Van's Sporting Goods — Local services in Good Hope

I used to love going to Van’s because I could find fishing baits there that other local places didn’t have. My last three visits have been less than acceptable. The guys behind the gun counter are only fixated on helping customers who are looking at buying guns. Three times I’ve been in to look at their knife selection and ended up purchasing a knife from them two of the three times BUT I had to go ask the girl at the main counter to have someone come help me as the guys ignored me standing there for fifteen minutes and asked a few other passing customers if they could help them. Once a worker did come over (let’s call him “big fella”) the first two times he wasn’t very pleasant at all and wasn’t knowledgeable AT ALL on what knives they stock. This most recent visit a different guy, bigger guy, bald and somewhat athletic looking, came over and was breathing hard like he had just ran a mile. I could only assume he was all jacked up on caffeine or pre workout. Coffee cup in hand he showed me a couple knives I was interested in (fixed blades) and then while still breathing heavily tried to convince me to buy an overpriced folding knife in a totally different brand. I declined, and while browsing their other fixed blades he told me that someone had been coming in and swapping out their knives for FAKES and that they didn’t know who the guy was and hadn’t caught him. Which tells me one of two things, either that’s truth and because of this the store has SOLD FAKE KNIVES to unsuspecting customers OR they’ve purchased fake knives and sold them in the store and maybe someone has called them out on it and that’s their story to cover their behinds. Either way, I had heard all I needed to hear as an avid knife collector and I politely declined to purchase anything and left. I’ve visited Van’s for the last time. I know the loss of my business won’t hurt their bottom line one bit but hopefully because of this review others can avoid their poor customer service and overpaying for a fake knife. The worst part is a lot of their selection, I dare say MOST, are 150 dollars or more and fake versions online are usually between 20-40 dollars. With a statement like he made there’s no telling how many knives (just Spyderco brand) that were 200 dollars or more left that building with unsuspecting customers! I thought Van’s was a respectable and reputable dealer in these brands and I could trust that what I bought there was genuine but I won’t be back to risk it! I hate to call them out but at the same time DO BETTER. The people who your income depends on DESERVE BETTER and not just the ones there...

Dropped my bow off to get new strings put on was told 2-3 week wait which was understandable they had it done in 5 days so quicker then I expected which was a plus Will called me from the archery department saying he would fine tune my bow to how it needed once I got their, well when I got back to the archery department Will was their to assist assist with my bow I’ll have to say wasn’t the customer service I expected from what he said he would tune the bow to how I needed it he just help me adjust the pep sight didn’t measure draw length as he said he would wasn’t able to shot it the see how it felt or to check if any other adjustments was needed, I asked him what pound was it set to he said it’s set up exactly like it was as I dropped it off I told him it was either 68 or 70 pounds I wasn’t sure and asked if he could check it didn’t seem like he wonted to so I asked again then he told me that my bow couldn’t be set that high before even checking it then he looked and said well I guess it can then he checked it and it was 63 pounds ( not set like it was when dropped of as he stated ) then asked about arrows what he recommended for the pound draw my bow was he just said the same arrows I had ( even though they don’t make them anymore) so he just said the upgraded version of them. He didn’t seem very knowledgeable about products I asked about and I got new set of strings for my bow 1/2 dozen arrows a target you can shoot field point and broad heads and wax for bow just expected better customer service and a more helpful insight of their products. Not to mention someone else had came up mentioning they was thinking about getting a new bow he was quick to help him and tell them he would get some bows and take him back to test them out to see what the customer would like but failed to assist me with tuning my bow and getting it set up how I like ( the words he said over the phone) Disappointed with the customer service keeps these things in mind on your next trip if he is the one working in...

Went in as a first time gun buyer, with my husband who is from middle eastern descent. I have no idea about guns, i work in downtown Birmingham and my husband wanted to help me pick one out for protection especially with the times we are living in. As a woman, it’s terrifying. I was so excited to be able to exercise my 2nd amendment right for the first time ever. But, my excitement quickly left when we got treated like the gun was being purchased for malicious intent. I was pulled away from my husband and asked several times if I was positive the gun was for me, It was insinuated that my husband was going to commit a crime with the gun but I’d be the one in jail for it since it was in my name. So disrespectful on so many levels. You made a judgement from looking at us. I know this was because of the ethnicity of my husband. He worked hard to come to America the legal way, from a country he has no rights in. He was so excited to be able to help me pick this out, something I’ve been wanting to purchase for myself for years but continually putting off…but we quickly regretted stopping here. I will never go here again and tell everyone how crappy we were treated. it’s not your job to question my intentions with a gun I very much have the right to purchase. I have no criminal background, nor does my husband and I am extremely disappointed in this business. And will all due respect, I was asking to buy a gun and not a box cutter. We left, and I made a purchase from a shop down the street for a much better deal and with much nicer,...