Steep & CheapReviews 98

I had good experience for the first 2 times when I ordered items and used their hold for a week and buy other items for $1 shipping feature. However, my recent experience has been lackluster. I wanted to buy a small item but found that bicycle shipping charges were used eventhough the item was not even related to a bicycle. Since there was no phone number, I emailed them. Much time elapsed and by the time they replied, the item was sold out! I just got the flippant response, "better luck next time"... Then, I ordered a set to Kershaw knives. The order was confirmed and I held off shipping for a week so ship each additional item for $1. I then ordered a sleeping bag. On the day the item was shipped, I got an email that they had an issue with their inventory tracking and the knife set was actually sold out. So, I went to their website to check the status of my sleeping bag. It was shipped out BUT instead of the $1 shipping, I was charged the full price as it if I never ordered the knife set and they messed up on their end. Since they messed up on their inventory tracking, shouldn't they also give me the $1 shipping or give me the option to cancel the remainder of the order since it was revised without my permission? I only bought the sleeping bag for the $1 shipping deal, not if it would cost me the full shipping! That is poor customer service twice now!

I placed an order for 4 items from their website, my order was confirmed and I received and email stating that I would receive it in two separate packages. Days went by and I went back to the site to check my order status. To my surprise there was only on item listed that I had ordered. I called steepandcheap and explained my situation. The customer service rep stated that the price on 3 of my items was too low and they took them off my order! WHAT! If you list a price on your site... and I purchase the items you are committed to sell them at the listed price... you cant go back after the fact and say "no we dont want to sell you those now because the price was too low"... this is out of the mouth of the reps manager. I will never buy another thing from Steepandcheap or their parent company www.backcountry.com! False advertising and poor ethics...

I have had nothing but problems with steep and cheap and I would highly recommend no one buy anything from them. I bought a beanie. It got lost in the mail. They refused to send in a request to UPS to search for the package. I wrote an e-mail asking for my money back because they refused to even put in an issue with UPS to find my order. The president or someone claiming to be him wrote me back, apologized and said he would send me another. I told him I just wanted them to put in an order so UPS would look for it. He said no, they will just send me another. Fine. I ordered some sunglasses. Didn't like them. Returned them. Only got $4 returned to my credit card. Wrote to ask why. Apparently they took the extra $15 to pay for the second beanie because a few weeks later UPS found the package and sent it to me. Should I have returned it, apparently. Given that I had told the president all I wanted was for them to put in an issue with UPS and he insisted on sending another, I thought the resend was in apology for having caused me so much trouble with the first one (several e-mail and several phone calls). On top of that, it's been months. If they wanted the 2nd beanie back or for me to pay for it I would assume they would tell me, not just take it out of some random return.

I am a big steepandcheap fan. It fits into the "flash deals" category that woot.com first pioneered, except unlike woot, steepandcheap rotates it's deals throughout the day (woot is just one deal a day except during their "woot-offs"). This style of shopping is not for everyone as it requires a bit of luck and a lot of patience to find something on steepandcheap that you actually fits your needs. Clothing can be particularly tough to find deals on because often the size/color you want will be sold out by the time you check the site. Because of this I often wind up buying more equipment than clothing from steepandcheap (headlamps, ice axe, etc). Whenever you do find something that fits your needs you're pretty much guaranteed to be getting it for the best price on the web (and often the best price by a wide margin).

The checkout flow is fantastic. Once you're a logged in member of steepandcheap making purchases is extremely simple and hassle free. Also, this is one of the easiest sites I've ever dealt with for returns.

I was going to give a 3/4 rather than 4/4because of the slight hassle intrinsic to a flash deal site. However, they're not trying to be anything other than a flash deals site, so comparing steepandcheap to other sites in the same category I think it easily merits a 4/4 rating.

At the beginning this was an AWESOME site. Killer deals for the outdoor enthusiast. Brand new products from last years line on sale from 30-80% off!

Here's how it works (or worked):
- They sell 1 item at a time at a set price (which was heavily discounted)
- It is sold until they are completely out of the product or a set amount of time elapses (1 hour or so)
- You reap the benefits of a awesome deal and they get rid of the products not being sold out in stores.

Two years ago I would have given the site 5 STARS... Now, I can't say the same.
**Opinion**
The discounts are no longer as good and the variety isn't what it use to be. Everything seems to be way too expensive even for a discount website.

Hope this helps.