Babbitt's Sports Center — Local services in Norton Shores

Absolute lack of integrity. I ordered a 2 piece assembly of a backrest and pad. One is useless without the other. When ordering, there was no notice of anything not in inventory. I ordered the 2 parts, the took my payment, noticed me that my order (no mention of it being a partial order) was shipped, then another when it arrived, another notice that my order was there. I opened it, only one part, the pad was inside. Again, no mention of the brace portion being on back order, etc.

So, the order is missing 1/2 parts. I attempt to email, but get no response. I call, talked to Shawn. Who told me the brace was on global backorder. I explained that that should have been communicated BEFORE I placed my order. He agreed, and when I explained since they have no idea when, or even IF the part would be shipped, that the pad is useless, and I would get a FULL refund, including return shipping, since this issue is between Babbitt's and their supplier, not me. He agreed and said he'd send me a prepaid shipping label

Then instead of an email with a shipping label, I got an email instructing me to go to their site and REQUEST a refund. As if being told by them already wasn't enough? So, I clicked the link, explained, again, what happened and that Shawn already said he'd send a prepaid label, and I'd get a full refund, etc.

So then I get yet another email, to fill out the form to accompany the part in the box (which the form pdf needs to be recreated, when you type one one line, it fills ALL lines, as if you're returning many of the exact same item) but there was no return shipping label, prepaid or otherwise.

So I called them, they said they couldn't do the prepaid shipping label, but, as a courtesy, they'd waive the restock fee.

No, you'll refund every penny I paid, including return shipping, since this screw up is between Babbitt's and the OEM supplier, I simply ordered parts Babbitt's claimed they had in stock.

Then the initial CSR put a supervisor on, who again, acknowledged that this was not right, and completely understandable. But again, she tried say that waiving the restock fee was a courtesy, but they couldn't pay return shipping. Then I said I'd dispute it with my credit card company

She then said it took "some doing", but I'd get a prepaid shipping label, but would not get what I need to pay more shipping insurance, ($10). I said no, that I should not have to pay $.01. she thought this was ridiculous, asked how they're supposed to pay their employees if I don't pay the insurance cost.

Again, I only ordered this assembly from them because the site said it was in stock. I never would have just ordered it if they were honest and notified me that it indeed was on backorder, so being THEIR issue to work out the lack of communication with their supplier, I should not have to pay anything.

When I said I'd dispute any charge, she asked if I "would really commit fraud for $10". First, it's not fraud (on MY part, anyway, certainly is on THEIR part) . Yes, I will dispute paying even a penny to them.

So the supervisor then said she'd email me the prepaid shipping label, and give a FULL refund, and said I'd get the shipping label emailed to me. but again reminded me it took "some doing". I said "was that really so hard?"

She said it was, apparently customer service is an annoyance to them.

So now she did NOT send the label, and I have to now dispute it, which will cost them even more.

What a complete lack of ethics, and I will never buy anything from them

Let the...

Edited Little disappointing in Babbitts - but they fixed it. I ordered a few parts for a jet ski I was working on for a friend (I work on snowmobiles, and four wheelers in the fall and winter, and boats and jet skis in the summer - just for a little extra income. I always prefer to order new, OEM parts if possible). They emailed me that my order had shipped, faster than expected - good so far. I didn’t realize that it didn’t include the main part that I needed, until the order was delivered. I opened the box to find everything except the fuel sending unit. I thought, sometimes they will ship them separately, so I will wait a day or two. Due to the urgency, I called the next day to check on it. The young lady I spoke to said “I might have some bad news for you…” Apparently Kawasaki discontinued making the fuel sending units - not long before I placed my order, and there was no stock anywhere. I was fairly disappointed that Babbitts didn’t bother to tell me that as soon as they tried processing the order and realized that the part was no longer available, but further, I was very disappointed that they didn’t automatically process a refund for the purchase amount, as it’s a significant amount. Instead, they waited on me to call to check on the order to tell me I wasn’t getting my fuel sending unit, and waited on ME to request the refund. This added several days to the turnaround time for me. The young lady I spoke to said ‘it can take 3 to 5 days to process the refund at Babbitts, and send it to your bank, and the bank can take an additional 3 to 5 days to release the funds. Firstly, I have no idea why it would take that long for Babbitts to process my refund, when my payment was withdrawn almost instantaneously. Apparently modern technology is only amazing when it goes One direction. Anyway, I waited three days, and began checking my bank account to see if anything was pending from Babbitts. It wasn’t. I called Babbitts and spoke to a gentleman who said ‘just be patient, it has been processed’. The issue is, I can’t splurge for even a used unit until I get a refund for this one (Used are between $140 and $180). Even so, I have now waited six days of that 3 to 5 day processing requirement, but my bank still does not show a refund pending from Babbitts. I don’t know what method Babbitts is using to issue refunds, but it’s abysmally slow, and it’s destroying MY completion estimate, and my customer lost another weekend on the water.

*Update 9-06-2023: After posting this review, Babbitts emailed me, referencing this review, and took big steps to get my refund processed. It was posted this morning, and the funds released immediately. They also made a good discount offer for my next order. A little bit slow, but they did the right thing. With that, I am adding one star, for a total of 4 Stars. I cannot increase it to 5, because I lost a lot of time on something that I feel probably could’ve been processed much quicker if they were really on top of it from the beginning - on an over $300 refund. Sorry I had to take a mediocre review to get things moving, but thank you for doing the...

On 8/6/20 I ordered parts for my 4 wheeler and on 8/11/20 I got an email from them stating that one of parts is on back order until 9/11/20. Of course waiting over a month would be too long so I was able to find the part from another website. So I completed the email that they sent me in regards to the back ordered items to choose to send the rest of the order and refund the backordered parts. On 8/28/20 I called Babbitts online because I still have yet to see my refund. I spoke with a lady that explained the email process does not always work and to always call and she agreed they were on back ordered and She said I will see my refund within a couple days. Yesterday I got an email stating the back ordered parts are able to ship now so I called the company to explain they don’t need to be shipped I’ve already spoke with your company about the refund because I was able to get the parts from the other website due to not able to wait until 9/11/20. She explained to me that oh well they were able to get them early and since I ordered them they will ship them anyways. I explain to her again I do not need them and I’ve already completed the email refund requested and spoke to a live representative about receiving my refund. She then proceeds to tell me again there’s nothing she can do the parts will be shipped out and whenever I receive them I can complete the return policy and wait for them to be shipped back to receive the return and then they can submit for my refund. Very poor customer service. At this point they should’ve just completed the refund and cancel the order. I am still waiting to receive the package to arrive so I can figure out how to submit the return policy and then wait for them to receive the package back and then obviously I’ll have to call to ask about my refund for the third time. It’s hard for me to trust them due to the email did not work and in speaking to the first lady obviously did not work so you can understand why am leery at this point hopefully my third attempt will be successful for the refund for the parts I...