Dick's Sporting Goods has horrible customer service
I purchased, or rather my father purchased, a Livestrong 8.0 treadmill for my birthday on January 21st of this year. I had been in the previous week and seen their sale for $100 off and free delivery/install, and convinced my dad to purchase the unit from Dick's instead of from Livestrong (who were doing a promotion of $799 for the unit including a free extended warranty). Even though I couldn't get my father in on time for the promotion, Dick's manager Pete was gracious enough to honor their promotion of $100 dollars off, yet I still had to pay for the delivery and install. So I received the $799 treadmill for $699, plus $69 for the deliver/install... Not really saving much, but I was there and so I made the purchase. I should have bypassed Dick's and gone with the Livestrong website's offer and gained the Extended warranty. Hindsight, since I had no idea the issues that were coming.
The delivery was set for the following Tuesday, yet when the delivery company came we found out that the employee at Dick's had ordered me an ELLIPTICAL. Ridiculous. We didn't even bother unloading the elliptical from the truck. I called Dick's that night hoping to rectify the situation, and spoke with one of their employees in the Fitness section who told me that he would put the paperwork in and "get a rush on it".
Meanwhile, I had a personal trainer appointment on Wed, the following day, which I couldn't cancel because I didn't have time to. W/out the treadmill there to set up programs for me to follow, I am now out $120 in a wasted session fee with my trainer. So basically because Dick's messed up I essentially paid $888 for a $799 treadmill I DID NOT EVEN HAVE. And I didn't even get the warranty I would have gotten if I'd gone via Livestrong's website. Ouch.
I called the next day and talked to Pete again, who assured me that he ALSO would file the paperwork for the exchange and "put a rush on it". I heard NOTHING back for two days before I decided to call again. I talked with a different manager (Mike I believe) because it seems the store manager doesn't work very much at this location. He apparently called the delivery company trying to see what the hold up was, and called back to leave me a voicemail saying he would try again the next day. At this point, my father... Who's card this is charged to... Decided to step in. He called Pete again and FINALLY it seems they got the paperwork together and actually get started on my delivery. This was the following Monday, I believe. It took them about a week to even START thinking about getting my treadmill to me, and the "earliest" time... Their "rush" time that I was promised... Was today, Feb 6th. A full 16 days from the purchase of the unit.
The unit finally arrived and... Lo and behold... The control console was DEFECTIVE! The buttons wouldn't work properly and while the unit would turn on, the treadmill wouldn't Start up. The installer told me I needed a new control console and said he would contact the Dick's to have one shipped.
Really? So what, that's another 3 days at least to have it shipped, then who knows how long for an appointment by an installer? How backwards is this company.
Rather than rely on an e-mail sent by the delivery company, I called Dick's Corporate consumer care line and spoke with a representative. She was overly apologetic but didn't offer anything in the way of true help other than having the Livestrong manufacturer call me directly. The Livestrong representative promised to ship the parts needed right away and have their own contracted installer call me to make an appointment. Still... Who knows how long this will take.
I will update this posting once resolved, but I am VERY disappointed in Dick's lack of concern for their screw-up. Granted, they must be downsizing (I mean... Their shoe department at the Bel Air store now looks like a Pay-less or other discount shop now that they've put their shoes out on the sales floor for a "help yourself" shamble), but there is no excuse for the way I was basically ignored by the management of the company when trying to resolve the issue. It is like they refused to put the paperwork in to get my treadmill replacement! Not only that, but the Corporate care representative flat out told me not to expect the District manager or any higher than the store level employee to bother giving me a call back!
As I said, I will update this posting as well as other postings I will be putting on the web to warn consumers about the horrible service, respect, and response that Dick's shows its customers.
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