Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting HPG Returns heads up

Heads up to anyone buying their gear. Their returns are well less than desirable. They have received the pack I sent back five days ago. No refund and no confirmation they even received it. So I called today. Returns take 10 days to process! Funny they can process your payment instantly but refunding takes 10 days.

I can't say anything negative about their products. The pack just did not fit me. But come on 10 days to process a return really?

I've met the Hills, and always been impressed by them and their products. Ten days doesn't bother me, if I want to return something I've probably already had it for longer than 10 days just making up my mind.

I had it a few days (weekend). I think ten days is excessive. If you can take payment instantly you can refund it instantly. I never spoke a single bad word of Hill People Gear, or their products. I made that clear in my Post! But I will point out a bad return practice. Maybe you are ok with that, but I believe it is a bad choice and practice. It is super simple to credit the card that was used. No place I have ever returned a single item took even three days!

I also wouldn't be concerned about a 10 day return process.

They might be able to speed it up if you had the money earmarked for something.

It isn't about the money being earmarked, It is principle.

That is great you don't care they take a ridiculous amount of time to refund you. Some may and I am just letting people know my experience. If it doesn't bother you that is great.

I bought the replacement pack right away from another company. No big deal. But ten days is not acceptable in my eyes. Twenty years ago maybe.

OK. Got it.

Don't buy from Brownells either then cause their policy is 10 working days.

That's pretty much the standard.

I have much less patience with a company the size of Brownells. Cash flow is what we're talking about and with small companies like HPG it's almost always an issue. Brownells not so much.

I work for a small company that's still much larger than HPG. Sometimes, making payroll requires some tough decisions on cash out the door.

What's it worth to you guys to support a company that's made-in-the-USA by "one of us?"

Let me add a bit of a small medium business perspective .. not sure what we classify as but we have 30 some employees. In our case, our return policy may be worse, I will have to check but I think we have 30 days. That being said, we try to be expeditious .. however that being said sometimes it gets more convoluted, maybe it requires some internal communication, or a documentation of why . I know sometimes with us , not specifically returns, but sometimes just in general things can get hung up in the process and internal communication. Also, I know all businesses are different, but we really try to over deliver and frankly set expectations low and then over deliver on them. However, everyone is different.

Kevin, that makes a lot of sense. I guess in small companies, the "returns department" may also be the "Accounting department" the "HR department" and the "shipping department" so a few days might be needed to get around to it.

So cash in you can do instantly but cash out you can't due to the size of the company? Complete BS! You all can accept that if you want to but that is pure sh_t business practice. I deal with small and very small businesses everyday for work. I have zero issues being credited back instantly. A few that I have a very long history with refund the money before they ever even receive the parts back. Anyways as far as I am concerned it is just a bad business choice. Get me once but you won't get me twice!

Hey I'm not sticking up for them .. but the payment end is usually pretty automatic however returning payment requires some manual stuff and possibly some inter company communication. Usually it requires a visual inspection to make sure no one is trying to pull a fast one. Likely there are only one or two people with access to do that as well.

I'll give you an example with my own company. I can't even return payment to you .. I'd be lost . Yes I know most of what we do in materials, designs, or the big things on our web site and sometimes I am the only person that can do certain things .. but I can't give money back to someone without some training . I have almost nothing to do with the money flow and how to on it. Yes, I set it up about 10 years ago but that has long since been handed over to others. I have done almost every task at seek outside at some point , but I don't do most of those tasks anymore, instead I have grown more into managing the overall structure. I don't even know how to run our phone system (hopefully I don't get [bleep] canned after admitting all this :))

Well gee, thanks!!

Like I said, it's worth it to me to support made-in-the-USA by "one of us."

I wasn't pointing fingers at you Kevin. First off in a company that small everyone should be cross trained to do everyone else job. But that is a whole different topic. I can see a few days on refund by hell no not ten days and that is business days. Sorry but there is no excuse for that period.

I guess we all have our own standards of what we will accept. I didn't come on here badmouthing anyone. I just simple gave a heads up, that I wish I had been given that's all.

I rather support well made and great service than a particular place an item was made.

Yep, me too. And to clarify, when I said "one of us" I wasn't talking about nationality.

First world problem, chill out. Good people making good year. You got to try out their product for free and they are taking it back w/out question. Life is too short to sweat the small stuff.


mike r

I’ve found 10 day to two weeks pretty standard when returning items with exceptions such Amazon.
Often times even a local return takes several days for the refund to show up in the account when the purchase was debited instantly.
Then there is the refund policy of the State of Montana. A refund can’t even be processed without a W9.
Everyone get to choose from who they buy.

It isn't a problem it is an annoyance. I don't sweat anything. No where did I say they were not a good company. Reading isn't your strong suit!

Ed T that is funny I live in MT and return stuff all the time. I have yet to ever have to wait for a refund. Never once dealt with a W9.

Refund from the State of Montana.
https://media.dojmt.gov/wp-content/uploads/Request-for-Refund.pdf

The hits keep coming.

Pretty sure I sent back a backpack and did not request my vehicle registration be refunded.

Here's another data point. We had tickets to a concert last night and it was cancelled. Got an email from AEG, one of the largest promoters in the country with a very sophisticated and totally automated ticketing system.

Thirty business days for a refund.

I occasionally have to give refunds via credit card. I can do it immediately on my end but on the card's end it oftentimes takes a bit, like a week or more. How is this my fault?

Maybe your bitch is misdirected?

Wife and I run a small business, and we try to do refunds when we have to quickly. However, with a small company, we both do a lot of jobs, so depending on what fires we are putting out, it may take a day or so to get to a refund, after we receive the product back and determine, as Kevin said, that someone isn't trying to pull a fast one. Add on to it that the refund goes through 2 steps before it gets to the buyers bank can add to a few days each step. It often only takes a day or so for us to process the refund, but we have a 15 day policy for refunds, just to cover our ass with all the possibility of delays along the way.

Evan and Scott do a great job and are straight up guys. If there is any issue they'll do their best to fix it.

All one needs to do is go to the HPG website and look at their exchange/return policy.

https://hillpeoplegear.com/Products/Warranty-Return-Policy

"RETURNS / EXCHANGES
If you get one of our products from us and it just won't fit the bill, we'll refund the entire purchase price within 60 days of purchase as long as the product is in original new condition. All you need to do is send it back to us with the form below filled out and we'll handle it. Please allow 5-7 business days for us to process your return once we've received the package. If you elect to exchange, you'll be charged $12 for shipping on the new item."

thanks for input

10 day refund seems reasonable, and the norm.