Sports Authority reviews and complaints

Purchased a golf shirt last week, took it home and found that the type of shirt was too large and I needed a smaller size. When purchasing the shirt, I noticed that they only had large shirts in the color I wanted. So I took what would be the size I needed in grey, which was not my first choice. At home realizing that the shirt was too large, I said great, I can now get the color I wanted. So my next trip to Hilo, , I live in a town 60 miles away, I took the shirt to do an exchange to a smaller size. I normally do not take things back to stores, so upon trying out the shirt, I threw out the labels and the receipt. Here we have a bring your own bag policy and I had a carry bag and threw the shirt and the receipt into the bag. At home I cleaned out the bag and threw all that I did not feel important into the trash. When realizing I need the change the shirt size I hunted fir the receipt to no avail. It was small, I probably squashed it as I flew it into the trash and did not want to hunt further than I did as it was getting messy. When I asked sports authority to make this exchange, they could not find that I had purchased the shirt the week before. I know I shopped there because I had the shirt and when paying, the cashier asked if I was registered with them. I gave her my phone number and she said, Paul? I said yes. Waiting a long time for this issue to be resolved, even though the store was almost empty, they had three people at the register with me as the customer, it was absurd. Finally they say after speaking to their manager who sat above the store somewhere they could use the cheapest price. This meant that they would give me an exchange for the cheapest price they sell the shirt for which was about 14 dollars. The sale price for the week was about 17 dollars which is the price I paid. The next step was to ask me to pay for the cost of the shirt today (17) minus the cheapest they would sell (14). Before they could ask me this humiliation, I told them to keep the shirt and left. The cashier who came by to help my first cashier told me that the reason they were doing this was because I chose a different color and if I would have exchanged into a gray shirt, they would not be doing this.. That was too much for " my grey hairs", I will never walk into that store again. Besides their prices are always too high.

we purchased a treadmill and extended sevice contract on 7/712. Last Saturday 8/10/13 we noticed some oil in the floor so called for service. The appointment was set for today 8/15 between 8-12. Around 1030 my wife called to find out they had no record of this service call. Call back to service number and was given another servicer to call. I called them to get an answering machine that stated the mailbox was full try again later. I then drove to mthe store around 130 and spoke with George the store manager. He made copies of all my paperwork, did apoligize and stated he would be back in touch with me later today. At 730 pm when I still had not heard anything I called bakc to the store to find out George had left for the day without calling me. I ask for the number to the corp office and after waiting a few minutes received the number. I call to find out the service line is not open to support stores beacuse they closed at 730 MST. I would highly consider buying your exercise equipment from another retailer who cares about the customer after the sale.

After purchasing two large items from Sports Authority; elliptical and bicycle, two reward cards were mailed to my home. These cards were mailed separately (within two to three weeks of each other). When attempting to use the second reward card which was mailed to my home, the cashier stated it could not be used as it was previously obtained. Completely confused since I had the card in my possession how was it possible that I ‘used’ it? The cashier had no idea how to handle the situation and asked assistance from the manager who looked like she couldn’t be bothered. She rudely told me I had to call customer service, which already in the store, wasting over a half hour of my time, I told her “No, you can call”. The individual on the phone, Lauren, was absolutely ridiculous. She explained that “sometimes” duplicate rewards are issued and “Unfortunately the amount could not be obtained’ over and over again. Please tell me how this makes sense? Why would a company send out multiple reward cards if it can only be used once? If you send me two cards, I am going to use those two cards. The reward amount was a lousy $26 dollars, but why not use it if you have it. Lauren was no help and supposedly the manager Katie was on her lunch break. I asked if there was any other manager and she said “No”. It seems really impossible that a large business as Sports Authority only has one manager in office. When calling later that day, I was told by another representative (Sean) that the manager had left for the day. Seems to me there is no manager and they are basically giving you the run around in hopes of you giving up. I have emailed my concern to many email addresses found online and have received no response. It is extremely frustrating after spending hundreds of dollars on an elliptical and bicycle, to which they pretend to have a ‘reward system’ that you are unable to obtain. I would have rather received no ‘reward card’, which would have saved my sanity and time wasted at the store and on the telephone with their customer service.

Bottom line: I will never shop in Sports Authority again and I hope that you do not either. This place is overpriced with employees who are poorly trained with upper management which cannot make decisions. Hopefully I will receive a response and will continue to leave my complaint on every single ‘Complaint Website’ I can find.

