rather NOT FISH than buy gear or bait from a store with that attitude.

BTW: The phone # for GI Joes in Issy is 425-961-2000, give ol' Les a call and tell him what you think

[ 06-02-2001: Message edited by: Dan S. ]

Cold-Hearted, Greedy, IDIOT!

I suggest an e-mail to: www.joesoutdoors.com
Click on "about G.I. Joes"
Click on "contact us"
Let them have it. Do not forget to tell them what your anual purchases is.
they have lost my Business.

I purchased rod, reel and misc. steelhead gear there last fall. never again, and they will hear from me also.

-rbf

First of all when you all came in last week you were told to bring in a letter head saying what you needed and it would be done. But when you showed up you had nothing in your hand but the words out of your mouth. The Lady you all talk to last week was Falice and she was more than happy to help as long as you did what was ask . I was there today and went up to check this all out first hand rather than pass gas in the bb.

You need a paper trail to get a couple dozen worms donated to handicap kids?

Snapper it is not as much a paper trail as there way of doing things. Other wise every tom , Dick, and Snapper would go in telling a story to get free things.. If you are wanting some help be willing to do your part.

Paper trail????Oh Ya I saw one coming out of the Sani-Kan following Hey Yall,it was stuck in his waders...ooohhhh yukkk


Another Store to cross off my list.....Oh well,I dig my own worms anyway......Os

Driftboat, I am the individual that talked to Les on Saturday, his attitude was as he usualy is...Lame, do OUR part??? open your eyes there Chief! we as a club, in the past have spent hundreds if not thousands of dollars for our monthly raffle prizes at this very store! and when it comes time for a VERY small donation to help some less fortunate kids have their only fishing opportunity for the whole year G.I. Joes fell flat on its face, and above all people the District Manager! whom you would think would want to do the right thing in this instance, and should be as embarassed. hell he could have even driven the whole 1/2 mile and came down to east Gillman to watch those kids, to make sure his worms were getting used!
well, I speak for myself only here, and the club can decide as a whole what they want to do, but that store sealed their fate with me, and a whole bunch of friends, Guides, and bussinesses that I deal with every day, they were all appalled at what transpired.

Got Fish??? Silent Approach Jigs

[ 06-04-2001: Message edited by: Fuzzybutt ]

Thanks Scooter for that e-mail address for G.I Joes. I just wrote them a letter to let them know. Pretty petty of a out-fit like that to be so cheap. I hope my $.02 is worth something.....Later, Fishhead Vic

I got this reply from the GI Joe web site..

Thank you for writing to www.gijoes.com

We appreciate your concern, and will be more than happy to assist you in its resolution. We pride ourselves on the high level of service that we provide to our customers, and regret that you have had a discouraging experience with us.

Unfortunately, we would not be able to assist you directly. The email feature on our site is primarily for issues regarding our web store. For concerns regarding our land stores, please contact your local store manager or our corporate office. You may reach our corporate office at:

G.I Joe's, Inc.
9805 Boeckman Road
Wilsonville, OR 97070

Phone: 503-682-2242
Fax: 503-682-7200

I apologize we could not be of more assistance. Your email has been forwarded to our corporate office.

I agree that G.I. Joes sucks. I have tried to order little cleos in bulk and they always screw it up. There management in the Federal store is always changing. Does anyone know where I can get little cleos in bulk in the south end? Going thru Acme they charge $3.25 each where as G.I Joes is $2.25

Thats weak driftboat, try and make the man look bad for helping out the disadvantaged... Next time I help a little old lady cross the street, I'll fill out the appropriate form first. weak effort, GI BLOWS!

I have never visted the store myself... This thread reminds me I never will! Couple of dozen worms will cost them more than the can of worms they opened!!!!!

driftboat, I noticed your items in the classified section are 1/2 price, "never been used", "brand new", "cash gets it." You an employee?

No I work for Kenworth and guide on the side. But do shop there a lot and like what they do for me. I am not happy about what went down about the worm either but it is a two way thing. They were ask a week a head of time to bring in a letter head ..What is so hard about that. Stop in the store and talk to Falice like I did ...

Support your local independently owned shops, forget the chain stores! A small retailer wouldn't think about it twice, it's a no brainer. You guys that shopped at GI Joes should be ashamed of yourselves to begin with, what did you expect?

Lol!!!...I cant help but laugh everytime you bash the chainstores Mr. Tackler.

Its funny because its the truth.

I mean, why would you buy your Corkies and Tadpollys at a store named after a toy doll?!?!?!!?!?


[ 06-05-2001: Message edited by: RPetzold ]

I pledge to not shop at that establishment anymore, but can I still park in their parking lot and check out those fine Eastside automobiles and ogle the fashionably dressed Eastside women? I would have paid for the worms myself just to see the the looks on those little kids' faces when Fuzzybutt introduced himself and announced, "I've got worms!"

When I got home yesterday (Tue) the ol' lady said that a gentleman from GI Joes called and wanted to talk w/ me. I wasn't home and he said he would call back. He didn't.

Anyway, here is my take on the situation.

This dingus should have just given up the worms.

I work in retail and our store (chain) motto is "The Answer is YES!".

If we have to error we error in favor of the customer. If the item is mismarked then we give it to them at the cheaper price and then fix it in the store. We don't lose a sale and the customer is happy.
My managers said in the situation of the worms, they would have asked for confirmation amongst themselves, if no one knew of the situation they would have given the worms anyway and given the person the proper procedure to use next time.

Just my two cents.....

I'm not sure what type of store you work for, but let's say you work at an electronics store. If someone comes in and says that someone at your store said they would donate a TV to a charity but that person brought no proof, would you just hand over a TV? I'm guessing the answer would be hell no. I worked retail for many years and not one store I worked at would ever give something to a customer based on a verbal claim. It's not smart business to do so. Yes, the manager at G.I. Joe's could have given you the worms (I would have), but I can see where he's coming from. How does he know that the person who came in is not going to take them, get drunk, and go trout fishing himself?

I have never been to that particular store, but have been to other G.I. Joe's stores and have always been satisfied with my visit. I've been treated very well which is something I can't say for other sporting good stores.

WA fisher -

I work at a box store similar to Target.
We do sell electronics, clothes, sporting good, etc, (no worms).

Now your analogy is a bit overboard, but real close to how we operate.

We have people come asking for donations all the time, quite a few have never contacted the store before hand but 9 times out of 10 they leave with something.

Obviously if you asked for a high dollar item there could be a problem,(cmon' they were just worms).

I am not going to mention where I work, but if you took an item to the register and told the cashier that it rang up at the wrong price the cashier is to give you the item at YOUR quoted price, then after you leave, contact the Pricing dept to fix the situation.

If you walked in and asked me for a couple dozen notebooks for kids program, I could give you those at a reduced rate or free....and I work in the maintenance dept.

If you found a $500.00 TV sitting on a $200.00 price tag, even though it was obvioulsy a mistake the TV is yours for $200.00.

Ovbiously if everyong knew that then it could hurt biz, but then they will just decrease my hours and my raises will be smaller so it doesn't really hurt the stockholders...


Peace...