Complaint Review: Big 5 Sporting Goods - Oceanside California

The heels of the hiking boots I had purchased from your Oceanside store became unglued and flopped half way through a moderate hike. This happened the first time I wore the boots! I have been given nothing but a great deal of hassle, run-around, grief and frustration since I brought these boots back to the store for a refund or store credit. It is the intent of this letter to bring this matter to your attention and to ask the Company to authorize the store manager to process this return. I brought the defective boots to the store about a month ago and asked for store credit since I no longer had the receipts. The assistant manager (Jordan) examined the boots and agreed that they were in brand new condition, except of course for the heels which were completely detached. However, he stated that they no longer carried this brand and hence the Company had removed from the store computers the information he needed to process the return. He asked me to call the headquarters for assistance and handed me an 800 number to call.

Jessica answered the phone when I called the headquarters. She was most unhelpful, unprofessional, disrespectful and extremely rude. She denied me access to the district manager overseeing the Oceanside store, or anyone else who could help bring the matter to a resolution. Instead, she continued in a series of outrageous remarks, claims and opinions; such as “I must have not used the boots for a while and that it is normal for heels to detach when the boots sit unused!!” She became quite rude -- repeatedly interrupting me in the middle of each sentence, and eventually hang up on me -- while I was trying to explain to her that I, like the majority of hikers (e.g., members of the Sierra Club), go hiking once-in-awhile and no more than a few times a year, and that a pair of boots normally last a good few years regardless of how often they are used or set aside unused. I called the store and explained to the store manager (Daniel) the ineffectual telephone conversation I had with Jessica. He told me to bring the boots back to the store in order to see what he could do.

When I did, he examined the boots and seemed satisfied that they were still in brand new condition. However, he stated what I had already heard before -- that the store no longer carried this brand and that the information he needed to process the return had been removed from the store computer. I told him that I had paid about $35 for the boots and will be satisfied if he gave me store credit for that amount. From what I understood him saying, he agreed. I spent an hour or two to find another pair, but when I brought them to the cashier, Daniel said that I had misunderstood and that he had offered to provide a voucher toward the purchase of another boot. The voucher happened to be only $5.00 for the pair I had selected! I left the store frustrated, disappointed, and dissatisfied. Before leaving, however, I asked him to contact the headquarters in order to get the support or authorization he needed to process the return. Subsequently, I kept in touch with him once every few days. But, to my utmost disappointment, he informed me yesterday that he had been unable to get the support he needed and has given up trying. By blocking every possible avenue from getting a remedy, I have no choice but to feel ripped off and defrauded. I have written letters to Mr. Steven Miller, CEO of the company, and several executive management complaining about the matter. But I have not received any replies no any resolution to the matter.