I purchased a Golds Gym strength Tower from Sports Authority and was told I would get a delivery call in 36 hours. But I wasn't told that they would tell me we will deliver and assemble in almost 3 weeks! After complaining to the store they apologized and said there is nothing they can do. Well 2 1/2 weeks later with a delivery time of 2-5 PM, they showed up at 4:30! When they got inside and started to unload, they said " We don't have all the Parts!" Now I am really mad, and I said, well why don't you call the store and get the parts from the display model. The assembler said " let me call and ask my boss". The assembler came back inside and said they can't do it because his boss ( Ken) from the D&A department said the store said no. Well, I called the store to find out why, and the Manager by the name of Steve said " I said no such thing! I said they can come and get whatever they want as long as the customer is happy!" So I called Ken back to ask why he lied and he said "Well ahhh, ummm, he said no at first but than said yes" I then asked Ken for his last name because I wanted to speak to a manager and he said "NO! I am not giving you anything!" When I asked him why he stated " I don't have to!" I said aren't you an employee of SA? He stated NO, I'm not (another lie) He would not give me his full name, the store manager who I called again, stuck by his word and said "I never ever said no to him at all!" When I talked to Ken again his comment was "I am not sending my guy to take another part and then come back to assemble your stuff, it's too late now!" Well I said but it's not my fault they came a half an hour before it was time for them to leave. Ken then said "well, I can either reschedule you, or you can return it to the store" It's not my problem. Ken from D&A was a very rude person and should not be in any position of authority. To lie to a customer, treat them rude, and then deny to give them his last name is horrible and reflects on Sports authority since I have purchased my last Item from Sports Authority.

i ordered a treadmill online from sports authority. it was delivered and since it weighed 160 lbs i could only look at the box o the top side, which looked fine, when i opened it i found that the bottom side of the box had damage, and the plastic support piece for the treadmill was busted. called and got authorization to return it, and a second one was shipped. trying to arrange for the first one to be picked up was an ordeal. i received a form in the mail with a ra # and phone number to call, but when i called the number, it was not a shipping company. called sports authority back, and they couldn't find anything on the ra # and info i had recieved in the mail. by now i had recieved the second treadmill and it too had the same damage, the same plastic parts were busted. it must be a packaging problem, they obviously need more protection around this particular part to ship it. so now i have 2 broken treadmills, and still cant seem to get the correct info to get the first one picked up. every time i called i talked to a supervisor who assured me they were going to get the matter resolved for me and would have an ra # emailed to me the next day. this went on for days with me calling every day and never getting the person i had talked to the day before, even though they gave me their name and extension number. i work nights and so every time i had to stay up and try to go thru all this story again and agian i was doing it on my sleep time. and then i started getting emails from them sayiing if i did not return the first one soon i would be billed for the second one! and when i got frustrated on the phone one lady told me she would hang up on me if i continued to be rude to HER! my dad has cancer and i had to go out of town for a few days and let this ride and when i came back i still did not have anything from them on this. a couple days later i got the ra # for both and have finally sent them back. have finally recieved refund for the shipping charge, which i was promised almost 2 weeks ago, now hopefully i will get refund for purchase price so i can finally go buy a treadmill, like i tried to do over a month ago. very, very customer UNfriendly company.

This is an annoyance (wasted time) more than anything. Beside the fact that they are higher on their prices than anyone in town, their sales staff is not even CLOSE to knowledgable! I started to play racquetball again after a long time away from the sport. I went into the local store here in League City to look at racquets and equipment. They DO have a dedicated racquetball section after all... I asked several people for help with racquets and court shoes. The fact that their selection is horrible is beside the point. I could not find ANYONE that could give me any information on racquets OR shoes! You would think that a specialty sporting goods store could help with at least shoes! I have also gone in to look at kayaks and fishing equipment. Still the same amount of help. Having an employee in a specialty store that knows nothing about anything that they sell is like a mechanic that has never turned a wrench. My advice is to avoid Sports Authority like the PLAGUE! If you want racquetball equipment, go to online stores like Lawler Sports that knows their stuff. If you want fishing or boating gear, go to Bass Pro Shops for their unltra-knowledgable staff or Academy for the prices! There is no KNOWLEDGE in this store of anything that has to do with SPORTS!

