Daves Sport Shop — Local services in Fridley

Figure skater here. Came here looking for Scott. FYI Scott is the ONLY person here who has the knowledge to handle figure skates. Others at my rink had their toe pick sharpened OFF because Scott was not the one to sharpen the skates. I called in advance to confirm Scott would be there, showed up looking for Scott and was told he would be right out. I was okay with waiting. A guy with tattoos came out asking if he could help. I replied “I’m looking for Scott” he insisted to see what he could help with. I was VERY weary to let him help me because my home rink recommends this skate shop, but they are very clear to confirm Scott is the only one to touch our skates. My own mom also told me her own horror story about a guy with many tattoos being very persistent about purchasing Jackson’s when she repeatedly told him she wants riedell. She told me stay clear of him because of rude and how big his ego is. I SEE IT NOW. I explained my issues and he made me feel stupid for not immediately knowing the answer to my problem. Saying things like “it’s obvious there is a rocker” (AFTER I told him I believed there was a rocker) Finally Scott comes out and tells the guy he will handle it from there. But tattoo guy must still be apart of the transaction (per his request of course). Tattoo guy goes on about my blades and how they are a lot of work and I need new ones, all because my blades don’t fit in gaurds and their machine can’t sharpen them (I was NOT mad about any of this fyi…but he seemed very upset by this) . Tattoo man continues to go on and starts cussing and honestly making me feel so uncomfortable that I was ready to leave.

At this point I am tuning him out because it’s clear he has no true knowledge of figure skates. Moral of the story everyone here is so kind, helpful and Scott is the only one I would trust for advice when it comes to figure skates. I understand figure skates is foreign knowledge to most but Scott is really the only one with any knowledge about them. Scott and the other staff is the only reason I have given this place two stars. But tattoo man ruined my experience and made me feel so belittled.

EDIT after talking with more skaters from my team. I am not the only one to have a poor and uncomfortable encounter with tattoo guy. Please steer...

When I first moved to the twin cities about 2.5 years ago I brought my skates to be sharpened at various places, including Total Hockey, Hockey Giant, and some rinks. Invariably the sharpenings were awful. I found that I was most often missing an edge or two. At best, my skates would seem okay for about 3 skates but would not hold their edge. I asked around and was told by just about everyone that Dave's does a great job with skate sharpening. Despite the fact that the nearest Dave's was 30 minutes away from me at the time, I was so fed up with the terrible job that everyone else was doing that I made the hike. The person sharpening my skates immediately recognized that they had not been sharpened at their store before, despite my not saying anything. I have now been having my skates sharpened exclusively at the Dave's in Fridley for the past year and a half. I have NEVER had a bad sharpening, and they have been sharpened by various members of their staff. I know the store takes pride in their sharpening abilities and makes sure that their staff knows what they are doing. I have now started buying the rest of my equipment from Dave's and have found their selection to be great and most importantly, high quality. Their staff is much more knowledgeable than those I have encountered at some of the hockey warehouses. I would highly recommend this store to anyone who is serious about hockey. I have only been to the Dave's in Fridley, so I cannot speak for the other...

I placed a large order through a vendor for a Hockey Team that I run. The vendor set up the delivery / payment of the order through Dave's Sport Shop. I wish he hadn't. I called to the Blaine location to find out if the order was in. They guy said that he didn't know and that I should call the Fridley store to find out. This should have been the first clue of how bad the service would be. that person should have been willing to ask for my number and to call me back with the answers, but it never crossed his mind. So, I called the Fridley store and was transferred to Scott. I asked him if the order was in and his response was, " I think so." to which I asked him if he could verify because I didn't really feel like driving from Blaine down to Fridley just to find out that it wasn't actually there. His response astounded me. He said " what? you think Blaine is a long drive?" then nothing. Scott was obviously to lazy to get off his butt and check. instead he actually EXPECTED a paying customer to drive there to do the work for him. I have since told my vendor to not place any future orders through Dave's. I will never go into a Dave's Sport Shop again. I'll go to places such as Letterman's Sports, Total Hockey and Strauss Hockey that have good reputations and know how to treat...