Complain about a product or service

Sports Authority

Dianne of Flemington NJ (2/28/02):
We received a flier in Sunday Feb. 24th, 2002 newspaper advertising a sale "The Sports Authority" for a treadmill. It gave instructions to go online to order and ship. My husband went online Sunday morning to order the treadmill. It was not listed. They have a site listed for customer service where you can ask questions. He typed in the info and waited for a reply. He received none.

By Tues. evening, not wanting to miss the sale, we took a 45-min. ride to the nearest store in Lawrenceville, NJ to order one. We were told they were out of stock (having sold the 2 they had) and not sure when or if the treadmill would be back in stock. We asked, "could we have a rain check", the girl gave us a slip and said they would call if any came in but could not be sure when or if. We asked is this a normal situation - advertising but not having the equipment there. She said, yes it happens all the time.

Wednesday night I tried online again and then called and got a service rep. Told them I have been tring to order the treadmill - PROFORM 785 SS on the front of their sale catalog using the online order number. I was told that as soon as a product is sold out - it is pulled from the catalog - so, no I would not be able to find it. I asked why it just did not show as sold out. He said it was their policy. Nowhere did I see anything about that. I asked if they could ship one when back in stock. They do not have rain checks. No where did I see that stated.

I told him the catalog states that they do give rain checks. He said they do not. I told him about trying to order Sunday morning and was told that they were already out of stock. That their flyers are printed and go out nationally and most times they are sold out before you even receive the sale catalog. Not only that but this treadmill is probably discountinued, so why not buy one of the ones in stock with the same features for only $1,199.00 (the sale price was for $599.00 - reg $899.00) I asked if this was a normal way of handling a customer and he had no answer.

I said it seemed like a litte act of fraudulent advertising. He said have a nice day and hung up. I never write to anyone but this sure does make me mad that a company can advertise what is not there.

Sherlyn of Jacksonville FL (12/15/01):
I want to send a complaint in reference to my dissatisfaction about the advertisement sale for November 23, 2001. I was one of several hundred people standing in line before 6:00am on this date. The majority were interested in the electric scooter for $99.00. I was very upset to be told that only 8 tickets (vouchers) will be given out for the scooter. I strongly feel that this was an advertising ploy to lure consumers such as myself.

The advertisement did not mention that only 8 tickets would be given out. Consumers such as myself are aware there will be a limit but 8 is definitely ridiculous. This disappointed me in several ways. First, the number of scooters available, and second, the fact that I missed out on other sales in stores that honor their advertisement to the best of their ability such as Kmart, Walmart, and Toys R US. I could have easily spent my time standing in line at one of the stores above with a very highly chance of catching a sale such as the 19" TV on sale at Kmart which I know for a fact that they had approximately 100 available.

Jeffrey of Fort Myer VA (1/26/01): I purchased a $100 gift certificate for my wife on 21 December online with The Sports Authority.com online store. The package was delivered before Christmas but the United Parcel Service, although it was addressed to Apartment 305, delivered it to Apartment 205. I spoke to my neighbor and lo and behold I received it on 29 December. It came in a shoddy, unkempt envelope. The manner that it got here was totally unprofessional. My wife had not seen it and I put it back in the envelope and she thought it was garbage and discarded it.

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