I purchased my K2 Astral 2.0 bicycle at Sports Authority on Saturday, April 16, 2011. Today is Friday, April 22, 2011. On sunday night, I noticed a residue on the sidewall of the front tire. I thought it may have been the SLiME that I had the tech install into my tires. I tried rubbing it off with my fingers. No dice. I then thought it may have been permanent marker, which I know (from experience) is alcohol soluble. I grabbed an alcohol swab and wiped off the permanent marker. What was the permanent marker hiding, you may ask? It was hiding a Schwinn logo. The bike is a K2 bike, with a Schwinn tire. I thought I would ride my bike 9 miles to the Sports Authority store where I purchased the bike. I brought it into the store, and talked to a manager. He told me that Schwinn manufactures tires. Not only is that false, but that was a coverup. Both front and back tires have the same tread pattern and are manufactured by Innova. I then realized hat the rear tire is alright, according to K2's spec sheet on their website (700x35c), while the front tire (with the covered up Schwinn logo) was incorrect according to K2's spec sheet. It was a 700x38c. I spoke with another manager (all of the sales employees seem to have tags with the "Sales Manager" title) who told me that there was a Schwinn branded tire on it because Schwinn is a quality company, and they want people to think that the bike is of quality. This is not true, because if they wanted people to think that the bike was of quality, they wouldn't put it on just the tire, and they wouldn't cover it up with permanent marker. I had to wait for a tech to arrive to adjust my front derailleur. When the tech arrived, I directed his attention to the Schwinn branding on the tire, and the incorrectly sized tire. He went to check the K2 Astral 2.0's that they had on the floor. He was about to take the tire from a floor model and put it on mine, but the manager (the second one I spoke with) asked him what he was doing. He said "I'm not sure he has the correct tire." The manager said "oh. He /has/ (backslashes added to simulate italics) the correct tire." I had a mortified look on my face. The manager said to me "We'll look at the tires when you come in for your 30-day tune up." And I left. I was extremely dissatisfied with the service I received there. I will be going back with my father (I am 15 years old) tomorrow, Saturday April 22, 2011 (exactly one week after date of purchase).

I bought basketball and hiking shoes for my middle school son. At checkout, the cashier asked whether I wanted to buy a "maintenance" contract that would allow me to buy new shoes at a nominal price as he grew. I tried to buy new shoes for him this afternoon but was told that the contract only covered excess wear. I never would have bought the contracts if I knew that as he doesn't do that much hiking and mist of his basketball is played I doors. I was told that this program has been terminated and that the manger of the Boulder Co store was fired over confusion with this program and overselling its benefits.

I bought this Elliptical machine on a saturday and i paid for delivery and assembly, first of all the sales manager tried every trick including telling me horror stories of machines giving out fumes on first day etc to coerce me into buying extended warranty. i refused and left the store after payment. i had asked for a delivery and assembly and i waited and waited for the delivery people to call me to set up a date and time. somebody called and left a message after 3 days and uncfortunately i missed her call, i tried calling her up several times next day but she wont pick up the damn phone. i talked with SA and they washed their hands off the matter saying i need to keep calling them again and again to set up a date and time for delivery and assembly. horrible service and i hope the machine turns out to be their saving grace.

I went in to sports authority at the colorado mills and was looking for a new ski jacket for the season, I found one i like and went to purchase it because the jacket i found was a great deal. After heading to the register the lady told me the price was marked wrong so she called a manager over. He then started telling me i was trying to "pull a quick one" by switching the tags. i showed him where i got it from because there were multiple of the same jacket market down in price. He laughed and told me i wasn't going to get away with what i did. Screw that manager i'm never shopping at sports authority again cause of their horrible customer service. i hope they go out of business actually cause in this economy there are many competitors who treat you better and don't need to competition from sports authorities [censored] bad corporation

I bought a package of soft tip darts. It rang up for $34.99 but where I got it from had a price tag above that say $17.99. The girl at the register had a sales person go check it out and he said said that the darts where at the wrong area. There was 3 off them there. So someone had not done there job and put them in the wrong spot. So I grab a cheaper one and went back to the register. After the girl rang me up i notice the sign on the counter that said that if the price ring up wrong or not the same as the price that's on the product that they will give you the lower price plus $3.00 off. i pointed it out to the girl and shae said "oh I didn't konw that was there" and I said shouldn't I get it for the $17.99 price and she shrugged her shoulder and began to help the next costumer. I didn't even know what to do after that so I left. I was going to go on there website and conplain but they don't even have that on there website.

Bought a weight bench 12/12/09 & assembled it on 12/26; then realized they gave me the wrong bench. Store manager offered to send their assemblers "Go Configure" to my house, take down the bench & assemble the correct one. Got recorded voicemails saying when they'd show up, called them to change appointment, called again and they had no record of my appointment. Got several recorded calls saying the name of the company & nothing else. Guy showed up @ my home when I was 40 miles away & called my cell. I told him what was happening; he promised to look into it & call back - never did. That night received a recorded voicemail asking me how I liked their service and to call a number. I tried - no answer. I called their other number & told them to leave me alone from now on. Called Sports Authority customer service and spoke to a dumbbell who asked if he could call me Michael. He tried to find his supervisor, couldn't, then asked me if he could take info and they'd call. I said OK. He said (Are you ready?) "OK Michael, What's your first name?" Yes, that's not a typo! Needless to say they still haven't called me.

