RealGM

Nick Barnett is Mad at Backcountry.com!
Monday, October 19, 2009 - 2:19 PM
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This is kind of a big deal for me. Nick Barnett knows Backcountry.com exists!

A little background. Nick Barnett plays linebacker for the Green Bay Packers. I’m from Wisconsin. (I understand that a lot of people who are into climbing and skiing aren’t also into ‘ball sports,’ so I’ll just give you a heads up that this blog post might be of little interest to you. Sorry.)

Being from Wisconsin means three things: 1. You’re a Packers fan. 2. You hate the Bears (and now the Vikings, too) and 3. You’re on the waiting list for Packers season tickets. (40 years long or so.)

So my boss calls and says that a Green Bay Packer is upset with Backcountry for messing up the shipping on an order and writing “Go Bears!” on the outside of the box. What? Green Bay Packers order from us! Too bad I can’t access all their e-mail addresses since I can’t get into the ordering system.

Barnett posted a picture of the offensive box on his Twitter feed, and Wisconsin agreed to stop all shipments from Utah at their border. Well, not exactly, but we got some angry e-mails. Quick explanation: It’s unlikely that ‘Go Bears’ was written before this box left the warehouse. The gear gets boxed in about 2 seconds, and the label gets slapped on immediately before the order is tossed in the back of a waiting truck. The packers (in the Backcountry.com warehouse) literally process thousands of orders per day. Though I have to admit that it’s also unlikely the box was defaced once it crossed into Wisconsin since everyone in that state is a diehard Packers fan and lifelong hater of the Bears (and now the Vikings, too). It’s a mystery for now.

To apologize, we refunded Barnett for his first order. Then he placed another one with Next Day shipping and it didn’t arrive for two days. The reason is that Saturday’s not considered a “business day.” I didn’t know that either. We are refunding his shipping costs.

So Nick, sorry someone wrote ‘Go Bears’ on your box. It (probably) wasn’t us. In fact, I have the song “The Bears Still Suck” queued up on my iPod right now. If I find out someone here wrote on your order, I’ll personally beat them with a stick while wearing a Chuck Cecil jersey. Go Pack!
By
Rocky Thompson

Simulack wrote:My girlfriend and I actually ordered about $500 worth of camping gear (mostly clothing) from Backcountry.com this summer before we went to Glacier. I try to avoid the larger, big name companies like North Face so most of it was stuff made by Backcountry itself. I thought the quality of everything was great and it arrived very promptly.

I'd highly recommend the company. Nick Barnett? Not so much.