Cotswold Outdoor Islington — Local services in London

RUNNERS NEED ISLINGTON REVIEW: I went there today and had an amazing customer service experience that I would like to share. I purchased a pair of running shoes a while ago after doing a gait analysis, only to find discomfort and pain particularly on one ankle not long after using the new shoes for the first time. I went back in to chat to someone and met the wonderful Tim. He let me run on the machine in my previously purchased trainers, let me try on a different pair and decided I hadn't been given the correct pair the first time, as my landing looked a lot better in the new pair. The amazing team at Runners Need not only swapped the pair for me (despite them being worn a fair few times), but they refunded me the difference in price as the new ones were slightly cheaper.

All in all, a fantastic service where staff went above and beyond to prioritise my needs and make me feel like an extremely valuable customer. I can assure them all that they have a customer for life and I won't be purchasing my future running shoes anywhere...

Staff don't know the products they sell. Neither of the staff knew how to inflate or deflate a camping mat I took back which was faulty. One was a supervisor who said she had only been there 2 months hadn't had camping training yet :/ At least the other member of staff admitted not knowing and asked me to show him whereas the supervisor tried to deflate the mat with the valve still closed risking damage. Cotswold have a 2 year warranty but it turns out won't replace in store even if you can clearly demonstrate the fault. After taking it to store as requested I was then told despite the fault being obvious it will be sent to head office and then on to thermarest and then back the same way and they couldn't guarantee how long it would take! So I'm sending it directly to thermarest myself and wish I hadn't wasted my time...

Decent sized store but seemed pretty low on a range of items. Staff were busy reconfiguring the store layout in the camping section and it appeared they had no interest in helping customers. I was not approached a single time to ask if I'd like any help. Spotted a deal (2 Tshirts for £40) and when I asked what Tshirts were included in the deal, not one, but two staff members had no idea about the deal and what was included. Had to use my phone to look at the website for further information. If you're desperate for an outdoor store and you're in the area, go for it, but don't expect much...