Sporting Life — Local services in Markham

This review is for the branch at Markville Mall location. I was shopping there on Dec 2nd, 2022 to get some reflective tape/stickers for winter outdoor activities for safety reasons. Sporting life does have such products to sell. The overall shopping experience was frustrating at this branch; as a loyal customer I feel being misguided/misled, felt dismissible and not treated right by certain staff. The consequence is that the image of sporting life as a leading sporting goods brand is tarnished in my mind and I will consider shopping at its competitors for similar products in the future.

During the whole shopping process, I interacted with three staff members.

1. The first one seems like a manager (of the day?), as she (an east Asian woman) was assigning tasks to other reps at the checkout station. I asked her where the product was located. She pointed to the few bins at the checkout and after I searched it in the bins and I could not find it, I asked the second staff member about the location of the tape. He eventually helped me located it elsewhere. But as a manager, though, I think she should have been more familiar with where goods are located in the store. If she does not know for sure, she could ask other staff, but she did not. If it were not for the second staff member I asked, I might have just left with empty hands.

2. the second staff member did help me locate the tape, which is at the biking section. But during the 10+ meter walk I had with him, he kept telling me the product was seasonal. I convinced him that it should not be seasonal as visibility issues are year round issues. He then said it may be "store seasonal". It really should not be seasonal in any store in my mind, as sporting safety is an important issue. And we did eventually find it at the biking accessory section. When I asked him further about different colors of the tape, he just plainly told me that he might have to check at the back in some box, which was hard to locate at the time and he was busy and had many other things on his shoulder and he cannot help me further. Later he did went to the computer terminal to check the color options for me at my persistent request. But his saying to his customer that her needs is tiny compared with his work, so she cannot be served to her satisfaction is shocking. I thanked him for helping me to find the tape, but his attitude and words made me feel like being a nuisance or should be dismissed. This type of customer service is unacceptable in my opinion in a leading sports store like this. I think he needs to be better trained as a rep.

3. the third staff member I met at a clothing rack was friendly, patient and answered all my questions with honesty. When I checked out the tape, the manager (the same one I mentioned before) told me that I could get a $50 discount if I buy things over $50. At the lure of the discount, I spent more time at the store and picked out some clothes, only to be told by the third staff member that the discount did not apply to some brands of clothing in my selection. This restriction on the coupon was not told by the manager at the check out. It was such a waste of my time! Info with omission is a type of lie. Is this the way to treat long-term customers?

I will give the manager of the day a 1 star rating, the second staff a 2.5 star and third staff member a 5 star . Overall it is a less than 3 star (decent) shopping experience. I hope the higher management can see my review and should get staff...

Today, I had the privilege of meeting Calvin, in the shoe department. I went, in a hurry, because I need a pair of waterproof hiking-ish shoes for a trip to Portugal where it is a lot of walking - uphill and also cobble stones and lots of rain currently. I had seen a pair of Merril’s (spelling?) on sale on the site that said waterproof and my initial interaction with an employer (did not catch her name) was not great. She was lovely and patient but lacked knowledge that was needed. Maybe she was new and getting experience on the sales floor but with how hectic life is and how expensive shoes are, all stores need to be equipped with knowledgeable staff. She could feel my impatient and even irritated energy and so, she was kind enough to admit she needed help (which is huge self-awareness) and would get her colleague who could help me. Well bless her heart for bringing out Calvin!

I explained my trip, my recent assessment of my feet and shoes the Running Room recommended (I was wearing my HOKAs), and he showed me the HOKA Anacapa’s that I ended up purchasing. It wasn’t just about showing me. He explained them to me by sharing his story of hiking, which I wanted to hear because it made the interaction easier to trust! Great rapport building.

He went on to educate me - I did ask to be educated, on why this shoe (vs Merril’s and Keen’s etc.), how to maintain its longevity (ex air drying shoes vs putting them on vents), and seasonal info about keeping my investment in good condition. He was patient, kind, while being called in different directions by other customers. I told him he was a Godsent for me and that I really needed his support today. I didn’t realize how badly I needed it.

He even educated me on the socks I should be wearing with these types of shoes and he just really had the passion. He got me to buy a pair of $28 socks with $220 shoes - he was great! Okay, I get it…not all employees have the same passion or experience of hiking and walking so maybe not everyone can provide his level of expertise. I appreciate that, but it would be awesome, if other employees could be trained by him. Typically, people walk in thinking they know what they want or need but most of the time, the trajectory is altered if someone takes a few minutes to help us make better decisions for ourselves and our feet.

Someone give Calvin a raise or at the bare minimum, someone in leadership needs to acknowledge him! I know how far this goes from a strategic leadership and retention of employee lens! Big respect for you, Calvin! Stay blessed!...

Bought some discounted winter sporting gears from this Sportlife in mid-August. Initially, I was told that all the winter gears were not available in the store. However, a helpful staff found the items for me in the store warehouse after requested to know in which store could find and inspect the items.

A barcode issue for one component was flagged during checkout, but the staffs(seems specialist in winter sport) dismissed it after checking it. Upon unboxing at home, I discovered a component was in a completely different color from the rest of the set and what was shown online.

When I returned for an exchange the next day, a staff member initially claimed the item was correct model number and could function well. After I insisted, a senior staff member was helpful and promised the correct part would arrive within a week after gave me some explanations on the reasons of mixing up.

Unfortunately, after waiting and checking the store weekly for 3 weeks, I was told the correct component has already been ordered but still had not arrived, despite the company's website is still selling and their store records showing it was in stock (12 sets). But then I was given another uncertain delivery date for waiting another week…so I am still waiting😅

Follow up after contacted CS: The CS team and their buying team was proactively helpful with prompt responses and follow ups I was able to pick up the correct colour component within approx 10 days after CS coordinated directly to the buying team. After the correct item delivered to the markville mall store, CS coordinated with the them before arranging me to pick up. However, when picking up the item, no store staff said anything about the whole mixed up error / long waiting nor any apology (although obviously the store management knew what was happening) The staff did not even open the box and check if the new item was really in correct colour until I request. And the most strange thing was the cashier requested me to pay the price difference (due to previous discount when I purchased). Of course, I did not need to pay after the cashier talked to her colleague again, but it showed the kind of store shopping experience that I had in...