The Sports Authority, Inc. Is headquartered in Englewood, Colorado. It operates over 400 stores in 45 U.S. States under The Sports Authority.
On Sunday, February 17, my wife went to The Sports Authority retail store located at 11140 Pines Blvd., Pembroke Pines, FL 33026 to purchase a ping-pong table. She hauled the large box from the store to our house. When she got the table home and opened the box, it became clear that this had been a returned item: there were essential pieces missing and the table itself was badly scratched. She returned the table to the store.
At the store, the salesperson gave my wife a replacement table and the salesperson induced her to purchase an extended warranty on the table by representing to her, in front of a third party witness, that, if there was any problem with the table, The Sports Authority would come to our house to pick up the defective table and deliver a new one. Relying on that representation, my wife purchased the extended warranty and brought home a new table. This second table was defective. The metal frame that holds up the table was badly bent.
When my wife called the store to report that the second table is defective, she was hung up on twice. On a third phone call, the person answering the phone refused to connect my wife to a store manager or supervisor. On a subsequent phone call, the "manager" said that, under no circumstances, would the store would deliver a new table if there was a problem with the replacement table. According to the manager, this is not provided by the extended warranty.
Therefore, it appears the salesperson deceived my wife into purchasing an extended warranty by making false representations about the warranty. This is either negligent or intentional misrepresentation and constitutes civil fraud under Florida law.
Stay tuned for how this ends up being resolved.in the meantime, I would caution all consumers to be very careful before making any significant purchases from The Sports Authority. Question everything a salesperson tells you, get confirmation from a manager, read the fine print of any extended warranty before you purchase it, and examine at the store, before you bring it home, the contents of any box to ensure all the required items are in the box and that they are new and undamaged. Apparently, The Sports Authority resells as "new" merchandise that has been previously purchased and returned. Be very alert and careful about making any purchases from The Sports Authority!
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