Academy Sports + Outdoors — Local services in Florence

The store is pretty good, nice selection, decent pricing, but lack in customer service. There is an employee by the name Vince that usually has an attitude and treats you, as the customer, like you are beneath him. He will, out of spite when purchasing a firearm, mark you as denied in the system when purchasing a firearm if you state you plan on going to a location closer to your home and re-do the application process again once the one for that location in Florence, SC is complete, if you are delayed instead of driving 2 hours back to his location. This happened to me. I was in town for work, saw a side by side .410 that I wanted to get for my son for Christmas, and told Vince I wanted that firearm. I went through the process, waited 45 minutes for him to finally turn around from working on a rifle he was working on and say, and I quote, "Oh, I forgot you were there." He then checked the computer and told me I was delayed and I told him that was fine. I will wait until it is completed and go to an Academy location in the state I live in and re-do the app there. I have a CCP and that was the first time I had ever been delayed in 20 years of buying firearms, but there is a first time for everything, laughed, said thanks, and left. I was then called by Bill from that same location at 12:55 two days later(today) and said all was good to go and I could come and pick up my gun. I told him that I would go to Fayetteville, NC since they were just a few from me and get the firearm there instead now that the first initial application was complete. I go location in Fayetteville and get the firearm and decide to get a second one. Application was completed, all was good, everything was processed with no complications, the associates there were friendly and helpful, and them and I get to the point of paying for the firearms, and a flagged denial came up, showing entered by Vince, at the Academy location in Florence, SC, 2 days prior, had flagged me as "Denied", which was not true. With Vince doing what he did, caused me to be denied from purchasing any firearms from Academy Sports for 30 days. The 2 shotguns are strictly made/designed for Academy Sports and were also intended as Christmas gifts for sons. I have been told there is nothing they can do. I had spent basically 2 hours at the location in Florence, SC, 2.5 hours at the location in Fayetteville, and then 1 hour and 45 minutes on the phone with customer service/ corporate. All this time was wasted for nothing due to the actions of an employee that apparently had a bad day/ attitude. I would have not went through all this, but I wanted to get something special for my sons that could one day be passed down to their kids. It's hard to find .410 side by sides, engraved, that are decently priced. This is my first experience and the first time I have ever tried to do business with Academy Sports and am tempted to never do business with them again, especially with what I experienced and the...

1-Star Review

I visited the store today (May 9, 2025) to purchase a bicycle for my child and had a very disappointing experience that involved false advertising and poor customer service.

I found a black bike clearly marked at $119 on the third level of the display rack. A kind employee helped retrieve the bike for me using the store’s rolling stairs. When I took it to the register, it rang up for $349. I told the cashier that the price tag was $119, and the same employee walked back with me to verify the tag and confirmed the bike had been in the $119 section. He even assured me that I would receive it for that price.

Unfortunately, when the manager came over, she refused to honor the advertised price. Despite the clear labeling and a verbal agreement from the associate, she only offered me 20% off the $349 price. This is a textbook example of false advertisement and bait-and-switch tactics. The misplacement of the bike was not my fault, yet I was penalized for the store’s error.

Worse, my child thought they were getting a bike today, and I had to walk out empty-handed because the store wouldn’t honor their own pricing. This kind of misleading practice is unacceptable, and it shows a real lack of accountability and customer care.

I hope the store reevaluates its training and policies, consumers deserve honesty, not confusion and...

I always shop at academy sports in Florence SC.Today was a bad experience , I went in I grab a pair of shorts that where on sale for 14 dollars and walk to the shoe department and as I walk by the crocs I notice that there where two racks of crocs for four dollars and something cent.. So I took at pic of the rack and grab a pair ,I went to register to cash out it rung up $59 .., but I showed her where it said four dollars and something on the rack, so she call a worker he came of front I took him in the back where it was and there they where on the rack with the price as I said but he said he couldn’t give it to me for that price..Mind u another lady was in line with the same shoe and she said it was on sale rack for four dollars and something...Now thus really put a damper on me and family shopping at academy sports,I hate it cause I always shop her of telling others about it...And I took ok a picture of the price rack with the shoes where it said four dollars and...