Academy Sports + Outdoors — Local services in Grapevine

I'm just going to go middle-of-the-road on this review. This is more critique and feedback than complaint.

I've been looking out for an Intex 18x52 Ultra XTR Frame pool for a while now. I located one at Academy on Bryant Irvin, purchased it online, and went to pick it up. I waited outside for more than 30 minutes, no updates, no notifications, no delivery. I canceled the order and decided to look more. That was my first experience regarding this pool hunt (I've never had a poor experience with Academy before).

In the hope that an 18x52 was still available, I discovered that there was not. I was just on the cusp of purchasing a different size that I did not want, and a brand of pool from another retailer when I thought to do one final search for an 18x52. To my surprise, two popped up in Grapevine. I made the purchase online and went to pick it up earlier this afternoon.

My second experience at Academy regarding this pool in Grapevine went something like this: as I purchased this pool online very early this morning, between 2a-3a, I received notice by email and text that my order was ready to pickup at exactly 8:18a this morning. Two ladies at the pickup counter in front, one doing 'I don't know what' and the other finishing with an elderly gentleman. He leaves, and the girl asks if she can help. I told her that I was there to pick up an 18x52 pool. She takes my name and starts shuffling through bins behind the counter. I said no, it's a pool, it's big, it won't be in that bin. In fact, it wasn't even behind the counter. She turns back to me and asks for my order # and photo ID. Both provided. She makes a few calls on their walkie-talkie and then asks if I brought my truck, that I could pull it up front. I told her no, I brought my 2021 Mazda 3. She says, oh no, this won't fit in your car. She calls another male employee over, day manager(?) perhaps, inquires about the pool fitting on my car. Oh no, he says, there's no way. I could see their eyes light up when they thought there would be no need to retrieve the pool. I'll admit, boxed up, it's a big, heavy parcel. So, it was somewhat humiliating standing there having multiple employees tell me what would not fit into my car. I told them that it would fit, that I had come prepared and was going to unbox the individual pieces and pack them into my car, which I did and that worked quite well. I even took the big outer box around to the side of the building and placed it for recycling, leaving not one hint of my car packing project ever having occurred.

I know it was a matter of just not wanting to be responsive and retrieving the pool because as the general topic of discussion within my range of hearing was hiw it had "been dead all day." I get it, I worked retail for years, those days come. But it is no excuse for being lazy at all. I strongly considered just canceling the order and removing my $550 order from your already slow and needless to say, low revenue sales day. But I need a pool, that bad. So I didn't.

Perhaps in the future, if opinions ate going to be shared, maybe share opinions on someone's nice attitude & personality, something that soneone is wearing that you like, maybe even on the weather. But not opinions on what o e thinks may or may not fut into a particular vehicle (to allow for laze on the job). Obviously, the box fully packed would not have fit into my vehicle. It wouldn't fit inside of most vehicles, save & except pickup trucks. But many of us are very creative and very self-sufficient. We make do with what we have. The pool made it safely home and will be erected in my yard tonight. Not one scratch or dent in my vehicle. For 300lbs of weight, it traveled home very quiet and politely with no attitude.

For future reference, Mazda 3s have so much storage space it would make...

This store offers more stuff than Flower Mound or Lewisville locations and seems to have more ammo in stock. Also it's a good location for getting hunting licenses druing the dove season rush in August each year. They have people ready to help you with special stations to deal with hunting license only. Most importantly is that they have people trained to deal with Lifetime Hunting license holders. I have tried to get my tags before at other locations and they always never know how to do it.

Sadly I removed one star because they are under staffed and seems like you can never find someone to help you out in any department. If you do find someone, they'll say that they're sending someone from that department right over, then disappear. And then no one shows up.

I took another star off because even at customer service when someone is actually there to help you they want to do the actual minimum to help you... Even if you have actual sku numbers for them to look up to check on inventory. They'll try to convince you to go to their website to order high ticket items so they don't have to input data into the computer. Also the customer service rep asked several people to help him look up inventory and input data for home delivery and assembly ( something he was trying to not sell us because it seemed like to much trouble to deal with - I'm disabled, so not an option for me to pick up and deliver) both people reluctantly helped him out because I told them that I would wait. One was a young person the other was a older guy. It just seems like the culture there is to do as minimum as possible as slow as they can or they are not trained correctly. The store seems to be well stocked so if you can get away without any assistance when you go in, to buy something... your experience should be pleasant enough to shop here.

If not it will be like pulling teeth to try to 1- find someone to actually help you in a department 2- check for in stock inventory for high ticket items you want to buy 3- Set up home delivery and assembly for said high ticket items.

What should have taken 15-20 minutes to finish a $1300 transaction, took almost an hour and a half to finish on what seemed like a non busy/ slow day. One or two registers open with one person each checking...

Not the first time I've had this issue st this particular Academy, but first time it was this bad!.

Went in about 6pm, Friday, December 8th, 2023. Went into the store, grabbed the two items I was there for, headed right to the register.

Walked up to the front of the store saw a line at the register's, looked for another open register, there was none.

It was themn I noticed how long the line at the one open register was. I counted it - 15 people. Not 15 people just standing there, 151 separate customers waiting in line. By the time I qued up, I was #18.

The line was not moving either and didnt for about 5 minutes before the next customers made it to the register.

It was 10 more minutes before someone came up to open another register, before the customer service register finished helping with merchandise pick ups and the line started moving.

The thing of it is, no one in line was checking out a cart full of merchandise. Every one only had a few items to purchase.

I dont know what the behind the scenes story was on this particular night, at thus particular time. But it was hardly a christmas rush and there were more than enough employees to have opened a register much sooner and with much more attention to customer service than this.

I love less than a mile and a quarter from this store. I drove from my house to this store, walked from the parking lot into the store, walked to the back of the store where the items I purchased are shelved and quad up in line in about seven minutes. It took me 15 minutes just to get checked out of the dtore... once I was in line at the register.

It is the Christmas season and I've tried to be charitable. But this level of service at this store was completely...