It has a zero percent chance of reaching anyone who can do anything about it.

You could try handwriting and posting a letter to their CEO. I think that sometimes works. Probably not very often but there are more than zero CEOs who read those letters.

The point is to spread the word.

REI is allegedly a co-op, maybe there's a committee or something it could be presented to?

Usually that just means the owners of the individual stores are the shareholders.

REI Co-op has an Annual Members Meeting in Seattle, where it announces the results of the board of directors election. The 2026 one happened Feb 5. Apparently the presentation is only 8m long, some saying it's pre-recorded and it's near-impossible for members to submit a question that actually gets answered:

https://www.rei.com/newsroom/article/2026-rei-board-of-direc...

https://www.rei.com/newsroom/article/rei-announces-2026-boar...

https://www.reddit.com/r/REI/comments/1qw14k6/rei_hosts_thei...

Maybe they'll figure it out when their revenue drops next quorter or the ones after that?

I was thinking in the same terms: you put up a QR capcha, you don't get my traffic and money. Just the amount of extra work needed, let alone the Google tracking turns me off. As if traffic lights, crosswalks and bridges weren't enough of a hassle.

You can also send an email if you're lazy. In both cases the CEO probably won't read it but a more than minimum wage secretary probably will pass it on to corporate customer support which IME is a lot more useful and the regular support that the company wants you to use.