Sports Authority advertsied on sportsauthority.com that any item that was in stock and purchased before Monday evening, December 21, 2009 would be guaranteed to shipped and received before December 24, 2009.

I placed an order for an item that was in stock, as stated by their web site, on Sunday, December 20, 2009 and with a web acknowledgement that the item was purchased prior to the cutoff date.

On Wednesday, December 23, 2009 3:18 PM, SA sends an email stating that they canceled the order. No reason why, just canceled.

Called into SA customer support line and was informed that SA canceled the order due to a "Setup Error" in the warehouse. I asked about the guarantee. The representative stated that there was no guarantee if the order was canceled.

So I asked, well what is a guanatee if you have the option to arbitrarily cancel the order? I was given a standard answer that that was the term of the guarantee.

A guarantee means that if someing is not performed then the party that does not perform is held accountable and compensates that party that did not receive the service or goods promised. Not so according to SA. They could cancel the guarantee any time they want by canceling your order, for no specific reason. Not a guarantee in my book.

My only recourse is to choose to not to patronize SA and to imform and ask others to do the same.

Very poor customer support and customer service. Really, they should be ashamed at such deplorable business ethics.

Purchased golf club (driver) during July 2009 clearance sale. Upon very first use, the driver fractured. Returned club to store and was told that Sports Authority would not refund or offer store credit for damaged item, that this was between me and the manufacturer.

I bought a pair of running shorts on 5/9/09 while visiting family. When I got home 60 miles away and tried them on I found the magnetized plastic theft preventor still attached to the shorts and was unable to get it off, rendering the shorts unwearable. There is no Sports Authority where I live.

I called the store to complain. The manager was properly apologetic, but his only suggestion of help was that I take it to a nearby Big Five, which also has the same devices and ask if they would remove it. To me, that speaks volumes about the lack of interest in maintaining a positive corporate image and customer relations. I am not going to do that. I am going to hold on to the shorts until I'm over that way again, and then return them, and never shop at Sports Authority again.

If this is typical of this chain's attitude toward customers I can only think of two words: Circuit City (which, probably karmically, was located next door to this Sports Authority). Good riddance to poor corporations.

On 12/13, I went to check out a 60 dollar purchase with a coupon Sports Authority had mailed to me for $10 off a purchase of $50 or more. The coupon listed several exclusions, but not for anything I was buying. When I got to the register, there was a sign saying that as of 12/12, coupons could no longer be used for purchases of Under Armor, so since the UA sweatshirt was $45, my coupon did not work. The cashier was nice but firm, as was the manager I spoke to. I pointed out that the coupon listed several exclusions but did NOT list Under Armor, but they refused to honor their offer - 'company policy.'

I told them I had been looking forward to making this purchase, and had received great customer service in the store today, but when they refused to honor their offer, I left the items at the register and left the store.

I have four kids who are or will be playing sports, and Sports Authority is convenient to our house. But I will be making sure to go out of my way to patronize Dick's Sporting Goods and Model's, in hopes of finding a reputable, trustworthy company.

1. I bought an expensive rackquet of "Wilson" company and I played with it for less than a month and all of a sudden frame got broke. I took the racquet to them and they refused to do anything with it except giving me a 1-800 number for "Wilson" which was a number of an employee who never called me back.
2. Same thing with "Wilson" shoes, after couple of weeks they were ripped off on the top. They again refused to do anything with it and rather made me angry by saying "There is no way that these shoes were bought couple of weeks back, look very old".

Terrible customer service and they don't stand behind their product. Once you are out of the shop then it is not their headacke any more.

On December 12, I ordered a Detroit Tiger sweatshirt for my son for Christmas, supposedly to be shipped in "4-5 days". I called on the 21st around 9:00 pm, as it had not yet been shipped, sat on hold for over 30 minutes, only to have somebody finally answer then, after hearing my complaint, hang up in my ear.

I called back a second time, waited another 30 minutes or so, then was hung up on again! Finally, around 11:00 pm, a third time and after almost two hours, I spoke to a nicer lady who said she would push the shipping through. We just received the item today (December 27), and it was the wrong item! Most of their stuff can be purchased with other stores (Dicks, Dunhams, etc.) with much better customer service. I cannot say enough bad things about them. Do not order from these people! They are terrible and frustrating!